XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Title: A belated April Fool's Day treat for Diabolical Diana (at the moment, but I'm not exactly enamoured with it). Disclaimer: They all belong to me! Do you hear me, Chris Carter? They all belong to me, dagnabbit! If you want them back, you gotta pay me for 'em! (Do you think he believes me, guys?) P.S. Chris, pay attention to the fact that Scully has HER OWN DESK!!!! Rating: As PG as they come Category: Oh, let's see... I wouldn't call it a funny one, although there are some funny moments. What other categories could it fit into? Dedication: I hereby dedicate this fanfic to my entire AFML family, without whom I might have gotten better marks, but had less fun. :) "I can't handle it, anymore. She's just got to die," Special Agent Dana Scully heavily sighed, as she put her briefcase on her new refurbished desk. "Oh, yes?" her partner, Special Agent Fox Mulder replied from underneath his own desk, where he was picking up some sharpened yellow pencils that had mysteriously fallen there. His head then peeped up over the desk. "I know exactly what you mean, Scully. I heard her Titanic song yet again, as I drove in this morning. I wish her heart would stop already!" "I was referring to Diana Fowley, you nincompoop!" Scully exasperatingly replied. "What could you possibly have against that angel housed in a slightly worse-for-wear female body?" Mulder absentmindedly responded, as he decided to surf the internet for porn e-zines. "Everything. Come on, Mulder, admit it. She's been a hindrance to us ever since Gibson Praise and probably before then. She thinks she's all high and mighty, but she's just trying to get closer to us. Or at least you, anyway. She *is* in cahoots with CGB Spender, you know," Scully said, as she decided to do her own surfing on Hot New Diseases Quarterly (TM). "I never thought I'd hear the words "in cahoots with" cross your lips, Scully!" was Mulder's only response, as he became more and more engrossed with whatever was on his screen. "Okay, then, I'll say it again. "In cahoots with." The phrase is of German origin. Thieves in medieval Germany's Black Forest often shared cabins known as 'kajuetes.' They were literally "in kajuetes" with each other," Scully matter- of-factly pointed out. She continued in an uncharacteristically conspiratorial tone, "Say, Mulder, I know it's a little past April Fool's Day, but I was wondering if you're up to playing a trick on Diabolical Diana?" "Oooh, a walk on the wild side, to quote Frohike. Count me in, on one condition," Mulder replied, internet completely forgotten. "What's that?" Scully wondered. "Tell me the origin of April Fool's Day, since you seem to be so knowledgeable about origins," Mulder smugly replied, certain that Scully had no clue. "Origins, smorigins. I thought you'd ask me something more difficult. The most plausible explanation is that until 1564 it was a tradition that began the New Year. It usually involved a week of celebration, ending with a big party. However, the calendar was different back then: the New Year began on March 2, and the biggest party fell on April 1. In 1564, a new calendar made January 1st the New Year. People who forgot - or didn't realize - what had happened, and still showed up to celebrate on April 1, were called 'April fools.' Happy?" Scully rose to the challenge, and noted with satisfaction the surprised look on Mulder's face. Mulder quickly recovered, and gave a slight smile. "So, what did you have in mind?" "Send her off on a wild goose chase, on the pretense that it's a hot new X-File that requires her expertise," Scully answered, with a sly grin. "Well, well, well. You really have it in for her, don't you?" Mulder noticed. "Let's hope that Diana isn't as gullible as the British Radio Norwich's radio audiences in the 70s, who believed a report that it was experimenting with "colour radio," and that the tests would affect the brilliance of tuning lights on home radios. Some listeners actually reported seeing results: one complained that the experiment had affected the traffic lights in his area, and another asked the station manager how much longer the bright colours he saw would be streaming out of his radio." "Yes, well, perhaps she will be as gullible," Scully mischievously responded, already thinking of her plans. "Now what I want you to do is..." Scully laid out her plan to an amused and increasingly interested Mulder. The next morning, a clanging phone woke Diana Fowley up at 3:24 a.m. "Hello?" her groggy voice answered, as she tried to silence the rude intrusion. "Diana, it's