Hey everybody. Happy new year. I hope you're all doing well, with your lives and doing your New Year's resolutions as well I am. Like writing this this new fanfic that takes place after the end of the 3rd episode of Craig of the Creek Season 4, Beyond the Overpass.
It was a late afternoon as the sun was setting, and the Stump Kids were following Omar (formerly the Green Poncho and now an official Stump Kid) to a new quest to find all 25 pieces of the puzzle cube that belonged to the first king of the Creek, Kenneth, to unlock a secret treasure called The Heart of the Forest after Craig received the first cube from Mariah, the leader of the Roller Bladers.
Craig was happy to finally be seen as a hero by the Roller Bladers, but he suddenly felt a pang of guilt hit him when he looked at Omar, with his newly made ponytail and the confident smile on his face. He couldn't believe how narcissistic he sometimes acted, and all because he let the memory of when he defeated Xavier, the former king of the Other Side of the Creek, by winning the Capture The Flag war get into his head. Craig needed to tell him something, so he caught up to Omar and joined him by his side as he cleared his throat, leaving Omar to raise an eyebrow. "Hey uh, Omar," began Craig in a nervous tone while clutching his apple juice box that still had some juice in it. "Yeah? 'Sup?" asked Omar as Craig sipped some apple juice from the juice box and felt his cheeks flush red before he started talking. "Listen. If you feel like talking, I just want to know that I want to apologize."
Omar turned his head and gave Craig a curious look. "Really? For what?" he asked. "For the way I acted today." explained Craig, looking down at his feet. "When you and I were hanging out together, I was hoping to get some recognition from everyone in the Creek. You know, for saving the Creek from the evil King by defeating him in the Capture The Flag war. But everyone was only paying attention to you and liking you more than me, and that…" he let out a deep sigh, closed his eyes, and pursed his lips together when Omar nodded in encouragement to Craig. "It made me very jealous of you," he confessed.
Omar, along with JP, Kelsey, and Mortimer, became wide eyed with surprise. "You? Jealous of me?" Omar asked as Craig turned away with a downcast look, not wanting to look back at Omar as he didn't want to see him embarrassed. "Yeah." Craig then let out a frustrated groan. "It's not fair! I just wanted to be seen as a hero who saved the Creek because I'm the one who came up with the idea to stop the King by challenging him to a winner takes all game of Capture The Flag, and stood on the Overpass holding up the flag! But no one seems to care, not even my family!" Craig shut his eyes closed, holding back tears and felt his heart twist in pain.
Omar could sense the quivering tone in Craig's voice as if he was about to cry. "And the Creek kids acted like you saved the Creek, while they acted like I was the bad guy or just stood around doing nothing." said Craig in a sad, left out tone of voice. "Anyway, I'm sorry I ruined this afternoon for us. I should've just introduced you to the other kids like I said and just had a fun time with you, instead of being so expecting, and so jealous... of you." He squeezed his juice box, then took another sip from the straw before he squirted some out by mistake.
After Craig had finished, Kelsey, JP, and Mortimer sent looks of sympathy towards him while Omar began to feel pity for his friend. Finally, after a long moment of silence, Omar replied with a comforting smile he sent to Craig, "Hey it's okay, Craig. I get it. You didn't ruin anything, you just want everyone to appreciate you for what you did to save the Creek from the King, that's all. I don't blame you. I mean, I get that sometimes we all need a little recognition for our heroism every now and then, but hey. At least you did introduce me to your friend Kit, and those former Honeysuckle Rangers." Omar placed his fingertip on his bottom lip and looked up to try to remember the names of the rangers as he asked, "Um... Raj and Shawn, right?" Craig nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's true I guess. But still..." he responded in a low-toned voice and sighed again, sipping into his juice box again.
Omar placed a hand on Craig's shoulder. "Hey come on. Don't beat yourself up about it, Craig, cause' look on the bright side. I did have fun, and you've finally got the recognition you wanted after we saved one of those roller skating kids from falling off a cliff on the Other Side of the Creek." reminded Omar. "Plus, you've made pretty good friends with them, and found yourself a new quest after Mariah gave you the first piece of the puzzle cube. That's even better." he added hoping to make Craig feel better, and it did, as he saw a little smile forming on Craig's face and his eyes brightening as he lifted his head. "Yeah. You know what Omar, you're right. That is a lot better." he replied before taking a few sips from the straw of his juice box.
