Special thanks to DenouncingWhalesofVenice for this episode idea and being co-writer for this episode of Harvey Beaks: A New Era!
Paul was in a heated argument with Kratz. He was tired of everyone getting his name wrong constantly. Harvey was walking around that day and saw what had been going down. "Uh oh," he said to himself, "Better see what's going on." Harvey decided to go over to see what was going on with Kratz and Paul.
"I'm sick and tired of you all getting my name wrong all the time!" Paul yelled, "IT'S PAUL FOR HEAVENS SAKE! PAUL!" "Well guess what?!" Kratz yelled back, "At least you don't have it as hard as me! At least your brother doesn't give out free wedgies or gives you a nickname that describes you, Wilbur!" "I swear Kratz!" Paul growled, "I wanna punch you for your stupidity!" Before the argument could turn physical, Harvey came in to stop what was going on.
"Come on now guys," he said, "We don't need to fight over this. What's going on that lead to this moment?" "Kratz' stupidity is what!" Paul exclaimed, "In fact, make that everyone who has gotten my name wrong so far!" "Neville over here is just being petty about his name like usual," said Kratz. Harvey tried to cool off both Paul and Kratz but it didn't really work out. In the end though, they both decided to walk off from one another.
"Dang," Harvey said, "They seemed to be heated, especially Paul." Harvey wondered why everyone got his name wrong all the time, except for those very few such as himself. He felt there was a reason why but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Perhaps it had to do with something that happened a few years back. Harvey couldn't figure it out for sure, but knew something had definitely happened.
Meanwhile, Paul was walking back home. Many he walked passed tried to have a chat with him but he ignored. They all got his name wrong in the process which only aggravated Paul further. "Yo Patrick!" Technobear called, "Wanna go hook up with some hoties?" "Hey Tom, how you doing?" asked MJ. "I HAVE FALLEN AND REFUSE TO GET UP!" Princess yelled, "HELP ME UP PEASANT!" "Umm...hi Jason?" said François awkwardly.
Paul continued to walk back home, feeling like he was about to break something. It wasn't until he ran into Fee and Foo that he finally snapped. "Hey dude, have you seen Harvey anywhere?" Fee asked. "He's just down the street..." Paul replied through gridded teeth. "Thanks Andy!" said Foo. Suddenly in a fit of rage, Paul grabbed his shirt and ripped it off. "MY NAME IS PAUL DARN IT!!!" he screamed. The fox then looked down and realized he ripped off his own shirt. He quickly covered himself as he ran off.
"What was that all about?" asked Foo. "I don't know but I think that's the same dude who ended up destroying his own birthday party a few years back," said Fee. "Ah, so that's why he looked familiar," said Foo, "I said his name correctly, right?" "That's the thing," Fee went on, "I don't think it was the right name Foo. From what I remember, I don't think anyone has gotten his name right since, except for those very few who do." They decided to go hang out with Harvey to continue on their day.
When they eventually found Harvey, they decided to go to Club Mulch. The nightclub was open during the day time on some weekends. Fee and Foo were having a good time on the dance floor, alongside Technobear, Kratz, Rooter, Mikey, and Kathy; except for Harvey. He was sitting at a table waiting for a drink. The bluebird clearly feeling down about whatever was going on inside his head.
Just then, Jeremy came over. "Here's your small root beer Harvey," he said. "Thanks Jeremy," Harvey replied as Jeremy continued serving drinks to others. What was going on in Harvey's head was the fact that he believed that because he had Paul's name wrong in his birthday party those few years ago, everyone has been confused on what his actual name was since then.
"You alright dude?" Fee asked. "I just got something on my mind," Harvey replied, "It's about Paul." "The one who destroyed his own party?" Fee asked. "Yes," Harvey said, "Well technically, I think it was me who destroyed it because I got his name wrong purposely so I could get my dad and his friends to stop doing the Sillies. I just never knew that it would make Paul's life harder."