Fox. You have to come quickly to meet me at the Spaghetti factory," Mulder urgently said, trying to cover a smile. "It's 3:24 in the morning!!! Can't it wait a few hours?" Diana whined, slightly awake, and strongly annoyed. "No, of course not. Do you think I would call you now if it could wait?" Mulder frowned. "Oh, all right. Say, where is Scully? Why isn't she helping you?" Diana wondered, starting to sit up in bed. "She's on vacation in Canada. Something about getting back to nature and her colder roots. Don't worry, though, she remembered to pack her snowsuit," Mulder answered. "Oh. The Spaghetti factory, you say?" Diana slowly asked, silently cursing herself for giving in so easily. "Yes. Get here right away. There's no time to be wasted. And Diana," Mulder added, "don't forget to bring a can opener and a water hose." "What on earth for?" Diana immediately blurted, but it was too late. Mulder was already gone. "A can opener and a water hose. For an X-file," Diana muttered, as she pulled herself out of bed, quickly pulled on pants and a shirt, and ran to her car, pausing only to grab the requested tools. It was a good thing that the FBI hadn't issued videophones to its employees, otherwise Diana would've known something was up. At the Spaghetti factory, Mulder was dressed in a chicken suit, calmly explaining to Scully that the Lone Gunmen would have been better co-conspirators in this operation. "Come on, Mulder, no matter what Langly might say, you are definitely more convincing," Scully replied, as she put the last minute touch on her preparations. "You aren't too chicken, now, are you?" Mulder smirked at her, and retorted, "This whole thing is for the birds." "Birds of a feather flock together," Scully reminded him. "And the early bird catches the worm," Mulder responded, as he noticed a car entering the parking lot. "This is my cue to fly," Scully said, as she quickly ran to a room hidden by huge crates. "Fox? Are you there?" Diana hesitantly called out in the large warehouse, from the entrance. "I'm over here, Diana, in the middle by these open crates. I'm not hard to miss," Mulder gave a sour grin to an overhead camera. Scully smiled at her monitor, from which she could see the entire layout of the warehouse, and the surrounding property. She noticed Diana pausing at the entrance of the warehouse, as if she were wondering whether to continue or not. She glanced back at Mulder, who had began to make faces at Scully. "I demand to know why you brought me out here this early in the morning. It had better be important," Diana angrily said, as she walked toward the middle of the huge room. "It's extremely important, I told you that on the phone. Oh, Diana, I should warn you about the floor - " Mulder said too late as he heard a high- pitched yelp coming from the general direction of the entrance. "What the - ?" Diana exclaimed as she tripped over a string that allowed green slime to pour on her from above her head. "Bingo!" Scully quietly exclaimed. She smiled with satisfaction as she added, "I bet the worm has missed its native habitat." Diana pulled herself off the ground, and tried to wipe some slime from her face. She continued walking to the middle of the room and found a slightly surprised Mulder. "Did you have a nice trip?" Mulder asked Diana, as he smiled. Diana was not in the mood for jokes. "What is going on, Mulder? Why are you in a chicken suit? And why did I have to bring a can opener and a water hose?" "Nothing's going on. I'm not in a chicken suit. The can opener was because I'm hungry, and there's a lot of spaghetti in this factory, but I need a can opener to open the sauce cans. And the water hose is to water the spaghetti plants. They've been recently imported from Italy, to escape the famed Italian spaghetti weevel. But for some reason, someone has been stealing the spaghetti plants from this factory, and we have to find out who," Mulder replied, trying not to laugh at the slimy Diana. "Look at me, Mulder. I can't do anything looking like this," Diana said as she pointed to her slime-covered body. "Look at what? I don't see anything," Mulder looked puzzled. "The slime! What do you think this is, my usual attire?" Diana frustratingly replied. "Well, I know waking you at 3:30 in the morning probably might not allow you to look your best, but I wouldn't say that makes you slimy looking," Mulder said. "No, no, no!! I am referring to the slime that fell from the ceiling and landed all over me!!!" Diana yelled, obviously getting to the end of her tether. "Oh, so now you're saying that the sky is falling and