-Part One-

Spring was in full bloom, and Hector Ruiz was fully confused. It was just one of those days.

"So, Hector, what was so important you had to send out the call?" asked Keith, sitting at the table with the other three members of the Electric Company, facing Hector. "I was in the shower when you sent it out! I was halfway out the door before I remembered I needed to go back and put my clothes on!"

Hector sipped his latte. "Okay, so. Lately, I've been noticing Manny Spamboni acting weird. Well, weirder. There were a few times when I saw him walking around in front of the diner." He gestured to indicate the very Electric Diner they were sitting in. "Not really doing anything, just walking around looking at it."

He took another sip, then continued. "Then, last… Tuesday, I think it was, I saw him sitting on a bench in the park, just sitting there not doing anything. And I, you know, try to be friendly, even to Pranksters, so I walked up to him and said 'Sunny day, huh Manny?'

"And then, he barely looked at me, and he said 'Yeah, I guess.' That was it. No evil cackling, no gloating or threatening, not even an insult. He just kept sitting there for a minute, and then he got up and walked away without saying anything to me."

Lisa took a bite of her sundae. "That's strange."

Hector looked around at them all. "Yeah. Has anyone else noticed anything weird going on with Manny?"

Jessica piped up. "Now that you mention it, I saw him and his mother at the mall together the other day. Mrs. Spamboni looked normal and everything, but Manny looked… I dunno. Sneaky, but not his usual kind of sneaky. I really don't know how else to describe it."

Keith looked like he was thinking. "Do you think he's up to something?" Hector shrugged. "I dunno. But we better be careful."

The others agreed. They needn't have really worried, though. Answers were coming.

A couple days after this emergency meeting, Manny Spamboni stood outside the Electric Diner. He looked down at his little robot companion, made by Manny's own two hands. "All right, little guy," he said "we got a do it now. It won't be fun, but it needs to be done."

The robot shook a little by way of agreement. "Rea-dy, Ma-nny," said its tinny cybernetic voice.

Manny readied the little blue device in his hand and approached the diner door. Opening it, he went inside and spotted the table where the Electric Company always sat. Robot followed him in.

Manny took a deep breath marched up to the table. The Company members all looked up in surprise. Lisa opened her mouth to say something, but Manny held up his device and cut her off.

"Alright, Electric Company, I'm gonna talk and your gonna listen. And if one of you says anything bad about me, my momma, or my family, I will activate this thing and shrink you down to the size of an ant! I will!"

Hector tried to get a word in. "Manny, why would we-"

"Shut up and listen! Now, in a few days… my mother will be getting married."

Lisa smiled. "Oh, that's-"

"SHHH! As I was saying, she will be getting married, and when she does, she told me that she wants to have the reception here, at the Electric Diner. I'm here because you hang around here all the time, and you're friends with that Hock guy-"

"Shock."

"Whatever. Since you're friends with him, and Keith's dad owns the diner, I'm here to make sure that there won't be any trouble from you." He gave the Company the evil eye. "There won't, will there?"

Jessica shook her head. "Of course not. We're happy to hear about your mother. Who's she marrying?"

Manny hesitated. For the first time, he seemed to lose some of his confidence. "Um… well… er…"

He shook himself, then straightened up a bit, and started to say something rather un-Manny-like. "Ya know, people are different. Lots of people aren't like you. And they aren't hurting anyone, you know, so… don't bother them."

He looked around at them all again. "My mother is marrying Paul. Paul the gorilla."

The Company all looked stunned. Manny held up the shrinking device. "Look, Paul isn't like the gorillas you see on TV, he thinks, and he has a job, and he walks upright. He… he loves my mother, and she loves him. And that's all that matters."

Hector tried to speak again. "Manny-"

"If you have any names to call us, or jerky things to say, you can shut up! We don't care anyway."

"Manny, we-"

"The courts are okay with it, we're okay with it, and it's nobody else's business! Keep anything bad you wanna say to yourself!"

Hector got up, walked over to Manny, and put his hand on Manny's shoulder. "Manny, nobody here has anything bad to say. We couldn't be happier for Paul and your mom."

Manny stared for a second. "Oh. Um- good. If you had, you'd have been sorry."

"And you'll get no problems from us," Jessica added. "We'd love for the reception to be here. We can even help get it ready …on one condition."

Manny looked suspicious. "What?"

"We get to come to the ceremony."

Manny shuddered, but with immense strength of character he replied "I'll ask my mother. She'll probably say yes."

The Company all smiled at him in a friendly way. He squirmed uncomfortably.

Lisa put a hand to her ear. "Listen! I can hear wedding bells! Ahh, it's a sign."

Everyone else listened too. After a moment, Keith commented "…pretty sure that's the ice cream truck, Lisa."

"I don't care," Lisa informed him, "to me they're wedding bells."

Part two will be here soon! R&R.