Sim State University Versus Ripp Grunt

Chapter Thirty-six

Graduates: Going Under Part 1

Isabella is lying down fast asleep on the brown leather couch in the upstairs lounge of Cassandra's dormitory. She sighs as she moves forward, slowly opening her eyes as the sun lightly streams through the window crack, lighting everything around her with a soft hue. All of a sudden, Kea bolts into the room, Pascal and Lazlo following close behind.

"Izzy, we need to talk!" Kea proclaims, nudging Isabella in the shoulder.

Isabella groans and sits up a bit; rubbing her eyes as she tries to gaze at her friends – all of which have serious expressions on their faces. "What's up?" she asks, scanning the area as her eyes regain focus, "And has anyone seen Vidcund?"

"-You're lying on him," Kea informs her.

Isabella quickly looks down, only to find Vidcund moaning beneath her. "Oh! Sorry!" she apologizes, quickly getting off of him. She moves over on the couch, allowing Vidcund to sit up next to her.

"It's okay," Vidcund states, still half-awake as he adjusts his shirt and brushes off his coat sleeve; Isabella helps him. The pair stops suddenly, sensing the awkward stares that they are receiving from the others that are present. Vidcund and Isabella turn away from each other, facing opposite directions.

"So uh, what's the situation?" Isabella asks, pushing a loose strain of her shiny red hair behind her ear.

Lazlo and Pascal exchange nervous glances with each other before Lazlo steps forward. He begins playing with his hands. "Uh, Pascal heard Ripp practicing a break-up speech while he was in the shower next to him."

"What?!" Isabella calls out, immediately standing up from her seat. "Are you sure?"

Pascal nods, "Well, I'm pretty sure that's what he was saying, though I was singing 'Wannabe' at the time," he completes, noticing the bizarre look that is on Vidcund's face. "It's a good song!" he defends.

"No one said it's not," Vidcund states, giving him a shrug.

"What am I going to do?" Isabella wonders, pacing around the room in a panic. "I mean, does anyone know why he's breaking up with me?"

"Well, I'm still going off of the theory that Ripp is secretly an evil killer robot," Pascal speaks up, taking a seat on the adjacent matching brown leather chair. "Honestly, has anyone ever seen that guy touch water?"

Vidcund scrunches his eyebrows, "Weren't you just in the bathroom with him?" he asks.

Pascal nods, the incident finally clicking in his brain. "- Oh yeah," he states.

Isabella groans, plopping herself down in the center of the floor. She throws her arm above her head and sighs, "I don't think this can get much worse."

Without warning, Nolan Gonzaga, the giant llama mascot, pops his head into view, carrying a clipboard which has pictures of plants on it. "Izzy!" Nolan exclaims, looking down at her, "I just received some complaints about your living situation. What is all this talk about housing unwanted guests in your room?" The Curious brothers quickly turn away, whistling nonchalantly.

Isabella sits up from off of the floor and grabs the clipboard from Nolan. She scans over the complaint papers. Kea walks up next to her, surveying the room.

"Alright, which one of you complained?" Kea asks the passer byer college townies. She narrows her eyes at one of them, pointing her finger accusingly, "Was it you, Lyndsey?" Lyndsey glares at her; Nolan quickly steps between them.

"Well, usually noise complaints are filed by the residents that live on either side of them," Nolan informs her, taking the papers from Isabella and reattaching them to his clipboard. "Of course, there have also been complaints about the amount of food that you're eating. It's quite strange," Nolan comments, "With all the food you're eating, it's almost like you're feeding three grown men."

"-And one small child!" Isabella quickly adds.

Nolan cocks his head, "What?"

"Nothing," Isabella quickly states, "So uh, what you're saying is—Ripp probably filed the complaint?" she asks.

"Well, I'm not allowed to say anything – but yeah," Nolan says, adjusting the collar that is on his llama blazer. He steps closer to her, lowering his voice a bit. "Look Isabella, I know what you're trying to do. I know what happened to your city. So as far as anyone knows, these guys are your brothers," he clarifies, bringing his pointer finger up to his nose and giving a mini-salute to the sky.

"-Gotcha," Isabella says, saluting on her nose as well.

Nolan steps back, heading towards the staircase. "Alrighty then, carry on," he says, trotting down the stairs. Isabella and Kea stand side by side on the carpet in awe.

