Two weeks have passed, as did Halloween.
Inside the assembly room, Marianne Thornberry was adjusting her camera to get the right angle.
"And that...should about...do it." she said once she did so.
"Smashing, dearest!" exclaimed her husband, Nigel. "Now, everything's all set and ready for exhibiton."
Aside from working for the Foundation with his family, Nigel was also the host of "Nigel Thornberry's Animal World." And he was thrilled to present it live at Foster City School.
"Oh, I'm sure the runts will take a liking to this." Debbie, Nigel and Marianne's daughter said sarcastically while looking the decorated assembly, complete with planted palm trees. "As opposed to a possible museum wing."
Before another word could be spoken, there was some loud gibberish, followed by a crash, and an even louder voice that cried. "MR. ARROW, REMOVE THIS CHILD FROM THE OFFICE!"
"Looks like Donnie found his way into the main office." said Marianne.
"Get out of here!" Mr. Arrow demanded from inside the office. "Go! Get out! Scram!"
"WHEE!" Donnie screeched loudly as he was thrown out of there.
He, then, started to run crazy past me and two of my fellow students from Mr. Beckwith's class, Jane Darling (from "Return to Never Land") and Shanti (from "The Jungle Book 2").
"Whoa!" I exclaimed.
"Hey!" exclaimed Shanti.
"Watch it!" Jane called out.
Mr. Arrow, a tall man made of stone (from "Treasure Planet"), let out a huff as he went back inside the office. "Good riddance!"
On seeing this, Nigel and Marianne's other daughter, Eliza, said. "Come on, Darwin. We better find him before he causes more trouble."
Darwin the chimpanzee let out a groan. "Oh, I swear to you, Eliza. That Donnie is working my last..."
As he passed them, all Jane and Shanti could hear were monkey sounds.
"Uh, does she always..." Jane began before Debbie cut her off, saying. "Talk like a monkey, dress like a geek? Yeah, you get used to it."
Jane and Shanti looked at each other, then continued on their way, until Debbie said. "Hey, while I have you, is there some sort of mall around this town?"
"You mean, Hillsdale?" said Shanti. "It's not that far from here."
"Really?" said Debbie.
"There's a bus stop across the street." explained Jane. "It'll take you where you need to go."
That was all Debbie needed to hear.
"I'm off to the mall!" she called out.
Marianne poked her head out of the assembly room. "Well, make sure you're back sooner than later, OK? By the looks of these clouds, something tells me it's going to rain."
"Pfft, I'll come back when I feel like it." said Debbie. "Catch you later!"
"Hey, no running in the premises!" Amelia Smollett* called out as she saw Debbie run off to the bus stop.
"Oh, let her be, Captain." said Mr. Arrow. "She's outside our reach... for now, anyway."
Following what happened at the first day of school, Amelia, captain of the RLS* Legacy, and her second-in-command, Mr. Arrow, have been appointed as Foster City School's hall monitors.
As they set out patrolling around the school, Shanti and Jane had taken their turns at the water fountain.
When they turned, they were startled to see Mowgli, another one of Mr. Beckwith's students, hanging on the ledge of the roof.
"Afternoon, ladies!" he greeted.
"Afternoon?" repeated Shanti. "It's only 10:15."
"And what kind of unforeseen yet completely predictable naivety are you up to now?" asked Jane.
Once he landed from the roof, Mowgli said. "Oh, just keeping a lookout for...you know."
"The Alphas?" I guessed.
Jane let out a scoff. "At ease, scout. The Alpha Bullies are long gone."
But as she and Shanti started on their way again, Mowgli caught up to them. "Well, uh...if I was looking out for the Alphas, would they leave a trail of tiger tracks I saw yesterday?"
Jane raised an eyebrow. "Tiger tracks?"
Shanti just rolled her eyes. "You and your stories. Everyone knows there are no tigers around this neighborhood."
"Unless one of them is Shere Khan." Mowgli said, circling around them and me. "He's probably out there right now, seeking our bloodthirsty revenge."
Shanti, Jane and I looked at each other, then back to Mowgli, who went on saying. "So keep your eyes open. Oh, and always watch your back, or the last thing you'll ever hear is..."
"ROAR!"
At that, we turned to see Ranjan, Mowgli's stepbrother, Junie B., Lucille, and Grace lunge at us.
Shanti and Jane jumped back, only to bump into SpongeBob Squarepants, Patrick Star, Squidward Tentacles, Mr. Krabs and Jim Hawkins as they were passing through while Mowgli and the kindergartners laughed.
"When does the tiger roar?" asked Mowgli.
In response, the kindergartners roared.
"Oh, that was such a hoot." said Lucille.
"You should've seen the looks on your faces!" Junie B. laughed at us.
"We got your guys good!" added Grace.
Shanti could only growl in annoyance as Squidward helped her up, saying. "One of these days, Mowgli, ONE OF THESE DAYS, those tricks of yours are going to land you in a heap of trouble."
"Hey, come on." said Mowgli. "Who doesn't like my tricks?"
"We do!" said SpongeBob and Patrick.
"See, they get it." Mowgli said, giving them each high fives.
Shanti rolled her eyes again, then palmed her face as Jane turned to me, saying. "You just had to imagine a bunch of idiots."
"Yes, but they're my idiots." I said, before hearing Squidward say the same thing too.
We looked at each other, exchanging our little smiles.
Sure, Squidward and I may not stand SpongeBob and Patrick, but we still love them just the same.
"Hear, hear!" boomed a voice.
We turned to see John Silver, a bear-like man, who is also part cyborg, walk out of the kitchen towards us, saying. "What's all this jabber-wapping when there are deliveries to be made? I know five shiftless workhands who'll be out of a job before they know it!"
"Shiftless workhands! Shiftless workhands!" repeated Morph, his floating pet blob, who transformed himself into a miniature Silver, waving his cyborg finger.
The real Silver cleared his throat, which Morph responded by turning back to himself.
Because of their heroic efforts on the first day of school, the Imaginaries have also been assigned to work with Silver, Foster City School's new cook, handing out and delivering lunches all around.
"These lads may be shiftless to you, Long John." said Mr. Krabs.
"But, luckily," he added, wrapping his shoulders around SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward and Jim. "They still have another job to attend to."
"Uh, since when did I became a part of this mixed-up crew?" asked Jim.
"Since August." replied Squidward.
"Right."
Silver raised an eyebrow, then said to...
"Morph, you go along with these noobs. See to it where they need to go."
As soon as Silver went back to the kitchen, Morph babbled wordlessly, transforming into a hand that pointed towards the playground.
"All right, all right, we're going." Squidward said as he, SpongeBob, Patrick, Jim, and Mr. Krabs went that way.
"Hey, mind if I tag along?" I asked, catching up with them. "I was going to head that direction anyway."
Meanwhile, Shanti turned to the kindergartners, telling them. "That wasn't very nice, you know?"
Grace and Lucille felt ashamed. But Junie B. only growled while Ranjan let out a little roar.
Jane let out a groan. "Seriously, Mowgli, what are you teaching them?"
"What's wrong with what I do?" Mowgli asked with a shrug.
Author's Note:
*Smollett was Amelia's last name. In fact, you could say she's the daughter of Captain Alexander Smollett from the original "Treasure Island."
Also, the initials RLS stands for Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of said novel.