CASSIA'S GUIDE TO EARTH HOLIDAYS
Author's note: this is a fanfic of "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" Aside from Cassia Capuchin herself, I own nothing.
Fourth of July
"Oh! Good grief!" Cassia said, pacing back and forth along the metallic floor of the Super Robot, "What have I gotten myself into? I thought that if I helped you and the others win the Skeleton King war, everything will be all 'Happily Ever After' for me… and I was so close! More humans understand me here on Shuggazoom then they do back on Earth, the native monkeys are much nicer, and I don't have to worry about someone feeding me bananas which I just so happen to be allergic to, but who knew living on another planet has such challenges to it?!"
"Will you relax?" said Gibson, "I get nervous before lectures as well, especially before the one I gave on wormholes, but I never let it show this much… all you have to do is reveal to all of Shuggazoom City all about Earth, particularly details such as that 'Fourth of July' you had mentioned before. What is that, anyway, some kind of fatal weapon?"
Cassia shook her head and giggled… Gibson may be the smartest monkey on the team, but she should've known he'd jump to that concusion shen she mentioned the Fourth of July being "lit up in flames" when escaping an exploding enemy base at the final stretch of the Skeleton King War. "Unlike you, Professor, I never gave a real lecture before in my life," she admitted, " and just so you know, the 'Fourth of July' isn't a weapon, it's a holiday; one involving a lot of fireworks and gunfire… there's quite the history behind it, really, and a fitting one too… it follows a war… then again… a lot of things that happen on Earth happen because of a war, this is the celebration of victory and—" she trails off, "um, never mind… you wouldn't get it, even after reading all those history books when you came to Earth the day we met."
"I might have skipped a few sections," Gibson said, winking, "those were some rather old tomes… some of the pages were either stuck together or missing. I was beginning to wonder how you got any information from those books, or if I've got the right information, but I tend to take learning in any form…" he placed a finger on his chin, and took a seat, "perhaps it would be best if you started small, and tell me all about the Fourth of July, and all of the other Earthling holidays as well one on one."
"Why? Doesn't Shuggazoom City have holidays of its own?" Cassia asked.
"A few, but they are mostly commercial rackets that have no knowledge of their own history," sighed Gibson, "and the two that do are the ones the team discovered but only on account of them being traps created by the enemy—Monkey Eve and Season of the Skull—I intend on explaining more about them later. Right now, I want you to explain your world and a few of its holidays out loud… think of it as practice for your first lecture. Please?"
"Oh, alright," said Cassia, rolling her eyes, "but only as long as it's just the two of us for now… I'm not ready to face a large crowd!" She cleared her throat, and began her speech:
"During the event called the Revolution, what is now called the Federal Republic had yet to be called the United States of America, but it was on its way of getting that title when the Thirteen original Colonies had formed in the year 1776, but believe it or not, the idea of turning the territory into an independent nation from Great Britain actually took place two days earlier then the resulting holiday, on July 2nd, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a document that declare the country free of the rule of the British royals… the document that was voted approval on was called the resolution of independence or the "Lee Resolution" after Richard Henry Lee of the state of Virginia who proposed the idea in the first place. After that, there was another contract to make official called the 'Declaration of Independence', which was to be an announcement of the final decision to all the colonies once it is prepared and signed by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. During the creation of this document, Vice President John Adams had said in a letter to his wife, Abigail, regarding the importance of the document's creation:"
"'I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade,with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.'"
"The problem with Adams's prediction was that the date on the letter was two days off, for the Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration of Independence so many times that they didn't get a copy they could agree on, let alone sign until July 4th, 1776:"
"'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.'"
"Although some founding fathers had passed on during the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence's signing, the Fourth of July or 'Independence Day' as some call it, was an otherwise jubilant occasion year after year just as John Adams had predicted: people had thrown picnics with their friends and family, and parades in honor of the heroes that fought to make the country I came from unique from all other countries on Earth. People told stories about those heroes while hanging up our countries flag—stars and stripes—and sand songs of patriotism like the national anthem, 'Yankee Doodle', 'This Land is Your Land', and a few others with lyrics that bring up images of the war, our victory in it, and what makes America worth protecting for future generations… and when it gets dark, they even have bonfires and, if they could afford it, throw dazzling fireworks displays that really light up the skies."
Cassia had a tear in her eye at the end of that speech, and it soon became clear as to the real reason she didn't want to talk about it. "You really miss it," said Gibson, "don't you?"
She nodded.
The Blue monkey thought it over… he did plan on having his memories recorded holographically across the city of their "private talks", Cassia seemed to be a natural when it came to lecturing about her world when it was just the two of them, but seeing how homesick she already was, a public broadcast might not be the most polite thing to do. After she got tucked in for the night… she's spending the night in MedBay for now, but will eventually live in another part of the city as soon as the buildings are repaired… Gibson started typing up the data. As soon as he found a safe place away from any leftover monsters… and as soon as he learns to cook without blowing things up like his chemistry set… he'd prepare a picnic for her, but in the meantime the best he could do is work a decent firework display with a decent lead compound he's working on. Here's hoping he could find the right moment to use it without the citizens of Shuggazoom City mistaking it for another wave of attack from the recently ended war.
This story was meant to be a one shot, but I could make more chapters if you insist on it… after all, there are a lot more holidays on Earth, and thus several ways for Cassia to tell about her world and Gibson to help her feel at home. In the comments, you can offer suggestions and trivia or just tell me what you think so far.