Note: The Nut Job belongs to Universal Pictures and Redrover, along with its characters. The OC, Todd Lloyd, belongs to me and Dusk19.
"Kokichi! Kokichi!"
Todd, Surly, and Buddy soon arrived to the rooftop of Yummi Chinese Kitchen, looking and calling for Kokichi.
"Great, where did he go?" Surly wondered aloud. "Seriously, that guy always gives me the creeps and always love isolating himself while making gags and pranks one after another."
Buddy couldn't help but agreed with Surly on that.
"Yeah, so do I." Todd nodded in agreement before saying "But still, Kokichi knows so much about the fortune. I don't know why he wants us to be here, but my guess is that it must be very important."
"Indeed, you are right Toddy." They all yelp in surprise before they turned around to see Kokichi, standing out of the shadows with a smile. "Also, thanks for the compliment Surly. You know, I guess we mistook one another after you sacrificed yourself for us all, even me. I'm proud of ya. Now that's heroic."
"Shut up Kokichi." Surly said, not eager to hear more of his insanity. "I did it for all of you and I wanted to end my thieving career. So I don't want to hear anything about who I was before, just think of me as the squirrel I am today. So just get to the point, now."
"He's right Koki." Todd formed a serious look and asked "Please, just tell us more about the fortune."
"…Wow." Kokichi said with a blank look. "You two really have changed and gotten stronger for the past few days. If I was a total fan nerd, then I would've been disappointed, but seeing me right now, makes me feel…happy."
"Uhh…okay?" Todd, Surly, and Buddy looked at each other in confusion, feeling more weirded out by him. "Anyway…what's this about a fortune Todd talks about?"
"Oh right, you weren't there during that scene." Kokichi cleared his throat before taking out the fortune out of his fur coat with a grin and explained "Well you see, this fortune in my hands is the direct reason why your son-figure here is a fox squirrel."
"Really?" Surly asked, feeling intrigued about it. He looks down at Todd before turning back to the albino squirrel. "So Todd became one because of the fortune? If so, then why do you have it then?"
"Because I wanted to make sure he didn't try to use it to turn himself human at all." Kokichi explained. "But I gotta say Toddy, it's quite surprising that the sisters decided to use this old fortune again. You're the second person to ever read this fortune and transformed into a squirrel."
"W-what? Really?!" Todd asked incredulous.
"Yep-a-doodles! Tee-hee." Kokichi giggled. "But you know, it's an honor to see you now abandoning the past and accepting the future today."
"Well true Koki, but I'm not completely gonna forget the past." Todd replied, confusing the albino squirrel.
"What?" He asked.
"I'm still gonna keep my dad's promise on becoming a great man just like him." Todd smiled brightly, which made Surly and Buddy feel happy for him as the purple squirrel ruffled his hair a bit.
"Yeah! Same here! I'm going to change and help feed the park. Sure my deeds were quite wrong, but I'm sure I can redeem them and make up to everyone in no time." Surly chuckled while Kokichi blinked in surprise.
"Well dang…that was pretty surprising." Kokichi stated bluntly before forming a smirk. "Well…looks like you two indeed learned your lessons."
"Thanks Koki…" Todd smiled before realizing one thing. "Wait, you mentioned about me being the second. You mean, this happened before?"
"Yeah, you can say that. The only difference is that you're gonna be turned back anyway." Kokichi chuckled, causing Todd to feel grimace upon hearing that.
"So I'm the second one to be turned into one but I'm only gonna be turn back into a human?" Todd thought, feeling worried about that.
"Wait a minute…" Surly looked at Kokichi, feeling suspicious about this. "Are you absolutely sure that this will work?"
"Well…there's always that 99.9 percent that it wouldn't work, but that's only a myth!" Kokichi laughed, ignoring the dry looks they were giving him.
"…I don't know if I find it funny or insulting?" Todd thought aloud.
"Technically, neither did any of us." Surly sighed as Buddy crossed his arms and shook his head at the albino squirrel's little joke. Todd let out a sigh before looking at Kokichi with a curious look and asked "Anyway, I have a question, Kokichi."
"As long it isn't my weight or why I was born with this fur color, then go ahead! Ask away!" Kokichi grinned.
"How did you meet the sisters that works here? If they planned this to get me and Surly to work together to make us feel close to each other, then why did you help out?"
Kokichi stopped grinning before darkening his face a bit, feeling depressed over about that subject.
"I…think its best if we didn't ask that Todd." Surly said, now feeling concern for the white squirrel.
"You're right. Sorry if I asked." Todd apologized, noticing the look on his face. Kokichi quickly formed a smirk and said "No no! It's alright! I'll tell ya to your little dumb minds."
"Huh?" Todd and Surly asked while Buddy tilted his head in confusion.
