Home at Last
"I can't believe we're going home today!" Todd whooped.
"Yeah and we get to live in a nice new place!" Fred said as he finished packing.
"It's not a new place, stupid," Quinn groaned as she walked by. "It's our old place all fixed up so everybody can live in it!"
"I can't wait!" Pietro whooped.
"Neither can we!" Mercer called out from below.
"Actually I'm going to miss this place a little," Lance said. "Wide open spaces and all that stuff."
"Maybe we can visit or something?" Todd asked.
"NO!" The Renegades screamed.
"Aw don't listen to them," Todd snickered. "They're just putting on an act. They love us!"
"Wanna bet?" Red-Dog groaned as the kids walked downstairs.
"Got everything?" Sarge asked.
"Yeah I got the vodka, beer, gin, party hats…." Tauros said.
"Not you!" Sarge snapped. "Them! Party hats?"
"It's a very festive occasion," Tauros told him.
"Hey the chopper's here!" Mercer called out.
The kids grabbed their gear and loaded up the chopper. "Well its time for us to go," Shipwreck sighed as he held Claudius. "Say bye, bye to the nice Renegades kiddo!"
At this Claudius blew a raspberry. "Wonderful," Sarge groaned. "We'll miss you too."
"Bye Sarge!" Todd waved. "See you soon!"
"Not if we're lucky," Mercer whispered to the others.
"Time to go home!" Roadblock called out as the kids went on the chopper.
"Buy guys!" The kids waved as the chopper took off.
"Good bye! Aloha! Hasta la vista!" The Renegades waved enthusiastically. As soon as the chopper left their sight they all shouted as one. "PARTY!"
************************************************************************
"Well here we are," Shipwreck said as they landed at the Pit. "Home sweet home."
"And look who's here to welcome us yo!" Todd waved.
Lifeline and Bree were there on the tarmac waiting for them. As soon as it landed Pietro hopped down and raced to Bree. "Hi there!" He hugged her. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too!" Bree laughed.
"Lifeline!" Wanda cried out running up and giving him a hug.
"Yayy!" The remaining kids rushed out and piled on them.
"I think they missed you," Low Light said wryly.
"Come on kids," Lifeline laughed. "You want to see your new home?"
"YEAH!" The kids shouted as one. They hopped into a few jeeps and went to their house.
"It looks pretty much the same," Althea noticed. "Only it's a little bigger."
"We put most of the new stuff underground," Lifeline said. "You can see the results inside."
He opened the door and out came Polly. "WELCOME BACK!" He whistled. "WHAT DID YOU GET ME?"
"What our presence isn't enough?" Pietro quipped.
The kids mulled around. "Downstairs is a training area and extra living quarters," Lifeline explained. "But all your rooms are upstairs. Check them out." The kids did so.
"Wow look at all the rooms yo!" Todd said. "Do we all get our own?"
"If you'd like," Roadblock told him.
"Do we have to?" Xi asked, a worried look on his face.
"Aw relax Xi," Todd said. "I'll bunk with you."
"I got dibs on this room!" Pietro zoomed around. "No wait, this room! No wait! This room!"
"Just pick one already Pietro!" Lance snapped.
Soon everyone picked their own room, with the exception of Todd and Xi and of course the triplets. Todd was quite happy to be sharing a room with Xi. It meant he had someone to scheme with at night.
"Come on outside," Shipwreck told him. "Two things. First off, I expect you kids to do your chores regularly. You can start by painting the house."
"You're kidding?" Pietro blinked.
"Oh what are you worried about?" Wanda asked.
"Yeah Pietro you can get most of it done in no time!" Fred told him.
"I can't believe we have to paint all this," Pietro grumbled as he looked over the house.
"Who cares? We're home," Lance said happily. "We're finally home."
"And one other thing," Shipwreck said. "Actually this is for Lance," He handed him the keys to one of the jeeps. "It's a bit newer than your old jeep but we think it's important that you have it."
"You're kidding?" Lance's eyes went wide.
"Nope," Roadblock shook his head. "But we need you to use it responsibly. You know, go do errands, drive the younger kids around…"
"I gotcha Roadblock," Lance said happily. "I am totally grateful for this! I can handle it! Thank you!" He immediately began examining his new jeep.
"The way that kid acts you think we just gave him a corvette," Low Light snickered.
"I think he deserves a little treat after all he's been through," Roadblock said. "Come on kids, we've got unpacking to do!"
The unpacking didn't take very long. Soon everyone was outside painting. Except for Lance who had permission to wash his new jeep and work with Cover Girl on some maintenance work.
"This isn't so bad," Wanda admitted as she painted. "It's kind of nice having a home of our own we can fix up and stuff."
"Hey can we get a dog?" Quinn asked.
"We have Toad," Daria said.
"Ha, ha," Todd said drolly. "Very funny. But Quinn has a point, can we get a pet?"
"What do you think I am?" Polly squawked. "And don't forget Freedom! He's always hanging around whenever he feels like it!"
"Yeah but they're the grown up's pets," Brittany said.
"Yeah that would be cool if we had a pet of our own," Fred said.
"Oh yeah that's all we need," Low Light grumbled. "Another noisy yapping mouth that makes a mess around here."
"We'll think about it," Shipwreck sighed.
"Come back here Pietro!" Fred screamed.
Pietro was laughing insanely. He was also painting the house a variety of different colors. "Pietro knock it off!" Wanda shouted. Soon half the kids were chasing him and the other half became involved in a paint war.
General Hawk drove up. "Hey I just wanted to see how you kids were…." Suddenly he and his jeep were painted in a multitude of colors. "Doing…"
"Yeah we're home all right," Lance sighed.
Next up: Chapter 50: Romance with Todd and Althea! Yayyy!