Author's Note: Jake (Stick) belongs to Slush Invaders Studios and was used with permission. Check out their channel here: channel/UCAOqma6gnASvLX3XaWhK4bw

The sixteen Slush Defenders in the room crowded around the TV and got ready to watch the broadcast of their comrades' graduation interview. As it started, it opened with a shot of Stewart, Dan, and Bri sitting in chairs while a dandelion yellow person holding a microphone sat off to the left of them. A brown hand from the camera gave them a thumbs up.

"Hello, Virginia Tech, I'm Jake and here we are with three of our students who just graduated!" the yellow one said, "We're here to ask them a few questions before they go. As you probably know, these fine men are, or were as it may be, members of the Slush Defenders that protect this very school. So tell us, why are you leaving, and what will you do next?"

"Well, Dan and I have been doing this for a while and we just figured it's time to take our talents elsewhere. We're gonna take the skills we learned here and join the marine corps," Stewart told him.

"Excellent, Dan, is this true?"

"Yup. Wherever Stewart goes, I go," Dan clarified, "Besides, joining the military will sculpt our physiques so that when we become action movie stars, we'll already look the part!"

"Dan, for the last time, we're not going into movies," Stewart told him, amused.

"You'll come around."

"Fascinating! And how about you, Bri? Not going with them?" Jake questioned.

"Nah, their visions are too narrow. You know what I'm gonna do?" He stood up in his chair, "I'M GONNA ROCK AND ROLL UNTIL I PASS OUT! YOU'LL SEE ME WAILING AWAY AT A GUITAR ON TOP A STAGE, GIRLS WILL BE SCREAMING MY NAME, AND I'LL BE ALL LIKE," he started playing air guitar, "WEOEOWOEOWEOW BEDEEDEDEDEOOOW!" he scatted. Then all at once he calmly sat back down in his chair. "And if that falls through, I'll just settle for a respectable career as an accountant."

"Math majors," Stewart quipped.

"Hey, you're just jealous I have a degree, dropout boy!" He retorted and playfully pushed Stewart, even with Dan in between them.

"Very interesting plans you've got there. All of us wish you the best in all of them! Now, how would you describe your time in the Defenders and are you worried about the state of the group without you three?"

"The group treated me well, I learned a lot of things, met a lot of cool people, couldn't ask for a better group of friends really. That being said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about them now. There hasn't been this few members in ages. Hopefully they're prepared anyway," Stewart told the microphone.

"You kidding? These guys had even less than they do now when they started and they won plenty of fights! They'll be fine!" Bri assured.

"He's obviously worried because I'm not gonna be here to pick up the others' slack anymore," Dan bragged.

"I'm really gonna miss Waqas in particular, man he's seen a lot of us come and go. Hard to see how he remains so chipper."

"Alright, and that's all the time we've got. After a brief going-away party in the Defenders' clubroom, these three will be leaving the campus for good, so make sure you say your farewells. Bye-bye now!" Jake concluded, and the broadcast cut off.

"You guys are seriously throwing a party? Again?" Eric exasperatedly asked.

"Of course! We do it for everyone that leaves!" Jame said.

"Well then, that's my que to return to my dorm," Eric said and left. A few seconds later Michael left too without a word.

"Gee, what's wrong with Eric? Michael I get, but why's Eric such a grouch? It's a party, right?" Hang asked Kyle.

"Give him space, Eric just doesn't like these graduations," Kyle explains. "Everyone else stays anyway."

"Even Marc?"

"Even Marc," Marc himself chimed in.

"Oh hey, it didn't mean disrespect, I just didn't think you'd stick around, considering, uh, how cold... Nevermind," Hang stammered.

"I'm not an idiot like Eric. Pizza and soda is pizza and soda, especially when I'm not the one paying for them."

"Speaking of which," Andrew spoke up, dialing his phone, "Does anyone have a suggestion of which place we'll get the pizza from?" Thomas raised his hand. "Except Thomas." Nobody else raised their hand. Andrew sighed. "Okay, Thomas?"

"GIUSEPPE'S! GIUSEPPE'S!" Thomas chanted.

"...Thomas, I know it's the only place in pretty much the entire world that can deliver right to us, but don't you ever want to eat from someplace else? It's no trouble for me to go drive out and pick it up, you know."

"Come on! Giuseppe's is close, fast, convenient, delicious, AND we get to support Kirby! You know how much I love to support our old pal Kirby!"

"I know how much you love to harass him when he comes over and reopen his old wounds." Thomas fell silent. "Anyway, fine, if nobody has any objections, we'll get Giuseppe's, but you are NOT answering the door, Thomas."

"Fiiiine…"

A few minutes later, the pizza finally arrived. A security guard already on his way to the front doors got an alert for someone named Kirby opening the front doors via ID card. He arrived a few seconds after the opened the doors to be met with a pink man bearing a hollow, lifeless gaze and multiple boxes of pizza.

"Oh thank god Thomas isn't here…" Kirby said. "Anyway, here's your pizzas."
"Thank you very much. Here's your payment, tip included," the guard said, handing Kirby a handful of tokens. "I'll make sure this gets safely to- LOOK OUT BEHIND-"

Before Kirby could hear the rest of it, something hit him in the back of the head so hard it caused him to black out. A few minutes later, the guard brought the pizza boxes into the clubroom himself.