"I've been going here everyday since when I was a kit. The girls here are quite nice on giving me free noodles. Only problem is that they didn't like one of my ideas to help make their restaurant good." Kokichi sighed, forming a sad look.
"Really? Like what?" Surly questioned.
"Bagel Noodle soup!" Kokichi answered, only to receive blank looks on their faces. "Come on! It's wonderful! I mean, does nobody appreciates the bagels anymore nor wanna make memes out of it?"
"I don't think that's the problem…." Todd face-pawed himself, hearing all this about some Bagel Noodle soup from him. I mean, who would've come up with that? "But anyway, there's something else I have to ask you."
"Hm? Yes?" Kokichi tilted his head a bit, putting a finger on his mouth with a curious and innocent look.
"What…ever happened to the last one who used this fortune?" Todd wondered.
Kokichi paused at this before letting out a chuckle and said "Nee-hee-hee! It's so obvious to you guys! You already met him during the course of this journey."
"What?" Todd, Surly and Buddy looked at each other in confusion, wondering what he meant by that.
"Hold on…then…" Surly thought for a while before he widened his eyes in shock upon realizing something about that part. "Does that mean that…"
"Ooh, seems like somebody managed to figure it out, huh?" Kokichi giggled. "Yup! I'll admit it! It's me!"
The three rodents stared at him for a moment before holding shocked expressions on their faces.
"WHAAAAAAAT?!" They exclaimed in shock. Kokichi simply chuckled with a sly grin before saying "Were you guys really surprise? I'm pretty sure the audience could've figured it out faster from some of the chapters." Kokichi turned off-screen and winked at the viewers with a sly smile before turning back to the three rodents and said "But yeah, I'm too a human-turned-squirrel thanks to the fortune."
"S-so wait? Then that means…you were human before? Even as a little kit?" Surly questioned, his face feeling shocked while Buddy's expression was turning a bit pale upon learning that info.
"Well duh Surly!" Kokichi snapped his fingers with a smirk. "I always been a squirrel thanks to the fortune that turned Toddy here into a fox squirrel. Nee-hee-hee! It was quite fun being a squirrel!"
"Really?" Todd asked, feeling a bit nausea after hearing that. "I can't believe it. I supposed…that explains a few things like how you knew so much about the fortune."
"Yep! But man, I'm glad this adventure is over with. It was difficult…Well not really, it was pretty much easy with you guys doing all the hard work, but I managed to make you guys see each other more than friends and you guys helping each other let go of the past." Kokichi chuckled.
"Well even so, we thank you for that." Surly smiled before asking "So why help us? I highly doubt someone like you would be eager to pull this off."
"…Oh ho ho! I was just doing a solid for the sisters who are watching over this place." Kokichi grinned. "They thought with my experience of this that I can get Toddy here to appreciate you and you two will recognize each other more than friends, but as father and son."
"Well still, we still thank you Kokichi." Todd smiled. "Even with your…randomness, I guess you're pretty much a cool guy…in your own way, that is."
"Ahh, thanks Toddy." Kokichi smiled. "And if it makes ya feel any better, I wasn't against Surly and never sided with the park due to Raccoon. You may say that I was just cheering from the sidelines."
"R-really?" Surly asked in surprise.
"Yep. You were just someone like me…always seeking attention to not feel alone." Kokichi nodded with a smile, but Todd saw through this and must've felt his sadness.
"Kokichi…" Todd muttered. "Hey, if you were here as a kit and been stuck like this, but you knew that the only way was to transformed back into a human was this fortune in your hands, then why didn't you?"
"Todd has a point. I mean, I think your parents might miss ya, Kokichi." Surly nodded in agreement, causing Kokichi to frown at them.
"…It's not that simple. I tried to, but it never worked until I realize why." Todd, Surly, and Buddy became confused on what Kokichi meant by that as they tried to talk to him more until they heard someone crying.
"What the?" Surly wondered as Buddy walked over to the edge of the building, along with the others as they looked down and saw someone Todd wouldn't believe to encounter.
"M-mom?!" Todd blurted out as they saw it was Todd's mother, Alexa. She was sitting down on the restaurant's outside bench as she buried her face with her hands, letting out whimpers and tears streaming down her face.
"T-Todd! Where are you?" Alexa mourned. "It's all my fault…first Ben, now Todd. I promised that I'll keep Todd safe, but instead, I made things worse! Now Todd's missing and the police can't trace him down! I'm such a terrible mother!"
Todd felt heartbroken upon hearing that, hearing his mother mourning for his disappearance. She's been looking for him for the past few days during his adventures in Liberty Park. "Mom…" Todd muttered, letting a tear streamed down his eye.
