Note: The Nut Job belongs to Toonbox Entertainment, and all characters belong to their respective creators, but the OC's in this story belong to me and Dusk19.
The Bruisers crawled through a big hole from the wall of the abandoned Mill as they dropped both Todd and Kokichi on the mill floor, making them sit.
"Ow." Kokichi complained, rubbing his butt.
"You two real goofed up." Johnny said, glaring at both Todd and Kokichi.
"Hey, you said it, not me. Plus, why am I a part of this again?" Kokichi wondered dryly.
"Shut up Kokichi!" Jamie exclaimed angrily before turning to Todd. "We can't believe it! You going to help Surly in his heist, destroy the Grand Oak Tree, and now we got no food to store for the winter!"
"Yeah! We thought you were an awesome kid, but now you go and help Surly! What were you thinking, kid?!" Jimmy demanded.
"Yeah! Why didn't you help Andie and Grayson stop Surly as well?!" Johnny added.
"Look, I didn't know that Surly was the bad guy, okay?" Todd answered, feeling irritated. "Besides, I just wanted to meet him, he looked like a cool gu...I mean, squirrel."
"Nice save..." Kokichi muttered with half-lidded eyes.
Todd ignores him and continues "I know that he really didn't mean to blow up the Grand Oak Tree at all. I'm sure there might be good in him though, right?"
"Of course not!" Jamie denies. "He never learns anything from his mistakes!"
"Exactly, all he ever does is just go goofed up something else and tries to ignore his actions!" Jimmy agreed.
"He's a dangerous squirrel that can't be trusted at all!" Johnny added, crossing his arms with a hard look.
"Oh please, I love messing around with everyone in the park, and you never kicked me out of the park!" Kokichi exclaimed before realizing something. "Wait...why am I even here?!"
"You're a whole different story, Kokichi!" Jimmy exclaimed angrily. "Besides, didn't we tell you to shut up?!"
"Well I'm just saying that I'm like Surly, and I should receive the banishment, right?"
"Yeah, but you don't count! You're like...the annoying prankster while Surly is the dangerous criminal!" Johnny retorted.
"Really? That doesn't make any sense!" Kokichi glared at them in annoyance.
"You don't make any sense!" Jamie exclaimed.
"Ahh, you're right Miss Jamie, I don't make sense." Kokichi said, smiling stupidly towards Jamie. While the Bruisers were arguing with Kokichi, Todd went quiet and began thinking about Surly. He knew that he wasn't always a bad squirrel, and secretly denies all the claims the Bruisers made, knowing that there's good inside of the purple squirrel.
"I know that Surly is a hero, and I know there's good in him like every thief characters. Besides, if Andie believes in him, then I should too." Todd thought with a determined look on his face.
Suddenly, he appeared before them. Raccoon, Liberty Park's leader, came through the big hole in the broken door of the Mill as he confronted Todd and Kokichi with a disappointed and serious look on his face.
"Johnny, Jimmy, Jamie, you may leave. I'll take of our guests." Raccoon demanded softly.
"Yes sir!" They saluted before taking their leave. Raccoon then faces both Todd and Kokichi and says "I am truly disappointed in you than I am myself, especially after you two didn't vote against Surly like everyone else did. Did my speech meant nothing to you? Surly Squirrel is a dangerous individual."
"Really? Dangerous?" Kokichi raised a brow. "I done tons of pranks, and you don't call me the 'dangerous' one?!"
Todd and Raccoon ignores him as Todd exclaimed "Look, I didn't know that he was the park criminal! Nobody told me about that! It was just an accident!"
"Really? You say destroying the Grand Oak Tree was merely an accident?!" Raccoon growled.
"Raccoon, please give Surly another chance. If I was a criminal like him, I would have been given another chance, and so, Surly deserves to have another try! Besides, destroying the Grand Oak Tree wasn't his intention at all!"
"He doesn't deserve it. If he didn't mean to destroy the Grand Oak Tree, then he should have none better like you." Raccoon pointed out, much to Todd's shock. "As Park Leader, I make all the rules and I decide the punishments for the criminals like Surly."
"Oh crap, that's what I call a sweet burn." Kokichi chuckled, before immediately shutting up from the glare Raccoon sent. "...I'll shut up for one second."
"But..." Todd's ears' dropped down in sadness. "All that Surly just wanted was food and to survive the winter, just like you guys..."
"That's enough out of you!." Raccoon yelled, which made Todd shut up. Todd didn't believe a single word that they say about Surly, he believes in him. He knows that Surly isn't that type of thief to not care for others. "Now, for your punishments-"
"Yeah about that...you can't give me the punishment." Kokichi chuckled with a devilish smile.
"Really? And why's that?" Raccoon asked, raising a brow at him.
"Well...how can you give out your punishment...if I'm not around?" Kokichi wiggled his brows before taking out a small white smoke bomb and threw it beneath his feet, smoke covering around him. As soon as the smoke was cleared, he was gone.
"What the?!" Todd exclaimed in shock.
"Why am I not surprise?" Raccoon sighed before turning to his red bird assistant, Cardinal. "Please go and find that fool, will ya?"
Cardinal nodded and flew into the air, searching for the albino squirrel. The moment Cardinal was gone, Raccoon turned back to Todd with a serious yet annoyed expression. "But as I was saying, Todd, as punishment for teaming up with Surly and helping him destroy of the Grand Oak Tree, you shall clean the entire park by picking up every single piece of popcorn scattered around the place due to the destruction of the Grand Oak Tree."
