Well, look who just made his return!

Since May's weather has been surprisingly cool lately, I decided I would write a fanfic in the "Mortal Kombat" and "Treasure Planet" crossover series that has it so that there would be a matter of unintentional kinds of things, knowing as how May is supposed to be, and usually is, warm like the spring it's in.

Specifically, moments in which each one of the Doppler children are, in a different way apiece, uncivil without meaning to be, hence the title.

Just for anyone who needs to know what stories this crossover timeline originates from…the Mortal Kombat story "Payback Pays Off" and the Treasure Planet story "An Arm And A Leg" were made by me before I combined them and kept said combination going in subsequent stories, starting with "A Series Of Memorable Events", followed by "Crocked Cat", "Girl Illness Warfare", "Get Your Game On, Go…Nuts?", "A Heartfelt Performance" and, until now, ending it with "Fear And Loathing In New York City".

Okay, so here's the thing…even though it's been a while since, in the story prior to this one, the heroes found out about, and got revenge for, the way that various individuals played cruel jokes at their expense concerning what phobias the hapless victims had(ironically, sometimes the antagonized would become the ones doing the antagonizing, or vice versa), and even though water's been put under a bridge after said payback and everyone's friends again, there's a new problem which is going to be presenting itself among them…one which, oddly enough, comes from things which are uncouth, but the ones being uncouth are doing so unwittingly.

You see, Sarah has arranged a special 4th of July party with Jim's help, and both the heroes from the universe she and Jim are from and the "Mortal Kombat" universe heroes are invited, and no one declines.

Unfortunately, it isn't long until Matey, Jib, Tillie and Sunny begin unknowingly causing problems for the others one way or another, and while it's trying for them, it'll be funny for the ones reading this(or at least I'm aiming it to be, we'll see how I do).

THINGS TO NOTE:

This takes place almost nine months after the events of "Fear And Loathing In New York City", since this takes place on the 4th of July in 2020 and that story took place on various days of October of 2019.

While the paybacks concerning the ones mentioned in terms of who played what cruel joke about what fear on whom in this story's predecessor will be mentioned, there will be no others, as I'm leaving whatever other ones of said fear jokes are chosen up to the ones who read it and decide to do so and thus give me suggestions(which will incorporate themselves into the story I'm writing here despite none of it being mentioned like what already happened is).

This story features the 2002 film "The Rookie" and the legend of the Jack-O-Lantern both because the former is perfect for watching on the 4th of July(it's an excellent movie in general, but especially for watching on Independence Day)and because the latter is part of what will set the trend in the unintentional uncivility, though only part of it, along with how it is quite the story who anyone who loves Halloween should read.

There is a message to be sent from this story because of how unintended rudeness and unmeant offensiveness are both major themes in it…one about how important it is to think before you speak and consider where you are and who you're with, even though it's also intended as something funny and fun to read, especially since well-intentioned things on one's part can ironically turn out to have the opposite effect, and rather vastly, at that.

I realized a couple of mistakes I made myself in writing this story, ironically enough, so I've now fixed them.

I own none of the characters. They all belong to their respective franchises.

Unintentionally Uncivil

On the 4th of July, Sarah Hawkins decided that there should be a special party to celebrate that holiday at her home, her son Jim assisting her in putting everything together for it, and when they invited the Dopplers, B.E.N., Morph and all of the heroes from the "Mortal Kombat" universe, all of whom accepted said invitations, it would seem that it would turn out to be one hell of a wonderful and memorable party.

Which it was…at first.

You see, here's the thing…after everyone having found out about how the worst fears a specific individual had by chance and quite a few of them unable to help but capitalize on it for their own amusement(the fact that precautions had been taken as so not to get caught and lasted for a long time notwithstanding), there were quite a few angry attacks as so to make the one who made fun of what they feared pay the price.

While all of this, which included things such as…

Sunny taking a hold of Morph and squeezing him mercilessly with all of his might as retribution for having impersonated a bee and gone about to make it look like numerous bees were present and thus scaring the hell out of him, since he was apiphobic(that means scared of bees), and not letting go until Morph was utterly unconscious and fell to the ground upon Sunny releasing him.

Delbert using a special, recently made invention of his that caused humidity to be generated and manipulated as the user of that invention pleased to release so much humidity against Jim for his revenge on how the latter used a special power ring of his to create lightning, his one true fear, and make him well beyond terrified in terms of how much it scared him, that it caused Jim to first fall to his knees, then go onto his hands and knees and finally pass out from the feeling and effects of the humidity.

Frost knocking Kenshi out with a thrown iceball before the latter noticed her making it during everyone's expressing shock at their nasty little secrets of those who had them revealed as her response to how he tortured her with numerous scary as hell ghosts via telepathy and made it so that said telepathy manipulated her mind to think that she was having a nightmare(she saw a chance to do so while sharing everyone's furious shock due to where Kenshi was and where he was looking at the time, so she quickly acted and the iceball in question nailed Kenshi square in the side of his skull, and it was ironic that this would happen as her making him pay, since the way in which he tortured her with fear was, as I said before, through telepathy, and this was one of his primary powers, as well).

