Our story begins at the park. Zofia was reading one of her favorite books in The Librarian series, LJ was being encouraged to do some training by Jay who met him at the monkey bars, but would wait at the bottom to help him if he needed it, Evie and Felicity were pushing David and Elyse on the swings, Carlos was running some laps, and Mal appeared to be reading a comic book. Not just any comic book though, one she got for Christmas which was about the hero called Valentine that she would be told the secret origin of at a later time. The kids hung out at the park until it would be time to head back home for dinner and there were other kids, though the teenagers weren't as active as the Moltenschwartz teenagers.
"Hmm... I guess this story would make more sense if I knew the origin story," Mal shrugged before smirking. "Still pretty cool though. I love the touches with black and purple on her outfit."
"Whatcha reading?" asked Zofia as she scooted up to her adoptive sister.
"Huh? Oh. Hey, Zo." Mal greeted the younger girl.
"So what is that?" Zofia asked.
"Oh, it's a comic book your pare-I mean... Mom and Dad got for me for Christmas," Mal said as she decided to show Zofia. "It's called Valentine: The Dark Avenger. I don't think I remember ever hearing about that name, to be honest with you." she then explained.
"Sounds pretty interesting," replied Zofia. "Maybe we could read it together?"
"I suppose we could," Mal nodded. "At least until it's time to go home."
Zofia smiled as she marked her Librarian book and soon came to sit next to Mal.
"Ah... So good to see Mal bonding," Felicity commented warmly. "She's really come a long way since that summer with The Four Caballeros."
"Yeah...!" LJ grunted as he tried to do another pull-up. "She's made a lot of progress in this past year!"
"She's still a bit damaged, but she's much better now." Felicity nodded.
"Keep going, buddy," Jay smiled at LJ. "You're almost there."
LJ nodded as he kept trying to do some pull-ups.
Mal continued to read the rather long, winded backstory to Valentine, though she seemed to skip through it before seeing something pretty interesting in the pages. "Wait... Wait, what?" she then asked.
"What is it, Mal?" Zofia asked.
"Weird..." Mal said before she saw a certain group that seemed to be joining Valentine in her adventure. "Those guys... I think they're your parents."
"Really?" Zofia asked as she looked at the pages. "Okay, I wouldn't doubt that sort of thing could actually happen."
"I have so many questions..." Mal narrowed her eyes.
"You wanna ask them about how it happened and why?" Zofia asked.
"Wouldn't you wanna know?" Mal retorted.
"...Fair point," Zofia said with a small shrug. "Sounds like a pretty good idea. Not to mention what with cousin Terry accepting his destiny and all."
"Are you two getting along nicely?" Evie smiled as she walked by.
"E, I think we're due for storytime with the new 'rents," Mal smirked slyly as she showed the comic book. "Check this out."
"...Okay, and?" Evie shrugged.
Mal then opened up the comic book to show the superhero group that was with the eponymous Valentine.
"...Okay, that does sound like it has a story behind it," Evie nodded before she came to pick up the twins away from a group of other babies in the sandbox who seemed to be a boy with a sky blue shirt, white diaper, and balding head and another freckled boy who had frizzy and wild red hair with purple glasses, a blue shirt, green shorts, and red shoes as well as a baby with a football-shaped head in red overalls with a yellow shirt and blue shoes and one baby who had a flop of blonde hair on her head in a short-sleeved white shirt and lavender shorts with socks. "Let's go back home and see them. Come on, Davey and Ellie, time to go home~" she then said, cooing warmly.
The twins babbled in response as Evie picked them up and put them into their twin stroller.
"Such a good big sister you are, Evie." Mal smirked.
"I try my best anyway," Evie smirked back. "You know, you could help, especially when they need their diapers changed."
"Meh... I'll see what I can do for next time." Mal shrugged innocently.
Evie rolled her eyes and shook her head playfully.
"Come on, Carlos, time to go home." Jay smirked as he headlocked the smaller boy.
"Let me go!" Carlos complained. "I'm gonna tell!"
"Can you two go five minutes without trying to kill each other?" Felicity groaned at the boys.
"Not really," Carlos smirked. "This is just how boys play, Flick. The sooner LJ realizes that, the better."
"Eh... No thanks, Manx," LJ replied. "That's not my speed, keed."
"He talks funny sometimes." Carlos chuckled once he got out of the headlock.
"All right, we're outta here," Jay said. "Maybe they got some grub waiting for us back home too."
"Yeah... I'm starving." Mal nodded as she hugged her stomach as they all began to leave the park to head back home.
