“How high up are we?” It asked on the roof of the Empire State Building.
“We’re 1,250 feet up,” Mangle supplied. “It’s 1,454 feet to the top of the tip.”
It oohed. “I bet that I could touch the tip of it.”
Mangle paled. “It, don’t you dare. You’ll get into so much trouble, we can’t!”
It didn’t listen and revved up her wings to take off. She jumped up and flew to the top, scaring every tourist with them. She touched the tip and then made to stand on it, before jumping down and flying safely to the ground again. Mangle grit their teeth. “What did I just tell you?!”
She shrunk back. “It’s not that big of a deal…”
“Not that big of a deal?! It’s extremely windy out here! What if a gust of wind blew you off course and you landed on the street instead of safely up here?”
It frowned. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
Mangle sighed. “You know I’m not mad, right? I just worry.” Mangle glanced around and saw everyone pointing and staring. “Come on, let’s go to Central Park. People are staring.”
It nodded and left with Mangle. “Are we going to use the early Underground?” she asked.
“You mean the subway? Probably. If I can figure out how to navigate it.”
They entered the subway and Mangle grabbed a map. They got on the first train that came their way as Mangle read the map. “So we go here...then here...and then...okay. That should be easy. It, could you grab my hand please?”
It did as requested. They got to the station closest to Central Park and headed towards the surface. When they reached the park, It looked to Mangle. “Can I fly, Dad?”
Mangle nodded. “Go nuts.”
It cheered and did a cursory lap across the short end of the park. She flew up higher to try and see the end of it. “This place is huge!” she exclaimed.
Mangle nodded. “Yeah, which means that we might not be able to see everything.”
“I want to go to the zoo. The park is great and all, but the thing I most want to see is the zoo.”
Mangle nodded. “We'll go to the zoo, then.”
They went quickly, Mangle jogging and It flying, until they reached the gate. Mangle paid for both of them and the first thing they saw upon entering was the sea lions. “Woah!” It exclaimed.
Mangle held her hand before she could dash off. “Stay with me, please, It,” Mangle warned.
It nodded and dragged Mangle towards them, where she stayed enraptured for quite a while. Mangle gently prodded her. “Hey, do you want to see some of the other exhibits? There’s a tropic zone I think you’d enjoy; they have bats.”
“They have bats?!” It shrieked in excitement.
Mangle shushed her and nodded. She grabbed his hand. “Lead the way!” she declared.
When they got to the tropical zone, It ran immediately over to the bats and watched them carefully, looking at their wings. “They have my wings, Dad!” she said excitedly.
Mangle leaned behind her. “Yeah, they do. Do you think you can understand what they’re saying to each other when they squeak?” they teased.
It listened. Then she cocked her head to the side. “They’re waiting for moths to be released, I think. They’re hungry, at any rate.”
Mangle started. “You can actually understand them?”
“Sorta,” It said. “It’s an instinct thing. I just...know that they’re hungry.”
Mangle considered. “It’s weird that they’d be hungry, usually they’re fed every night.”
It leapt over the railing at went into the enclosure. “I’ll ask them!”
“It! What are you doing?! Get back here!” Mangle demanded.
People looked over and started muttering. It ran directly below the bats and said, “Hey, bats, did you get fed last night? I know you’re hungry!”
Some of the bats looked down at her. One of them chirped and flew down. It flew up to meet her halfway. The bat flew around her and seemed to accept her as bat enough and flew into It’s wings. It went back to the ground. The bat made several squeaking noises and It listened carefully. “Uh-huh? You really didn’t get anything?”
A worker came to the edge of the exhibit and yelled, “Hey, kid! You’re not allowed to be in there!”
It frowned. “The bats didn’t get fed last night! They’re all really hungry! They’re having a hard time sleeping because of it!” she called back. “Someone needs to get them some food!”
“Kid, those bats could get you sick! You need to get out!”
It frowned. "Some would say this is where I belong!” she exclaimed, stretching her wings and letting the bat fly up to the rest of her family. The crowd screamed when they saw her wings. The worker swallowed visibly. “Kid, you’re still not allowed in there. It doesn’t matter if you’re part bat or not.”
“You have to promise to give the bats some food.”
“Yeah, sure kid, just...get out of there!” he exclaimed.
It walked out, wings still stretched, and the crowd parted in front of her. “Dad?” she asked into the crowd.
Mangle shoved his way through the crowd. “If you keep on doing things like that, I’m taking you home tonight.”
It crossed her heart. “I won’t do it again, Dad. I’d have no reason to. My scales are artificial, not lizard. You said that. I can’t emphasize with a lizard or snake if my scales are synthetic.”
Mangle sighed. “You don’t understand half of what you just said, do you?”
“No idea,” she said proudly.
“Let’s move on before you kill yourself or someone kicks us out,” Mangle said.
They went to the children’s zoo and saw a few more exhibits on the way. Mangle reasoned it would be safer for It to be around animals she wouldn’t get in trouble for touching. It was still enchanted, and this time she didn’t get in trouble for inspecting the animals. She talked about it the whole way to Cameron’s apartment.
“Can you believe it Dad? They didn’t remember to feed the bats! The staff thought they had fed everyone, but they forget the one animal I can understand and yell at them about forgetting!”
Mangle sighed. “Yes, I know. I was there. And I’m still a bit upset you chose to do that. We could have told a staff member without you running into the bats.”
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“I can talk with bats!” It exclaimed excitedly. “They accept me as one of their own, and I can understand their squeaks!”
Mangle nodded. “At a guess, I’d say it’s a chemical thing. Some hormones from your wings that allows your brain to understand a bat’s signals, or something. To be honest, I don’t understand it. I doubt even Dr. James could have predicted this.”
It scowled at the mention of Dr. James but soon went back to gushing. “I loved seeing the city from the top of the Empire State Building. The skyline was amazing! It was awesome!”
Mangle chuckled. “It was amazing, wasn’t it?”
It nodded. “What time is it?”
Mangle looked at their phone. “6:30. We might be able to have dinner with Cameron tonight.”
It considered. “That’d be kinda nice.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. They can talk to me about the best ways to barf at Coney Island if we stay tomorrow!” she joked.
Mangle sniffed a laugh. “I have no doubt they could.”
ns 15.158.61.55da2