Kitana seeing to it that Frost would then, ironically, be getting knocked out herself when she, just thereafter, kicked her in the crotch from behind, as retaliation for how Frost would go from the victim to the jerk when she made numerous ice bats fly around and about her with the help from her cryogenic powers and mess up her hair along with tear up her outfit until she passed out from fright.

Sonya mercilessly pummeling away at Kitana for how she pushed her into the pool when she and the other "Mortal Kombat" heroes, as well as most of the "Treasure Planet" heroes, were paying a visit to said pool and acting like it was an accident when, in reality, it was nothing short of deliberate, and said pummeling was done with her kali sticks, knocking Kitana unconscious even faster than Frost's ice bats had scared her unconscious, this all being just after Kitana turned around from paying Frost back and saw the blonde bombshell.

Amelia giving Sonya a vengeance nailing of her own, as Amelia, for how she dished it out to her, first kneed her in the guts, then elbowed her in the back, punched her in the mouth and finally strangled her until she lost consciousness, as retaliation for having forced her to eat multiple cakes which looked like huge spiders, turning something that she otherwise enjoyed into a living nightmare, almost literally.

…was something most turbulent and over the top, indeed, all was forgiven, though not forgotten, once the ones who'd paid the price for using someone's fear to victimize that someone regained consciousness and got back up.

Following this, there would, over the course of several months, be the killing off of tyrants, hunters, bullies, corporate scum, human traffickers, animal abusers, rapists, perverts, cruel teachers, bigots(racists or otherwise), domestic abusers, bull fighters, con artists, bear baiters, fur trade members, trappers, fur hags, shark finners, bear baiters, whalers, pedophiles, drug dealers, robbers, gold diggers, harpies, unethical lawyers, corrupt cops(it was made sure by everyone that, well, everyone, including honest cops, knew that these cops were dirty before they were butchered), ignorance feigning scum(such as the sort of people who said "he just took it the wrong way" concerning the bullying sparked suicide of Tyler Long, who was gay and had Asperger's, in 2009, when his parents understandably complained to the school), proslavery scum and those who would pollute.

In multitudes on all counts, and it was made well certain of by the "Mortal Kombat" heroes that all of them would die one hell of a horrible death as to how they were sent to, well, hell, and it didn't matter whether or not the "Treasure Planet" heroes would or wouldn't have killed them…they were all subject to the fatalities of the heroes from the former universe in one fashion or another, each and every one of them painful and disgusting as could be and never failing to elicit a blood-curdling scream from the scumbag victims before they were silenced forever.

Making our way to the 4th of July following this and plenty else of this and that which also happened over the course of those several months mentioned, there wasn't a single one of the ones who were attending the 4th of July party who, well, wasn't, only too happy, thrilled and excited to do so.

Unfortunately, after a great deal of interactions, food, drink, fireworks(created by one of the best and most recent inventions Delbert, ever the studier, reader, scientist and inventor, had made, an orb which could generate and/or manipulate any and all things that had or could produce light), games and stories told by Sonya, Jax and Johnny Cage of their history as the U.S Special Forces, specifically what they'd done and faced prior to their engaging in the "Mortal Kombat" tournaments in their origin of creation, things would suddenly go downhill despite there not being any signs of it.

Because, see, when everyone went into Jim and Sarah's house so that they could both enjoy one hell of an excellent American flag colored vanilla on vanilla cake and just as superb vanilla American flag colored ice cream while watching the 2002 movie "The Rookie" and found their seats on the couch in the TV room and waited for when the desserts and the film would be brought in to eat and watch, respectively, all four of the Doppler children would start unintentionally acting very uncivil, indeed.

For instance, Matey, who was sitting next to Frost as to where the hell her place on the couch was, started saying things to Frost which were meant as harmless banter but were actually quite offensive to the one she was saying them to.

Here, I'll be specific…a week or so ago, when Jim was needed to look after her and all three of her siblings, he took them on a camping trip and, during their time of roasting marshmallows on a fire, tried to think up a story to tell the four, who looked quite eager for one even though they said nothing about it.

Jim, considering his options, quickly shot down how, back in the "Mortal Kombat" universe, Jax had destroyed Hsu Hao while Kenshi had killed Mavado during the time that Frost was getting her skills honed by Sub-Zero, because even though these permanent victories for their respective achievers, which he had recently learned about from them, were really cool as far as he was concerned, he also knew that the four children were too young to hear things like that.

Much the same sorts of things applied to how, as he had also recently learned thanks to Jax and Kenshi, as well as the other six Earthrealm champions, Scorpion, upon being rescued and given a special gift of considerable power by the Elder Gods after he got tossed into that portal from the heavens full of souls for Shang Tsung to consume, had also been cured of a nasty spell that Quan Chi had cast on him that would make it so that he would lose a fight, no matter what.

This, aligned with how the previously dead Raiden(though as a living dead version of himself instead of dead-dead), Quan Chi, Shang Tsung, Kano(he was killed by Jax just two hours or so after he killed Hsu Hao, though it was a long, nasty fight between the two instead of an instantaneous death like Hsu Hao got when Jax ripped off his chest implantation), Drahmin and Moloch(they were killed when Shang Tsung's palace was destroyed by Raiden's explosive lightning attack) had been restored to life thanks to the help of Shinnok and the powers that came with his being a god(Raiden, of course, battled him when he found out what he was doing and defeated him while causing his foe to accidentally revive him to his original self in the process), led to the following.