"Yep, yep." LJ agreed as he and the others left.
Back at the Moltenschwartz house, there was indeed some dinner cooking.
"Homemade pizza," Cherry said as she nodded at Thor. "I'm sure they'll love it."
"And it has every topping they all like so we can all be happy," Thor added. "A balanced meal with meat and vegetables. I'm thinking tomatoes, and ham served on a bread base for a slow release of energy with melted cheese on top because dairy products are good for growing children's bone structure. It should minimize dishwashing, and be round in shape negating any sharp edges to avoid oral injuries."
"...Yeah. Pizza, buddy." Lionel nodded.
"I once read a magazine article about a man named Richard Watterson who tried to come up with a new food invention of some sorts," Thor shrugged. "Pizza's pretty good for a family the more I think about it even if most parents dread ordering it some of the times."
"True," Lionel nodded. "Some kids get pretty competitive over it if there's even a single slice left."
"Oh, yeah," Thor replied. "Hopefully this pizza is big enough though."
"I'm just surprised that it fit in the oven." Cherry chuckled.
The three shook hands with each other as they waited for the pizza to cook.
"We're home!" Felicity's voice called.
"Oh... The kids are back," Cherry noted. "Guess we better go and see them."
"Well, Felicity sounds happy, so I guess today was a good day in the park without trouble from bullies." Thor smiled.
"Yeah, hopefully so." Lionel agreed, as the kids and teens returned from the park.
"Hey, kids," Thor smiled as he came to see them. "You didn't face any bullies, have you?"
"Luckily no," Jay shook his head. "I guess Audrey's at Gymnastics or cheerleading practice today."
"Good," Cherry smirked. "I never liked that girl. Her grandmother is a bad influence on her."
"Yeah... She's probably hanging out with the Dee Dee clones," Mal rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I was hoping we could talk."
"Oh..." Thor said before calling out. "Cherry?!"
"No, no, nothing like that!" Evie stopped him.
"Nothing to do with the birds and the bees." Felicity added.
"Oh, okay," Thor smiled. "I figured they'd teach you that kids in school. So what's up?" he then asked.
"It's about this book," Mal said before holding it up to them. "Valentine: The Dark Avenger."
"Are you enjoying that story?" Cherry asked the purple-haired girl.
"Well, yeah," Mal shrugged. "But... I saw something interesting..." she then opened the page that had The Toon Force in it. "Care to explain this?"
"...Oh, my gosh, they really did it." Cherry muttered with wide eyes.
"Did what?" Lionel asked as he took a look. "...Sweet, we're in a graphic novel!"
"So these Toon Force guys ARE you?" Mal asked.
"It's a very long story," Cherry replied. "We can tell you all about it and how we helped Valentine and best of all, saved our friendship with each other."
"When was this?" Carlos asked. "Were you married?"
"Nope, we were still in school," Cherry shook her head. "And it wasn't too long after we had to say goodbye to a very dear friend of ours so that she could have a better life without us. She was never really happy around here, especially in Riverdale, but we wanted her to be happier, even if it cost losing a good friend in the process."
"Yeah; sayin' goodbye to her was rough," Lionel agreed. "But we had to keep moving forward."
"So, uh, what happened?" Evie asked.
"If we can find out, that is." Felicity added.
"Of course you can," Cherry smiled. "We got a while until dinner is ready, so we can tell you the story."
The kids all looked at each other and soon came to sit down comfortably with each other to hear more about this story.
"Now, who wants to tell them the story?" Cherry asked Lionel and Thor.
"I think you should," Thor smiled. "You're the best storyteller in the family."
"Well, if you insist," Cherry replied. "I guess I will tell this one."
Thor soon sat comfortably with the kids. "This is gonna be a good one, I can tell." he then beamed to them.
The kids laughed a little while Cherry cracked a small smirk while getting comfortable in her chair.
"Cue the flashback harp music with the ripple effect." Lionel commented.
"Very well," Cherry nodded as she soon got ready to tell the story. "Once upon a very long time ago when we were still in high school, we were adjusting after another misadventure together and celebrated another victory at Pops' Chock'lit Shoppe."
The story soon started back in the teenage days of The Toon Force as they laughed together, clinking glasses together.
"And so happens another crazy misadventure together!" Thor beamed.
"Your usual, guys? Of seven rounds of milkshakes and a doggy bone?" Tabitha, the granddaughter of old Pop Tate, asked as she came to the group.
"Yeah! Seven milkshakes on-" Thor said before looking over to one lonely stool at the bar table at the end of their group as he suddenly remembered something rather sad. "Oh... Right..."
