Chapter 16: To Market, To Market

And so, a few hours later, Sketch had finished designing his advertisement and was ready to find someone to print it up. Meanwhile, Jamal had called many retailers and quite a few were interested in selling the product to the public. Jamal told Sketch the good news, and Sketch smiled. He showed the advertisement he designed to Jamal, who gave it the thumbs-up. They called up the newspaper and asked to have the ad printed for the next two weeks. Sketch was astonished at how much it would cost, but reluctantly decided to accept the cost.

Not long afterward, Iris and Donna returned with a few pamphlets in hand. They explained their advertising method: handing out flyers to passers-by. Sketch and Jamal found this very childish, but Iris and Donna added that the product gained much popularity because of it. Sketch thanked the girls for their well-done efforts. After prying himself loose from the affectionate girls' hugs, Sketch began to place the jetpacks in crates that Jamal had created. As the time passed, many of the retailers called, saying that they were ready to receive the product. For each retailer Sketch told Donna and Iris to deliver two crates of jetpacks. Just before quitting time they gave out the last two crates. As they went home they wondered if their quickly built product would be successful.

The next day came. It was Saturday, so there was no work that needed to be done. There was a knock on Sketch's door. It was Jamal, accompanied by Donna and Iris.

"Guys!" Sketch said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"You're not gonna believe this!" said Donna.

Jamal nodded in agreement. "Have a look!"

He handed a newspaper to Sketch, and inside was the advertisement they had asked to print up.

Sketch shrugged. "So? I knew they began printing it today."

"No!" Iris said. "Not that! I'm talking about this!" She pointed to a newspaper article in the business section. Sketch looked at it and began to read. His eyes widened.

"Whoa…"

The newspaper article was on the Tengu Company's jetpack, what the paper had claimed "the most unexpected and most incredible product on the market today." It had included information on the jetpack's success, its sales, and an interview with both Donna and Iris.

"You were interviewed?!" Sketch said with much surprise.

"Yeah, the news travels fast," said Donna, "so about an hour after we were giving out flyers, the newspaper reporters were asking us about it."

"Wow!"

"Can you believe it?" said Jamal. "Our product was sold out almost immediately after they opened their shops! The total sales equaled over three million dollars!"

Sketch was shocked.

"Isn't that awesome?" said Donna with excitement. "We're famous now!"

Sketch, overcome with the amazing success of the jetpack, fainted.

 

When the workdays began again, the phones were consistently ringing. News reporters, customers, and interested people were calling the company asking questions, giving praise, and suggesting ideas. Sketch was hardly able to keep up with all the phone calls, so he had given Jamal the job of helping answer the calls. Meanwhile, Iris and Donna were helping the assembly line in making the jetpacks. As the days went on, the jetpack was still a great success. Their profit was incredibly high, totaling over a ten million dollars!

"This is amazing!" said Sketch. "I can't believe that our jetpack is such a success so quickly!"

"Well, no one else really makes it," said Donna, "and besides, it's an interesting change from cars and motorcycles!"

"How much did we earn from all this?"

Jamal checked the accounts on the main computer. "So far we've earned $12,452,134." The numbers went up. "Uh, make that $12,532,134."

"Wow! This is so exciting!" said Donna. "How much do you think we'll get for payday?"

Sketch's ears perked up. "Payday! That's right!" He turned to the others. "Okay, guys! We've done a whole lot of work these past few days. I think it's time we got our just rewards!"

The others' ears perked up. "Really?"

"Yes! I think all of us have done an outstanding job with this project. I think it's time I paid you for your good work!"

Donna and Iris squealed with joy. Jamal just smiled, covering his long ears to muffle the girls' excited screams.

"Okay, guys!" Sketch held out a card with his name and a lone microchip on the end. "Present your currency cards."

Donna and Iris gave Sketch their own cards. Sketch waited for Jamal to give him his own currency card, but he shook his head.

"Why won't you give me your card, Jamal?"

"First of all, I don't have a card," Jamal explained. "Second, I find no good use for money personally. I'm happy already."

The others looked at each other after hearing his response.

"Well, if you insist," said Sketch. "Okay, girls, I'm giving you each two million dollars from these profits."

"Two million?" Donna scratched her head. "What about the rest of the money?"

"We have to save the rest for later projects, and besides which advertising costs a lot of money."

"I see." Iris looked suspiciously at Sketch. "And how much are you taking for yourself?"

Sketch frowned. "Two million. What are you? I'm fair!"

Iris shrugged. "Okay."

Sketch inserted the cards into a small slot in the computer, and he transferred the money to each of them. He then inserted his card and transferred his own part of the profit.

"Well, now that that's done, I think now would be a good time to think about another project…"

"Wait," said Jamal. "I want to say something."

The others looked toward Jamal. "What is it?"

"Now that we're all soldiers of Sensei Kazano, I think we may need to train under his wings! You don't always learn to fight naturally. I think we need to take a trip to his shrine in Tokyo where we may learn new skills and grow stronger! Keep in mind that we have another important job to face…defeating Russell Skidriff, the Tengu of evil!"

"He's right," said Iris. "We volunteered to help, and it's silly just gaining the powers without doing much with them."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," said Sketch. "Let's go this weekend."

"The training may take a long time," said Jamal.

"We'll assemble a few robotic helpers to get things done in our absence!" said Donna. "The public will be demanding a lot more jetpacks!"

Iris nodded with a smile. "Yes! We can make one to put jetpacks in crates, another to deliver the crates, and the assembly line to make the jetpacks!"

"But where are we gonna get enough materials?" asked Sketch.

"Leave it to me," said Jamal. He raised his hands to the ceiling, and suddenly several shards of metal appeared in the factory. The pile stretched all the way to the ceiling.

"Wow." Sketch looked at the pile. "You're serious."

Jamal smiled. "Let's lock up and go home," he said. "We have a long trip ahead of us!"

The others agreed, and they all went home.

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