First, there was how, alongside how the eight Earthrealm champion heroes, who had been restored to life by Ermac, took on multiple other ones of the "Mortal Kombat" universe's villains, and much else, Scorpion took on and defeated Drahmin, Moloch, Kano, Shang Tsung and, of course, Quan Chi ALL AT ONCE, as his new god powers enabled him to do that without having no chance.

And the ways in which he defeated, and killed, them all the fuck off made it clear that he would have been able to, albeit to varying degrees, defeat each and every one of them in a fight even without his new powers, which made it clear that Shang Tsung's previous defeat of him in the sorcerer's first life was pure undeserved luck(ironic, since said luck was part of what would lead to him forming the Deadly Alliance with Quan Chi).

OF COURSE the five villains who he killed stayed dead and in hell after that, but in any case, however wonderful this all was, it was not for children to hear about, so like I said, the idea of that being an option was shot down, just like what the hell was the case with the previously mentioned happenstances in the "Mortal Kombat" universe.

What WAS an option, however, as Jim would then think up for his next of considerations, was telling the four children the legend of the Jack-O-Lantern, and, since they really loved Halloween and any and all of that which could be connected to it, he decided that, even though it was more than four months before Halloween would come, this would be the perfect choice of storytelling for them.

And sure enough, it was(by the way, if you haven't read or been told the story of the Jack-O-Lantern, check it out when you can, because it is very cool and enjoyable, whether it is near Halloween, on Halloween or away from Halloween, just like what I said in the title lets be known on all counts concerning what I wrote in these parentheses).

Problem is, it got stuck on Matey a little too much, because while her three siblings really enjoyed it like Jim thought they would, Matey did to the sort of extent so that she was unable not to reference a major thing concerning the story all of a sudden.

And that was how her remembering "Stingy Jack" caused her to say to the dark heroine cryogenic: "Hey there, Frosty, you big…DRUNKARD!"

Frost opened her eyes widely with shock at the sudden, seemingly arbitrary words from Matey, and also gulped thanks to the feeling of surprise and how jarring it was due to what she had just been called.

She also almost dropped her drink…yes, Frost was holding a glass of dessert wine, which she had only taken two sips of before being called a big drunkard by Matey, and the latter didn't stop there, as she said what she did to Frost loudly and with much strength and a considerable ring to it, but now she heightened it on all counts when she uttered it again, this time with a worse name for her than "Frosty".

"Hi, Auntie Frost…you big…DRUNKARD!" Matey let out before laughing openly, and Frost was going from irritated to enraged at a very phenomenal velocity, indeed.

Of course, the reason that Frost didn't immediately cause Matey pain in one way or the other was because it was obvious to her that Matey was not trying to offend her and merely wished to be funny, all while failing to notice that she was holding a drink, which she came even closer to dropping this time before swiftly using her ice powers to make sure of it that it would not fall out of her hand.

This time, though, Frost didn't gulp, but instead made an iceball to grip hard with her free hand because of how much she wanted to hurt Matey and make her cry, but knew it wouldn't be fair due to the fact that Matey didn't think she was causing her or anyone else a problem and believed that instead she was just being cute.

But Matey took it one step too far when she, not seeing Frost take a quick sip of her dessert wine as a signal that she was actually having a drink at this moment nor the iceball that she was gripping that signified how angry Matey was making her, let loose in one hell of a resounding way: "Hello, Frosting…you…big…DRUNKARD!"

Frost lost her cool(no pun intended)and spun around to, as she crushed her iceball into fine snow powder with her tightest grip of all, use her once more free hand to grab Matey by the hair, pick her up and furiously point to the glass of dessert wine that she had in her other hand.

"WHOA! OWWW! HEY! WHAT THE…?" Matey began, but then she realized what the furious Frost was telling her non-vocally, knowing she was currently unable to speak anything other than explosively and would verbally pummel Matey if she talked to her at this particular moment.

"OH…" Matey said, realizing what Frost was pointing out to her figuratively and literally. "I'm…I'm sorry, Frost…I didn't know…it's just…the legend of the Jack-O-Lantern…"

Amelia and Delbert, who had come rushing over from off of their places on the couch(which they of course made well sure of it were next to each other)after finally recovering from how their astonishment of Matey's words and the sudden abruptness thereof made them unable to move, opened their eyes widely when they saw Frost snapping at Matey while still holding her up by her hair: "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"It…it involves a guy named…named 'Stingy Jack'…and the devil…the former's a stingy drunkard of an Irish blacksmith…"

Taking Matey out of Frost's grasp swiftly after saying: "Let go of my daughter, Frost." in the firm, commanding tone of voice that she always used as a captain and would continue to now when necessary, Amelia got Matey handed over to her by a livid and offended Frost, who said: "With pleasure. Whoever the hell told her this 'legend of the Jack-O-Lantern' crap is going to get creamed if I see and find out who they were."