"Just six this time, Tabitha," Cherry replied. "We're still celebrating."
"All right, I'll get some help," Tabitha nodded before calling out. "Yo, Srimaya!" she then called out while going in the back as Thor stared down at the floor, suddenly looking sad.
Lionel gently patted Thor on the back. "I know... We all miss her, storm cloud," he replied.
Thor wiped his eyes as he let out a small sigh. "We were cousins... I wanted to help her." he then said lightly.
"And we did," Cherry told him. "We gave her a better life... She's a lot happier where she is now."
"You guys lose someone close to you?" Srimaya asked softly as she came to check on them.
"Uh... Let's just say we once had a very special friend who had to leave us suddenly," Mo replied. "It was for the best though. She's a lot happier where she is now."
"Oh... I see..." Srimaya said softly before putting her hand over her heart thoughtfully. "I'd be devastated too if I lost someone special."
"Yep." Mo nodded in agreement.
"So, that's six shakes?" Srimaya asked the group.
The Toon Force nodded as that was exactly what they wanted.
"All right," Srimaya smiled as she soon walked off and turned on the TV for the group as they sat at the bar table of the diner before she sighed, seeing another story covered by The Toon Force. "Man, those guys seem so cool. Sometimes I wish that I could be a superhero."
The Toon Force chuckled bashfully at each other as Srimaya helped Tabitha get to work.
"Guys, I know Sabrina's happier where she is now, I guess... I guess I'm just missing an extra person in our group," Thor said bashfully as he rubbed his arm a bit. "Kinda seems... I dunno... Empty."
"Yeah; looks like we have a seventh spot open," replied Atticus. "But... Maybe we'll find someone to help fill that spot."
"Uh, how long is this story gonna take?" Mal's voice complained. "Get to the good part!"
"In good time, Malissa," Cherry's voice warned as The Toon Force hung out together. "This is just to introduce the characters and get the plot moving eventually. These things take time like when you watch a new TV Show. We gotta establish some stuff first."
Mal groaned and sighed sharply. "Okay. Okay." she then said.
"But yes, we felt like there was someone missing since we had our seventh friend lost," Cherry's voice continued to narrate. "We just had to wonder who could fill that spot. Come Monday in school, we thought that we probably had a solution."
Eventually, the group had their milkshakes and celebrated another fulfilling adventure of saving Riverdale from danger as the younger division of The Justice League as Cherry opened up a package she got in the mail and brought it to school because she knew it would be something good and inside was a book. She then decided to bring the book to school with her so that she would have something recreational to read.
"Once Upon a Time book?" Lionel guessed.
"Yep," Cherry nodded as she showed the next book in the Once Upon a Time book series that she was a big fan of, though no one else seemed to appreciate it like she did and the book seemed to be bright green in color. "This one is called Wicked is Coming. I could tell you about it, but only if you want."
"Hmm... Know what? Go ahead and tell me," Lionel replied. "I might wanna get into those books sometime, so it couldn't hurt."
"You sure?" Cherry grinned bashfully. "I'd hate to bore you with small details... I mean, I listen to you when you talk about stuff you like~"
"All the more reason for me to listen to you," Lionel replied. "If you listen to me whenever I talk about what I like, then I can extend that same courtesy to you. Who knows? It might help me develop an interest in it."
"Well, okay, brace yourself," Cherry then said as she sat up. "This is continuing to after The Journey to Neverland."
"Right... I remember," Lionel nodded. "The heroes went back home after defeating Peter Pan and Peter Pan himself was destroyed shortly after."
"Exactly," Cherry replied. "So this one will be the introduction to The Wicked Witch of the West. So far the summary on the back reveals that she has a secret past with The former Evil Queen that needs to be shared. I'm a bit excited though cuz I just loved The Wizard of Oz so much when I was a little kid." she then explained.
"Oh? Sweet!" Lionel beamed. "I wonder what'll go down in this one amidst that revelation?"
Cherry hid a small smile from his approval. "I wonder too," she then nodded. "I can't wait to get started."
Eventually, the door opened as the teacher, Miss Grundy, came to answer it as a woman with short blonde hair and glasses, wearing a white lab coat came to the door with a girl around the age of a teenager like The Toon Force who wore a purple dress and seemed to have darkened skin with very big and wavy dark hair with streaks of sky blue.
"Hello, you must be Ms. Licosi." The teacher greeted her classroom's guest.
"That's me. And you must be..." The woman replied.
"Miss Grundy." The teacher nodded.