Todd jaw-dropped in shock from the punishment as he complained "But that could take all day and by the time I'm done, I'll be all out!"
"It's for your own good and now get to it now!" Raccoon demanded before taking his leave. Todd sadly had no choice but to do the punishment Raccoon forced him to do. As he exits out the mill through the hole, Kokichi was seen on the rooftop of the Mill, gazing to see Todd slowly walking out of the mill.
"Ha ha ha...Raccoon, you old loser. You giving out that kind of hard task to a kid like him. How many of your 'lies' are you gonna keep making up to get animals to respect you?" Kokichi chuckled before frowning. "But you know, that kid...he sorta reminds me of me...Nah!"
Kokichi waved it off, putting back his smile before jumping off the mill to mind his own business...
Meanwhile
After Todd left the mill, he began picking up popcorn after popcorn. He started this off by where the Grand Oak Tree used to be. He managed to find a nearby toothpick and a small paper bag and used them to pick up the popcorn before sadly gazing at the burned stump of the Grand Oak Tree, along with police warning signs post around it, probably from the firefighters who stopped the fire.
"I really screwed up...was it really right to join and take Surly's side?...What am I saying?! Of course it was the right choice, who cares what they say?! I know that Surly is a good squirrel, I just need to keep believing in him to the end!" Todd thought with a soft smile on his face.
"Hey Todd..." Todd stopped thinking and turned to see Andie, who had a sad look on her face.
"Oh, hey Andie..." Todd waved back at her, but in a sad way. Andie rubbed her arm, feeling terrible for getting Todd into this mess. Before she could say anything, Todd spoke up and said "Listen, I'm so sorry for not listening to you! I should've taken your side and help stop Surly from stealing those nuts!"
"No Todd...I'm the one who should be apologizing." Andie assured with a sad sigh, much to Todd's confusion. "It's my fault that I didn't tell you that Surly was the park criminal. If I told you this before, then none of this would even happen."
"Yeah..." Todd nodded sadly before feeling confusion again. "So Andie, do you really care for Surly?"
"What? Of course I do!" Andie nodded, feeling surprise that Todd would ask something like that.
"Then why did you get offended by Surly's joke and you calling him a coward? It seems that you two have a rivalry against each other." Todd pointed out.
Andie nodded and answered "Like I said Todd, I really do care for Surly and I'm willing to do anything to be his friend!"
Todd raised a brow at her as she sighed and continued "You see, it's just that...it's very difficult to get along with him. I tried everything to become his friend, but no matter, he just keeps declining my offer."
Todd understood her and wanted to believe in her as well. Todd then softly smiled and responded "I know you can gain his trust and I trust you."
Andie felt heart-warmed by his words as she smiles towards the young fox squirrel, happy to hear that Todd cares and trusts her as well. Soon after, Todd continues to pick up some more popcorn on the floor, which Andie sadly asked "Raccoon's making you clean up Surly's mess as punishment, isn't he?"
"Yeah..." Todd nodded before becoming irritated. "It was supposed to be for me and Kokichi to do it, but he somehow disappeared from a smoke bomb. I mean, seriously, what is up with that squirrel?!"
"Well actually, nobody knows very much about Kokichi." Andie answered, much to Todd's surprise.
"What?!" Todd exclaimed.
"Well you see, back when me and Surly were kits, he came to the park with fear and shock in his eyes, like something terrible happened to him that completely traumatized him. He was even a little kit back then, but as he began enjoying himself living in the park, he began to show his true colors as a trouble-making prankster. He loves to joke around and can be quite...random..." Andie chuckled nervously.
"Random? Try insane..." Todd muttered while rolling his eyes.
"And none of the park animals never even bother to be his friend, and not because of his pranks, but because he wanted to be left alone." This statement caught Todd off-guard to hear. It was understandable that he can't get a friend due to how stupid and crazy he was, but Kokichi wanted to be left alone forever? What caused him to not have any friends with him? "But I don't know why, but it seems he's taking a mild interest in you Todd."
"In...me?" Todd asked in surprise.
"Well yeah. I mean, despite his many jokes and weirdness, he didn't leave your side until the end of the day. Besides, whenever I see Kokichi do his smiles around others, I couldn't help but see that despite his playfulness and stupidity, I can almost feel...his sadness and pain from the inside." Andie clarified.
"Pain and sadness..." Todd muttered. Is he...like Todd himself? Did something caused him to be left alone and not want to be with others?
"Well anyway, let's just stop talking and get to cleaning up this place." Andie said with a soft smile.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Todd asked in confusion.
"I'm helping you out in your punishment too!" Andie declared, much to Andie's shock. "It was my fault for not defending Surly and getting you in trouble, so I have to help you in some way."
Todd couldn't help but smile at her, happy to hear that she would help out. Unfortunately, a familiar old voice spoke up.
"I'm afraid you cannot Andie." Andie and Todd turned to see Raccoon slowly walking towards them, with Cardinal back in his arms as he showed a serious look on his face. "Leave Todd alone and let him do the punishment for himself."
Andie felt upset that Raccoon is gonna let Todd do this all on his own as she exclaimed "Raccoon, he's just a kit! He doesn't deserve this! It's too much work for someone like him!"
