An hour and a half later, the gang emerged from the Gigantoplex and made their way back to the food court. "Damn, that was a good movie." said Jonesy, as they took their usual seats.
"Yeah, it's been awhile since I saw one that good." said Wyatt, nodding in agreement. The others also agreed with Jonesy's assessment before turning their attention to what they were going to do next. "So, did you still want roam the mall Nikki?" Wyatt asked.
"Yeah, if that's cool with all of you?" Nikki replied, glancing around the table.
"Sure, as long as we can stop by the Penalty Box so I can say hi to coach." said Jen.
"Coach Halder still works at the Penalty Box?" Jonesy asked.
"Uh, duh, he owns the place?" said Nikki. "Besides, he loves that store, why wouldn't he still work there?"
"Uh, maybe because it's been six years since we left." said Jonesy. "I mean, we don't work here anymore, so why does he?"
"Well, because we left and he didn't." replied Nikki. Jonesy shrugged, not wanting to start an argument with Nikki on their first day back together.
"So, now that that's all worked out, lets get going." said Wyatt. As they stood to leave, they were stopped a familiar face, one they had not been looking forward to seeing. Ron the Rent-A-Cop, head of mall security was leaning casually against the lemon, a look of pure loathing on his face.
"So, it is true, you maggots have come back." Ron growled, his glare focusing on Jonesy and Jude. The gang glared back, they had always hated the Rent-A-Cop, and they weren't going to let him push them around now.
"Yeah, we're back." Jonesy confirmed. "What's it to you?"
"Watch your tone soldier." Ron barked. "I'm just confirming that the rumors are true."
"Okay, just so long as you don't try and lock us up again, dude." said Jude.
Ron nodded and moved away, casting one last withering glare at them as he did. "Whew that was a close one." said Jonesy. "I thought he was going to try and punish us for some imaginary infraction again."
"I think Ron's mellowed in recent years." said Caitlin. "He's not as strict as he used to be."
"Wait, how do you-oh yeah." said Jonesy, changing course mid-sentence. "I forgot, you've got a salon here, that's how know all this."
"Shit Jonesy, how did you ever get into college?" asked Nikki.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jonesy asked, his voice indignant.
"Never mind." said Nikki. "Let's go say hi to Coach Halder." The others nodded and they made their way to the Penalty Box. They arrived to find the place deserted.
"Huh, that's odd." said Jen. "Coach Halder never leaves the store unattended. I wonder where he is?" She glanced around the store, but there was no sign of Coach Halder or anyone else. Jen made her way to the back of the store, hoping someone was in the break-room, but there was still no trace of her former employer. She returned to the front of the store, where the others were waiting for her. "No luck?" Nikki asked.
"No, I can't find him anywhere." said Jen. "I'm getting a little worried, this isn't like coach."
"Come on Jen, what's there to worry about?" asked Jonesy. "You really think someone's going to be stupid enough to take on Coach Halder?"
"I don't know, maybe." said Jen. "I mean, okay, it does seem unlikely, but-"
"MASTERSON!" Coach Halder's shout cut Jen short, making her jump.
"Ah, Coach, don't do that!" Jen shrieked, spinning around to face her old employer.
"Sorry about that Masterson." said Coach. "I heard you were back in town and I couldn't resist doing that for old times sake. Did I ever tell you that you were the best assistant coach I ever had?"
"Yes, you did." Jen replied, blushing slightly. "But I could have been better."
"No, you did fine." Coach said, looking Jen in the eyes. "I'm sorry I was so hard on you and I am so proud of you. Congratulations on opening the snowboard shop."
"Thanks Coach." said Jen, with a smile. "I couldn't have done it without the lessons I learned from you."
Coach Halder smiled and gave Jen a congratulatory hug. "I'm glad you're back Masterson." Coach muttered. "This mall hasn't been as fun without you and your friends." He released her and she smiled again.
"Thanks Coach, I'm glad we're back too." said Jen, with a glance at her friends.
"No doubt, bra." said Jude, with a quick glance at Coach Halder.
"Well, we better get going, got a lot of other places to visit." said Jen. Coach nodded and the gang made their way to their next location, the Khaki Barn.
Nikki was not particularly enthused by returning to her former place of employment, but she figured since they were being nostalgic she might as well. To her surprise, they were greeted by three familiar faces. Nikki had expected the Clones to still be working for the Crappy Barn, but not here at the Galleria.
"Nikki, welcome back!" Chrissy, the head clone, said as they entered.
"Chrissy, you're still working here?" Nikki asked. "I thought you, Kristen, and Kirsten would have moved up to the head office by now."
"Yeah, they gave us the chance, but we turned it down." said Kristen, popping up on Chrissy's left side, while Kirsten popped up on Chrissy's right.
"But why?" Nikki asked, perplexed. She could not believe the Clones had turned down a chance to be directly involved in the designing of Khaki Barn clothing, given their utter devotion to the company.
"We like working here." Chrissy replied. "Plus, working at the head office is a lot more work than you would think. Too much paperwork."
"Well, I guess if you're satisfied with this." Nikki said, with a shrug, before heading out of the store. The others followed quickly behind, not wanting to spend too much time with the Clones.
As they made their way through the mall, they began to notice things were almost exactly as they had left them six years earlier. "Okay, am I the only one who's noticed that nothing much has changed around this place?" Jonesy asked.
"No, but it's to be expected." said Nikki. "I mean, it has only been six years since we left."
"Actually, there are a few changes." said Caitlin, with a grin.
"Like what?" Wyatt asked, looking at Caitlin. Caitlin simply grinned again and began walking back towards the food court. Perplexed, the others followed without question, unsure what Caitlin was about to show them.
Caitlin lead them across the food court, and as they approached Wonder Taco, they realized exactly why she was so happy. There, standing behind the cash register, the giant taco hat on her head, was Caitlin's arch nemesis, Tricia.
"No fucking way!" said Jonesy, barely daring to believe his eyes. "Tricia works at Wonder Taco now. When did that happen?"
"About a year ago." said Caitlin, her grin growing larger. "She maxed out her credit card, you know like I did, and her dad made her get a job to pay it off."
"Poetic justice at its best." said Nikki, as she tried to stifle a snicker.
"But what happened to Julie?" Jonesy asked, looking at Caitlin.
"She and Darth got married and own a comic book shop downtown." Caitlin replied.
"Dude, that is so awesome." said Jude. "We're gonna have to check that out."
"Oh, you know it dude." said Jonesy, slapping Jude a high five.
"What else is new?" Wyatt asked, looking at Caitlin again.
"Wayne reopened Underground Video, Cristo and Blade got fired from Taj Mahome, and Burger McFlipsters bought the old Stick-It space." Caitlin replied.
"Wow, I guess there has been a bit of change around this place." said Nikki.
"Yeah, well, nothing lasts forever." said Jonesy. "Hey, let's go bug Wayne." The others agreed, and they set out for Underground Video, none of them aware at that moment just how true Jonesy's words would be.
A/N: So, just a quick message about this story. Obviously I don't own 6teen, Teletoon does. Also if you're wondering why the fic has been rated M, it's because the profanity and violence will incresse in later chapters. I know this should have come at the end of the prologue but I'm really bad about remembering to add notes, so sorry about that. One final note before I go, if you haven't read my profile in awhile, I mention a whicked cool online comic called FreakAngels on there and how we need to get some fics started for this story because there are none currently and that's depressing.
