by SpiderBraids
So, E&D are visiting Akela. Dar is quite concerned for himself that she might eat him. She has a bunch of cubs. One of them is being referred to as Tally, as she'll be somewhat important later on, and it'll be easier to refer to her when she has an actual name. Anyways, they've grown up quite a bit, and they've gotten quite fast ("As in, fast enough to catch up to poor defenseless chimps?"), and they decide to race Eliza. Akela doesn't really like her cubs playing out in the savannah, but Eliza promises to take care of them. Akela gives her some foreshadowing, er, warning: Don't go further than the acacia tree. (Where I live, there was a release of a horror film called Acacia not long ago. Makes for an even more bizarre image there.)
So, that's what they're doing as evening falls on the savannah. Eliza outruns the "slowpokes" ("Who you callin' slowpokes?!"), the cubs follow her, and they're playing with Braceface in the grass "just barely" past the acacia when everyone hears gunshots and the whirr of a helicopter. By that, I include the parents who are busy filming somewhere else. Poachers, anyone?
Everyone's running! Okay, Eliza and the cubs are running. One guess who's caught in the poachers' spotlight and taken by them? Tally's being used as a tug of war rope between Eliza and one of them poachers, and the poacher not only wins this tug, but also knocks mommy to the ground as she's giving chase and giving the poacher a gash. Meanwhile, the parents are driving and radioing Debbie (trying to come up with a snappy snarky nickname for her, drawing blanks) to drive, and she cites being grounded. CameraMom yells at her. That actually works (rolling eyes).
So, Braceface finds a high spot on some rock, and wouldn't you know it, she catches the rope ladder hanging from the chopper. Now why would you be flying close to a rock hill where your biggest troublemaker is standing? The poacher on the ladder is busy putting the searchlight on Eliza, and the only thing she manages to notice: a knife with an eagle head on it. Debbie is driving recklessly (we've come a long way from Tommy driving the Reptar wagon), playing loud music, yelling at her gran, and trying to get Wild Thing to stop doing "the wedgie dance", which seems to consist of shaking his butt like no one's business. Looks a lot more like something you'd see in an R&B video than a Nick flick. She adds, "I couldn't have had a sister who plays with dolls?" Or parents who live in an actual house, I might add... Parents are driving up to the Commvee, and Nigel climbs into the window. Gran tells Nigel that they have to talk about his children, while he's pushing the "inflate" button on the dash. Seriously, there's an "inflate" button on their dash.
The roof inflates. Now, why would they have an inflatable roof? Wouldn't something like that be more useful under the car like when they're on the water? Anyways, back to Braceface's chase. Take your pick between: a) brave, b) ultimately futile, c) potentially fatal, d) all of the above. Well, with the poacher climbing into the chopper and knifing off the ladder Eliza has trouble climbing, hopefully you went with D. Cue Eliza bouncing off the inflatable roof and into the cloth side roofing. Akela's pretty shocked, Eliza's pretty depressed, fade to black.