Chapter 13 Epilogue
"1…2…3…—"
"Grizz! What are you doing? It's only been a month. You shouldn't be moving so much."
"I'm fine Panda, besides it doesn't hurt anymore and I need to work out."
"Grizz, I swear, if you don't stop I'm gonna hit myself."
"Ugh…fine."
"Actually, can I talk you?"
"Sure Pan Pan, what's up?"
"Paul was actually gonna leave the country for a couple of weeks and he asked me if I wanna come with and—"
"You should go then! I'll be fine here with little bro. You go have fun with your boyfriend."
"But what about you—"
"Panda listen, I will be fine, besides, little bro is here, Lucy, Tabes and Chloe's been coming more often to make sure I'm following the doctor's order, even Nom Nom visits from time to time. I have them to take care of me while you're gone. So go have fun!"
"Are you sure? Paul said I don't have to go with him if I don't want to."
"I'm sure Panda. You haven't been hanging out with Paul for a while because of me. Go with him or else you'll regret it in the future."
"Okay then, but I'm gonna check on you every day."
"Hey Panda, could you visit Charlie before you leave?"
"Always, Grizz, always."
"By the way, where are you two going?"
"Japan."
ooooo
It's been a month since Grizz's operation and a week since he's been discharged. Since then, Panda's been taking care of him along with Ice bear and their other friends. A few days later, Panda was set to leave for Japan.
"Alright little bro take of Grizz okay?" Panda said while dragging his suitcase.
"Ice bear will guard Grizz with his life." Ice bear said.
"Don't worry Panda we'll make sure to come over every day to check on him." Lucy said, next to her was Chloe.
"Thanks Lucy, Chloe. Paul should be here any minute now." Panda said. As he was saying this, Tabes' jeep appeared with Paul inside.
"Hey Panda, sorry it took us a while to get here." Tabes said.
"It's fine Tabes, we should be the ones thanking you for giving us a ride." Paul said as he got down from the jeep to help Panda with his luggage.
"Thanks Paul." Panda said giving Paul a kiss on the cheek.
"Be careful you two." Grizz said.
"Don't worry Grizz, I won't let Panda out of my sight." Paul said.
"I believe you. You two have fun there okay?"
"We will." Panda said.
The two were seated in Tabes' jeep and they drove off. The drive was mostly silent except for the occasional itinerary check and Tabes asking them if they're comfortable.
"By the way Tabes, would you check on Charlie while I'm gone? He's doing better now but I don't want him to be alone." Panda said with concern on his face.
"Of course Panda, I'll be there for Charlie." Tabes said.
A few more minutes and they arrive at the airport. After bidding goodbye to Tabes, Paul and Panda entered the airport and waited for their plane.
ooooo
Back at the cave, Ice bear was cleaning Grizz's room. Grizz was at the living room watching TV with Chloe. While Ice bear was cleaning, he found another Crowbar Jones CD. This one looks fairly recent too. Ice bear put the disc in the player in Grizz's room and decided to watch a little. What Ice bear saw was not what he expected.
ooooo
Crowbar Jones: The End of the Line
"Another day, another crime brought to justice by Crowbar Jones." Crowbar said.
"This city has been so peaceful lately. Barely any crimes, everyone is mostly happy…so why aren't I?
"Pando found someone that he's happy to be with and decided to retire. I should be happy for him and I am but, I feel alone.
"The world doesn't need me anymore, I feel like I've outlived my usefulness. Is this the end of me? Am I not needed anymore?"
At some point during Crowbar Jones' dialogue, he lost character and, unbeknownst to him, he was talking as Grizz.
"Little bro is really far and he never really needed me. He is more than capable of taking care of himself. Panda has someone else now who loves him and who he loves. He's barely even home now. I'm afraid that they're gonna leave, I'm afraid that I'll be alone again, I'm afraid that I'll lose my family."
At this point, Grizz eyes were flowing with tears.
"…Goodbye, this is the end of Crowbar Jones."
…the end.
ooooo
In Grizz's room, Ice bear was crying. He dropped everything he was doing and ran to the living room where Grizz was.
