Chapter 26 - Day 1: The Nerd Sanctum
(35 minutes later)
The Platypus traveled up US Highway 36 northward to reach Boulder. June Possible, James' sister, lived in the Noble Park neighborhood with her son, Larry. She was part of a larger Possible family with two other sisters, April and May and her brothers of James, Jack and Slim. Of the six siblings at the time of the Utah vacation, April, May, Jack, and James were married, Slim was widowed, and June had just gone through a divorce.
The van pulled up in the driveway as James stopped the vehicle and put on the emergency break.
"Alright, Possible troops...and Ronald, we are here at your Cousin Larry's house!" he said to the kids in the back rows of the van.
"AKA the home of Planet Dweeb-o!" Jim snickered.
Tim added, "From an alien life form as the Nerd!"
"Jim...Tim...how many times do I need to repeat this?" James scolded the Tweebs, "We do not mock family members."
Kim had just finished up her coffee and Ron and Rufus were just about through with the breakfast burritos from Bueno Nacho earlier.
James then interjected, "Oh, and, um, Ann honey-poo and Kimmie-cub. May I suggest to you to tuck in your unhooked overalls strap. June is still freaked out over the BB gun incident a few weeks ago. She is worried that he'll shoot his eye out."
Ann and Kim both complied and tucked in their unhooked straps. They kinda looked like a certain peg-legged villain.
The six of them, and Rufus, got out of the vehicle as James locked the doors. Leading the group, he went to the doorbell and rang it.
The door opened and a woman in her late 30s, auburn hair, and black eyes peered through. She also had crutches on because of an injury to her left foot.
"Hello, James! Glad you can make it, middle brother!" June exclaimed, greeting James.
"And glad to open up your home, middle sis!"
"Excuse me, Mr DrP, but why do you call each other middle?" Ron asked.
"I was the third of six, after Slim and April and before Jack, June, and May." James explained the order of birth years of the Possibles from the oldest to the youngest.
"Ahh...that pretty much explains it." Ron said.
"Come in! Come in!" June insisted. "You are in time for lunch."
The Possible family, Ron and Rufus, all entered into June's house. Five of the six members of the party went into the living room.
"Hey, Aunt June..." Kim asked, "Is Larry here?"
"He is, Kim." June said, pointing up the stairs, "Second door to your left. He is almost done packing for the trip."
"Are you gonna come downstairs?" Ron asked.
"I will in a few minutes!" Kim replied back from the stairs.
Kim went upstairs to Larry's room and knocked on the door twice.
"Hey, Larry? Are you in here?" Kim asked.
"To whom am I speaking to shall I allow to enter the Sacred Inner Sanctum of the Yelvanite people?" Larry asked from behind his bedroom door.
"Larry, it's your fellow cousin, Kim!" Kim replied. "Can I please come in!"
"Since you are of a blood relative, you may enter the Inner Sanctum." Larry replied, opening the door.
Kim came in.
"Looks pretty much the same since last month." Kim said, putting her hands in her overalls pockets.
"Nah...I added a couple more Shrieker race statuettes to my collection." Larry replied, pointing to the statuettes on the shelf, "They are so rich in detail, especially the claws. Plus, I renovated the Fortress display for my computer."
"Yeah...amazing..." Kim replied, feigning interest in Larry's ventures into fantasy and science fiction. Larry, in the meantime, was packing for the trip.
"You're wearing 14 copies of the same outfit?" Kim asked, pointing to the same button-down shirt/khaki pants combo in his suitcase.
"I do need to be consistent, Kim." Larry said while putting a couple of his belts in the suitcase, "I don't want to go to the Salt Lake City Comic-Con in only my underwear. And speaking of which..."
"What are you getting at, Larry?" she asked.
Larry went to his closet and opened it. He pointed to three particular costumes and explained each of them.
"The first costume is that of a Benarlus Senator outfit with a purple cape from Moon Beyond Ios. The second costume is Commander Kane from Space Passage. The third and final I am going to bring costume is an elf prince, Hymie Silverman, from Stumbleberry Finkbat. Clive Addison, the special effects director, is going to be on a guest panel! I plan to wear them on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday respectively!"
Kim was very nervous but showed a smile and feigned interest.
"That's...fun, Larry!"
"Oh, and since my mom is in the sick bay with her injured leg, I would probably need you to be my escort through the convention center for all three days." Larry explained. "Someone needs to get to the Limited Edition Zathian Emperor action-figure! They only made 50 of them!"
I bought three tickets to the comic-con but I
Kim's eyes were twitching badly.
"Sounds like...a spankin' idea! I'm going out...for some air, Larry."
She slowly headed out of Larry's bedroom and headed downstairs, feeling very awkward.