Fee didn't know Paul too particularly well, but she thought he'd forget about it. "Don't worry Harvey," she assured, "He'll probably forget about it overtime." "That's the thing Fee," Harvey explained, "He never forgot. Ever since I got his name wrong, many have gotten his name wrong multiple times over the years." "Even after he says what his name is?" asked Fee. "Yes," Harvey replied. Fee tried to hold back her laughter as she did find it kind of funny but tried her best not to show it, out of respect.
"I think I should go see Paul and explain why this may be happening to him and apologize," Harvey said as he finished his root beer and left the nightclub. Fee still sat at the table where Harvey was once sitting, unsure what to exactly think. In the background, Foo was dancing like a madman in a certain way. "This is what they call an offensive gesture in Impland Empire!" He said.
Paul walked through the door of his house as he covered himself. "Hey son," his dad greeted, "Oh my! Why is your shirt ripped off? Is everything alright?" "Another bad day," Paul said as he walked up to his room. "Please don't tell me someone got your name wrong again," Paul's dad sighed, "There's really no need to be this upset over-" Before he could finish his sentence, his son shut his bedroom door. The fox felt bad for his son, but he felt that he had to learn that it shouldn't be such a serious situation on the other hand too.
Some time went by, Harvey knocked on Paul's front door. Paul's dad saw Harvey, "Hey Harvey," he said, "Haven't seen you in a little while, especially ever since...you know. But anyway, what brings you here?" "Can I talk to Paul?" asked Harvey, "It's really important." "I don't think he wants any visitors right now," Paul's dad replied. Just then, Paul came from behind and said, "Don't worry dad, he can come visit me."
Harvey went up into Paul's room. He saw some holes in his walls from punching them on some occasions. "I didn't know Paul would get this upset," Harvey said to himself. He then saw a picture of Paul and Carla taking a selfie together at the Old Fashioned Days Festival, dressed in 1970s clothing. "You and Carla are close friends, huh?" asked Harvey. Paul quickly rushed over to the picture and placed it down. "Oh we're just friends," Paul said and then he whispered to himself, "And hopefully we can be lovers..." "What?" asked Harvey. This caused Paul to blush, "Nothing! Just being friends, nothing beyond that!"
After a few seconds of silence, Paul talked again, "But anyway Harvey, what brings you here?" Harvey told Paul everything, from what happened during his birthday, to the potential reason why everyone gets his name wrong so much. He didn't sugarcoat a thing. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen," Harvey said, "I wasn't trying to make your life hard. I was just trying to get my dad and his friends to quit doing the Sillies, because I could tell how exhausted they were. I am so sorry for what I caused but maybe I can fix what I caused."
Paul attempted to throw one of his books at Harvey but the bluebird ducked down before he could be hit. "Wait!" Harvey exclaimed, "I can fix this!" "THERE IS NO WAY TO GET THIS FIXED!" Paul bellowed, noticeably having tears in his eyes, "MY MOM SAID MY NAME WAS A SPECIAL ONE BEFORE I LOST HER! IT'S HARD ENOUGH DEALING WITH THE FACT I NO LONGER HAVE A MOM, BUT IT'S EVEN HARDER WHEN YOU DECIDE TO MAKE MY NAME WRONG WHICH RESULTS IN THE REST OF THIS TOWN GETTING MY NAME WRONG FOR YEARS AFTERWARDS! EVEN AFTER CORRECTING THEM MANY TIMES! DO YOU KNOW WHAT, GET OUT! GET OUT BEFORE I GIVE YOU A SERIOUS INJURY!" Harvey was in a loss of words and tried to think of something to help out Paul but his thoughts were interrupted by another book being thrown, almost hitting him in the head. "I SAID GET OUT!" Paul bellowed once more.