"Hey Ice bear are you okay?" Chloe asked confused.
Ice bear immediately tackled his brother, momentarily forgetting that he was fresh from the hospital, and hugged him while crying.
"Woah! Little bro, are you okay?" Grizz asked worried about his little brother that was crying in his chest.
"Ice—I will never leave you big brother. I'll always need you…" Ice bear said while sniffling.
"What are you talking about little bro—?"
"Panda will always need you too even though he has Paul in his life."
"Little bro you're scaring me a bit—the Crowbar Jones ending…did you see that?"
Ice bear just nodded his head that was buried in Grizz's chest.
"Little bro that was just—that was just me…being dramatic." Grizz tried to lie his way out of this situation to try and reassure his little brother but his heart and his eyes betray him. He was crying now too while holding Ice bear closer.
"That was just a dumb video I made…it doesn't mean anything—I…I…I was afraid that you and Panda didn't need me anymore and I…I felt alone and afraid. Shut up Grizz stop making your little brother cry. I'm not sad anymore Ice okay? So please stop crying, please stop crying…"
Chloe and Lucy were dumbfounded. They didn't exactly know what was going on but they heard enough of the conversation to get an Idea. After tearing up themselves, Lucy and Chloe joined in on the hug to try to calm down the two crying brothers.
ooooo
"You okay Panda?"
"Huh?"
"You're crying bit there."
"I am? Sorry about that. Don't really know where that came from."
"It's okay, the time difference between Japan and US is a quite a bit. You should get some rest."
"Alright, thanks Paul I love you."
"I love you too Panda."
ooooo
Ice bear was at the kitchen preparing food. It's been a few days since that situation with the Crowbar Jones ending. Grizz was in the living room being pre-occupied by Nom Nom who came to visit the bear. While Ice bear was preparing their food, Grizz's phone, which was in the kitchen, rang. Ice bear picked it up.
"Hello?" Ice bear answered the phone.
"Little bro? It's Panda. I've made progress here. How 'bout at your end?" Panda asked Ice bear.
"Ice bear has found most except for her." Ice bear said.
"Just keep looking. We know it's not gonna be easy since the only thing we know about her is her first name. Anyway, good luck."
"Wait, how are you doing there?"
"We're fine here. We're having fun. How about you there? Are you and Grizz okay?"
"We're fine."
"Well we gotta go. I'll call again."
"Little bro? Who was on the phone?" Grizz asked from the living room.
"Wrong number." Ice bear said bluntly.
"okay."
ooooo
"I really appreciate you coming over Nom Nom. It really means a lot."
"No problem Grizz, you're my friend."
"I hope I'm not ruining your schedule or something."
"Of course not, you're more important that my videos."
"hehe…thanks Nom Nom, you really are the best."
"Food's ready." Ice bear said.
ooooo
"Oh my god, I forgot how good your ramen is Kazumi." Panda said after slurping the rest of his ramen.
"Arigatou Panda, I'm glad you managed to visit. I hoped you could've brought Grizz and Shiro-chan." Kazumi said grabbing Panda and Paul's empty bowls.
"Sorry we haven't been in contact for like forever. It took us a while to actually have a place to settle in and we were kind preoccupied."
"Daijoubu Panda, I'm just glad that you're all doing well."
"Can we have some of your famous desert before we go?"
"Anything for Panda and his boyfriend."
"Thanks Kazumi."
"Douitashimashite."
ooooo
Panda and Paul retreated to their hotel and was about to go to bed.
"We're leaving tomorrow Panda, I hope you had fun in our short stay here."
"I had a lot of fun Paul, Thanks."
"Panda, close your eyes."
"Why?"
"Just do it, I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise? That's nice. Okay, I'll close my eyes then."
Panda closed his eyes as per Paul's instructions. Paul stepped out of the room for a moment to retrieve something.
"Alright, hold out your hand."
"Okay." Panda said holding out his hands.
Paul placed something on Panda's hands, it was soft.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now."