"Whoa, how does he already know our story?" Kea asks into the silence.

"Well, he does hang out here a lot, maybe he overheard it from someone," Isabella answers back. She sighs as her eyes drift to the floor. "But the more important thing is: Why did Ripp turn us in?" Isabella asks, her eyes filling with concern as she gazes to her best friend, the pair making serious eye contact. But neither of them knew the answer.

Kea screams and quickly ducks under the couch as Tank walks into the upstairs lounge. "Uh, hey Tank," Isabella replies, attempting to cover up Kea's odd reaction, "What's going on with you?" she asks.

"Nothing good," Tank responds, rubbing the top of his forehead. "Have you seen Kea anywhere? I haven't seen her all day."

"Uh…" Isabella stalls, unsure of what to say, "Well, I haven't seen her in the last five seconds."

"Okay," Tank replies, "I guess I'll just check downstairs then," he notes, heading out the door.

Isabella sighs and heads over to the couch. She peeks over the side to look at her concealed friend. "I'm guessing you didn't tell him yet, huh?" she asks.

"Tell who what?" Pascal asks, stepping up behind Isabella and into Kea's peripheral vision.

Kea groans, using the back of the couch to help pick herself up off of the floor. "That I'm pregnant," she claims, smoothing off her black and brown argyle skirt.

"You're pregnant?" Pascal repeats, "Ooh, congratulations!"

"Thanks," Kea states unenthusiastically.

Pascal steps forward, his face puzzled. "What's wrong? Aren't you excited?" he asks.

"I am," Kea says, moving out from behind the brown leather couch and standing in front of her friends, "But I'm worried about how I'm going to break the news to Tank. He does have a tendency to overreact to things…"

"You mean the peanut brittle incident?" Isabella asks, her mind wandering to that day.

"Actually I was thinking more along the lines of that time where we went to the carnival and that clown scared him and he punched him in the face as reflex," Kea reminisces, shaking her head as she remembers the hospital van coming to take the clown away, "That was some anniversary."

Kea looks to the Curious brothers, who are all staring at her with strange expressions on their faces. She quickly shakes her head, not wanting to explain any further. "Anyway, I want you guys to promise me that you won't say anything to Tank about the baby. I want to tell him myself in the most calming way possible," Kea pleads; Isabella nods.

"Well, he won't hear it from me," Pascal promises, complete with a nod as well, "I'm great at keeping secrets…I think. At least I'm pretty sure. I haven't really had to keep anything from anyone in a while," he mulls, "Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think the situation's ever come up."

"Huh," Lazlo states pondering, "Hey! What about when we…?"

"-Thanks Lazlo," Pascal cuts off, stepping forward and patting his youngest brother on the shoulder, "That's quite enough."

Lazlo narrows his eyes in confusion, "But I haven't even completed what I was going to say-"

The room grows silent as Ripp walks up the stairs and turns the corner; heading towards the study room. "Wow. You can just sense the awkwardness," Pascal whispers into the silence. Lazlo nods.

Isabella sighs, watching as Ripp passes her by. "Ripp wait!" Isabella exclaims, reaching her hand out. Hearing her voice, Ripp turns around. "I really need to talk to you," Isabella says, gently stepping forward, sincerity filling her eyes.

"-Alright."

Thirty seconds later, Ripp has led Isabella to the outside balcony; the pair standing out under a cloudy gray sky. "Why did you turn me in?" Isabella speaks suddenly, asking the question whose answer she was dying to know.

"What?" Ripp responds.

"Nolan said that you filed a complaint against me about housing the Curious brothers," Isabella explains, genuinely confused, "Why would you do that?"

Ripp looks down at the ground, deep in thought. "Because…" he begins.

"Because…?" Isabella repeats, hoping to get out an answer.

Ripp gazes up at her, "Because this whole thing has gotten out of hand!" Ripp cries, throwing his hands up a bit, "Ever since those guys came here, they've completely taken over everything! Now all everyone thinks about is the war," Ripp explains, intensity filling his face, "I already told you that I don't want any part of it, that we shouldn't be held responsible for fixing someone else's mistakes," he continues, letting out a heavy sigh, "And ever since they came here with their problems, it's like I don't even exist – and I'm just trying to protect you."

"Protect me from what?" Isabella asks, moving forward.

