Eventually, there was a clattering heard which woke Geppetto up instantly.

"Who is there?!" The toy maker demanded.

"It's me!" Pinocchio piped up.

"Bet he freaks out." LJ commented.

"Oh... It's me..." Geppetto muttered as he came to go back to sleep before overreacting. "Huh?!"

"Good one." Zofia smirked to her brother.

"Called it." LJ smirked.

"Shh, Figaro. There's somebody in here," Geppetto told his cat as he lit his candle and held out a gun in case it was a robber.

Figaro let out a small mew.

"Shh! Be careful now, Figaro," Geppetto whispered to his cat as they looked around. "He might spring out on us at any time. He's in here somewhere."

Jiminy looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Here I am!" Pinocchio smiled as he poked Figaro which scared the cat up Geppetto's night shirt.

"And so, the plot advances..." LJ commented.

"I think we should skip to the next morning to really get the ball rolling..." Lionel decided.

"Good idea, Lionel, let's have at it then." Atticus agreed.

The next morning then came in the village and it seemed to be a happy day so far.

"All right, kids, I know you're used to being home-schooled, but think of this as an adventure with your new friend," Mo smiled to her kids. "After all, you loved going to Royal Prep with Sofia, James, and Amber."

"Alright, let's quit yapping, and get to snapping!" LJ replied. "Oh... Sorry, Auntie Mo."

"Hm... Quite..." Mo said to that. "Anyway, best behavior, all of you."

"We will, Mom/Aunt Mo." The kids replied.

"Alright, team, let's go-go-go!" LJ announced triumphantly. "And so my first test begins..."

"Have a good day, kids!" Mo beamed.

"Okay, bye, Mom!" Estelle smiled. "Bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, Princess!" Atticus smiled back to his daughter.

"Take care, kiddos!" Lionel waved.

"You got it, Dad-o-mine!" LJ replied.

The kids then walked off to go and join the other children in the village to school.

"Oh, look, Father! Look!" Pinocchio beamed.

"Oh, stand still now." Geppetto told his son, trying to give him something.

"What are those?" Pinocchio smiled and pointed to the kids.

"Huh? Oh, those. They are your schoolmates," Geppetto replied, putting him in a vest. "Girls and boys. Uh, n-now, get in."

Pinocchio put on his vest, and Gepetto gave him an apple for the teacher, and his schoolbook. And so, Pinocchio went on his merry way, skipping along to school.

"Let's follow him and make sure he gets there." LJ suggested.


The kids then went to follow Pinocchio.

"Hey, there." Akito smiled.

"Huh?" Pinocchio blinked and looked over. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm...Lionel Jr, and these are my friends," LJ introduced. "We're also going to school, so we thought we'd accompany you!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Vincent added.

"All right!" Pinocchio smiled as he came to join his new friends to school.


And so, they continued on, passing by a cat and a fox.

"Ah, Gideon, listen. The merry laughter of little innocent children wending their way to school," The fox smirked to the cat. "Thirsty little minds rushing to the fountain of knowledge. What would this stupid world be without-" he then stopped as he saw a poster while lighting his cigar. "Well, well, well! Stromboli! So that old rascal's back in town, eh?" he then chuckled. "Remember, Gideon, the time I tied strings on you and passed you off as a puppet? We nearly put one over on that old gypsy that time."

As they passed by the fox and the cat, the fox commented, "A little wooden boy, hehehe...A LITTLE WOODEN BOY!" Quickly, he and Gideon rushed to see the children as they headed to school.

The kids continued to walk along together to school.

"I just know I'm going to be one of the smartest students in school," Zofia smirked. "I can speak Latin."

"Yeah, whatever." LJ rolled his eyes.

"My twin siblings show off sometimes too." Vincent whispered to LJ.

"Ugh, that's gotta be annoying as all get-out," LJ replied. "Believe me, I know..."

The fox soon let out his cane which caused Pinocchio to trip.

"Oh! Pinocchio, are you all right?" Estelle asked.

"I think so." Pinocchio replied as he fell on his stomach, dropping his book and his apple.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" LJ snapped.

"Oh! Oh, how clumsy of me," The fox spoke. "Oh, my, my, my, my. Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Oh, I do hope you're not injured."

"I'm all right." Pinocchio replied.

"Yeah, whatever. What's your business here?" LJ questioned.

