McD's grand opening

Who: Zack & Cubie
Where: Zack and Cubie's quarters
When: During the promenade festivities
"Come on, Zack! We're late as it is!"
Zack peered out of the closet at his irate wife. "Sorry, but I know it's in
here somewhere."
Cubie rolled her eyes. "What?"
Zack grinned. "My super-sized roll of red ribbon. Can't have a
ribbon-cutting ceremony without it."
Cubie sighed, then walked over to the large roll of ribbon they were using
as an end table. "You mean this roll of red ribbon?"
Zack peered at the roll. "Ah! Yes. That's the one."
Cubie sighed again, then started clearing the clutter off of it. They
lifted it up on its edges and started rolling it out the door. As they
guided the roll down the corridor, they noticed an exceptionally large
number of people racing by, screaming at the tops of their lungs.
Zack watched them go. "Wonder what THAT was all about."
Cubie shrugged. "Maybe Cerebrum is offering group therapy."
Zack nodded. "That would explain it."
The couple rolled the ribbon out into the promenade and gaped at the
carnage. McKenzie's was burning. Orange ooze was dripping off the front
entrance to McDonalds, and crewmen were running pell-mell every which-way.
And a large purple dinosaur was making an exit.
Cubie stared in shock. "What the smeg is going on here?"
Zack kept rolling the ribbon. "Who cares? Look at all these customers!!"
The pair wove through the teeming masses and entered McDonalds. They gaped
at the carnage.
"Who . . . ?"
"What . . . ?"
"When . . . ?"
"Why . . . ?"
"How . . . ?"
Zack picked his way to the cash register. Looking inside, he was surprised
to see that all the money was still in the till. "Well, it doesn't look
like we were robbed."
The store manager staggered out from the back room, a red welt on his
forehead. Spotting them, he handed Zack his apron. "I quit!"
Zack frowned. "But we haven't even opened yet!"
"Doesn't matter. I quit anyway. This place is insane! Plus - I hate you!"
Zack scowled. "Fine. We'll make our millions without you!"
Cubie stepped aside as the ex-manager rushed out. "Don't you think you were
a little harsh with him, Zack?"
Zack tied the apron on. "No, I don't think so. Opening day, and he's
bailing out on us."
Cubie waved her arms around the wrecked restaurant. "Zack, maybe he could
have told us what happened. Ever think of that?"
Zack pointed a finger in the air. "As a matter of fact . . . no." He
deflated slightly. "No, I hadn't."
He looked around. "Well, we can still make a go of this, if we just get
this mess cleaned up. Starting with these little fellows." He held up two
wiggling pink creatures, holding the napes of what might someday be their
necks between his thumbs and fingers.
Cubie approached for a closer look. "Zack, what ARE those?"
Zack shrugged. "Got me. Unfried McNuggets?"
One of them lashed out with a tiny tentacle that caught Zack in the
forehead. He blinked in surprise. "Smeg!" Then he passed out.
Cubie rushed over to Zack's side. "Zackie? You all right?"
She heard a tiny hiss next to her left foot. Looking down, she spotted the
mysterious McNugget growling at her. "Smeg off!"
The creature tagged her right between the eyes with a tentacle. She grinned
at it. "I'm a hologram. You can't-"
Cubie passed out.
~Zack & Cubie~
Today's Special