"Protect you from getting hurt," Ripp fires back, "You trust people too easily and get yourself dragged into these situations that are too big for you to handle," Ripp explains, "Izzy, I love you – but this war isn't a quick-fix. This isn't a problem that you can just solve in a day, this is real. And Loki will kill you if you try to get in his way."

"-You think I don't know that?" Isabella exclaims, throwing her hands back, "You think I don't know that this is something that I might not make it out of?" she asks, "Because it's not just about surviving anymore, Ripp, it's about living, and I'm not taking the easy way out," Isabella informs him, stepping forward once more. "Ripp, our families and our homes are in Strangetown, and I'm just supposed to sit here and let it die?" she states, taking a step away, "That's insane," she speaks.

"No," Ripp shakes his head, placing his hands over her own, "That's love. Love is not wanting to see the other person taken advantage of. Love is telling someone no when they're making a big mistake," Ripp explains, stopping to stare down at the concrete ground with a sigh, "And love is breaking off all ties, even though you know it'll hurt the other person, because you rather see them hurt than dead," Ripp states, tears streaming down his cheeks as he struggles to muster out the last few words. "These last few months I've been haunted by the war, and I can't put you through any more of it, knowing that I'd be the one responsible for the target on your back. You mean too much to me, Isabella, that's why you and I are done."

Isabella places her hand on her chest, her heart pounding as she looks Ripp straight in the eyes. "Ripp," she cries, her eyes watering, "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Yes," Ripp nods, barely able to look Isabella in the face.

"But what about us?" Isabella squeaks, feeling the knife piercing into her heart.

Ripp sighs, his eyes drifting to the floor. "I still care about you, Izzy, but until the war is over and all this is behind us, we can't be together."

Isabella steps back. She has so many things to say to Ripp, but she finds herself unable to speak – the wind completely knocked out of her. She watches in despair as Ripp exits the area, leaving her alone on the balcony below the clouds. Isabella's eyes fill with tears as she kneels down, crying into her hands.

She is broken.

Later That Afternoon

Kea is walking into Cassandra's dormitory carrying five different shopping bags in her arms. She walks through the cafeteria, waving to Brent who is sitting at one of the black checkered tables. Kea stops in her tracks, arriving at Isabella's bedroom door. She knocks on it.

"Hey, how is she?" Kea asks Lazlo when he answers the door.

Lazlo shrugs, "She hasn't left her bed for five hours. She just sits there with the covers over her face. And we know she's awake because she keeps groaning every time someone makes a joke," Lazlo explains, "And she hasn't spoken to any of us, or laughed once – not even when Pascal got his hand stuck in the mini fridge."

"-They shouldn't make those compartment doors so small!" Pascal defends. He is sitting at Isabella's desk typing on her pale pink laptop while Vidcund is leaning up against the wall next to her bed. Pascal turns to Kea, "What's in the bags?"

Kea smiles, "Just five sure-fire ways to cheer Isabella up!" she exclaims, plopping the shopping bags on the carpet and reaching into the smallest one. "I call this one – the Painkiller! Isn't he cute?" Kea asks, holding up a caterpillar made out of colorful pompoms and a purple striped pipe cleaner.

"He's adorable!" Pascal chimes, "I almost can't handle the cuteness! I mean, just look at those fuzzy arms!" he exclaims, picking up the caterpillar and rubbing it against his face; he stops when he notices Lazlo raising an eyebrow at him, holding Amelia in his arms. "Hey, I'm happy with who I am."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be," Lazlo replies, handing Amelia a fuzzy elephant stuffed animal.

Behind him, Vidcund is still leaning up against the back wall, his arms crossed. "I can't believe Ripp broke up with her. What a jerk!"

"Vidcund, what is with you?" Pascal asks, turning around in the desk chair, "You've been moping around since this morning."

"Sorry," Vidcund half-apologizes, "But I don't have a high tolerance for controlling cowards."

Pascal shrugs, "I don't think he was trying to control her, I think he was just trying to prevent her from getting hurt in the long run," he explains.

"Yeah, so breaking her heart is the way to go," Vidcund counters, rolling his eyes. "The old 'I'm hurting you not to hurt you' nonsense - believe me, I've heard that a million times."

"So uh, what are you working on?" Kea asks, attempting to change the subject. She points to the document that is open on Isabella's laptop.

Pascal smiles. "Oh, I'm just working on my will," he explains, gazing back at the screen to give the keyboard a few more types. "Hey, is crap-hole one word or two?"