When Panda opened his eyes, on his hands was a stuffed toy, a panda stuffed toy to be more specific.
"Paul, this is…this so nice."
"Look at the tag."
When Panda looked at the tag that was sewn on the side of the stuffed toy's arm he saw what was written, 'Panda 2', the name reminded him of his very first 'friend' in the Chinese zoo.
"…" Panda was speechless; he didn't know what to say. All he could do was hold the toy close to him and shed a tear.
"Thanks Paul, I—"
"You don't have to say anything Panda." Paul said as he sat beside the bear and wrapped his arm around him.
ooooo
"Oh! That's their plane!" Grizz yelled excitedly.
Grizz, Ice bear, Chloe, Tabes, and a Disguised Charlie were waiting at the airport for Panda and Paul. After several minutes of waiting, Panda and Paul finally walked out of the airport.
"Panda! Hahaha I missed you bro!" Grizz yelled as he ran to his brother to give him a hug.
"Grizz, I missed you too." Panda promptly returned the hug.
The others approached the brothers.
"Welcome back you two. How was Japan?" Tabes asked
"It was great! We really enjoyed our stay there." Paul replied.
"Hey Charlie, thanks for coming." Panda said as he gave his bestfriend a hug.
"Anything for you Panda." Charlie said as he returned the hug.
"Chloe, we got you something." Paul said as he handed Chloe a bag filled with something.
"Oh my god! Three new hoodies. A brown one, a white one, and a black and white one. I love it! Thank you so much." Chloe said excitedly as she pulled out all her gifts.
"You guys must be hungry, come on Lucy and Kale's preparing food back at the cave. We'll have ourselves a feast." Tabes said as she helped Panda and Paul with their luggage.
As they were walking to Tabes' jeep, Panda and Ice bear purposely walked slower than the rest.
"Did you find everyone?" Panda whispered to Ice bear.
Ice bear nodded.
"Alright, everything's set now, all we have to do is wait for the date. You did great little bro." Panda said as he hugged his little brother.
ooooo
Everyone arrived at the cave where Lucy, Kale, Cliff, Nom Nom, and Yana were waiting.
"Panda, Paul, welcome back!" Lucy said as she waved at the arriving jeep.
"Wow, everyone's here." Panda said, a bit astounded.
After getting settled, everyone went inside to share the food the Lucy and Kale prepared. Afterwards, Panda and Paul gave everyone the gifts that they bought. A set of Knives for Ice bear, a shaker set for Yana, an apron set for Lucy, a couple of beanies with bear ears for Kale, a game console for Cliff, a new hat for Tabes, a couple of cute shades for Nom Nom, a scarf for Charlie, and for Grizz, a soft warm blanket. Everyone just talked for hours until everyone had to go home.
"Hey Grizz, can Paul stay the night, we're a bit tired and Paul's apartment is a bit far." Panda asked.
"You guys don't need to ask for permission; Paul's can stay here anytime." Grizz said while he was watching TV and clutching the blanket that Panda and Paul got him.
"Thanks Grizz!" Panda said.
ooooo
A couple months later…
"Ugh, I think I overslept." Grizz said groggily while struggling to get out of bed. "Bros?"
Grizz called out for his brothers but received no reply. He got out of his room and walked around inside the house to find them. He opened Panda's room and entered without knocking but there was no one there. Grizz looked around for a bit and after finding nothing decided to go to the kitchen. When he arrived, he still found no one. Grizz walked to the fridge to see if his little bro is there. When he was about to open the fridge, Grizz saw a note on the door of the fridge.
-Grizz, I'm staying at Paul's today. We're working on a project together. Be back tomorrow, love you. Panda.-
-Ice bear at Yana's. Ice bear will be back tomorrow. Ice bear-
"Wait, they're gonna be gone until tomorrow?" Grizz said a bit shocked.
"Did they forget?" Grizz was a bit disappointed upon knowing that his brothers forgot what day it is today.
Grizz sat on the couch and just stared at the ceiling.
"They couldn't have forgotten, right?" Grizz said to himself.