landing on you. Look, Diana, Chicken Little may know what you're referring to, but I don't. I don't see anything on you, and I'd like to get started on this case as soon as possible," Mulder said, in a business-like tone. "Are you blind? I am covered in filth! And you are a chicken!" Diana tried to knock some sense into Mulder. "I may be game for this case, but I am not chicken. And I am colour-blind, thank you very much for reminding me," Mulder replied. "Whatever," Diana muttered, as she conceded to begin the case. "First I am going to wash myself off. Where is there a washroom in this godforsaken place?" "I'm not sure, but you could use that hose you brought, and hook it up to a tap, if you want," Mulder suggested, in a conciliatory tone. "I can do that at the very least," Diana frowned, as she reversed her steps and grabbed the hose from her trunk. She found a tap on the side of the building, curiously well-lit for it being somewhat isolated. It almost seemed as though someone wanted her to attach her hose to the highlighted tap. While the tap itself was well-lit, the surrounding area was not. Consequently, Diana was not able to notice the dyed blue water shooting out of the hose. Within a couple of minutes, the chunky slime had mostly landed on the ground, and Diana felt decent enough to re-enter the warehouse. Felt decent does not mean the same thing as actually being decent, as Mulder noticed when she returned. "Feel better?" he asked, with a twinkle in his eye, not making any reference to the newly acquired colour in her cheeks and on her clothes. "Much better, thank you," Diana answered, not noticing the twinkle. "Now, you were saying something earlier about spaghetti weevils? I've not heard of these creatures. Are they native to Italy?" Mulder coughed to hide a laugh that was threatening to erupt from his throat. "Excuse me, must be getting a cold. Yes, the spaghetti weevil is native to southern European countries, particularly to those with climates similar to Italy. It is a nocturnal beetle, and is rather strange in its habits. Normally weevils are interested in things like nuts, fruits, and grains in general. It seems, though, that this particular kind targets spaghetti plants. Italian farmers have been valiantly attempting to ward off these menaces; however, lately they have become too numerous to handle. Eradicating them is impossible. Consequently, they have been attempting to export spaghetti plants to other countries. The United States is particularly suited to such operations, as we have a whole ocean in between, and no spaghetti weevils have been noted here," Mulder informed his blue colleague, as he showed her a video of Italian farmers picking market-ready spaghetti from spaghetti plants. "These creatures are horrible. So what does this have to do with us?" Diana asked. "Unfortunately, those same spaghetti plants that the Italian farmers entrusted us with are being destroyed as we speak. It is not likely that the spaghetti weevil has made its way over to North America, although we can't rule out any possibilities at this point. But we need to find out who or what is responsible. We need to find out who is abducting food from our plates even before we've had a chance to put it there!" Mulder passionately announced. "Agreed," Diana echoed his sentiments. "And to think, I thought somebody actually manufactured spaghetti. But that video sure convinced me. Anyway, what do we do?" "We need to keep a watch out for the spaghetti snatchers, of course. I've alerted the local PD on possible suspicious activity in the area, so they'll do what they can. There isn't too much that we can do now, other than go out to the fields and wait," Mulder replied, as he got up and headed toward the exit. "Oh, my goodness, I'm all blue!" Diana cried, as she looked down at herself. "I'm feeling sad, too, but we will find the culprits, wherever they are!" Mulder valiantly said. "No, Mulder, I'm coloured blue - my clothes, my skin, everything!" Diana tried to explain. "Diana? Are you okay? I think you're seeing things. First you thought you had slime all over you, then you thought I was a chicken, now you think you're blue all over. I think maybe you should lie down for a while," Mulder concernedly looked at Diana. "No, we're going to get those stupid spaghetti snatchers, if it's the last thing we do!" Diana emphatically replied, as she too headed for the exit. As soon as they left, Scully let out the huge bubbles of laughter that kept threatening to burst throughout the conversation and betray her whereabouts. "Diana, you are so gullible! This