Jim gulped as silently as he could and thought to himself: "Act natural and casual. Keep your cool. Give no indications that it was you."

"The legend of the Jack-O-Lantern?" asked Delbert, and then Amelia sighed and managed to push through gritted teeth: "I know what she's talking about. I heard it when I was in sixth grade. Damn it, Matey, what is it going to take for you to learn to think before you speak?"

"I'm…I'm sorry, mommy, just like I said to Frost…I didn't know…I didn't see…I was just so giddy about the memory of when Jim told me, Sunny, Tillie and Jib that story at the fire we were roasting marshmallows on at night during that camping trip a little while back…"

Frost, quickly drinking down her dessert wine so that she could put down the glass while making the ice she used to grip it disappear and looking intently at Jim like Amelia did when the boy entered the TV room along with his mother, would hear her saying to Jim just what everyone else, Matey or otherwise, well, did.

"Mr. Hawkins, is this true?" and Jim, confused after Amelia asked him this, well, asked: "Is what true, Captain?"

"My daughter Matey here…" Amelia said after putting her back down to where she'd been sitting, Frost simply ignoring this so that things wouldn't get worse than they'd already gotten, "…has stated that you told her and my other three children the legend of the Jack-O-Lantern, and that it caused her to call Frost here a big drunkard thrice because one of its main characters was an Irish blacksmith drunkard named 'Stingy Jack'. Is that true?"

Jim, opening his eyes most widely along with Sarah, everyone else still paralyzed with shock at what had started because of Matey's carelessness and inadvertent disrespect towards Frost, said: "Uh…yes, ma'am, but that was when we were camping a matter of days ago. I didn't count on any of them, not even Matey, soaking it in THAT much."

Seeing Frost quickly turn to point a warning finger at Matey, who swiftly nodded before she turned back around and stayed quiet like she would for the entirety of the time that she was sitting next to Frost, Amelia then immediately turned to Jim and looked at him firmly as could be in the eyes with her own beautiful green ones, causing Jim to jump back a little due to what kind of a piercing glare she was giving him, and said the following words to him.

"Well, be that as it may, Mr. Hawkins, you are being given a warning right here and now…should there come a time when I need you to look after my children again, you are to take considerable precautions concerning what you do and/or say to them, because if there is ever another incident like this again, or any other kind of incident, for that matter, brought on by the way that you babysat my children, you will never be allowed to do so again. Are we clear?"

"Yes, captain, of course." Jim said while Amelia pointed a warning finger of her own at him after saying what she did, making sure that he addressed her that way so that what little could be left of her time as the RLS Legacy's captain stayed intact, and Amelia said: "Good. Anyway, sorry for this sudden interruption in this otherwise delightful 4th of July party."

She went back over to where she'd been sitting and beckoned Delbert over with her hand so that he'd sit back down next to her just after Frost said: "When everyone who doesn't live here is leaving, Jim, you're going to get the beating of your life." under her breath at Jim, who gulped and got nervous enough to sweat a little bit, and things resumed nicely in terms of how lovely this was when dessert was about to be served(Jim and Sarah were trying to see what order would be best to give it in to what individuals, since there were so many on the couch) and the DVD for "The Rookie" was presented and ready to be opened.

Just as the TV was turned on, though, it just so happened that it was on a channel where there was a Mets/Yankees baseball game, and Sunny, who recently(back in April of this year, to be exact)had become a major league(HA!)Mets fan, even putting himself in the "Yankees Suck!" category, was shocked as could be when what was clearly a blatant ball from the Yankees pitcher to the Mets batter was declared as a strike.

He was so taken aback, in fact, that he yelled at the TV to the umpire: "COME ON, UMP! YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! ARE YOU BLIND?!" without remembering that he was sitting next to Kenshi and therefore someone who was actually blind.

While Kenshi understandably gasped and was just as understandably taken aback by this, he could also tell that Sunny's tone and the loudness with which he shouted meant that he'd completely forgotten who he was sitting next to and as such unknowingly offending him(after all, his other four senses being super sharp were part of his powers along with his telepathy, telekinesis and a sense of sight of a spiritual nature), so, just as everyone looked at Sunny in shock right after Sarah had put the DVD in its player and was about to switch TV to DVD, Kenshi used his telekinesis to make all of the desserts and such be brought to everyone at the same time to make sure they weren't dropped before using his telepathy to see Sunny being yelled at and spanked by his mother for a brief second.

He also made sure they were restored to being fully fresh with that same telekinesis and used his telepathy to see to it that everyone knew that and why Sunny was so taken aback by what he saw in the game on TV that he forgot he was near a blind man, plus that very same Sunny, initially confused by why everyone was looking astounded at him, remembered all of a sudden that he'd been sitting next to Kenshi thanks to how he was seeing what could only happen if the latter was using his telekinesis.

He looked up to him and said: "Kenshi…I am so sorry…I completely forgot who I was sitting with because of how alarmed I was at the ump calling what was clearly a ball a strike…I know I've obviously offended you despite not meaning to…please…I'm…so, so sorry…"

"Your apology is accepted, Sunny." Kenshi said. "While you are right that you offended me, though said offended feeling is now starting to abate, given how, as you said yourself, you were not meaning to offend me at all, along with how I was able to, as you can see, take my mind off of it by using my telekinesis to make sure that all desserts were given to everyone at the same time, including you and me, plus made as fresh as they were when Jim and Sarah here entered the TV room, and using my telepathy to make sure of it that everyone who was neither you nor me knew everything that they needed to know, as well, I should add, I will give you a pardon…this time."