Confused and somewhat intrigued, Vidcund walks up behind Pascal and looks at the screen. "'To whom it may concern, if I should die a bloody yet beautiful death at the hands of Loki Beaker, I hereby pass all of my worldly possessions - along with custody of my greatest treasure, my daughter, Amelia - to my brother, Vidcund Curious," Vidcund reads. He looks to Pascal, surprisingly touched. "Oh uh, thanks," he states.

"Hey! What about me?" Lazlo speaks up, slightly insulted.

"Oh don't worry, I've got you covered," Pascal answers, pointing down to a line on the lower part of the screen which reads, '…And Lazlo.'"

Lazlo nods, beaming, "Sweet! But wait, I don't even see the word crap-hole in this."

"It's in the cover letter," Pascal informs.

"Ah."

"Yep," Pascal replies, hitting the print button on the main screen, "Pretty classy." Pascal walks over to the printer and takes out the printed sheet. He walks over to the Isabella-shaped lump that is on the bed. "Hey Izzy, want to read my will? I wasn't sure what to title it, so I just stuck a clipart of a smiling piece of broccoli at the top. His name is Jeffrey," Pascal adds.

Isabella groans, sticking her hand out from underneath her pink and white comforter. She waves it away with her hand.

All of a sudden Brent runs into the room carrying his cell phone, his hand over the receiver. "Isabella! It's mom! Apparently Loki's at our house!"

"WHAT?!" Isabella exclaims, immediately pushing off the comforters. She grabs the silver phone and puts it up to her ear. "Mom, what's going on? Are you alright?"

"Dear, there's nothing to panic about," her mother's warm voice speaks from the other line, "We're not giving him anything he can use," she states, "He said he just wanted to have a friendly chat. Your father's talking to him right now."

Behind Isabella, the Curious brothers are gathered, each of them looking very worried. "Mom, I don't care what you tell him, just get out of there alive," she pleads.

"Oh Izzy, don't worry, we have your grandmother," Lenda consoles, "If worse comes to worse, she could probably take him out in one punch," a crash is heard in the background, "Oop! Gotta go, I think your father threw something. I won't be able to call you back because I'm going to be destroying my phone. See you in three weeks, sweetie!" Lenda's voice rings.

"Mom, wait don't-!" Isabella pleads. She sighs as the disconnect sound buzzes. Isabella hands the phone back to Brent and plops down on her bed, looking even sadder than before.

"Don't worry Izzy, they'll be okay," Brent attempts to cheer her up, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder as he sits down on the bed next to her. "They're proud of us, they know we're doing the right thing."

Isabella sighs, "I know. But doing the right thing sure has been causing me a lot of trouble lately," she analyzes, lying down on her bed, "Now if you guys don't mind, I would like to continue mourning my questionable life choices in peace," she states, throwing the comforter back over her face.

"Life choices?" Brent whispers to Kea.

Kea nods, "Yeah, earlier today Ripp broke up with her to protect her from Loki," she informs him as they step out the door, giving Isabella some privacy.

"Oh, lovely."

"I know, right?" Kea sarcastically replies.

The three Curious brothers step out of the room, Lazlo closing the door shut behind them as they head towards the kitchen. Vidcund stops in his tracks, still facing the door. "Uh, are you sure we should be leaving her alone right now?" Vidcund asks, his voice filled with a cloud of uncertainty.

"She said that's what she wanted," Pascal retells, sitting down at one of the cafeteria tables, "Why would she say something that she didn't mean?"

"Uh, because that's what people do?" Vidcund states, as if it were obvious.

"Well, if you want to go and talk to her go ahead," Pascal invites, "But honestly, if she didn't laugh at Jeffrey the broccoli man, then there's really no cheering up that girl."

Vidcund smirks, placing his hand up against the separator wall. "I'll take my chances."

Meanwhile – At the eXtreme Residence

Loki, Alban, and Lenda are situated in the center of the eXtreme living room, conversing with one another – although none of them look as though they want to be there. Loki is sitting on the bright blue bean bag chair – which has pictures of yellow suns on it – while Alban is sitting on the zebra patterned couch in his signature black and white suit, glaring at him. Lenda is kneeling on the carpet in front of her husband.