"Consider this punishment as discipline, like a chore he must do on his own." Raccoon stated. "Now come along Andie, I have something else for you to do."
Andie let out an irritated sigh as she looked back at Todd and said "I'm so sorry about this Todd. I promise that this will never happen again."
With that, Andie took her leave along with Raccoon. Todd sighed sadly before feeling angry at Raccoon as he continued picking up some popcorn.
"What's his problem?! If I gotten some help, this could've been a lot easier, and yet he had to dismissed Andie like that. For a Park Leader, he's such a cruel guy." Todd thought angrily as he continued to pick up some of the popcorn.
Later
It was finally nighttime, and Todd was still picking up and trashing pieces of popcorn like he was tasked to do. He was allowed to take short breaks including bathroom ones and eat throughout the time though. But the work was still overall overwhelming as he still had a long way to go.
Todd felt exhausted as he stopped, seeing that almost all the popcorn were gone.
"Man...what a day. I'm almost done, just several more popcorn and I'm finally done." Todd sighed, letting out a yawn. As he was about to go and finish up, he began hearing some rustling from the bushes. He slowly turned around in fear as he scared "W-who's there?..."
Todd was scared out of his wits as he was fearful what was hiding underneath those bushes. It was until a familiar blue rat appeared out of the bushes, which surprised Todd.
"What the? Buddy?" Todd asked with widened eyes. Buddy was glad to see Todd as he gave him a hug, which Todd accepted. After their hug ended, Todd asked "What are you doing here, Buddy?"
Buddy began making some gestures, which Todd had troubling understand.
"Umm...what?" Todd raised a brow at him. Buddy sighed and addressed him to follow him, which made Todd confuse and curious onto what Buddy is doing and why he wants him to follow him. "Well, I want to go but I'm afraid I can't. If Raccoon catches me not doing his punishment, I'm afraid he's gonna punish me more than picking up popcorn."
Buddy realized that he was right and was quite in a dilemma, wondering how he could make sure Raccoon doesn't catch Todd in trouble.
"Allow me, Toddy." Both Todd and Buddy turned around to see Kokichi walking towards with a smile on his face. "I'll make sure Raccoon doesn't suspect anything that you're gone. I'll tell him you went to use the bathroom and that I decided to do his punishment, since my punishment was gonna be this as well."
Todd raised a brow of suspicion as he asked "And why should I trust you?"
"Ha ha ha, oh don't worry Toddy. I promise." Kokichi chuckled. "Just follow Buddy and he'll take you to your destination."
Buddy and Todd became shocked to hear on what Kokichi said as Todd said "What?! So you know what Buddy said? Were you spying on us?"
"Well just a little bit, and I can understand what he means from those gestures from the rat." Kokichi answered. "But that's beside the point, now get going before old Racky will get over here and probably demands where are you."
Todd was still suspicious of him, but he had a good point. Buddy apparently needed him and it must be very important.
He sighed and said "Thanks, I guess Kokichi. Come on Buddy, let's get going!"
Buddy nodded and led Todd to where he wants to take him. Kokichi stood there and happily waved goodbye before sadly smiling and sighing.
"Oh Kokichi, what are you doing to yourself?" Kokichi asked himself with a light chuckle. "Covering someone? That's not your style, so why?..."
Kokichi thought for a while with a sad look before shaking his head, returning his usual smile. "Ha ha ha ha, oh who cares? Let's just clean up this mess before I possibly get scolded by Racky and his chrome dome of a bird...and why am I even talking to myself like the crazy squirrel I am?"
Meanwhile
As Todd followed after Buddy, the rat took him out of the park and somewhere around the city. It was pretty late, and every kid knows that they're not allow to hang out in the nighttime since it was very dangerous to be out at night due to criminals or crazy people.
"Umm...Buddy?" Todd spoke up, feeling quite scared. "I really don't think it's okay to be exploring around the city at night time. My mom always tells me this kind of stuff whenever I head out in the afternoon."
Buddy didn't hear him as he was sniffing around the ground, and eventually, found a scent as he immediately ran.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Todd called as he ran after Buddy. Soon, Buddy led him to a nearby trashcan in some alleyway. Todd couldn't see that much, but decided to wait it out while Buddy goes near the trashcan, but needs to be careful in case something happens to him.
Buddy climbed up from the top of the fallen trashcan and peeked inside of it, and smiled, like he was happy to see someone again. Suddenly, Buddy is knocked back and fallen onto the concrete ground, much to Todd's shock. Suddenly, a shadowy figure runs out of the trashcan, seemingly looking shock as well, like he didn't mean to hit Buddy at all. Todd couldn't see who it was as it was way too dark to get a clear look on the rodent as he cautiously watched as the rodent tried to have Buddy wake up until he did one hard slap, which made Buddy immediately wake up and became happy to see who it was as he gave the rodent.
Todd cautiously walked over to the two, only to be surprised yet smile as the shadowy figure turned out to be Surly. "It's Surly, and he's still okay!" Todd thought, felt overjoyed and relieved to see him okay.
"Oh man, it's good to have a..." Surly widened his eyes, realizing that he's going soft as he angrily pushed Buddy away from him. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?! Get off of me!"
Todd became shocked and confused to see Surly do something like that until he noticed that Todd was standing right over on the sidelines.