"You must really miss her, huh?" Surly asked, looking at the fox squirrel with a sad and worried look.
"Yeah. I've been hanging out with you guys a lot that I almost forgotten about her." Todd sadly smiled. Surly and Buddy looked at each other with concern looks before softly smiling at each other and hugging Todd, which caught him by surprise before smiling over and embracing their hug. Kokichi looks at them, softly smiling at them and feeling glad that they were getting along.
"Well, there's something that this kid had that I didn't. Unlike him, he has a loving mother and a great father that he looked up to. As for me…I had nothing…I was all alone because my mother…and my father…" Kokichi didn't noticed that he let some tears dropped down while he darkened his face, reminiscing some memories from his childhood. He soon wiped them away and formed a smirk before letting out a whistle, gaining the three rodents' attention.
"Well alright, it looks like it's time for you to go home Toddy." Kokichi handed Todd the fortune, placing it in his paws. Todd looks over the fortune with a surprised look before looking over at Kokichi and said "Kokichi…you're really gonna give it to me?"
"Trust me kid, I got no reason to go back to my old life. It was plain dull and boring. My new life here as a squirrel is quite great here." Kokichi grinned.
"He may say that, but still…" Surly looks over at the albino squirrel with a worried and concern look, noticing that Kokichi was lying about that part. After all, he knows how to properly lie as well.
"O-Okay…but still…" Todd looks over at the fortune cookie with a sad look, realizing that once he chants the spell, he'll go back as a normal, but he would leave Surly, Buddy, and the others behind too.
"It's alright Todd." Surly put a paw on Todd's shoulder, catching him by surprise.
"W-whoa! Surly!" Todd looked over at Surly with a surprised look.
"Hey, don't worry kiddo, it was actually quite fun hanging out with ya. Even Buddy can agree, right old pal?" Buddy nodded with a smile, which made Surly chuckled before turning back to the fox squirrel and continued "And besides, you wouldn't want your mother to keep crying over you, right?"
"…No, not at all." Todd shook his head, slowly forming a smile before looking at the three rodents and said "Alright, I'm ready. Let's go."
"Hmm? Are you sure?" Kokichi asked, raising a brow at the fox squirrel.
"Well of course. I want you guys being in my side to the end anyway." Todd shrugged, chuckling a bit.
"E-even me?" Todd nodded as he answered "Yep. Even you Kokichi." Kokichi felt surprised by that, not before that he was invited to join along something like this, besides the Nut Job Heist and since he was a troublemaker, he was hardly invited on joining in any meeting back at Liberty Park.
"O-oh…thank you, I guess." Kokichi shrugged, feeling unsure about that.
"Well we're with ya to the end, Todd." Surly smiled with Buddy smiling over at the fox squirrel as he nodded in agreement. "Now come on. Let's get going."
"Yeah." Todd nodded before they climbed down through the gutters and headed down in front of the crying Alexa. Alexa continued crying until she soon noticed the four rodents looking at him, which confused her at why they were looking at her.
"O-oh, hello there little guys." Alexa softly smiled at them as she asked "What are you four doing here?"
"Well Toddy…good luck." Kokichi pushed him forward a little before muttering "I hope…"
"What?" Todd asked, not hearing what he said.
"Nothing!" Kokichi shouted. Todd shrugged before sighing and walking forward in front of his mother before taking out the fortune and read it aloud.
"A journey soon begins, a prize reflected in another's eyes. What you see is what you lack, then selfless love can change you back."
And on those exact words, Todd began to feel different before a giant 'POOF' of smoke appeared around him, causing him to cough up some smoke before noticing that his paw…wasn't a paw anymore. It was more like a hand now! He looked around himself and realize that he was a human again! And was still wearing the same clothes from before.
"T-Todd?" Alexa asked slowly with a surprised look before gasping and looking over him, checking to see it wasn't an illusion before realizing that it was the real deal, shocking her. "Todd! Y-you're here!" She immediately hugged him a tight hug, which Todd didn't mind as he happily embraced her hug with him.
"Mom!" Todd said with a joyful smile. "I'm so glad that I got to see ya again!"
"Me too!" Alexa smiled before making a stern look and said "And where exactly have you been mister?! Do you know how worried I was when I came out of the jewelry store?! I was searching for you for the past few days!"
"Heh heh….sorry about that mom. But it's a long story." Todd rubbed his head bashfully with a nervous grin. "Speaking of which….how exactly did you do that?" Alexa asked.
"Do what?" Todd questioned, confused by what she meant.
"I meant about that whole puffing out of a cloud thing while you were…" Alexa widened her eyes in shock upon realizing this. "T-Todd! Y-you were a little squirrel! You transformed right back from a squirrel!"
