26 The Cry of Claudette

The Cry of Claudette Claudette woke up with a screech that roused the whole forest of Wintloria. There was still some part of her connected to the beast. "Morty, noooo!" she cried in her raspy voice. Then, in an even more terrified voice, she added, "The beast is coming back!" Her distress brought Agents Hughie, Louie, and Stewie to her tree—along with

every other purple-breasted parrot in the forest. Her wings were quivering, and her eyes were dilating from furious black to splendid purple. "It's eating something with a pulse. Its personality has been trapped in a cavern of its belly, but now it's all coming back… every diabolical dream, pernicious pondering, and mortifying memory… everything's swarming like a tornado into the beast's blobby head." She spoke with an intense urgency that frightened the other parrots. "Who fed the beast? I told you all not to let it eat! I told you not to let it escape!" "She's delirious again," said Agent Hughie. "Only explanation for it," said Agent Louie. "We should up her medicine and put her back to sleep," hissed Agent Stewie.

The three of them made their way over to the D.o.R.R.i.S. beeping machine. Claudette yanked the wire out of her body and squawked at them. "Don't you see? The beast's whole life is flashing before its eyes, as if it's about to die… but really, it's being reborn. It's reliving the past few months of its life through three whole new eyes, and it doesn't like what it sees.… It can't believe that it's been tricked into being a do-gooder. It feels angry, humiliated, and… oh no, oh no, oh no… VENGEFUL!" "Let us all sing you a cheery song, what-what?" said Giulietta. "We'll find the right melody to make all your nightmares disappear."

"This is no nightmare. This is happening right now—on the other side of the world. And I have to get there… I have to SAVE BETHANY! She's one of my best friends." "Absolutely not," said Agent Hughie. "You can't go chasing after fantasies," said Agent Louie. "And even if you could, the journey would kill you," hissed Agent Stewie. Claudette knew that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't help Bethany. She spotted the high-tech device that looked awfully like an umbrella, which Agent Stewie had used to puddle-portal her over to Wintloria in the first place. "Lie back down," said Giulietta. "You know you're too weak to fly."

The exertion was digging deep into Claudette's bones. But she readied her wings—knowing and praying that somewhere, deep down, there was the strength she needed. "Claudette?" began Agent Hughie. "What are you—?" With another screech, Claudette flapped her weak wings and grabbed the umbrella with her talons. She crashed several times on her way out of the tree, flapping away as quickly as she could. As she fiddled with the handle of the umbrella, she managed to open a puddle a few feet in front of her. Then she screwed her eyes shut and focused on where she wanted to arrive. "MUST… SAVE… BETHANY!" she cried, as she disappeared.