He then gave Sunny a warning finger and said: "But I still need to make sure you remember this very important fact…some things may alarm you, just as is the case with everyone else, but whether they are real like that insane call by the umpire in that game was or fictional like you and I, as well as everyone else here, used to be, you are not to allow any of them to cause you to forget everything else, especially if they are part of reality. Doing so could easily lead to problems, awkwardness and/or unintentional offensiveness like what was the case here. Are we clear on that?"

"Of course we are, Kenshi. And thank you for accepting my apology. I've learned my lesson. Fully. I may be a little boy, but there are some things that, once you learn them, you never forget them. This is of course one of them."

"Indeed." Kenshi nodded. "All right, let's continue here." he continued, and this was subsequently followed by Kenshi using his telekinesis to make the TV channel switch to DVD mode and make the DVD itself go in and get going.

"Thank you, Kenshi." Sarah said. "For everything. We don't know what we'd do or where we'd be without you."

While she said the next sentence, she and Jim sat down in what space was left of the couch, and Kenshi nodded: "Of course."

Then Frost added: "Well said, Sarah. I speak for everyone here when I say that. By the way, Kenshi, it's interesting that this should happen just a few moments after Matey inadvertently pissed me off with the 'big drunkard' shit and when you played a major role in helping me get even with Sonya without it causing a problem in our first lives, and when part of this dessert is ice cream, no less. That, and it's just as interesting that it would be the two of us in everything I speak of along with when the aforementioned Matey pissed me off in a different way and you forced me to use the way we ensured the rematch with Sonya I had to not get in the way of the upcoming portal test to undo the cruel retaliatory joke me and that same Sonya played on her. Especially since we were both made in 2002 like everyone from the "Treasure Planet" universe was along with, until Sub-Zero had Deadly Alliance and Deception modified so that the raw deals we got originally were erased from existence even though everything else about both stayed almost the exact same, were both just that and logic bludgeons. And since the movie we're watching was made in 2002, as well."

"Quite the sound and interesting points you've got there, Frost." Kenshi said as everyone else, seeing the sound logic in her statements, nodded in agreement. "And we all thank you, as well…this DVD isn't one which can let us skip the ads unless I use my telekinesis to make it, and I stopped doing so after I did everything else because I didn't want to risk what was left of my now fully abated anger at Sunny's unintentionally offending me cause it to be destroyed and thus have it so that the movie part of this party was ruined along with the movie itself."

"Ah, so now Kenshi and Frost share the status of how we should be thanking them, and we do thank you, Frost, as much as we do Kenshi." Sarah said, speaking for everyone present. "However, you did, as Kenshi's made clear, help us through the commercials with everything you've said, so now it's time for everyone to be quiet so that we can watch the movie."

"No problem." Frost said, reaching for the dessert wine bottle near her in order to pour herself another glass, something that Matey ignored completely so that not a speck of her mistake with the "legend of the Jack-O-Lantern" induced banter would be remembered by her, Frost or anyone else, with Frost blocking every trace of the thought of it out for exactly the same damn reason.

Anyway, after they'd all enjoyed "The Rookie" and their desserts that Kenshi's telekinesis had both made fresh again and in a way so that they would stay fresh for a very long time even if they were not eaten by anyone and made sure was served up to them all at once by that same damn telekinesis, all of them had the feeling of the film deeply in them and indeed it had easily made its way into their emotions and brought out that feeling quite highly and massively.

Unfortunately, despite that and how it was especially moving for them, even the toughest and meanest of them, in that it was based on the real life Jim Morris's short career as an MLB pitcher, there would be another problem, though once more the one would caused it would not be intent on that at all.

Specifically, that one was Tillie, who was sitting between Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade during this time for two reasons.

One was because of how she was able to do the least of what demoralized Matey after the latter tricked her and her three siblings in that "Laser Tag" game into all being blasted out and drove them to make her pay despite still doing a fair amount of it, this all being a while back when her father turned the basement of the Doppler residence into a perfect place to party, and for that reason and in general enjoyed Sonya's "The Brat And The Furious" comment about Matey's being ganged up on by her angry siblings more than Jib, Sunny, Johnny Cage and Frost did(and that's saying a lot)and so decided to be near Sonya.

And the second was that she was also sitting between them because of how Johnny's crush on Sonya, despite her gratitude towards him for getting her out of the pool after Kitana capitalized on her fear of water for her own amusement a matter of months ago being nothing short of most everlasting, was just as permanently unreciprocated as it had been before he got her out of that pool, which was since he first developed it in their, well, first lives.