"I knew you would worried too much…" Todd chuckled nervously. Alexa felt pretty shocked about knowing all this. First her son disappeared, then found him standing right in from of him, where the little fox squirrel stood as he read some piece of paper and in just three seconds, it transformed back into her son. She couldn't believe it anymore. Soon, she hold off the rest of her questions upon noticing a scratch on his right arm.
"Ah! What happened to your arm?!" Alexa gasped, her face turning a bit pale upon seeing that scar. Todd looks over his right arm before seeing the wound Raccoon gave to him, which he still has. "Did you get bitten by an animal?!"
"Yeah…something like that." Todd sighed.
"Todd…please be honest with me. What exactly is going on? Why were you a squirrel? Who are those three animals that accompanied you? Just tell me if I've gone insane today." Alexa begged, feeling like her head is about to explode. Before Todd could explain everything, two familiar Chinese woman entered the conversation.
"Please calm down Ms. Lloyd. You don't need to panic." Todd and his mother turned around, only to be surprised to see the two chinese waitresses, Wang and Wong entering the place.
"It's you girls! From the restaurant before!" Todd gasped, remembering them since he entered the place. "What are you two doing here?"
"You should know by now that we're the ones who devised the plan, Todd." Wong replied. "I could've sworn Kokichi told you."
"Then again, maybe not." Wang sighed, face-palming.
"Oh right, he did. But I'm surprised to see you two here." Todd said in surprise.
"Wait, what do you two have to do with this?" Alexa questioned with a confused look. "Are you both the reason…why my son was a squirrel?"
"Indeed, so sorry about that." Wong smiled sheepishly at her. "We wanted to tell you, but we needed your son to go on this journey alone with his new friends."
"Yes, we just wanted to help him, that's all." Wang added, feeling guilty about this.
"So you did devise that plan Kokichi mention a bunch of times." Todd said, feeling surprise about that. "But…why?" Before the sisters could respond, an old voice spoke up as the doors of the restaurant opened, revealing an old man in his late fifties with slightly grey hair, wearing a golden Chinese vest and underneath it was a white button up shirt with the sleeves folded up over to his elbows. He also wore dark shades that almost made him look like a musician of some sorts.
"My my, you young man have a load of questions and you still can't solve it. Can't say I blame ya." The old guy said with a smile.
"Oh! F-Father!" Wong exclaimed, bowing to him.
"Don't do that again, you nearly scared us." Wang added.
"Ah ha ha! Sorry! It's just an old habit of mine to appear out of nowhere at times like these." The old man laughed.
"Oh, excuse me sir." Todd called, gaining the old man's attention. "Who…are you?"
"Ah, forgive me to not introducing to you and your mother, but the names Li Wei, or Mr. W for short." The old man known as Mr. W introduced himself. "So you must be the young lad who was transformed into a fox squirrel by my daughters and brought into your little adventure with Kokichi as your guide, right?"
"Well yeah, but Kokichi didn't seemed to act like my guide most of the times." Todd chuckled nervously while Alexa looks between the two, feeling quite lost from all this.
"I am sorry sir, but I'm afraid I'm sorta lost here. Could you please tell me what's going on?" Alexa asked, wanting some answers.
"Ahh, why yes milady." Mr. W chuckled before saying "See, I'm actually the real owner/manager of the Chinese Yummi Kitchen."
"You? But I thought Ms. Wang was the owner of this place?" Alexa questioned with a confused look.
"Oh that? You see, I have some errands to run back in my home country in China, so I left her in charge of the place while I was away." Mr. W explained before continuing "Now then, you're probably wondering why and how did your son turned into a squirrel, right?" Alexa nodded as she and her son began hearing his explanation, along with the twin sisters.
"Well you see, apparently, my daughters gave him a fortune cookie to ya both. The one you must've had was a normal one while your son held a magic one that has the power to transform anyone into an animal just by the next day."
"By the next day?" Alexa thought for a while until she let out a gasp. "No way! Then the reason why Todd wasn't around outside the jewelry store I went because…!"
"Exactly, your friend felt some dizziness before falling unconscious and waking up as a squirrel. It happens a lot on whoever reads it, but it doesn't affect those who turns back into them." Mr. W smirked.
"You all know pretty much about that magical fortune." Todd pointed out before questioning "So wait, does that mean that you can make magical fortunes?"
"Indeed." Wang nodded with a smile. "Our family has a secret machine that helps produces magical fortunes. Our ancestors created it themselves since ancient times and has been passed down from generation to generation until today."
"That is true. However…" Wong gave her sister a stern look before turning to Todd with a concern look and said "We only use the fortune cookie machine for emergencies. Besides, we haven't used that fortune cookie in a long time since a little incident occurred here 13 years ago."
"An incdient?" Todd asked.