"Oh great, and just when I thought things couldn't get worse?" Surly said, annoyed to see Todd here. "What are you doing here kid?"
"Buddy brought me over, and apparently it seems that he wanted me to help him find you." Todd explained, which Buddy nods in agreement with a sweat-drop. "Besides, he doesn't want you to be alone out here, just like I don't."
"Pfft! Please, I can take care of myself! I want you two to go back to the park and don't come back!" Surly demanded as he pick up a can and threw it at them, making them dodge it by hiding into a broken potted plant. "It's dangerous out here, besides you two will get in my way! I don't need anyone..."
"Surly, wait!" Todd tried to go after him, but Buddy put a paw on his shoulder with a sad look and shook his head at the fox squirrel as if he was giving up hopelessly. Todd sighed as he couldn't understand why Surly was so serious, unwelcoming and...unfriendly.
"Why Surly? Why can't you let us be with you as your friends?...No, I mustn't let his words get to me! Surly is just lonely and needs a friend, and I'm that guy..er, Squirrel, to do the job!" Todd thought, forming a determined expression. He then let go of Buddy's paw and ran after Surly, catching up to him, leaving Buddy behind as he tried to talk to Surly.
"Surly wait!" Todd called, hearing the annoying sigh from the purple squirrel.
"Kid, I thought I told you to leave? What's that you don't get?" Surly asked, glancing at him with annoyance.
"Surly, wait. Can't we talk about this? All I just wanted was to be your frie-"
"Shh!" Surly said, wanting him to keep quiet as he heard something off a distance.
"W-what?" Todd asked with a confused look until Surly shushed him again as they both looked to see a bunch of shadows coming towards them, which they quickly identify what it was.
"Rats..." Surly muttered, narrowing his eyes. Todd widened his eyes and became horrified as he and Surly saw the city rats walking towards them.
"My god! N-Not them again!" Todd muttered in shock and fear as they both hid behind a trashcan. "What'll we do?!" Todd asked fearfully.
Surly rubbed his chin in thought before noticing a bunch of junk on the ground, which made him smile and snapped his fingers as he said "Don't worry. I got a plan!"
Soon after, Surly tells him his plan of disguising themselves as rats and to fool those city rats, which Todd agreed since they don't have enough time to come up with something else. Surly grabbed some of the junk and fixed both his and Todd's tail really think out like a rat's tail and put a small metal container on his nose and Todd's.
"Are you sure this'll work?" Todd whispered.
Surly nodded and responded "Just trust me on this, kid. Follow my lead."
As the city rats were coming closer towards the trashcan, where Todd and Surly were hiding, the two rodents came out and confronted the city rats in their rat disguises. The city rats raised brows at them before looking back at each other in confusion of these strange 'city rats'.
"You guys looking for those squirrels? Yeah, us too." Surly said, trying to act serious in front of them in his disguise.
"Y-yeah! They went that way! You guys better go after them before its too late!" Todd added, being hopeful that this plan would work. Unfortunately, their disguises fall apart, much to their surprise. The city rats smirked monstrously and glared at the two rodents. Todd became scared of them while Surly laughed nervously as he said "Heh heh...Oops."
"Hey boss! Look, it's that squirrel from yesterday!" One of the rats pointed out.
"Oh yeah! And he's not with that crazy white squirrel with the scarf, so that means..." The second rat licked his lips in delight.
"It's time for us to dine on our new meals at last!" The third rat declared as they glared towards at Todd and Surly.
"This is the part where we run, right?" Todd asked nervously.
"Yeah...Run!" Surly exclaimed as they ran for their lives from the city rats, who began chasing after them. They immediately climbed up a ladder and arrived to the rooftop of a building, where they hid behind a bird coop cage. As Todd and Surly were hiding from the city rats, they noticed the birds looking directly towards them.
"Look away! Look away!" Todd begged them, but unfortunately, the rats arrived, ready to devour the two rodents. Surly and Todd backed away in a corner as Surly nervously said "Come on, I'm cool with rats! My best friend is a rat!"
Suddenly, as one of the rats tried to pounce at them, a flower pot was thrown at them, hitting one of them on the head very hard. Todd and Surly looked up to see Buddy holding a flower pot in his paws, about to throw it at them again.
"Ha! See, there he is!" Surly exclaimed.
"Buddy! Thanks for the save!" Todd gave him a thumbs-up, which Buddy nodded as he threw another one at the rats, scaring them away. Buddy jumped off the ledge and let out a raspberry at them. Todd felt happy and glad that Buddy arrived and saved their lives, but it was short-lived though when the rats get a hold of Buddy. Todd widened his eyes in shock and shouted "Buddy!"
He ran towards him, ignoring Surly shouting "Kid, no!"
Todd tries to save Buddy as he charges at the city rats, kicking and pushing them as well as clinging onto the leader's back.
"Leave him alone!" Todd shouted angrily, trying to stop the leader, but the leader of the rat pack managed to get Todd off of him as he grabbed Todd by the tail and glared at him with a smirk.
"Well well well...if it isn't the little rodent from before?" The leader chuckled devilishly. "I guess you're back for more, eh? Well, we're gonna give you more! Come on boys, let's drop him and this rat off the ledge and show them who's boss!"