"Hmm." replied Omar with a nod as he inserted his hands into his sweater pocket. "Although, I'll be honest with you Craig. I'm kinda jealous of you too." Craig blinked and gave Omar a surprised look. "Really? You're jealous of me too?" he asked, then his lips formed a small grin that looked like he was about to laugh.
Omar scratched the back of his head, feeling himself smile a bit as he shrugged. "Yeah. Well, not because you beat Xavier in the great Capture The Flag war, but because of how you make friends with everyone in the Creek so easily, including your enemies." Omar admitted. "And not only that, you always have the time to have fun and explore the Creek, and have all these crazy adventures or solve these cool mysteries. While I just spent my time standing on the Overpass keeping the King and his forces out of your side of the Creek." he added, looking down with his smile turning to a small frown, but he felt glad that Craig wasn't mad at him.
Finally, as Omar finished, Craig let out an unexpected snort and later, he burst into laughter as Omar joined in when he felt like laughing. Kelsey and JP watched them having a good time like old friends and exchanged smiles. "Oh man! I didn't know you felt that way! Heh heh!" Craig said, finally catching his breath. "Haha! Well you know now." Omar replied, letting his laughter die down as well and grinning. Then after calming down, Omar sighed and slightly blushed a pinkish red. "And well, if it makes you feel better, I think you're a hero too. You know, for gathering all the kids of the Creek to help us win the Capture the Flag war against Xavier and his army, and standing up to him. And I'll bet even Kelsey, JP, and Mortimer think so too. They were with you after all when you stood on the Overpass holding up the King's flag." Omar glanced over his shoulder at Craig's three best friends who nodded in agreement.
Craig brightened. "Really? Then that makes all seven kids in the Creek today! Plus Mortimer!" he noted happily. "Yeah, I could've done that myself." continued Omar, shrugging. "But I was still bummed out at home about how the Creek took me for granted, and then I was busy helping Kelsey and Michelle fend off Maya from going through the Overpass with our flag." Saying his best friend's name then wiped the smile off of Omar's face. He still missed Maya and wondered if she was okay, where she is, and what she's doing now after the Capture the Flag war was over.
However, Omar pushed that aside for now as he resumed his talk with Craig, his cheeks still flushed. "And who knows? Maybe there'll be more kids out there who'll see you as a hero other than me, your friends, and the Roller Bladers." he added, looking up to the sky thinking that perhaps there will be since so many kids have been in the Capture The Flag war with them last summer.
"Wow! You think so?" exclaimed Craig with his eyes shining as Omar chuckled lightly. "Yeah. I do." Now it was Omar's turn to feel guilty as he looked back at the scene where Kit gave him a bag of Spicy Beefers instead of giving two bags that Craig ordered. "But you know something Craig… I think I owe you an apology too." he said with another frown as his shoulders slumped down. "I didn't mean to make you so jealous of me. It's just that almost all the kids in the Creek were being so nice to me, even though some are still scared of me or hate me. You know, for being the Green Poncho and all when Xavier still ruled the Other Side of the Creek." Craig blinked again. He didn't expect the former Green Poncho to apologize back, even if he did but still, Craig suddenly felt like he wasn't the only one who messed up their afternoon together.
Omar then half smiled. "But you're right about one thing though: I shouldn't worry about what other kids, like Tommy Top Hat, er, Wolfgang, say. It might take some time, but they will get over it." Omar concluded with a shrug, then frowned again as he scratched the back of his head and looked sideways at Craig. "So anyways, I'm sorry too. I guess it's kinda my fault for stealing your thunder, even if I didn't mean to."
After Omar had finished with a shameful expression and then closed his eyes, Craig looked him straight in the eye when he turned to face him, making Omar's blush grow and change to a ripe strawberry red when he opened his eyes to stare back into the mapmaker's eyes. "Hey, it's cool Omar. Don't blame yourself because of me. I'm just glad that we got to spend some time together while the Creek is changing. We should do it again some time," Craig replied comfortingly. "You know, without me getting jealous and stuff." Omar felt a wave of hope wash over him. "Yeah. I liked that." he said, a tone of excitement in his voice until he realized how out of character he was acting so he cleared his throat. "I mean, yeah, that'd be cool. We should do it again some time." Again, Omar half smiled, but with a hint of embarrassment.