"What kind of accident?" Alexa asked, feeling curious about it now. Mr. W frowned a bit and said "It's…quite personal, really. A friend of ours doesn't wished to answer that as well." "Friend?" Mr. W pointed over to Kokichi, who looked away from their peering looks, even Surly and Buddy's as he felt uncomfortable about that.
"Oh, you mean that white squirrel?" Alexa asked.
"Yep! That's Kokichi, mom!" Todd answered with a smile. "He's been…quite a rascal lately, but he's a good friend. Also, the purple squirrel is Surly and the blue rat is Buddy. They're new friends I made over when I was still a fox squirrel."
"R-right…" Alexa sighed, feeling uncomfortable upon hearing all that coming out of her son. Although, she'll do admit that she's glad to hear that her son finally made some friends at least.
"Anyway…" Mr. W cleared his throat before continuing with his story. "Our family's been known for using these magic fortunes of ours to help out in our everyday lives. However, we use them for special emergencies."
"Really? Special emergencies?" Todd asked curiously.
"Indeed young Todd, special emergencies and you should know what I mean." Mr. W said with a smile. "My daughters were doing their best to help ya in your problems. They gave you that magic fortune and transformed you into a fox squirrel for the adventure you went on. After all, they wanted to make you feel better and hopefully change who were you before, and it looks like it went swimmingly well."
"Huh? You knew?" Todd asked in surprise.
"Well more like my daughters told me myself. I came home from China after you came to Liberty Park for your little quest. I've been noticing that my friend hasn't been coming back here for the past few days, and I knew that the girls were acting weird. So they told me everything on what's going on. Their little plan on helping you find a father figure and possibly change Surly is."
"Huh?" Todd asked, raising a brow.
"Yep. I congratulate you Todd Lloyd for completing the whole journey through Liberty Park, and also for achieving self-discovery on your adventure while finding a father figure and such." Mr. W smiled. "You really have done it. You made Surly changed who he is, from a thief into a loving father figure."
"Wait, so you know Surly and the others back at Liberty Park?" Todd questioned.
"You know the animals back at Liberty Park?" Alexa asked curiously. "Have you all been there before?"
"Oh yes." Wang answered happily with a smile. "We knew about the squirrels from the park. Even Kokichi told us a lot about them personally…while also pranking them."
"Wait what?" Alexa blinked in surprise while Surly and Buddy gave looks at the albino squirrel, who noticed and looked away, whistling innocently.
"Nothing important!" Wang replied quickly. "But anyway, we also knew about Surly the whole time and after we overheard your conversation you and your son's conversation, I had this idea to turn Todd into a squirrel in order to meet and bond with Surly."
"Really? But…why me?" Todd asked. "Not that I'm against that, but why me of all people?" "Because after we heard all that from your conversation with your mother, we realized that you were just like Surly." Wang answered. "You were lost, feeling left out, always isolated from others, and faced too much trouble. But we knew that there was some good in Surly's heart and that someday, we knew that he'll make a great father figure."
"Wow…" Todd said, fully understanding now. "So you guys did this all to make us bond with each other and Kokichi carried out the plan for you." "Yeah, though I was against it at first…" Wong gave her sister a glare before softly smiling and said "But…we couldn't left someone like you to feel alone and keep facing problems by yourself. That's why my sister came up with this idea to transform you into a fox squirrel in the first place in order for you and Surly to see each other at first as friends, but soon as father and son figure." "Father and son?" Alexa asked, feeling surprised to hear that. "A-Are you serious?"
"Indeed. So sorry if we made you all worried Ms. Lloyd." Wang apologized. "This was all my fault. If only I hadn't eavesdropped on your conversation…"
Alexa sighed before softly smiling at the Chinese waitress and said "It's alright Ms. Wang, I understand if you were trying to help my son. I'm just all confused and weirded out by all this."
"It's alright Ms. Lloyd, I know that my daughters wanted to help your son in order to search out his self-discovery and helping Surly out of his troublesome ways." Mr. W chuckled before turning to Todd and said "And I thank you for that, Todd Lloyd. I hope Kokichi wasn't getting you into his troubles."
"Well…" Todd glances over at the albino squirrel with a soft grin. "Just a few, but we worked it all out." Todd then soon realized that he still had the fortune in his hands. "Oh right, I think this belongs to you." "Oh no, you can have it." Mr. W shook his head with a grin, surprising Todd a bit. "For journeying through Liberty Park in a quest of self-discovery, I reward you with this fortune to keep. Think of it as a gift from me to you." "Oh wow! Thank you!" Todd smiled happily.
"Father…are you sure you want him to keep that? Do you remember what happened the last time when…" Wong stopped herself, not wanting to bring THAT up, not even in front of Kokichi.