So, given the fact that not only would they never be pedophiles, given how they were heroes and no moral people, whether ordinary or heroic(or, in some cases, both)would be of such a status, but pedophilia is against the law and considered depraved, just like child pornography is(and for damn good reason in both cases, I might add), she believed that if she, a little girl, sat between the two, it would make it much easier for Johnny to ignore the fact that he was sitting none too far from Sonya and thus spare him the pain of knowing she'd never allow him to cozy up with her on this couch while they were on said couch along with everyone else who'd seen the movie while enjoying their dessert.

And it worked…but all of a sudden, she got two ideas which were brought on by the things concerning Jim Morris's wife in the film and his father, as well…and her sharing these ideas would have the opposite effect of what she was intending.

Because, you see, she looked at Sonya and then said: "Hey, Sonya, I was just thinking all of a sudden…given what things we saw in that movie concerning Jim's wife, as well as your thankfulness for how Johnny saved you from that pool which was rendering you helpless with fear when Kitana pushed you in…come on, Kitana, that was just rude…"

She shot the princess a dirty look, Kitana's response being a mere roll of her eyes and a sigh, and Tillie then turned back to Sonya and continued: "…maybe this might help you reconsider the way you don't have the feelings for him that he does for you. I mean, yeah, I had to sit between you two to save him the agony of wanting to be happy about sitting near you but not being able to because his love for you was unrequited, but what if the way that there were certain things with Jim that concerned some complicated matters with his wife that thankfully weren't everlasting could help you see a means to find it in your heart to love Johnny, after all, with your aforementioned gratitude towards him helping increase the possibility of that?"

Sonya gave Tillie's hair a quick pull to shut her up and then looked at her firmly before saying: "Listen and listen good, Tillie. I know you mean well, but besides how my thankfulness towards Johnny for getting me out of that pool…wow, Kitana, I didn't think that a princess could possibly have it in her to do such a thing as that…"

She glared daggers at Kitana in a way that far outweighed how Tillie had done so, and Kitana snapped: "Damn it, Sonya, I couldn't help myself. Finding out about how you were so afraid of water, given how tough and headstrong you are, was too funny for me to not do it when I had the chance. You paid me back and I made it clear to you I was sorry. And you forgave me, remember?"

"But I didn't forget it, nor will I ever." Sonya replied, but then she looked back to Tillie, and said: "Anyway, Tillie, besides how my thankfulness towards Johnny for getting me out of that pool combined with how it was impossible for me to feel nothing despite how hardened, mean, hotheaded and ruthless I am when I saw some of the parts of that movie with the man's wife alters ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the matter of his crush on me being utterly unrequited, I am sorry to say that you inadvertently offended me by even suggesting the idea of that being the least bit possible."

She then looked at Johnny and added: "And, chances are, you really reopened one hell of a big-ass wound for Johnny despite your obviously good intentions, the way I've just described everything I did."

"But…but Sonya…!" exclaimed Tillie. "The way it proved possible for your super-thick diamond exterior to be penetrated after all…the way that Johnny's so good with nunchucks and you're just as good with kali sticks…they're blunt objects that you swing just like baseball bats are…and with how Johnny's a movie actor…and I have three siblings just like Jim had three children…and the way that mommy and daddy's relationship initially wasn't the best but then became wonderful, as evidenced by my existence and that of my aforementioned three siblings…!"

"And likewise, Jim!" Jib said, suddenly getting an idea of her own due to how her name sounded almost identical to Jim's for obvious reasons, and looking up at Jim, who she had sat down next to thanks to how much she enjoyed the camping trip he took her and her three siblings on and with how he was such a good friend and great babysitter in general. "The way that the Jim in that movie had such an awful relationship with his father but eventually reconciled with him and their relationship became much better! Maybe my own father can create something that can bring yours into this universe, and we can find a way to help you set things right with him and start fresh! Start anew! Same with your mother, as well! He could become her husband once more after patching things up with her! Leave everything in the past! Surely he'd express his regrets and could be given a second chance if…"

"JIB!" shouted Jim so that she'd stop talking. "My answer to that idea is NO! And I don't think that mom is going to say yes to it, either! The fact is, be it Tillie with Sonya and the idea of her and Johnny actually being together at last or you with me and mom and the idea of having dad back with us and trying to make up for his walking out on us, we are sorry to say that, while we very much appreciate your good intentions here, the problem is that neither is the least bit possible and both are fully out of the question, ESPECIALLY the thought of dad being with mom and I again, which would be so even if there were a means to bring him into this universe, and there isn't. Even one as smart and adept at inventing things and prone to finding out things that most wouldn't ever know about as Delbert couldn't create something like that. No offense, doctor."

"It's quite all right. And I know we all have our limits and I'm no exception." Delbert nodded. "Besides, you're right. Even one such as I would not be able to create such a thing, even as I've done much that most would consider impossible in my life."

"I rest my case." Jim stated. "And, while you have not ruined this party at all, especially with how you were trying to think of a means to make things better, Jib, and so was Tillie," put in Sarah, "I'm afraid it had the opposite effect on all counts."