is perfect! Now I need to make sure everything is all set up in the field!" Scully quickly scurried away. As the two agents walked out to the field, Diana's lips moved at a steady pace. "Mulder *is* wearing a chicken suit. I *am* blue all over. I *was* covered with slime," Diana chanted to herself, as if she were trying to convince herself of their validity. Mulder looked over at Diana, and could faintly decipher what she was saying. He smiled at the sky and silently remarked that there was a seed of doubt planted in her mind that needed to be germinated. And he and Scully were just the tools to do that. "This is very strange," Mulder frowned, as he glanced at the field. "Where did the spaghetti plants go?" "The spaghetti snatchers have already been here! Or maybe they're still here!" Diana naturally jumped to these conclusions. "We should see if they're still in the fields." "Good idea. You check this field," Mulder pointed to the one immediately in front of them, "while I go to the one on the other side of the building." "Sounds good to me," Diana hesitantly replied, a small frightened waver evident in her voice. As a source of comfort, she grabbed her can opener. It was the only potential weapon that she had, other than the water hose which was too cumbersome to lug around. As she peered into the darkness, she wished Mulder had told her to bring a flashlight. No doubt he had his handy, she thought, as always. She stepped on something squishy, but she dared not look down. She would find the remains of it soon enough in the light. Suddenly, she thought she heard a sound. She stopped in mid-stride, and cocked her ears toward the sound that seemed to come from in front of her. She waited for a good three minutes before deciding that the sound must have been her imagination, "Just like everything else tonight," she whispered aloud. She wandered through the fields for a few more minutes, wondering if there were spaghetti weevils here. "I don't think that Fox knows how much I hate insects of any sort," Diana muttered under her breath. All of a sudden, a huge swarm of weevils came out of the pitch blackness. Of course, Diana had no idea what they were, but she knew they were annoying little things that couldn't be gotten rid of by aimlessly swinging her can opener in the air. Logically knowing that, however, did not prevent her from actually following through what her instinct was demanding of her. Although Diana didn't know that the slime from earlier had been partially made from ground-up fruit, both Scully and the weevils knew that. And both of them were quite pleased by that. Unfortunately for Diana, there were still remains of the slime on her. "Get off me! Get lost! Shoe!" Diana flailed her arms, trying to get rid of the insects. She ran back to the warehouse, and looked at the insects in the light. "Eek! Gross!" she exclaimed. Mulder came running to the warehouse. "I heard you screaming - are you okay?" "No, I'm not okay. Those beetles are trying to attack me!" Diana said, as a few remained close to her body. "I don't think there are any spaghetti weevils here, Diana," Mulder replied. "What do you call this?" Diana held up one unfortunate weevil. "Two fingers pinched together?" Mulder asked. "It's a weevil, Fox. Weevil. Right here in front of you. Can you not see it?" Diana held it even closer to Mulder, her eyes wildly gleaming. "Quite frankly, no. All right, Diana. I think it's been a long day, and it isn't even fully morning, yet. I'm sorry to have dragged you out here. Why don't you go on home, now," Mulder put his wing, or rather arm around her shoulders, trying to lead her to the exit. "But we haven't found the spaghetti snatchers, yet!" Diana yelled, squiggling out of his arm. "You're right, we haven't. Shall we continue looking for them?" Mulder asked, abruptly stopping. "I could go home while you continue looking for them," Diana suggested. "I could, but what if something happened? There's no one else out here," Mulder replied. "All right, have it your way, Mr. Identity Crisis," Diana sullenly replied, plucking some feathers from his suit. "I suppose these aren't even feathers." Mulder hoped she wouldn't think of tickling his nose, as he answered, "Of course not. I'm seriously getting worried about you, but let's find our culprits, first." They headed out toward their respective fields, again. Diana kicked herself for not asking Mulder for his flashlight. As Diana wandered through the field, she felt a bit more lucky, as she happened upon what looked like spaghetti plants. She decided not to touch them, in case