"I'm really sorry about the plate," Lenda says, picking up the pieces of the dessert plate that had fallen onto the floor. "Sometimes we drop things – we are the eXtremes after all," Lenda comments, picking up the rest of the shattered dish remains. Loki nods, forcing a smile.

"That's not a problem at all, Ms. eXtreme," Loki says, taking another sip of tea, "I love what you've done with the place by the way, it's very – bright," he manages to spit out, trying to find the right words to say. Lenda nods exuberantly.

Loki half-smiles giving a slight chuckle as he places his cup on the purple pillar-shaped coffee table. "Well, I don't want to keep you any longer than I have to, so I should probably get to the real reason why I'm here," Loki begins.

Alban continues to glare across from him; his stature unchanged since the conversation began. "If this is about money, forget it," he states.

Loki waves his hand away, dismissing the thought, "No, no, it's not about that," he begins, "It's all quite simple really." Loki gets up from out of his seat and leans forward, eyeing both Alban and Lenda who are situated on the couch. His facial expression instantly growing cold. "I want to know why your daughter thinks that she's above the law," he growls.

Lenda looks to her husband before turning to Loki; appearing dazed and confused. "What?"

"You heard me," Loki storms once more, "Apparently your daughter thinks that she's somehow above society and that she can go against me and commit the worst crime in the history of this town!"

"In all fairness, this town is only two and a half years old," Alban corrects; Loki glares at him.

Suddenly, he walks forward, stopping in front of Lenda who is staring off into space. "Lenda?"

"Hm?" Lenda turns around, barely paying attention. Loki moves his body, attempting to make eye contact with her.

"I'm going to ask this once and I'm not going to ask it again: Where is your daughter?" he asks.

Lenda cocks her head, "I'm sorry, what?"

Loki groans, throwing his hands up towards the ceiling as he paces around the house before turning back to them, pointing his finger at them accusatorily. "Don't play dumb with me! Tell me where your daughter is, or this day will be your last."

Alban stands up, coming face-to-face with Beaker, "Are you threatening my wife?"

Loki stands up, his figure towering over the pair as he takes out his weapon, aiming it towards them. "No. I'm threatening both of you."

Alban and Lenda look terrified. Alban steps back, but Lenda remains where she is standing, her hands clenched firmly at her sides. She narrows her eyes at Loki.

"-Get out."

Loki scrunches his forehead, unsure if he is hearing her correctly. "What?"

"You heard me, get out," Lenda says, this time with more gusto, "I'm a good citizen, I pay my taxes," she informs him, "I own this property, so get out."

"What?" Loki asks again, finding this whole demeanor rather childish.

Alban crosses his arms over his chest, "You heard the lady," he seconds.

"You have got to be kidding me. You people think you have power over me? I'm the leader of the freakin' town! The commander of this whole operation! There's not a person alive who can tell me to leave!" Loki yells, his voice cracking as he screams at them.

"-Well, you're right about that – there's two." Alban calmly corrects him, standing tall, "Now get out."

Loki adjusts his weapon, aiming it right at Alban, "You're going to regret saying that, Mr. eXtreme."

"Alban!" Lenda shouts, reaching towards him.

Alban nudges her down, pushing himself in front of her. "Honey please, nothing can be scarier than Izzy's boyfriend," he mumbles as Loki steps forward, preparing to strike.

Suddenly, a being crashes through the door wearing a pink and black gladiator suit.

"Ha!" the gladiator attacks, swinging their arm back and striking Loki down. Alban and Lenda look up, staring at the strange being that is standing in front of them, unsure of what to make of their whole charade.

"Uh…who the heck are you?" Alban asks, uncertainty in his voice.

The gladiator reaches into their front right pocket and pulls out a card. They toss it at them; the card hitting the center of the carpet. Cautiously, Lenda bends down and picks up the card. She hands it to Alban who gazes down at its contents.

"The gladiator?" he repeats.

The gladiator nods, then salutes, before racing out the door. Loki sits up, grumbling. He glares at the being that attacked him, watching them run away.

"Oh, you've made a powerful enemy, my friend," he states, picking himself up off of the ground and pressing the button on his communicator, "Guards, send out a red alert. We're going to find this guy and destroy him," he orders. All of sudden Loki stops, noticing that he is still in the eXtreme residence. He turns to the eXtremes warningly.

"Stay the hell out of my way!" he demands, before racing out the door at full speed.