The rats nodded in agreement as they took both Todd and Buddy over to the edge of the building to throw them off. Todd struggles and cries out "Surly, help! SURLY!"
Surly hesitant, wondering what to do until he noticed the bird coop and opened it up, releasing the birds in the process. Surly grabbed ahold of one of the pigeon's legs' and grabbed both Todd and Buddy before they were thrown off the edge.
"Ha ha ha ha! Yes! We did it!" Surly cheered.
"Sayonara suckers!" Todd shouted as he laughed along with Surly and Buddy. Suddenly, the pigeon gotten tired from the weight it was carrying as it let the three go, making them fall to their doom.
"AHHHH!" They all screamed until they hit a glass window before falling to the ground safely. The city rats looked over to them, disappointed that they failed to kill them.
"Come on, let's go tell the boss!" The leader said as they scattered away. Todd, though, was relieved that they were safe from those rats as he sat up with a smile on his face.
"Whew! That was too close. Thanks for saving us back there, Surly...Surly?"
"No...I can't do this anymore! No food, no home, rat gang! We're gonna die out here, fellas!" Surly exclaimed in agony.
"Surly, calm down. We won't die. It's gonna be okay!" Todd assured.
"No, kid! It won't be okay! We really are gonna die out here!"
Todd then looked forward and gasped a little as he saw and stared at something that made his eyes widen in awe.
"Whoa..." Todd muttered in amazement.
"I don't know. Maybe they'll take me back..." Surly suggested.
"Surly?" Todd called for him.
"I'll do public service! I'll read to that blind wood chuck! I'll listen to Raccoon!"
"Surly?"
"I'll do anything! I'll do whatever it takes to-"
Todd grabbed and shook Surly by the shoulder, getting his attention as the fox squirrel pointed upward in front of them.
"Surly, look!"
Surly did indeed look and what he saw did surprise him as well as Buddy. It was none other than Maury's Nut Shop, and Todd recognized it and knew it'd be a good chance for survival.
"It's...It's Maury's Nut Shop. It's been a while since I've been here, but I've heard they have the most nuts in all of Oakton City. The best ones, too. I think we're in luck, Surly. We'll survive for sure!" Todd explained with a happy grin on his face.
"Ya dang right we will, kid!" Surly happily shouted as he got back up and saw Buddy dancing. Surly danced with him as well, then Todd joined in and laughed as he danced with the two as well. Soon, the celebration stops as Surly got into his serious expression and said "Alright! We get in, we stuff our bellies, but...we do it my way."
"Awesome!" Todd said in excitement. "Sounds like a plan."
Surly the narrowed his eyes at Todd before saying "Kid...you're not coming."
"Huh? How come?" Todd asked in confusion and shock.
"Look, I don't know why Buddy brought you along, but I made it clear this morning that I don't need your help and I told you to stay out of my business."
"But...I just wanted to tag along and help." Todd said sadly.
"You wanna help? Here's how. How 'bout you go back to the park and pretend none of this ever happened?" Surly guessed in a stern tone.
"But Surly-"
"GO! NOW!" Surly demanded, pointing at the other direction.
Todd sighed as he turned around and started to walk away. He just...couldn't understand Surly at all, and he was starting to think that maybe Surly wasn't such a good guy after all. Finding out that he was actually a park criminal was one thing, but him being arrogant and independent was definitely another thing he never expected.
"I just...don't get it. I always wanted to meet him since I first came to the park, but he just has to act so arrogant and independent for himself. He may sound like my dad, but at the same time, he doesn't act like that, and neither of my favorite thieving heroic characters that I love and admired in my entire life." Todd thought sadly.
Buddy still felt pity for the fox squirrel thought as he ran towards and caught up to him from leaving.
"Huh? Buddy? What is it now?" Todd asked curiously. Buddy stood by Todd's side and looked at Surly with a sad pleading look as if the rat wants Todd to stay with them. Todd became surprised about the speechless rat actually caring for him too unlike his purple partner-in-crime.
Surly, though, groaned grouchily in annoyance as he said "C'mon, Buddy. Seriously? Hasn't Raccoon punished him or he has a task to do or something?"
Todd realized that as he rubbed his arm in discomfort as he felt bad until he realized that Kokichi was backing him up. "Oh...right. That. But don't worry, Kokichi came by and said that he'll help me out."
Surly became surprised to hear that. "What? He helped you out? That's...weird."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Todd asked in confusion.
"Because earlier when I was hiding in that trashcan since I got nowhere else to go, he somehow found me and told me that you were doing the punishment of picking up every popcorn around the park, Raccoon's order." Surly explained. "Though, I asked him why he was telling me this, and he told me that he just wanted me to know and for his amusement. Just like that, he took off and disappeared."
Todd became confused to hear about this. Kokichi talked to Surly while Todd was doing his punishment, and yet, he came by and told him that he would finish Todd's punishment while he followed Buddy to find Surly? That seemed...really strange.
"But that's beside the point!" Surly exclaimed, getting back to the main topic. "Look Buddy, let him go home and so we can go and rob this nut shop."
Buddy, however, shook his head in disagreement as he didn't want the young fox squirrel to go back and continue his misery. Surly still didn't approve of the teen thought as he asked "For repeat sake, Buddy. Do we really have to babysit this squirt?"