Harvey left Paul's house immediately. "What have I done?!" he asked himself in a panic, "What kind of friend am I?!" It wasn't long till he returned to Club Mulch, not in a good mood. He sat back at the table where he once was. Harvey questioned how he could have screwed up so badly.
At Paul's house, his was checking in on his son. "Where'd Harvey go?" he asked. "I told him to get out," Paul replied crying, "I found out he was the reason why everyone got my name wrong for so long. My name was ment to be special, yet Harvey came in and ruined it all!" "Did he do it purposely?" his dad asked. "He sure did!" Paul replied, "He did it just to help his dad and his dad's friends, just for his own sake! What Harvey doesn't know was the consequences of his actions ended up ruining the purpose of my name!" "Oh my," Paul's dad said, "How so? And what were his motivations to doing that?" Paul told him the entirety of what happened during his birthday party those years ago.
"Paul, I've known Harvey's father since childhood," Paul's dad said, "Although I don't know Harvey too well, he doesn't seem like he'd want to do it in bad faith, especially if it were to help out his father. Don't get me wrong, I don't think what he did was much of a good thing but I think the real problem is how seriously you take your own name." The next thing hit Paul's dad on the inside thinking about this, but he did his best to hold back his tears. "I know it's hard losing your mother," He continued, "And I loved her very much, but do you think she'd want to see you acting like this? Yes, she said your name was a special one but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want to see you acting like this. She'd want to see you living a happy and wonderful life. I understand folks getting your name wrong all the time is a pain but it's not worth getting upset over it all the time. Please don't keep getting angry over this and if you won't do this for me, do it for your mother." This left Paul with a lot to think about.
Back at Club Mulch, Foo was still dancing with his friends while Harvey and Fee were talking. "Sorry to hear about your experience Harvey," Fee said, "But did you ever think that he might just be being a dingus?" "Come on Fee," Harvey sighed. "I'm just saying dude," Fee replied.
"She's right Harvey," said a voice, "I was in a way being a dingus." That voice turned out to be Paul as he went over to Harvey. "Look, I'm sorry for how I was to you, in fact, to all of you who got my name wrong and saw my outbursts," Paul said. "It's fine Paul," Harvey replied, "I can see why. I made your life much harder." "Whether you think it's fine or not, it was never justified for me to act that way," Paul said, "I took my name too serious and made a fool of myself in doing so. You were just looking out for your dad I realized. Did it ruin my birthday that day? It shouldn't have but I made it be ruined because of my own attitude."
Fee stood around awkwardly and said, "Uhh, should I take back about what I said earlier?" "Don't worry about it," Paul replied. Foo was in the background dancing another certain way and said, "This is another dance that is considered offense in Impland Empire!" Harvey came up with an idea to get folks to call him by his name again.
A few days later, there were pictures of Paul around Littlebark in letters that said: If you see this fox, be sure to call him Paul. Slowly but surely, some of folks began to call Paul by his name again.
Paul was walking down the sidewalk of the center of Littlebark. "Hey Paul!" called Mikey. "Uhh, hey Paul?" said François. "Yo Paul!" Technobear called, "Wanna go hook up with some hotties at the club tonight?" "No thanks Techno," Paul replied. He eventually found Princess who was on the ground. "I HAVE FALLEN AND REFUSE GET UP!" She shouted as always, "HEY YOU! HELP ME UP PEASANT!" "Do you know my name by any chance?" Paul asked. "IT'S PEASANT!" Princess snarled. There was a moment of silence and Paul was gonna say something but remembered to not get upset over someone getting his name wrong, so he just continued forward. "YOUR NOT GONNA HELP ME?!" the owl yelled, "I'LL REMEMBER YOUR FACE WHEN A PEASANT HELPS ME UP!"
It was a slow process but would likely turn out as a success in the end. Paul and Harvey waved to each other as they were walking in opposite directions. Things were working out for Paul, despite it starting not too long ago. Paul was hopeful that Harvey's plan would be a success but only time will tell...
THE END!