Mr. W frowned for a moment before smiling at his daughter and replied "It's alright Wong, it's not like last time. Besides, Todd and Surly taught me something. It was all in the past, and it's time to let it go and give others another chance." He then turned to Todd and his mother before taking something out of his pockets. "Here, let me help ya."
He then begins chanting through the fortune and just three seconds, the wound on Todd's arm completely heals, which he noticed and became relieved to see.
"Oh thanks! I was really worried about there for a second there." Todd smiled brightly while Alexa became shocked and surprised to see that happened. All this, though, surprises Alexa and weirds her out as well as confuses her. She was just surprised and shocked to know about all that as well as know that her son was a fox squirrel in Liberty Park the whole entire time.
Todd soon noticed her shocked look and felt worried for her. "M-Mom? Are you alright?" "…S-Sorry! I'm just confused about all this! You turning into a fox squirrel and everything! I-I don't know what to believe anymore! This is all just too crazy!" Alexa exclaimed.
"Mom…" Todd looked at her for a while until he formed a smile and hugged her. "I understand that you're confused with all this, but it's okay. I know you were looking for me for the past few days, but I had a good time. I felt so worried and kept thinking about you through the whole journey of mine. Besides, Surly, Buddy, Kokichi, and the others were keeping me company and I've been having a great time. What I'm trying to say is that…I'm so glad to see you again." Alexa couldn't help but smile at her son before hugging him tightly.
"Me too Todd! I'm just so happy for you to finally make some friends at least!" Alexa smiled while the Chinese family and the rodents watched with smiles on their faces. Soon, they ended their hug as Alexa turned to Mr. W and said "Thank you at least, Mr. W."
"You should be thanking my daughters, and those rodents down there for all the help." Mr. W chuckled.
"Well still, thank you all." Alexa turned to Surly and co. with a soft smile and said "Including you little guys." Surly nodded while Buddy saluted and Kokichi kept his smirk, feeling appreciated by someone.
"Well, I guess it's time to head back Todd. After all, the Fall Break is almost over, you know." Alexa reminded her son, who felt shocked and a bit sadden to hear that.
"O-Oh right…but, can you give me a few minutes with my friends?" Todd pleaded. Alexa thought for a while until she softly smiled at her child and nodded.
"Alright, I see why not." Alexa smiled. Todd became happy to hear that before taking out his fortune that Mr. W allowed him to have and read through the spell, and immediately transformed back into a fox squirrel.
"Whoa! That was quick." Todd said in surprise.
"Oh yeah, there was something that Mr. W and I forgotten to explain about that spell." Todd turned to Kokichi as he, Surly and Buddy walked over as Kokichi explained "You only get dizzy when someone tries the fortune spell for the first time. It won't happen again on the one who uses it too many times, so you should be good."
"Well that's a relief." Todd sighed in relief. "So…I guess this is it, huh?"
"Yeah, seems so Todd." Surly sadly smiled at the fox squirrel with a sad look, feeling depressed that Todd had to go now. "But hey, you can always come back to Liberty Park anytime, ya know? We can always hang whenever you feel like to."
Todd smiled at the purple squirrel and his sidekick before frowning at that idea. "I'm afraid that isn't possible."
"What? Why not?" Surly asked in worried while Buddy felt concern for him.
"Me and my mom live far off of Oakton City and we have no choice but to leave town when Fall Break ends." Todd sighed sadly before looking at Surly and Buddy with a hopeful smile on his face. "But maybe me and my mom will come back during Spring Break? Maybe even summer vacation? We can always hang out and have a great time. Just you, me, Buddy, Kokichi, Andie, Johnny, Jimmy, Jamie, Mole, and Precious. We'll always see each other…Always."
"Yeah…always." Surly nodded before he and Buddy hugged him tightly, smiling over at the fox squirrel while he returned the hug back to them. Kokichi watched over them with a soft grin, feeling proud of himself and probably boasting how well he done on making them father and son. But while…he felt jealous of Todd. Seeing him and Surly get along like that…
"Must be nice of him to have that kind of love…if my father would've gave me some of that love, then…would I still be human again?" Kokichi thought, feeling a bit sadden, but kept his smirk to make sure no one saw through his feelings.
"But you know…it would be nice if you came for the Winter." Surly suggested.
"But I can't." Todd shook his head as he explained "You know I can't visit you guys over at Winter Break because you guys would be hibernating."
"Oh…right." Surly rubbed his head bashfully, blushing a bit while Buddy nodded, realizing that Todd brought up a good point. They stole all those nuts out of the nut shop to keep themselves from starvation during the winter times. "Well…I guess this is goodbye. I hope we meet again and again, thank you for making me realize the error of my ways….son."
