Anything Goes

For the eighth time in five minutes, Professor Squawkencluck and Danger Mouse found themselves tangled up on the floor together. Dancing sure was harder than it looked!

"Yowch!" Professor Squawkencluck squawked as Danger Mouse fell on top of her.

"Ooof!" he grunted at the same time. Penfold watched from his seat, dismayed and disheartened. Just a couple hours ago, he'd told them that he'd entered them in a Sidney Land dancing competition. They were both swift to panic and cry out in dismay, neither of them knowing how to dance.

At first, Penfold had brushed their worries off, certain that if anyone could learn to dance in just a few short hours, it would be the world's greatest secret agent and the world's smartest gadgeteer and scientist. But no, he had been dismally wrong. The two seemed unable to go longer than 38 seconds (their personal record) before falling over or into something, sending them both sprawling to the floor. This was not going to end well if they didn't manage to literally step up their game... Penfold nervously checked his phone and swallowed down a squeak of terror. The competition was only a few hours away and the two competitors didn't know the first thing about dancing! They didn't even know how to keep upright! How would they even last a minute?! Let alone an entire song?!

"Maybe I should've asked first before I entered you both into the competition!" Penfold lamented.

"You think?!" Professor Squawkencluck demanded with a nervous and indignant shrill. She brushed herself off as she stood up again.

"Well, never mind that!" Danger Mouse commanded quickly, trying to reign the two back in. "It's too late to forfeit now and I think that if we want to see what Greenback and all the other villains are up to, then we are going to have to win this competition! The fate of the world may depend on it!" he one eye gleamed with determination as he grabbed Professor Squawkencluck's wings again to resume dancing. She heaved a tired and slightly bruised sigh. Although she couldn't deny that Danger Mouse was right about this dance potentially meaning the difference between life and death (silly and extreme as that sounded), she was really tired of winding up on the dirty floor of their Sidney Land trailer apartment. But with nothing else to do, she allowed Danger Mouse to sweep her off her feet again as he spun her around and around and around and around.

"Och!" she grunted as her stomach began whirling faster than she did.

"Come on, come on!" Danger Mouse urged swiftly, suddenly picking up speed. Professor Squawkencluck felt more like she was running than dancing. She struggled to keep up with the mouse before she finally tripped over her own two feet and back onto the floor. Since Danger Mouse had been clutching her tightly, her fall brought him right down with her.

"Oof!" he yelped again as he collided with the trailer's smelly old carpet.

"Oh, crumbs!" Penfold buried his face in his hands. This was going to end so badly!

"Here! Why don't you let me lead?!" Professor Squawkencluck snapped impatiently as she got back up.

"Let you lead?!" Danger Mouse scoffed back, just as indignant. It was like she'd asked him to surrender to Greenback and the rest without a fight!

"Well! You clearly have no idea what you're doing!" Professor Squawkencluck continued to growl.

"And you do?!" Danger Mouse sneered back at her. "You clumsy-toed, two-left-feet dancer!"

"You ungraceful, ignorant, overly-zealous ballerina!" Professor Squawkencluck shot back. The two continued to call one another names before Professor Squawkencluck finally reached out and grabbed Danger Mouse to shut him up.

"Let me show you how it's done!" she bragged bossily, then the two were off once again, spinning and sashaying up and down the length of their trailer in a very uncoordinated and unrhythmic step. It was a disaster, to put it lightly.