"Hello, Miss Grundy. I'm really sorry I'm late," Ms. Licosi smiled as she put her hand around the girl in front of her. "I had a little trouble back at the lab. Sweetie, say hello to your new teacher, Miss Grundy."
"Hi!" The girl replied, sounding quite friendly and welcoming.
"How sweet! This must be your little angel," Miss Grundy remarked before she faced the class to introduce the new student to the class as the girl smiled and looked around, looking quite excited to be a part of the class. "Class, I want you to welcome our new student: Blisstina Francesca Francia Mariam Alicia Licosi."
The students mumbled greetings to the new kid.
"...Okay, anybody else immediately suspicious?" whispered Lionel.
"Blisstina? What kinda name is Blisstina?" Thor commented.
"And some people think 'Cherry' is bad." Cherry remarked.
"At least Cherry is an actual thing and a name." Lionel defended her.
"Like what in the heck is a 'Blisstina'? Can ya show me a Blisstina?" Cherry continued. "How does one acquire a Blisstina?"
"Ah, yes, I was wondering if you had any Blisstina in stock today?" Thor smirked, joking with Cherry a bit before they laughed a little at themselves.
"You can call me 'Bliss' for short." The girl told them.
"All right, class... What do we say?" Miss Grundy prompted her class.
The class blinked, looking a little dull and uninterested, unlike elementary school students who would look cheerful and friendly. "...Hello, Bliss. Welcome to Riverdale." they then droned.
"Well then, I guess I'll be on my way..." Ms. Licosi smiled on the way out the door. "Now Bliss, I want you to do your best and I don't want any trouble. No rough stuff today. Understand?"
"Yes, of course." Bliss smiled back and nodded angelically.
"Please take good care of her, Miss Grundy." Ms. Licosi requested on the way out of the classroom.
"Oh, I will, Ms. Licosi." Miss Grundy reassured.
"This should at least be interesting," Atticus replied. "I mean, maybe we'll make a new friend, y'know?"
"Yeah, I guess." Cherry shrugged.
"So, Bliss, would you like to tell us a little something about yourself?" Miss Grundy suggested. "Maybe some of your talents? Perhaps your hobbies?"
"Still bored..." Mal's voice complained.
"Malissa, if you keep interrupting me, you won't get a story! Now settle down, will you?" Cherry scolded.
"Fine, fine..." Mal groaned as she tried to be patient.
"Oh, well, I don't like to brag, but..." Bliss smiled at the teacher before facing her future classmates. "I've been known to be brilliant, motivated, and won the Nobel Prize for niceness. In other words, I'm the polar opposite of Jughead Jones."
Some of the students laughed while the boy, named Jughead, pouted and crossed his arms.
"Oh... Very amusing, my dear," Miss Grundy chuckled. "Now why don't you take a seat and we'll get on with class?"
"I would be honored, Miss Grundy." Bliss smiled and curtsied before she took a seat which was where a certain ex-student used to sit.
"But that's... Where... Sabrina used to sit..." Thor said softly, trying not to get too emotional.
Lionel gave Thor a gentle squeeze on the hand. "Nothing we can do about it; besides, if she stayed she'd just have been miserable, and I don't think you'd want that on your conscience." he whispered.
"Right. You're right..." Thor nodded.
"Now then... Let's get started with class today, shall we?" Miss Grundy suggested as she began to scribble onto the board.
Most students paid attention, some blatantly fell asleep in class, and some, mainly the guys, seemed to stare at Bliss like she was the most beautiful girl they had ever seen... Even Archie, much to the dismay of Betty and Veronica.
"It was a seemingly normal day," Cherry's voice narrated. "For us anyway... Also crime seemed to be more out of control than usual, so the adults in The Justice League almost always had their hands full and we couldn't help out too much otherwise we would miss school. There were also plans from someone who had a big idea in his head when it came to the popularity and success of our Justice League that had grown ever since Atticus had met and found Superman before being adopted by him and Wonder Woman. It would also involve the help of a certain waitress we had befriended."
"Seriously?" Mal's voice asked dryly.
"Yes!" Cherry's voice insisted heavily. "But her story will come along momentarily."
"So quit with the kvetching!" Lionel added.
"Sorry, guys..." Mal mumbled a bit so that the story could continue.
The others nodded sharply.
"Don't be worse than that one kid at the orphanage who thinks magic isn't real and makes fun of Jake, Izzy, and Cubby for the stories that me, Jane, and Wendy read to them." Carlos scolded.
"Sorry to you too, Carlos." Mal replied.
"So... Anyway..." Cherry then said.