Todd smiled happily before hugging him and Buddy tightly with a tear streaming down his left eye as he said "Thank you for helping me as well…dad."
Surly felt heart-struck upon hearing that, making a warm smile at the fox squirrel as he turned to Buddy and said "Well guess this is it. I hope we meet each other again too…Uncle Buddy."
Buddy let out some tears, feeling heart-warmed of being called that. He smiled and nodded at Todd before he turned to Kokichi with a soft grin.
"Kokichi…well, you may have been insane, weird and…frustrating most of the time, but…"
Willing to show kindness and gratefulness, Todd then hugs Kokichi, much to the albino squirrel's surprise.
"Thank you for everything else, especially for saving us from Raccoon and for helping me discover myself, as well as telling me much about yourself. You're still my friend. You'd make a good addition to my family too along with Surly and Buddy."
"W-well…thanks…" Kokichi was lost for words upon hearing all that. No joke, no gags, no nothing. He didn't say anything at all.
"Oh, and I'm sorry for calling you stupid and everything else that one night. I take all of that back. I guess I was sorta wrong about you…" Todd smiled.
"Ha ha ha! Well of course!" Kokichi smirked. "After all, I am quite smart compared to everyone!" Todd chuckled, seeing Kokichi retaining his wacky self while also thinking why Kokichi doesn't want to transformed back into a human. Is it something personal or…?
"Well anyway, guess this is goodbye. Bye you guys." Todd bid them farewell before taking the fortune cookie out of his hands. "I'll visit you guys while my Fall Break lasts on."
"You got it Todd!" Surly ruffled his hair a bit, causing the fox squirrel to chuckle.
"Well you good luck on that. I'm gonna go grab something to eat. Probably some bagels." Kokichi chuckled with a sly smile. "Well bye Toddy! Surly! Buddy! Bye bye!…Oh wait." Kokichi went over and handed something to Surly, placing it into Surly's paw. "You're going to need it. This fortune is special. Just read it later when you have time. Trust me…it's a humble gift from me to you, Surly."
"Wow…thanks Koki." Surly thanked with a smile while Kokichi chuckled with a smile. "Oh wait, does Mr. W and his daughters know about it?"
"Well no, but I'll tell them…eventually." Kokichi laughed. "Now…Kokichi! Away!" With that, Kokichi immediately dashed off without a sight, causing Todd to laugh while Surly and Buddy shook their heads in amusement.
"That guy never changes." Surly sighed, with Buddy nodded in agreement.
"Well…this is it. Goodbye dad and Uncle Buddy." Todd smiled at them before he took out his old fortune and began chanting the words onto the fortune, magically turning back into a human in a poof.
Alexa blinked in surprise before smiling over at her son and asked "So Todd, did you say farewell to your friends? Because I saw one of them dashing off quicker than a cat."
Todd let out a chuckle and smiled before saying "Yeah mom. I said my goodbyes to them and we promised that we'll meet again next time." Alexa couldn't help but smile at her son before placing her hands on her shoulder and giving him a quick kiss on the forehead, causing Todd to feel embarrassed of that.
"M-Mom!" Todd whined before he and his mother started laughing. Surly and Buddy then smiled over at the scene before they took their leave, hoping that one day they'll see Todd once more.
"Well it seems like you two are getting along well." Wang commented with a smile.
"Yeah, we sure have." Todd nodded in agreement before saying "Well, this looks like it's time for us to go. It was nice meeting you all again. Goodbye."
"Farewell young lad, and remember this, never give up on life because if you do, you're giving yourself up to the world." Mr. W stated, which Todd nodded, fully understanding the promise. Before he and his mother began taking their leave, Todd stops himself before turning back to the Chinese family with one question that he couldn't figure out.
"Umm…excuse me, Mr. W?" Todd called.
"Hmm? Yes my friend?" Mr. W asked curiously.
"I was wondering…if you knew something about Kokichi? I was wondering if he…was the last human to use the animal transforming fortune spell?" Todd questioned, causing Mr. W to frown on that.
"Heh, so you finally noticed that huh?" Mr. W chuckled with a bitter smile before answering "Yes, it is true. I'm afraid that our friend, Kokichi, is a human transformed into a squirrel."
"Well I knew that, but I wanted to ask. If I was able to transformed back into a squirrel, why hasn't Koki? Didn't he get transformed into one because of he also wanted to look for self-discovery of himself?"
Mr. W closed his eyes for a moment while his daughters looked at each other in worried as the old man replied "I'm afraid…that he wasn't looking for self-discovery, he was transformed because of the incident we spoke of."
"What?" Todd questioned.
"Since Kokichi isn't here, I suppose I should tell ya about him."
"But father, is it okay to just tell them about Kokichi?" Wong asked in concern.