the spaghetti weevil was lurking around the immediate vicinity. As she took another step, her foot kicked something metal. She looked closely at the object, and discovered a can that looked to be labelled spaghetti sauce. "Aha!" she thought. "they must be around here to eat the spaghetti right in the field!" She would afterwards wonder what possessed her at this precise moment to open the can, but she found her hands reaching for her can opener and starting to open the can. As soon as the lid was partially open, a huge explosion of powdery material landed all over her. As soon as it landed on her, she began to get itchy. The more she scratched, the more itchy she became, and the more powder got shaken into her clothes. "No!!!" she screamed and ran to her hose, to try to get the cool water to wash away the powder. This was the last straw for Diana. As Mulder rounded the corner of the building, Diana put her hands on her hips and simply said, "Let's go." "Whatever you say, Diana," Mulder replied in an understanding tone. Diana picked up her hose and headed toward the car. "This has been the worst assignment ever! And you don't even believe any of it!" she exclaimed to Mulder. "I understand looking for culprits in a field at 5 in the morning is difficult. What's so unbelievable, though?" Mulder questioned, as she got in her car. "I'm a mess, and you deny it. You're a chicken and you deny that, too. I'll see you in a couple of hours," Diana left, wondering what just happened. She drove home, hopped in the shower, and went back to bed for a little bit of sleep. Meanwhile, Mulder and Scully quickly cleaned up the factory. "Do you think she believes everything happened?" Scully asked Mulder, as he tossed his chicken suit in a bag. "Na, it's too unbelievable. I mean, spaghetti weevils? Come on! Anyone in their right mind would know such things could not exist. I've got to hand it to you, Scully, it's a pretty clever idea," Mulder grinned, as he reflected on the events. "Thanks. Now I'm going to go home myself and see you later," Scully said, as she picked up her stuff and left, with Mulder following her lead. Later on that morning, Mulder and Scully ran into Diana at the office. "Oh, hey, Diana, how's it going? Man, you look - are you okay? What kinds of nightmares were you having last night?!" Mulder greeted Diana as she wearily glanced at him, blue dye and red marks clearly visible on parts of her skin. "Fox, don't tell me you don't remember any of what happened this morning. And Scully, when did you get back?" Diana suspiciously looked at the two. "What are you talking about, Diana? This morning I slept in a little because the batteries died in my alarm clock, but nothing really exciting there," Mulder looked confusedly at Diana. "Where did I go, Diana? I went home last night, and got back at the office around 9 this morning, if that's what you mean," Scully replied in an equally puzzled tone. "No!!! I can't handle this! I'm going home!" Diana put her hands on her temples and shook her head. As she headed toward the elevator, she turned back to the agents. "Fox, you wouldn't happen to own a chicken suit, would you?" "No. Are you looking to borrow one?" Mulder asked her. "No, just wondering... See you later," Diana said as her shoulders slumped even further. As soon as the elevator door closed, Scully turned to Mulder and gave a little squeal. "Yes!" she exclaimed, giving Mulder a high-five. "Just think what we could do on the real April Fool's Day next year!" "Just promise me it won't involve chicken suits," Mulder answered, as they headed back toward their office to begin official FBI business. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Notes: This took a turn that I wasn't expecting it to at the outset. I started writing this a few weeks ago. Actually, exactly a month ago. I was studying for one of my exams. I basically put it down after that one page, and didn't pick it up again until today. Conspiracy, I know what you mean about not finishing stories. This was hard to finish. And maybe it's not even finished now. The idea for the spaghetti weevils, alas, was not mine. There was a true April Fool's Day incident in 1966, in which the BBC broadcasted a TV documentary on spaghetti- growing in Italy. The film showed footage of Italian farmers picking market- ready spaghetti from "spaghetti" plants. British viewers apparently accepted the news that Italy's "pasta farmers" had been able to fight off the "spaghetti weevil," which had been especially destructive recently. That's all I know about the incident. Pretty funny story, eh?