"WOO, GIUSEPPE'S!" Thomas cheered, then gasped, "That means Kirby's here, can I see him?"

"He, uh, had an accident. A soccer ball hit him in the back of the head at full speed. One of the other guards is escorting him home right now," the guard tried to explain. He saw Andrew breathe a sigh of relief.

"Aw come on, you guys just don't want me to see him, that's it!" Thomas accused.

"Stand down, Thomas," Andrew told him. Thomas grumbled and walked away. "Thanks for volunteering to bring these here."

"Soccer team just isn't what it used to be since Khanh went pro, huh?" James lamented.

"Heh, you said it," the guard said, "You kids enjoy your party," the guard left.

Not long later, everything was gathered and the party went underway. Hang found himself staring at a framed picture of fifteen of what he presumed were the Slush Defenders. He wasn't sure because it was mixed with some of the people in the room and people he'd never seen before.

"Hey, Kyle," he called out to his friend, "What's this over here?"

"Oh that," Kyle said as he approached the picture, "That's the original fifteen. The founding members of the Slush Defenders. We got Andrew, James, Waqas, Sean, Omar, Michael, Corey, Ben, and Kirby, he's the pink one right there," he points to a cheery pink guy in the photo. "Of course, those are just the few you know."

"Yeah, who's the pale yellow one, and the dark green one with an assault rifle? And that tan brown one?"

"That's JK, our original sniper, Addison, close-range gunner, and Josh, our former explosives expert."

"How about the pale green one with the circles around him? Or the one that looks kinda like a kiwi before you cut it?"
"Hang, that's insensitive."
"Sorry."
"But to answer your question, the first one's Brian, our original hand-to-hand combat specialist with the power to teleport without Sean's help, and the kiwi is Khanh. James brought him up earlier. He had super strong legs and was great at soccer, or 'futebol' as he likes to call it."

"Alright, that just leaves the neon green one with the cape."

The entire room fell silent at once.

"...Uh, why did the party stop?" Hang asked, "All I asked was who-"

"AAAAND THAT CONCLUDES OUR LESSON FOR TODAY, LET'S GO TALK ABOUT OTHER THINGS, SHALL WE? OKAY!" Kyle nervously said louder than he wanted. They two of them grabbed some lukewarm pizza, manually reheated it to their liking, and sat down while the others went about their usual business. Pedro was challenging people to Melee for money, Ben was dominating in Uno, Tucker was holding Thomas back from chugging the entire root beer bottle, the usual. But there was something on Hang's mind.

"Kyle, how come so many people leave the Slush Defenders?" He asked and took a bite of his pizza.

"Various reasons, really. Growing up, losing interest, needing money, or just wanting to follow their dreams. Khanh went to the big leagues with his soccer skills and Brian opened a martial arts dojo. Kirby just needed a way to make ends meet, and both JK and Addison joined the military like Stewart and Dan are going to. Then there's the guy that got kicked out."

"Was it the gre-"
"No, he was a dark yellow, or maybe mustard yellow I dunno, guy named Wes. Dude had an itchy trigger finger and combat strategy that was barely anything more than 'spray and pray'. Nearly got us all killed one time. Wonder where the dude's at now," Kyle mused and finished his pizza, tossing the crust in the trash.

"You don't eat the crust?"
"No! Who even eats the crust?"

"I eat the crust!"
"Then you're a freak, man!"
"...Don't call me that," Hang said and looked away.

"Oops, sore subject? Sorry, dude," Kyle gave him a few pats on the back. Their moment was interrupted by James hitting a spoon against a glass filled with Dr. Pepper.

"Alright, now that I have your attention, how about we have a toast? A toast to our leaving members, Stewart, Bri, and Dan, for their service. You guys have been very valuable members of the Slush family and we're gonna miss you."

"Thanks James, that's really sweet of you," Stewart said.

"Yeah yeah, guess I appreciate it," Dan admitted.

"Don't worry, you guys will still be seeing plenty of me… from the audience! Hope you all got steel eardrums because I'll make sure y'all get front row seats if I ever see you show up to one of my shows. Also-"
"That's enough," Stewart interrupted, cutting Bri off.

"To graduation, and a bright future!" James said. "TO A BRIGHT FUTURE!" Everyone else joined in and raised their food or drinks. After that, the three graduated students walked up to Hang.

"Hey, new kid, I saw what you've been doing, and I gotta say, you're pretty cool. Think you can fill in for all three of us?" Dan asked him.

"I'll sure try," Hang answered, more than a little anxious.

"Hey, relax, you're a great addition to the team, I'm sure you'll do just fine," Stewart reassured him.

"Yeah, so you better not let us down!" Bri joked.

They continued to party late into the night and after that, the three said their farewells and left Slusher for the last time.

Elsewhere in the city that same night, a very unhappy Kirby came home, still rubbing the back of his head in pain.

"What is WRONG with that college?!" He asked aloud. "That's it, I'm never delivering there again! From now on, if they want Giuseppe's so badly, they can come get it themselves! Ugh…" He took out his wallet. "Well, at least I got paid. Let's see how much I- Wait a minute…" He looked closer at his wallet, then dug around in his own pockets.

"...Where the heck is my ID card?"

The End