"Yeah, um, if you don't mind, we gotta get going to school." Akito added.

"School. Ah, yes," The fox replied. "Then you haven't heard of the easy road to success."

"Uh-uh." Pinocchio shook his head.

"No?" The fox replied. "I'm speaking, my boy, of the theater. Here's your apple."

"Gee, thanks." Zofia deadpanned as the apple was a core now.

"Well, sorry, bubs, but we need to get to school!" LJ retorted.

"Bright lights, music, applause, fame!" The fox continued.

"Pass." Akito and Estelle replied.

"Fame...?" Pinocchio asked.

"Yes! And with that personality, that profile, that physique, why, he's a natural born actor, eh, Giddy?" The fox beamed.

"Hard pass, pal," LJ replied. "We got school, so we're going!"

"Straight to the top. Why, I can see your name in lights, lights six feet high," The fox continued as he seemed interested in Pinocchio. "Uh... What is your name?"

"Pinocchio." The puppet boy replied.

"Pinocchio! P-I-N... Eh, uh... U-O... Eh, P-I... Eh..." The fox tried to spell that name, but struggled and changed the subject. "We're wasting precious time. Come, on to the theater."

"I don't think so." Akito replied, holding Pinocchio back with his god-like strength.

"Yeah! Did you not hear we have school to go to?" LJ added. "Aki's right!"

"Yeah, so if you don't mind, please quia beat!" Zofia helped. "That means 'beat it' in Latin."

"What if I made you all famous too?" The fox smirked to the other kids.

"Take your fame and shove it in your back end!" LJ scoffed.

"We're not going anywhere." Estelle added.

Pinocchio frowned. "Aw, but guys, it sounds like fun!"

"Well, there's a time for fun and a time to get things done!" LJ replied. "And what we need to get done is going to school!"

"So... Bye!" Vincent said before running with the others with Pinocchio to get away from the fox and the cat.

"The nerve of some foxes," Estelle muttered. "At least Nick Wilde taught us that they're not all bad, but that one definitely is."

"Yeah! What's he think we are-stupid?" LJ added.

"Now, Pinocchio, it's time to learn." Akito smiled.

"I hope you're ready," Estelle added. "We love learning from our friend Tech."

"That's another long story!" LJ replied. "But shouldn't we go through with the original film storyline?"

"And let that fox get away with Pinocchio?" Vincent replied back. "Who's gonna know?"

"Of course not! We'd go after him, naturally!" LJ replied. "Alright...I figure we can let things play out once we meet with Lampwick later on..."

Akito and Estelle shrugged and soon came back.

"What changed your mind?" The fox smirked.

"Never mind that now, just no monkey business, Fox." Zofia replied.

"The name is Honest John." The fox clarified.

"Yeah, and I bet his name is bogus, too." LJ snorted.

"You all are rather smart, come with me." Honest John told them.

They soon followed the cat and fox as they looked excited, though mostly about Pinocchio than the other kids.

"By the way, shouldn't Jiminy be around here somewhere?" Zofia wondered.

"He's probably tagging behind..." LJ replied.

"Typical," Zofia rolled her eyes. "Just like you when the call to the adventure rings on the telephone."

"THAT is for completely different reasons!" LJ retorted. "I answer...I just make sure to duck first. Besides, I prefer to approach situations rationally, instead of just charging in headfirst!"

"What am I going to do with you?" Zofia simply sighed to her brother.

"Maybe think before just going in wildly?" LJ retorted. "And it wouldn't kill you to NOT be a showoff for once..."

"Who's showing off?" Zofia replied. "I'm just giving helpful criticism as your favorite sister."

"Oh, really? We all KNOW you're brave and know Latin! We don't need you talking about it so blasted often!" LJ griped.

"Hey, hey, no fighting, we're not here to have arguments, we're here to help Pinocchio." Akito reminded the Schwartz siblings.

"Yeah, alright." LJ sighed. "The arguments are merely a sideline activity! And as long as Zo can stop being a know-it-all, things should go smoothly!" he added.

Zofia just stuck her tongue out slightly to that. And so they followed after Pinocchio, and the cat and fox.

"Oh, and sticking out your tongue? Geez, sis, what are you, 5?" LJ snorted. "I thought you were 'mature'."

Zofia just gave him a look as they went after Pinocchio along with the fox named Honest John and the cat named Gideon.