"Are you sure you'll be fine driving yourself to school, Josh," Rocket asked as he, Josh, Blaze, and Lindsay ate breakfast.
"Of course, Dad. I've done it before, so why shouldn't I do it today," Josh said before he took a bite of his cereal.
"Can't argue with that logic."
"Not even if you tried," Blaze said.
"Truly," Rocket said as he took a drink of his coffee.
"I guess I get that from you, Dad."
"Along with my appearance and powers."
"Yeah," Josh said before gulping his milk down.
"Not too fast, Josh. You'll hurt yourself."
"How exactly will I hurt myself by drinking my milk too fast, Mom?"
"I'm not sure," Blaze said, not able to answer her son's question.
"Looks like you can't answer Josh's question, Mom," Lindsay said.
"I have that effect on most people," Josh said before strapping his backpack on.
"Be careful driving to school, Josh," Rocket said as Josh dashed to the kitchen door.
"I will, Dad." Josh then walked all the way to the garage where his Camaro was stored before grabbing his keys. After getting in, he put his backpack in the passenger seat before inserting the keys into the ignition and starting the car.
"Runs just as great as ever," Josh said before backing out of the garage and driving onto the road.
While driving to his school, Josh noticed that his rearview mirror was crooked. Knowing better than to distract himself from driving, Josh resolved to fix the crooked mirror after he had parked at the school. His thoughts then drifted to the hedgehog from last night and his ludicrous message.
"That guy thought I would be some kind of hero, bringing together a team of misfits. The audacity of that prick." Moments later, Josh parked in the student parking lot of his school before fixing the crooked rearview mirror. As soon as it was straightened, he saw Thorn in the back seat through the mirror but not in reality.
"You shouldn't have thrown out my scroll, Josh," Thorn said.
"Haunting me in my dreams and my room wasn't good enough for you," Josh asked.
"You should have let your father drive you to your school, not that it would make much of a difference."
"What exactly are you talking about, Thorn?"
"I won't explain myself until you accept the mission," Thorn said.
"You mean the mission to find some guy with amazing powers, a brother/sister team of shapeshifters, and a thief with a family in the history books? That's not a mission. That's the beginning to a bad joke," Josh said.
"This isn't a time for jokes, Josh. This is a time of seriousness."
"And that scroll wasn't a joke?"
"No, it wasn't. It was a message to let you know about future events," Thorn said.
"Maybe to you," Josh muttered before his door was opened by a monitor lizard.
"Are you all right, Josh? What were you doing," the lizard asked.
"I'm okay, Damon. I was just fighting with my inner self."
"Well, you definitely had the right place for that."
"I try not to fight with myself in public," Josh said, trying his best not to laugh.
"That's good, man. Anyway, we better get inside. School's about to start," Damon said.
"You go. I'll be in as fast as possible."
"Coming from you, that's a promise." Damon then backed away from Josh before walking into the school.
"No more of your bull, Thorn. I'm not listening anything you have to say. I'm done," Josh said before grabbing his backpack and heading inside.
"You'll reconsider your decision sooner or later, Josh." Unknown to Josh, he was being observed from the airless atmosphere of outer space by a shadowy figure sitting in a throne.
"The time to act is drawing near with each passing minute. Soon enough, every existing world in the universe will be ruled by me," the figure said before getting up from her throne.
"It's time to initiate Phase 2 of my plot and I know just where to start." The figure then left the room to put her nefarious plan into action.
In their private quarters located in the castle, Rocket and Blaze were enjoying some alone time wrapped in each other's embrace. They passionately kissed for what seemed like an eternity before breaking apart.
"Just like in our youth."
"Indeed." Rocket and Blaze were too involved with each other that they didn't notice the vines creeping their way towards them.
"In your own personal opinion, what would be your favorite horror movie," one of the guards posted outside Rocket and Blaze's room asked.
"I'd have to say The Cabin in the Woods," the other guard said.
"Mine would have to be the original Nightmare on Elm Street."
"I get that. The remake wasn't all that great."
"I just can't believe they replaced Robert Englund as Krueger. He was the best in all of the movies," the guard said.
"I honestly think they shouldn't have made the movie in the first place," the second guard said.
"Definitely." Rocket and Blaze's screaming was what brought the guards running in to see they had disappeared.
"Alert the princess." The guard then ran to get Lindsay and inform about her parents' disappearance.
"Princess Lindsay," the guard said as he burst into Lindsay's room.
"What's going on?"
"The king and queen have disappeared."
"You're lying," Lindsay said as she set down her Twilight.
"You should know I don't lie. This way," the guard said before leading Lindsay to her parents' room. Inside she saw that her parents had truly disappeared.
"Where are they?"
"I was hoping you would answer that question." Lindsay stepped inside and saw no evidence of where her parents might have gone. Before leaving, she saw a message on the wall: I Have Returned.
"'I Have Returned'," the guard said as he read the message on the wall.
"She's back," Lindsay said before dashing out of the room.
"Where are you going?"
"To get Josh."
"Be careful," the guard said.
"Of course," Lindsay said before exiting the castle.