Buddy nodded before looking at his purple friend with puppy eyes, begging him to to led Todd tag along. In defeat, Surly sighed with a grumpy caveman look as he groaned "Fine, whatever. He can stay with us...and help."
Both Todd and Buddy smiled happily as the fox squirrel said "Thanks, Surly. I promise you, you won't regret this!"
"Yeah. Sure, kid." Surly replied grumpily. "I'm pretty sure I will..." He thought sarcastically.
Surly then cleared his throat and told him and Buddy as he explained "Anyways, we got a nut store to raid. So let's focus and get this show on the road."
Todd and Buddy nodded in agreement as they immediately got to work. They headed past a metal gate that leads to the side of the Nut Shop and planned their way to get inside the place.
Their first attempt was going inside one of the three metal pipes that might lead them inside the Nut Shop. Todd went in first and jumped into the first tube, only to get shot out to the gutters and landing on the ground, much to his disappointment. Surly went into the second tube, only to get launched out of it and hit the wall pretty hard, which made Todd and Buddy winced upon seeing him like that. Todd and Surly both went into the last tube, going into the sewers that leads them back outside through the manhole. As Surly and Todd tried to get their bearings, an incoming car came towards them, much to their shock. The car hit the manhole, causing them to be hit with it and fall back into the sewers.
Their second attempt was go through the walls by picking out every brick to make a hole. Surly threw some bricks at Buddy, who struggled to hold onto them. As Surly turned back around to go and finish the hole, he and Todd became shocked to see more bricks on the other side, much to their disappointment. As Surly hit his head on the brick wall out of frustration, a pile of bricks falls on top of his head, much to Todd's shock.
"Oooh..." Todd muttered while noticing Buddy coming towards him, almost ready to drop the bricks down. "GAH! Watch where you put them, Buddy!" Todd exclaimed, running away from being hit by the bricks Buddy is about to drop.
Their third attempt was to cut the power of the Nut Shop, in case it might have an intense security system, which might get them into trouble of entering and exiting out of the Nut Shop. As Surly found the power box and attempt to cut one of the wires, it short circuited and electrocuted Surly, much to Todd's shock, but Buddy didn't mind as he watched the lights blinked off and on over and over again.
Their fourth and final attempt was to launch Surly out of the tree towards the window of the Nut Shop, and attempt to open the door from the inside. Todd and Buddy pulled onto the branch of the tree, launching Surly out of it as he successfully made it inside, until Todd and Buddy hears a woman's scream, and saw Surly get shot out on another window and lands into a trashcan.
"Surly? Are you okay?!" Todd asked as he and Buddy looks down to check up on him, until they cringe upon seeing a metal pipe get stuck onto Surly's head.
"Do I look okay to ya, kid?" Surly asked grouchily.
"Uhh...no?" Todd chuckled nervously before he and Buddy looked away from him in hopes of not seeing his angry expression, even though his face was covered with a metal pipe.
Later
Buddy attempted to open up a metal gate that leads inside of the Nut Shop, but it was shut tight as he struggled to open it.
"Here, let me try, Buddy." Todd offered as he tried opening it as well, but received the same results.
"Oh, that's not gonna work, step aside." Surly said, still has his head trapped inside of the metal pipe. Todd stepped aside and allowed Surly to look at the metal gate and tried to find a way to open it. Suddenly, both Todd and Buddy noticed that a taxi arriving, and a strange man wearing a black fedora coming out of the taxi while opening the door, letting out a stranger wearing a brown coat coming out of the taxi and headed inside of the front entrance. Buddy immediately went inside through the door before it closed. He looked around and saw two more people in the shop.
"Hey, looks who's here! It's the boss!" A man wearing a small hat exclaimed with joy.
"Fresh out of the smaller, huh?" The man wearing a blue suit said with a smile.
"How you doing, jailbird?"
"Hey, what's it been? Eight years? Seven years?"
The man took off his coat, revealing himself as none other than Percy K. Dimpleweed, a mob crime boss that was taken to the slammer for years until the day has finally arrived that he was out of jail for good.
"Here. Let me get your jacket." The man with the small hat offered. His name was Fingers, a man who seemed to work for King in the past, but quite...dimwitted.
"No, no, no. I shall get that." The man with the blue suit said, wanting to do it for himself. This was Lucky, another person who works for King, and known for his expertise of studying the blueprints of security system.
"It's fine. I got it." Lucky assured before letting out a grunt. "Just good to see you." He let out a whistle, signaling his pet pug, the same one that chased both Todd and Surly earlier. "Hey Precious! Come here! Say hi to the boss!"
The pug known as Precious walked over to say hi, but quickly left after seeing the intimidating look from King himself. Meanwhile, Buddy managed to open a small window that connects to the front door, and sees Todd finally getting the metal pipe out of Surly's head.
"There we go." Todd smiled.
"Thanks, I guess kid." Surly rubbed his head bashfully until they both heard a whistle coming from Buddy. Todd smiled happily to see Buddy finally found a way in as he and Surly climbed up to the window and onto the wooden ceiling while avoiding the sight of the four strangers from the inside. As Todd and Surly arrived to the ceiling, they noticed Buddy looking at something with awe. They looked at what Buddy was seeing as they saw a bunch of mousetraps, but had cheese on them.
