Boo!

 A constant low rumbling punches through the natural sounds of the South American jungle. This was no irate jaguar, although there certainly might be one disturbed by the sound of the puttering motor that was a rare sound this deep into the dense foliage. 

 

The large and unwieldy van bounces on the dirt road that hadn't been maintained by human hands in some time, but even as the noise of the vehicle disturbed the nearby fauna, none dare touch the odd smelling car, for the ZFPD's Animal Control division demanded respect from wildlife with their deadly Verminator.

Hening at the wheel hardly felt like some powerhouse punching through the low-hanging branches that scraped the car top, but the unusual alien was certainly worried that his companion might be snatched up by some sufficiently sized beetle or bird as she stood atop the vehicle to get a good view of the fresh new location.

"You got all your shots, right?" Giggle McDimples calls down as she continues to marvel at the large leaves passing over head. "I didn't know what vaccines I needed so I got them all! My left arm is too sore to move!" she laughs, wiping the sweat from her brow with one hand before barely catching sight of a monkey's silhouette as it curiously watched them path.

With a shake of his dandelion head, the words from Hening appear above the car, "I don't have the same biology as you. Those shots would likely do nothing or kill me since my body is only close to humans in shape."

"Oooh, are you going to give me another biology lesson?" Giggle says, bouncing excitedly only to be disappointed when the big blue holographic "No," starts the reply.

"Focus on the biology around you. We might have to kill it."

Giggle tries to wave her left arm dismissively, but it was, in fact, too numb to move. "Animal Control is only one part killing wild beasts! We need to protect these critters too! It's Animal Control, not Animal Catastrophe! That was my old high school band's name. Pretty sick, right?"

Hening didn't reply to Giggle, not able to tell if she was joking. His unfamiliarity with Earth had left him trusting too much of what people said at face value, which made working with someone who enjoyed throwing jokes his way. The distraction of the road at least gave him an excuse not to keep up the chatter, but as Giggle goes back to gawking at the wildlife around them, she spots something completely out of place in the greens and browns around them.

While the bumbershoot in the girl's hands could have blended in with the flowers with its purple color, the lolling red tongue drooping from its top almost acted like a lure for attention, drawing the eye to the still woman standing beneath its shadow. Her bright blue clothes could have done the job alone, but all of this color clashing with the world around her meant that Giggle had amply time to notice the girl's thumb poking out towards the road, the international sign of a hitchhiker immediately recognized and making Giggle yell down to the driver below... a few seconds after he deliberately drove past the girl.

"Hey hey! Hit the brakes! There's a little lady lost out here! We gotta help!"

Hening eases on the brake, hanging his head and shaking it, "We're passing into the magical part of the jungle, this is some sort of trap. Maybe some bait put out by bandits."

"We're officers of the law! We can handle ourselves against a girl with a novelty umbrella!"

"We're officers contracted to catch puppies and kittens," Hening complains, but the car was beginning to reverse all the same, the alien knowing he wasn't going to win the debate, and even if he did keep driving, this would be the subject the rest of the way to Agama.

As the van settles next to the seemingly young lady, Giggle pokes her tiny head over the side and calls down. "Where you headed?"

"Shhhhhhh..." the woman in blue says, putting a finger to her mouth. "It needs to be quiet."

"Oh!" Giggle covers her mouth with one hand, "Are there predators about?" Giggle's question hangs in the air unanswered until the jungle around them was quiet save for the sounds of their own breathing and the idling motor.

"...BOO!" The girl yells happily, shuffling in place giddily and looking up at Giggle's tiny face.

Giggle looks down at the girl in confusion. "Uh... yeah boo to you too! We say hi where I'm from!"

"Awwwww, man!" The girl's head hangs as she moans, "I even made sure it was quiet and everything before I tried to scare you!"

"You were trying to be scary? It takes more than a Boo to move this miss! Plus, you know, I had already seen you before you said it, so no surprise there."

"But it was a JUMP scare! It broke the silence so it's surprising!"

"Whatever you say, lady. Do you really need a ride though?"

"Oh yes please it's so hot out here," the lady says, hopping up towards the side of the car and starting to violently tug at the passenger side door of the Verminator. Hening had it locked, naturally, so the girl was tugging aggressively but fruitlessly as she failed to enter the vehicle.

"Come around back!" Giggle yells, hopping down the hatch she uses to enter the van from up top. A button press and the back doors pop open, the girl in blue running over and looking inside at the complete lack of chairs before shrugging and clambering in to sit on the floor next to the much smaller animal control officer.

"You guys have a LOT of gizmos back here," the girl marvels as she looks around, only to perk up and ask, "Oh! Now that I'm in the car, I can reveal you all messed up big time! I'm secretly an axe murdering hitchhiker! ...You guys got an axe?" she says as she begins to root around the back, Giggle shaking her head.

"No hockey mask either," Giggle laughs, "What's your deal? Why do you want to scare people helping you so bad?"

The girl sits back and sighs, crossing her legs and fiddling with her dress's hem. Before she can speak though, the umbrella resting across her shoulder turns its eye towards Giggle, chuckling darkly before letting out a raspy sound like a witch's whisper, "Kogasa needs to be spooky. But she isn't!"

Kogasa rolls her mismatched eyes, "Don't listen to Fuan, it likes to pick on me."

"Well I'm getting names now at least!" Giggle says, sitting down in one of the seats that could only fit a Giggle-sized occupant. "What are you... two? Doing out here?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm Kogasa Tatara! Fuan is kind of part me since I'm a ghost of an umbrella," Kogasa says, waving her hand around in the air as if such a statement was a boring fact.