"*sigh, maybe they did. I mean, they have someone in their lives now that they care about more than me.
"Hmph, I don't need them! I'm gonna have fun myself." Grizz burst out of the cave and decided to walk around the forest.
To relieve him of his frustrations, Grizz decided to take a dip at the lake that he and his brothers found. Grizz stayed in the water for around two hours, it was already past lunch after he decided to get out and get back at the cave. Despite not eating since waking up, Grizz wasn't feeling hungry; he was feeling too much stress to even get hungry. Knowing that his brothers weren't going to be back till tomorrow, Grizz planned on just going back to bed and hopefully wake up after this day ends. When Grizz arrived at the cave, he immediately went to his room and plopped down on his bed with his face buried in his pillows.
"I hate you guys for forgetting that it's my birthday today."
ooooo
Grizz must've been asleep for an hour or so, he was woken up by a loud sound in the living room. Fearing that it might be burglars, Grizz grabbed his phone and called Tabes. The phone rang for a few seconds but unfortunately, Tabes wasn't picking up.
"Argh, what is it with everyone being gone today?" Grizz said frustratingly
Grizz silently went to the living room to see what the sound was. When he reached the area, Grizz saw a big cardboard box.
"Huh? What's this thing doing here?"
Grizz slowly approached the mysterious cardboard box and slowly opened it.
"Surprise! Happy birthday Grizz!"
Upon opening the box, a familiar Koala jumped out.
"Nom Nom! Thanks buddy, at least you remembered not like my dumb brothers." Grizz said giving Nom Nom a bear hug.
"I'm also here." Said monotonously by a man in a white coat appearing from inside the box.
"Dr. Clark? What are you doing here?" Grizz asked a bit dumbfounded.
"Well, I was checking on Nom Nom's health and he mentioned that he was coming here so I decided that I might as well check on you." Said Dr. Clark, still in a monotonous manner.
"Thanks you two. This really means a lot."
"No problem Grizz. Now, I need you to close your eyes and wear these ear plugs." Nom Nom said.
"What? Why?" Grizz said grabbing the plugs from Nom Nom.
"Just do it, It's a secret." Nom Nom said.
"Haha, okay then." Grizz said putting the plugs in his ear.
Nom Nom grabbed Grizz by the hand and carefully led him out of the cave and into the forest. The two of the walked aimlessly around for about an hour before returning to the cave.
"Uh…Nom Nom, where a we going? We've been walking around for a while now." Grizz said, of course he couldn't see nor hear anything.
When Nom Nom led Grizz back to the cave after walking around for an hour, Nom Nom tapped Grizz's hands telling him that he could remove the ear plugs.
"Don't take off your blindfolds yet." Nom Nom said.
"Okay, but—I smell something delicious! Ugh, I'm suddenly feeling really hungry." Grizz said.
"Ok, you can take off your blind fold but you have to turn around and not look behind ok? Also don't move from this spot." Nom Nom said.
"Ok Nom Nom. Ahh! So bright!" Grizz yelled as he removed his blindfold, after his vision returned to normal after adjusting to the brightness, Grizz saw in front of him little kids.
"…Hi Poppy rangers. What are you doing here and why are you all dressed up?" Grizz asked a bit confused.
In front of Grizz were the Poppy rangers all of them well-dressed.
"Hey bear guy." Wallace said.
"Um…hi." Grizz said still confused.
A few seconds after this exchange, Grizz heard music behind him and someone telling him to turn around.
"Let's hear it for the birthday bear!" The person on top of an improvised stage yelled and started to sing Grizz a happy birthday."
"Oh my god! Is that Nate?" Grizz yelled excitedly. "It's been forever."
The first thing that registered into Grizz's mind was Nate but immediately after, he noticed that the outside of the cave was decorated, there were tables and chairs everywhere and there were people.
"What's going on? Nom Nom, where are you? What's happening here?" Grizz said in a bit of a panic.
"Come on Grizz, let's go." Chloe said as she appeared from behind Grizz and grabbed his hand.