"Because, see," Johnny pointed out, "Sonya mentioned that reopening of an old wound, and she's absolutely right. That's just what resulted from your suggesting what you did, Tillie, although actually, maybe not…I mean, she did make all of those other connections, Sonya, and they do make sense and might actually make you believe we should be an item, after all, with how she mentioned the ones she did beforehand, not least of all your eternal gratitude towards me and all…"

"You can stop right there, Johnny." Sonya informed him firmly and harshly. "But the way that we seemed to be progressing and you might have been rethinking things when we were sick in bed with Amelia together…!" Johnny insisted, but Sonya then told him: "…was nothing more than a brief, uncharacteristic feeling that I was, and am, shocked I got following my recovery alongside yours."

Johnny sighed, and now his even more reopened wound hurt twice as much, which is saying a lot, given where it came from, and Jim put across: "Well, I guess no good deed goes unpunished, you two." to Tillie and Jib. "You wanted to improve Johnny and Sonya's relationship and make it possible that the latter would stop having it so that Johnny's crush on her was unreturned, and meant to have it so that things might start going uphill concerning familial matters in terms of mom and myself. Instead, you pissed Sonya off, caused the pain, hurt and upset that Johnny felt from his love for her being unrequited to skyrocket, which is quite a statement, and made me angry simply by causing me to remember my father, causing said anger to make itself known in mom, as well, though I'm obviously being far more open about it than she is. Truly, the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

"I can't believe it." Jib sighed. "Neither can I." Tillie added. "We failed so miserably. And we caused so much misery in so doing."

"But, as I said before," Sarah said, "the party is not ruined, as even now, there is still any number of things that we could do because of how there's still time for something or other due to how it is not midnight yet. In fact, Sunny! That shocked feeling you got when you saw that obvious ball be declared a strike by the umpire in that Mets/Yankees game! Do you know what inning it was in, perchance?"

"I think it might have been in the first inning, from what I saw just as the ball was being thrown…" Sunny said. "Wait a second! Are you suggesting we should watch that ball game?"

"If it's still on, yes." Sarah stated. "I mean, besides how you're such a Mets fan, it's well worth pointing out that, even as the rest of us would be fine with watching it despite being indifferent to who wins, as opposed to how you very obviously want the Mets to win, it would still be most enjoyable and a good pastime for the next matter of time for this 4th of July party, especially after we just finished seeing 'The Rookie' and I don't hear anyone protesting, nor do I see any signs that anyone is going to."

"REALLY?" Sunny exclaimed, suddenly really excited and eager. "I mean, if anyone's got a problem with that, I can deal with it despite how I'm such a Mets fan, but does anyone? Is it okay if we see it?"

"Why not?" Jax asked. "Anything to continue this party in a good way and get our minds off of some things that we'd all just as soon forget. Besides, despite not having any favorite team, I've lately come to like baseball a lot myself. It was that way before we saw that movie, and having seen it sure hasn't lessened my recent liking for baseball any."

"WOW!" said Sunny happily, even further excited, if that was possible. "But…wait…what I said when I felt said shock…that won't cause this game being watched to be a problem for you, will it, Kenshi?"

"Not at all." Kenshi replied. "My spiritual nature kind of sense of sight will prove plenty sufficient for me to know what's going on, as will my heightened sense of hearing."

"Good to know." Sunny said, his badly depleted excitement now coming back, and Kenshi then added: "Besides, if the Mets win, then both the memory of the shock you felt and that of what it led to you saying will be nicely erased, even though I was hit quite hard by your unintentionally uncivil remark."

Sunny's face lit up, making it clear that he now had someone alongside him who was hoping the Mets would win, especially since, if they beat the Yankees, then that umpire's absurd call wouldn't matter and it would be just as continually disputed and disagreed with by everyone watching the game, the crowd, these heroes or otherwise, as it undoubtedly was now either way.

And the aforementioned Sunny believed that, in a way, it would serve him right, since it was indeed that preposterous call which led to him yelling the classic "Are you blind?" in front of someone who actually was, with it being that, after no one demonstrated a problem with seeing it and, in fact, believed that it would take everyone's mind off of the unhappy moments brought on by a different one of Amelia's children being unintentionally uncivil, the game was turned on, and it was now the eighth inning, with the Yankees and Mets tied at 4-4.

Specifically, the bottom of the eighth, with there also being two outs and a runner at third base, and since this game was being played at Yankee Stadium, that means that the Yankees were up to bat.

The Mets pitcher was now looking at the new Yankee batter, and was able to strike him out with three straight strikes, each one of them clearly being strikes and the ump not declaring a single one of them a ball.

"YES!" Sunny exclaimed with elation, and while Kenshi said nothing, he was feeling much the same way, while everyone else was, as I said before, indifferent, though they were glad that Sunny and Kenshi were now enjoying the third out which consisted of three consecutive strikes against a Yankee batter.

After, following two outs, a Mets batter was able to hit a home run in the top of the ninth inning, though the next Mets batter sadly struck out, it was finally the bottom of the ninth, and the Mets were ahead 5-4.

By this time, everyone had suddenly shifted to hoping that the Mets would win, given all that had happened and all of what was so before and after that.

And win they did…the Mets pitcher struck out the side, and everyone cheered happily and what might have lessened wonderfulness of the otherwise, well, wonderful 4th of July party was now utterly erased from existence.