"You're a ghost? Well why didn't you use that to spook me if you're trying so hard? You could have been invisible when I found you and it would have really been a shock!"

Kogasa tips her head, "But then how can I hitchhike if you don't pull over for me?"

"Good point... So, where are you going then? We're heading to Agama! We'll be helping with any animal-related problems in the area so just remember that if you need to know who to call! I've been trying to shorten that pitch to be more Ghostbusters-like but saying 'Who you gonna call? Animal Control!' has a nasty local business feel to it and doesn't fit our cool image! We need to get our van refitted from motor to magitech to operate in the city though, but I'm sure magic will just make the Verminator a meaner machine!"

Kogasa perks up, "Oh! Perfect! I'm heading there too! It's the next Kobber place, and hanging out with Kobbers is pretty much the number one Gensokyan vacation destination! I know I didn't surprise people much back in Japan, but I bet me just showing up will give people like Utsuho and Meiling a good shock!"

Giggle's face scrunches up as she considers the ghost in front of her again, "Really stuck on that spooking people thing, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah! I'm a ghost, so already, I should be total spooksville. But, when I surprise people it's supposed to power me up or something? It's... been a long time since it worked so I kinda forget..." Kogasa says, her eyes training to the ceiling of the van as if the answers hid up there.

"Well, a power up is cool but it doesn't sound too important! Maybe just relax and enjoy something else for a while!"

Fuan chuckles again, "She needs to. Without enough power, a ghost can just... faaaaaade awaaaaaay."

Kogasa's eyes were tearing up as her umbrella spoke. "I already faded away when I was just some forgotten umbrella. I don't want to fade away again..."

Seeing a person in peril, Giggle went from jovial to serious, standing in her seat with a hand on her hip. "Well sister, if that's the stakes, then I'll do what I can to keep you grounded here on this side of the grave! Believe me, I've had to do a lot to shake off my adorable image. People don't take me serious, so I only act serious so they're forced to accept this pipsqueak's cheeks aren't for pinching!"

"What's your cuteness gotta do with anything," Kogasa mopes.

Giggle's tone changes a little to something friendlier, "Well, have you looked at yourself lately? You're not really selling the scary thing much with the light blue dress."

"HEY!" Kogasa jolts up, energy reentering her voice, "I'll have you know that blue is the color of the ocean, and I heard from someone that the ocean is the scariest thing around!"

"Was it-"

"It was me, yes," Kogasa says, her hands now on her hips in a weird bit of proud bravado as her nose points high. "Really though, have you seen some of the creatures down there? There's that one starfish with all the thorns on it..." Kogasa shivers, "And here I thought regular starfish were creepy enough!"

Hening's words appear as he finally pipes in a bit, "Aquatic animal control would be an interesting venture. Do we need to get the Verminator outfitted?"

"We're pretty far from the ocean-" Giggle starts.

"NO NO NO! NO OCEAN DRIVING!" Kogasa yells, flailing her arms at Hening and trying to get to her feet only to fall backwards when the van hit a bump. Looking down at her dress, she pulls it out to inspect the color. "I'm not changing this! It'll work, just watch!"

"Alright! You do you, but I still want to help you if I can," Giggle says, scratching under her hat.

"I appreciate it. I promise, if you come up with a really good surprise, I'll use it on you first!" Kogasa chirps.

"Right now though, I'm bushed! I was literally in a bush all last night and those things only come in prickly and scratchy around here. I thought it was a good hiding place for surprises but none of the animals were scared, especially when I was scratching myself."

"...Did you remember to pop out of it?"

"My head was poking out the whole time! Isn't a bush with a girl head and a big umbrella surprising?"

"I guess it would be if it wasn't attached to a body inside!"

 

"See, I've got good ideas! Anyway, that rest I was talking about. I'll stay out of your hair and your... dandelion," Kogasa says, waving her hands all around Hening's head without touching its protrusions, "Until I'm nice and rested! Thanks for being so nice to me," she says with one final small smile.

 

Before Giggle can wish her a good rest, Fuan's dark chuckling begins again, the umbrella expanding outwards as its brim bursts, pure red fangs made of fabric now lining its edges as Kogasa sits innocently beneath such an imposing sight. The long tongue of the umbrella extends downwards, coiling around the ghost girl like a python before the bumbershoot quickly snaps shut, the lumpy form inside writhing about as the shadow beneath Fuan begins to roil in waves. The umbrella laughs darkly as it pulls Kogasa down into the darkness until the pair was completely gone, leaving nothing but a bubbly darkness in the spot Kogasa had once been.

Hening screeches the car to a halt, turning around in his seat to look back at the burbling shadow that Giggle was still staring wide eyed at.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Hening asked.

Suddenly, Kogasa's head pops out of the shadow, not a hair out of place. "What?"

"The thing... with the umbrella," Giggle says.

"Ohhh, yeah! I was just turning Fuan into a sleeping bag! I know, weird right? It doesn't look comfy at all! But look at this!" Kogasa says, her body climbing out of the darkness and revealing she was in fact encased in the umbrella safely like it was a full body sleeping bag. Squirming across the ground, she laughs, "I'm like an inchworm!"

Giggle laughs, slapping her forehead, "This girl really doesn't see what she's got, huh?"

"Wriggle wriggle wriggle," Kogasa repeats in a silly voice as she moves along the van floor like a caterpillar, all smiles as her mind is taken off her troubles for now.