"Chloe? What's going on here?"
"You still haven't realized?"
"Um…did Nom Nom invite all these people?"
"Come on, let's get closer to them."
"Okay."
As Chloe led Grizz towards the where the people are, Grizz immediately realized something. All of these people looked familiar. There was officer Murphy, Tabes along with Kirk, Darrell and Sofia, Tom, Isaac, and Griff, cousin Jon, and even Wyatt, the friend that they made while they were driving to see the meteor shower, and Celine, the girl that him and his brothers briefly fell in love with.
"I can't believe everyone's here." Grizz was really amazed to say the least.
"That's not all." Chloe said.
When they were just outside the cave, Grizz saw some long tables filled with food, behind the tables were pizza, ramen, a giant cake, and a bunch more. Behind the tables were more familiar people.
"Hey Grizz, I hope your keeping up with your ninjutsu training." A man with a braided ponytail along with another person approached Grizz and greeted him a happy birthday.
"Cheddar? Oh my god Master Cheddar is that you? Haha, you've gotten a lot older." Grizz exclaimed before giving his longtime friend a hug.
"So have you Grizz. I heard you fought and won a battle of your own." Master Cheddar said.
"Well I wasn't alone, I had my friends and my bros. And Slice is that you?"
"Happy birthday Grizz." Slice said bowing his head.
From behind Grizz, he felt someone give him a hug.
"Grizz, Otanjoubiomedetougozaimasu!"
"What?" Grizz said not really understanding what he heard.
When Grizz turned around, he saw a familiar Japanese woman.
"Kazumi! I can't believe it. You came here all the way from Japan? That's amazing." Grizz said returning Kazumi's hug
"Go inside Grizz." Kazumi said.
Before Chloe and Grizz went inside the cave, Grizz saw a trio of people not too far from them, it was the group once called the Ragtag Crew. They were unrecognizable but somehow they were still familiar to Grizz. He nodded in their direction and smiled.
Upon entering the cave, Grizz saw a bunch more people inside. Lucy, Kale, and Cliff were on one side, on the other side an eccentric man with a gorilla companion and a man wearing a luchador mask, and front and center were Tabes, Charlie, and now Chloe.
"Happy birthday Grizz!" Everyone simultaneously exclaimed.
If Grizz wasn't crying earlier, he definitely is now.
"You guys, this is…"
"Happy birthday Grizz." A mysterious person which was behind the center group emerged.
"Um…thank you…uhh…" Grizz said not really that familiar with this person.
"Maybe this will jog your memory…" said the mysterious woman.
"Lay down your head
In this warm and cozy bed
And if I leave before you wake
Don't go thinking that I have fled
For these walls cannot contain us
We will go places we've never been
But know that I'll be here
When you return to this home again"
Grizz's tears have been flowing constantly even before he entered the cave but now…
"Karla…Karla!" Grizz said running to the woman and giving her a hug while crying.
"I can't believe it, but how?" Grizz asked.
"Maybe you should ask them." Karla said pointing further behind the center group.
When the center group completely moved aside, Grizz saw his family, Panda and Ice bear. Paul, Yana, and Nom Nom were right beside the brothers.
"You guys…I can't believe you…" Grizz said slowly walking to his brothers and completely breaking down now. His brothers grabbed ahold of him and they all held each other close.
"I thought you guys forgot…" Grizz said crying his eyes ou.
"Sorry about that Grizz, we wanted to make sure that the surprise wasn't ruined." Panda said.
"You went through all that effort just for me? You're the best guys."
"Of course, we did. We'll do anything and everything for you Grizz." Panda said.
"We love you big brother." Ice bear said.
"Happy birthday Grizz, we love you. The best present we can give you is us, we'll always be a family no matter what happens."
Grizz didn't even manage to say anything, he just cried there silently.
The three brothers felt closer than ever before, they may have their own lives to live now but the connection they have between each other never faded, never weakened, in fact it was now stronger than ever. With the addition of more family and friends, the brothers' lives were larger and wider but at the core of it all is still their sibling love for each other.
Fin