"Yeah," Craig replied back before adding, "And you know, hanging out with you today made me realize something I forgot hours ago: that I didn't save the Creek alone... because I had my friends, and you, to help me out. If it weren't for you guys, not only would the King still be ruling our side of the Creek if we lost the game, but I would've left the Creek and that we would've all become indoor kids… forever." Craig glanced down with a small frown, but then continued with a quick smile, "Plus on top of that, you reminded me that heroes don't always have to expect recognition, praise, rewards, values, or even songs about them for saving the day. They're just happy to help and see everyone else happy, especially with the King gone and that everyone can play how they want again."
With that said from the hero of the Creek, Omar felt appreciated for what he did to help Craig and the rest of the Creek kids last summer, but mostly about what Craig said about helping him realize what he forgot. "Oh really?" Omar asked with a small smile while the blush on his cheeks grew bigger and went from strawberry red to crimson red until it almost reached the bridge of his nose. "Gee, that means a lot coming from the hero of the Creek like yourself. And well, hanging out with you today made me realize something too, if I hadn't become who I am today after we hung out together..." he replied, then added under his breath dreamily, "That I see you more than just a friend. Because... I really like you, Craig."
Craig raised an eyebrow when he heard Omar whispering. "I'm sorry. What was that, Omar?" he asked in confusion as Omar jerked up his head and opened his eyes in shock at what he just said without thinking as the blush became the color of dark red blood and spread across his face while feeling himself warm up that sweat was forming on his forehead. "Geh!" he exclaimed, feeling like an idiot. Omar gritted his teeth and frantically looked upwards, much to Craig, Kelsey, JP, and Mortimer's surprise. "Uh! I mean, I really like the idea of joining your crew to help you guys find the rest of the puzzle cube pieces to, uh, unlock the Heart of the Forest! And that hanging out with you today made me realize that I should hang out with you guys more often!" he replied quickly with stutters, smiling awkwardly and letting out a nervous laugh while he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
Kelsey, Mortimer, and JP glanced at each other with perplexed looks as it wasn't like Omar to act this way. Usually, Omar acted so cool and quiet, but after having a talk with Craig he started to act unusually weird. "Ahehehe! Yeah! Tha-that-that's what I meant. Yeah, heh heh." He cleared his throat after that. "Anyway, it gets kinda lonely being by myself, even with the King off his throne." he finished solemnly and his shoulders slumped while the blush on his face quickly faded away. Omar let out a breath of relief when it was gone.
Then, Craig smiled in content and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Well, you won't have to be alone ever again Omar— because you have us now. So, welcome to the team." Omar smiled back. "Thanks Craig." he replied. As Craig looked straight ahead and went back to finish his juice box, Omar slowly moved his hand towards Craig's hand to hold it again like before when he saved Craig and Dillard from falling into the Creek water. But before Omar could hold that hand, he looked down and blushed again as he quickly stopped himself before his fingers brushed against Craig's. He sighed quietly. "Not yet." Omar whispered to himself and stopped blushing as he and his new friends made their way to their new quest to find the second piece of the puzzle cube. He didn't want to make things awkward between them or do it in front of Kelsey, JP, and Mortimer. They can't know about his feelings for Craig... not even Craig. Not yet anyway.
He'll have to wait until the time is right. But right now, as Kelsey said: a new adventure begins.
THE END
Thank you to those who have read or are reading my after story of the new Craig of the Creek episode! I just felt like writing it because I felt sorry for Craig because he didn't get the expectation he wanted when everyone in the Creek were paying attention to Omar/former Green Poncho instead. Plus, I wanted to add some sweet apology scenes and also some Craig x Omar into my after story because I had a feeling that Omar joined the Stump Kids because he didn't just want to help them find the puzzle cube pieces of Kenneth's cube, but to be with Craig more because he seems to be crushing on him. Sadly, it didn't happen in the episode so I'm hoping it will happen in the future episodes of Craig of the Creek Season 4. Enjoy my story, dear friends!