Not to mention that, all of a sudden, Johnny and Sonya found themselves hugging each other, Tillie having to jump back when she saw the way they were moving and what it could only mean, making sure to land on the floor and her feet, just like all other cats do in the latter case, the eyes of the Special Forces members flying wide open once they realized what the hell they were doing and looked at each other briefly, with, after what was specifically a brief, awkward silence, Sonya saying: "To hell with the goddamn unreciprocated love shit." and kissed Johnny on the lips, much to the latter's surprise, happiness and ecstatic excitement, and he quickly kissed her back as they embraced tightly.

Frost, as thanks to Sunny for being the reason that they got to enjoy this despite how his seeing it initially turned out to be an unintentional insult to Kenshi, used her ice powers to make, well, ice versions of the words that Sunny would be only too overjoyed to see after the Mets won after a long, hard fought game against the Yankees.

Specifically, as Sunny would see when she continued to use her powers to make them go over to where he was and into his hands, he became well beyond overjoyed when, before he said: "Thanks, Frost! I love it!" he was seeing ice letters that spelled: "YANKEES SUCK".

"Sure thing." Frost replied. "I'm actually told that the word 'Yankee' being used to refer to an American is derogatory, so all the more reason. Why the hell would a baseball team want to have a word that's an offensive way to refer to American citizens, anyway?"

"Well, actually, it's also been used to simply describe people who live in the northern United States, New England, here in New York or otherwise." Jax informed her. "As a matter of fact, they used to be called the Highlanders but were then called the Yankees due to being in the American League of Major League Baseball rather than in the National League like the Mets are."

"Got it. That makes much more sense." Frost said, and then Jim said: "Damn, what a great 4th of July party this was! I'm so glad that we thought it up and invited everyone here to it, Mom!"

"Just like I am, Jim." Sarah told her son, and then Amelia said: "Just like we all are. By the way…" she said, pointing to Matey, Sunny, Tillie and Jib one by one. "…while I don't like having to bring up what got in the way of its marvelousness, I have to in order to make sure of something. The mistakes you made, children…I trust you have learned from them? That you will not be making the same mistakes twice?"

"Of course not, mommy." Matey said, as Jib, Tillie and Sunny nodded. "We've fully learned from said mistakes." Jib replied, and Tillie added: "It was jarring that they turned out as they did since we didn't realize then what we realize now."

"But since we do realize it, they won't happen again at all." Sunny put across, and Amelia nodded in satisfaction, saying: "Glad to hear it."

"Excuse me, everyone!" Kenshi called out. "It is well worth pointing out that there, as I just heard in here despite it being outside, a series of fireworks being done outside! They're being done well away from here, mind you, as I could tell from what I'm hearing concerning them, but if anyone wishes to go out and look at them, now's the time!"

Morph quickly said: "Now's the time! Now's the time!" before shapeshifting into a key that opened the door and then came out and turned into a hand which opened it, with everyone swiftly going outside due to how they all wanted to see and, during it, Frost looking at Jim sternly and saying: "Just so you know, Jim...despite how I said I was going to cream you, and I initially was indeed fully intent on doing just that, the way the last thing any one of us wants is for new problems to be caused has made it so that I've changed my mind and won't beat you up after all. You're welcome."

Jim nodded, showing his gratitude most openly, and enjoying the sight of the fireworks out in the distance, with Johnny and Sonya, at long last, holding hands the way that Delbert and Amelia did in the past and now did once more in this moment, everyone felt absolutely wonderful that, despite a small number of less than desirable happenstances in the TV room due to unintentional uncouthness on the part of the Doppler children, it was nothing short of an all around and outright awesome 4th of July and would, since it wasn't midnight yet, continue to be, in this way and whatever else they all still had time for before it was the 5th and thus everyone who wasn't Jim or Sarah would have to go back home.

THE END

So, was this the good story for you that it was supposed to be?

I sure hope so.

And remember, as this story makes clear, being observant of your surroundings and thinking before speaking is something that you must make sure of at all times, on both counts.

It was, as I put across in the introduction, meant to send that message, and it was also meant to point out to anyone who hasn't seen "The Rookie" to do so if they get the chance…it is a moving, superb and memorable to the point of being unforgettable movie(yeah, I pointed that out previously, but I just wanted to give some emphasis here).

That, and for anyone who hasn't read the legend of the Jack-O-Lantern, I decided I would use this story to encourage them to do so if they find the time, even though it's not October(I know I made that clear twice, but it's just that good and enjoyable of a story).

BTW, anyone who read this story and happens to be a Yankees fan, I apologize to, but I really hate the Yankees and do indeed feel the "Yankees Suck!" feeling that a lot of people, though obviously not each and every one of them on this planet, do.

It is also well worth pointing out something that I didn't before…despite how Sonya finally developed the love for Johnny that the latter had for her, I was still making sure of it that the knowledge that something just plain can't happen, no matter what, however much one might wish it were otherwise, was given by the whole "Jim's father" thing.

It is a sad and painful fact of life, and one would not expect it in a story that is, for the most part, supposed to be funny, but I had to make sure it was put across in a way that would either make it easier to accept, or at least make it so that there was less chance that anyone would try and kid themselves about it.

Do let me know if this story had the desired effect with all of that which I was going for, and through ratings and reviews, please!