"Whoa..." Todd muttered in amazement as he rubbed his aching stomach. He hardly ate anything due to having to do the punishment Raccoon tasked him to do. He and Buddy looked over to Surly, who shook his head and gestured to follow his lead. Todd nodded and began to help him and Buddy steal the cheese without triggering any of the traps.
It was simple and easy as Todd and Buddy just simply pulled the traps to the end while Surly grabbed the cheese. While they were doing this, Todd began overhearing what King and his men were talking about. They were talking about a bank heist at the Oakton City's National Bank, using some dynamite, digging through a giant hole in the basement, and tried to make sure nobody was getting suspicious of them.
"A heist?...Are they criminals like Surly? Hold on, I feel like I've seen that guy before." Todd thought, gazing at King as if he's seen him before. Unfortunately, while he became distracted, Surly picked up a cheese without noticing that neither Todd nor Buddy stopped it from triggering, causing the mousetrap to snapped at Surly's tail, causing him to hold his mouth in pain.
"Huh?!" Todd exclaimed, seeing the purple squirrel's tail trapped underneath the mousetrap. "Oh crap! Surly!" Todd ran towards him and picked up the trapped while he and Buddy tried to help him not scream.
"Kill the lights! Kill it!" King demanded, thinking it was a gunshot.
"Relax boss, it was probably just some rats." Lucky shrugged.
"Did you say...rats?..." King said, feeling a little scared.
"What? What's his problem?" Lucky asked, oblivious to know that King has a phobia of rats. Meanwhile, Buddy and Todd looked at Surly, pleading him not to scream.
"Surly? Please don't scream." Todd begged, which Surly nodded. Once both Buddy and Todd uncovered his mouth, Surly let out a scream in pain. Buddy immediately took the cheese out of his paws and shoved it in Surly's mouth in order to try and quiet him down. Todd helped out by soothingly petting his back while ignoring the barking coming out of Precious.
"It's okay Surly, calm down...just let the pain out. Let the pain be your friend..." Todd soothed, which immediately helped Surly calm down as he ate the cheese and swallowed it whole. He panted out of breath before turning back to Todd with a soft smile and says "Thanks for the help, kid."
"No problem, Surly. We make a pretty good team, the three of us." Todd smiled. That made the purple squirrel smile at him as he began to grow into him more and thinks he's not so bad after all, thought he doesn't show it as he remains in his serious expression.
"You know, this kid ain't half-bad. I don't know why, but he seems to really believe in me. But why? We barely know each other. I guess...maybe he could be a big help in this heist." Surly thought, hiding away a soft smile from Todd.
"Surly?" Todd called for him.
"H-huh? O-oh, uh...Yeah, let's continue getting these cheese for the night." Surly said, wanting to continue the raid. Todd and Buddy nodded as they continued to steal many of the cheese while avoiding many mouse traps. Soon after, Todd noticed the four men heading towards the basement, closing the door in the process. Todd kept wondering who that stranger was, but kept getting this familiar scent that he seen him before somewhere.
After stealing all the cheese and disarming all the mouse traps, they ate all of the cheese and decided to call it a night.
"Alright, let's rest up and do the raid in the morning, got it?" Surly asked with a stern look. Buddy nodded and saluted to him while Todd smiled and said "You got it Surly!"
"Good, well let's get some sleep." Surly let out a yawn before he, Buddy, and Todd immediately went to sleep by laying on the hard wooden support beams.
Todd didn't mind it, despite it being too uncomfortable. He let out a yawn and looked over to the two partner-in-crimes. "Goodnight Buddy, goodnight Surly."
"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight kid." Surly yawned as the three went to sleep. As Todd began to sleep, he began thinking just how happy he is to work with Surly and Buddy. Now that he gains their trust, he can help raid this nut shop that can not only feed them, but everyone else back at the park for winter. But speaking about the park, he began wondering about Kokichi. He told Surly that he was busy doing his punishment of picking up all the popcorn around the park and Kokichi came by to Todd himself and said that he'll do the punishment while Todd follows Buddy in hopes of finding Surly and gaining his trust. Is it really a coincidence? Or...did he somehow planned this?
Meanwhile
Back at Liberty Park, Kokichi just finished up picking up the popcorn as he let out a sigh of relief.
"Man, that sure took about an half-hour to finish. I'm just glad that old Racky didn't find out." Kokichi wiped a sweat from his brow. "Oh well, nothing gets past old Kokichi 'Quick-Fingers' Squirrel...which by the way, I should work on my nicknames and make it a meme, but whatever..."
Kokichi immediately threw away his toothpick and began to take his leave until he noticed some park animals out on one of the entrances of Liberty Park. With curiosity, he walked over while seeing Grayson impressing his fans about how awesome he was by doing push-ups and such.
"Show off..." Kokichi rolled his eyes before noticing both Mole and Andie. "Why hello there Andie and Mole! What are you guys doing here at a time like this?"
Andie and Mole jumped out of surprise before realizing it was none other than Kokichi. "Oh, it's you. Raccoon was wondering where you've been." Mole said with a raised brow of suspicion.
"Who? Little old me? Nah, I was off busy minding my own business. By the way, just tell your boss over there that Todd finished his punishment." Kokichi chuckled, pointing over to Raccoon, who seems to be talking with Cardinal.
"Really? Wow, that was fast." Andie smiled before realizing something. "Wait, are you lying to me Kokichi?"
