Birdie Summer Fun Times 2k23!!

"Want to try your luck? It's free."

Buck eyed the founder suspiciously. A long silence stretched between them, long and awkward enough for Beau to clear his throat to break it." All you have to do is pick whichever shell holds the pearl and you win."

"What do I win?" Buck interrogated; hands flat against the booth.

"Well, if I told you then that'd make this game a lot less fun now wouldn't it?" The birdie mulled over the answer thoughtfully. A bit too thoughtfully considering it was such a simple question and answer. Beau flinched when the man slammed a fist against the creaking wood of the booth. (They'll really need to replace this soon...)

"And how will I know this isn't one big trick? How will I know if there even IS a pearl under one of these shells."

"I'm getting to that." The man continued patiently. He lifted one of the three iridescent shells to show the pearl hidden beneath. "All you have to do is follow where I hide it and choose the shell with the pearl."

Beau closed the shell around the pearl - only for Buck to immediately grab his wrist. The glass knights surrounding the founder tensed, weapons at the ready, but Beau waved them down with a subtle twitch of his wing.

"It's this one."

"Ah, well... you sort of have to wait for me to actually shuffle the shells first."

"But then I wouldn't know where you hid the pearl."

"That's why you're supposed to... keep an eye on it."

"I did and it's right here."

Beau blinked. Then he blinked again. How did a man like this survive so long? For a moment, all he could do was stare dumbfounded at the birdie in front of him. Unfortunately, he must've taken too long to blink in fact because next thing he knew, Buck was again slamming his hands against the booth, the force toppling shells left and right. "Listen here bucko, I did NOT come here to be made a fool of and if you will not show me that pearl NOW I will MAKE you show me the pearl!"

"I haven't even shuffled..." Beau looked over to all the other skewed shells and saw that the only one still left unturned was the one with a pearl under it being held under his hand. For a second he weighed the pro's and con's of letting this man play this game when he was guaranteed to win... before remembering exactly who he was dealing with. "If you can find where the pearl is covered I will give you the prize." Buck slammed his fist against the table yet again, flipping all the shells back into position.

"I said ENOUGH of these tricks. I WILL find the pearl even if I DIE doing so."

The birdie then proceeded to scan each and every shell -even the ones beyond the three used in the game. Even the one that still had Beau's hand covering it. By some miracle, and after many many minutes, Buck honed in on the elusive shell that held the pearl.

"This one." He stated voice clipped and professional. For a moment Beau didn't know whether he was ready to cry or cheer. Maybe both - at least he wouldn't have to continue dealing with this strange strange man.

"Yes, congratulations! The pearl should be right here-" He lifted the shell ceremoniously only to cut off seeing a blank space where the pearl should be. "W... wuh? Huh-" Beau couldn't get another word out before beefy meaty hands were wrapped around his throat...

and just as quickly they'd left as Bea targeted three pressure points in Buck's back freezing the birdie.

"AGH"

With a few practiced gestures, Bea signaled "Everyone at attention we have a code Osprey!" In seconds, Buck was surrounded by a hoard of glass knights restraining him. Not that Buck was going down easily. It was going to take every knight available to keep the man down.

"I'll fight each and every one of you! And win! America never loses!" Buck screeched. He fought honorably. He fought valiantly. (He was kicked quite a bit by Bea.) And he was no match against the horse tranquilizer a knight shot into him. In an instant he was nothing more than a hunk of man meat.

"Whew - what was that all about?" Bea asked.

"You were there. You saw it all happen." Beau quirked a brow at his partner. She could only hold in her grin for so long.

"I wonder whatever happened to that pearl, Bea."

"I wonder too." She giggled before holding out her hand. Sure enough, there it was, the pearl that almost cost Beau his wretched little life. "It was funny, you have to admit."

Beau sighed with all the theatrics in his 9ft frame before giving Bea a world-weary look, only betrayed by the humor in his eyes.

"Yeah, it was pretty funny."