"What? Me? No way! I'm a fun guy! Why would I something like that?" Kokichi chuckled with a smirk on his face. Andie sighed and said "Well it doesn't matter, what matters is that I'm going out to the city to look for some food for the park while I travel with...Grayson..."
Kokichi saw the distaste she had with Grayson, not that Kokichi cares.
"Well, we barely have any food left for the park ever since the destruction of the Grand Oak Tree." Mole stated before handing Andie a back-pack made out of a card box. "Make that food last, it's all we can spare."
"Come on Grayson! Drop the purse, honey!" Johnny cheered as Grayson began doing more push-ups. "Oh yeah! Rope-a-dope!"
Grayson then began punching like he was boxing, even using Jimmy's stomach as a boxing dummy. "Alright, let's try cheek elasticity!"
"Yeah! Show them what you got Grayson!" A mice said as Grayson came over and was ready to test out his 'cheek elasticity'. The mice began stuffing rocks into Grayson's mouth, much to Grayson's pain, not that he showed it.
"Okay, that's disgusting and wrong." Kokichi said bluntly.
"Does Grayson really have to come with me?" Andie questioned, not eager to have him come with her. "I...think that hit on the head really messed him up."
"Raccoon thinks its good for moral." Mole pointed out as Raccoon looked back with a serious expression. Kokichi noticed it, smirking and waving at the leader, which he ignored him. "After all, Grayson is the park hero."
They looked back at Grayson, seeing his mouth is completely covered with rocks as he fell face flat like a statue.
"What a champ!" The mice cheered happily.
"Good luck my dear! Find food for us!" Mole cheered, panting Andie on the back. She became slightly irritated to work with Grayson...again as she went and picked him up, and forced him to spit out all the rocks out of her mouth. Kokichi silently snickered at her frustration. He wished that he could take a picture of this...if he had found a camera, that is. "Our hopes lies within you."
Kokichi watched them leave as everyone cheered for them while Kokichi sighed and rolled his eyes before taking his leave until he noticed Raccoon and Cardinal taking his leave.
"Oh hey Racky, where are you going?" Kokichi asked with a smirk.
Raccoon looked back at him and replied "I am simply going to bed, that's all. Though, I asked why do you want to know?"
Kokichi simply shrugged and responded "Just out of curiosity. I really want to get to know you Racky."
Raccoon looked at him with a raised brow before saying "...Very well then. Goodnight and please stay out of trouble."
With that, Raccoon and Cardinal took their leave while Kokichi simply let out an evil-looking smile.
"Oh Raccoon...why did you have to go and lie to me? I know that you've been deceiving and lying to everyone here. You may have gain everyone's trust for years, but you can't fool me. I know an animal or person on when they're lying. Nee-hee-hee...I wondered what you're hiding..." Kokichi thought with a smirk on his face. While everyone took their leave and went to sleep, Kokichi sneakily left through the entrance of the park, walking through the streets. While walking through the streets, he noticed both Grayson and Andie speaking with a city rat.
"Oh...I see what's he doing." Kokichi chuckled before grabbing a big rock and threw it at the city rat straight in the face.
"OW!" The rat winced in pain. Andie and Grayson looked back to see Kokichi waving at him.
"Kokichi?! What are you doing here?!" Andie exclaimed in shock.
"Just saving your life, duh." Kokichi shrugged with a smirk on his face.
"Hey! That's my thing!" Grayson whined until he noticed the city rat stealing Andie's backpack, much to her shock. "Hey! Give her pack that backpack! I mean, backpack! I-I-I mean...ugh! Forget it!" Grayson gave Andie a quick kiss on the paw before he went after the rat. Grayson climbed up the city lightpost, following after the thief. They both jumped off of it and began fighting and grappling each other for the backpack until they noticed a cable car coming heading straight for them.
"Oh no..." Kokichi muttered with widened eyes as he saw them disappeared once the cable car went past them. Andie let out a gasp until she saw both Grayson and the city rat on top of the cable car, still fighting each other. Andie sighed as she and Kokichi went after them.
Grayson managed to get the backpack from the city rat before punching him in the face. He then noticed Andie and Kokichi running towards them as he threw the backpack at them and shouted "No! Go on without me! Save the park!"
Those were his last words before he was gone for good, somewhere in Oakton City. Andie grabbed the bag and panting heavily, feeling afraid of being left alone. She leaves the park for like, five minutes, and now this is happening.
"Hey, if you're that scared, follow me. I know a place." Kokichi offered.
"R-really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better, right?" Andie asked.
"Nah, I promise! Follow me!" Kokichi smirked as Andie had no choice but to follow Kokichi as he led her towards the alleyway. While walking, Kokichi put up a smirk, glancing towards at Andie.
"Wow...who would've thought that she lost that dunderhead for good like that? Oh well, I wonder how Toddy and Surly are doing. Thank myself for coming up with that plan for Toddy to go and meet up with Surly. I gotta give myself some credit for that. Though, I just hoped that they're not in danger or whatever. Besides that, it looks like all according to plan. A++ for you Kokichi Squirrel! Nee-hee-hee!" Kokichi thought, silently snickering to himself.
"Kokichi? What are you laughing about?" Andie questioned out of curiosity.
"Huh? Oh nothing...nothing at all..." Kokichi answered, glancing away while trying to look innocent as they continued to walk through the alleyway, disappearing along the way.
To Be Continued