"No, they have the right to know and I can't hide it anymore." Mr. W assured before he cleared his throat and began telling his story to both Todd and his mother. "It happened 13 years ago, probably before you were even born. There was a boy, who was known for being a trouble-making prankster all across Oakton City. He was always alone, never had any friends and always kept a smile on his face, telling himself that he didn't need any friends and was always cool without them. But deep inside of his heart, he felt loneliness and wished he had one. He always did those pranks, cons, and such in order to gain attention, to make himself famous…in his own way, but always fail at the end with trouble and punishment. He and his father would always fight with each other and he was always walking away from him everyday. Until one day, one fight caused those two to permanently damaged their friendship with the boy to leave him for good and tried to take care of himself for good. He then came right here into our restaurant with money probably stolen from other people and ordered one bowl of noodles and he instantly fell in love with them.
I felt curious with the boy and asked him what was some kid like him doing here alone without his parents, and he told a lie to me about why he was alone, telling me that his parents allowed him to go out alone. He couldn't have fooled me, so I decided to maybe help him out by giving him the same fortune you have in your hands, Todd Lloyd."
Todd looks over his fortune, feeling concern and a bit suspicious because the way the story is being told, it sounds like something bad is about to happen.
"I soon gave him the fortune and he took it before reading it. Since it was the first time he read it, he would soon felt the dizziness and by the next day, he'll turn into a squirrel and hopefully, he would soon learned his lesson. But…the moment he left…a tragedy happened. The boy died in a terrible car accident, unaware of a speeding car about to run him over. His father attended his funeral and only him since nobody cared about the boy due to the trouble he caused to the city. Luckily, me and the girls attend to his funeral as well, comforting the boy's father. He soon fell into despair and blamed himself for his son's death before he took his leave and was left in great depression, staying silent and never talked since then."
Alexa covered her mouth in shock and horror while Todd turned his expression into a pale one, hearing about the boy's death and his father's depression. He soon began to realize something now…he's finally understanding who that boy was now.
"We all felt devastated and wished that we could do something to undo this incident. But one day when we went for a walk at Liberty Park, we encountered some animals running away from something, with their faces covered in black smoke until we saw a white squirrel kit with a mocking laughter, but that smile…I soon remembered the boy's smile and realized that he indeed was transformed into a squirrel. It was a miracle that he was transformed into one the moment of his death. We soon create a fortune that allows the user to speak to animal and was able to communicate with him. We soon gave him the fortune that allowed him to transform back into a squirrel, but once he enchanted those words, it didn't happened. I soon began to realize that it didn't work for those who died after they were transformed into a squirrel. Thanks to the spell he read, he was transformed into a white squirrel, but since he died, his soul must've reincarnated into his squirrel form of his and now is forever stuck in this form for the rest of his life. While we tried many ways in order to revert the problem, we discovered horrible news. The boy's father apparently disappeared for the past three days and no one had seen it. But by the fourth day…His body was found. His father apparently committed suicide out of grief and depression. Though the boy didn't care what happened, I saw through his lies. Deep within his heart, he felt misery, grief, depression, heartbroken, and despair. He felt truly alone and drove those around him away from him."
Todd and Alexa felt shocked and were horrified to hear all this. Todd began to truly feel sorry for Kokichi, wishing that he could help him out of his misery.
"So that's why Kokichi couldn't tell us. He didn't felt like too because of his past. So even so, Kokichi itself kept lying to himself and others to escape the old self. Kokichi…was the lie itself." Todd thought with a sad look. "I-I see…"
"But I think maybe Kokichi learned a lot from him." Todd and Alexa looked at Mr. W with confusion as he continued "I've never seen Kokichi that happy before while you were wishing your friends goodbye. And also, it was quite nice of him to give Surly that fortune, but I'm gonna have a talk with that guy."
"Huh? So you know?" Todd asked in surprise.
"Yep. It doesn't take a man like me to see through his trickery." Mr. W chuckled. "I want to say that you really have made Kokichi feel…happy for once in his life. I guess you and Surly didn't change each other at all, but him as well."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Todd chuckled with a smile.
"Well…I hope that I can meet him too." Alexa chuckled, feeling interested on hearing Kokichi. "It sounds like he needs a friend or two, but I'm proud of ya Todd."
"Heh heh, thanks mom." Todd smiled brightly at her before turning to Mr. W and his daughters as he said "Well thanks for telling us that. I promise that I'll be nicer to him. He really does need some friends like me to help out."
"Anytime young Todd. You're always welcome back to the Chinese Yummi Kitchen." Mr. W smiled. "And it was quite nice seeing you complete your journey, Todd." Wang added with a bright smile.
"Indeed. Even if I was against and had doubts about it, I never gave hope on you Todd." Wong added.
"I hope we see you and your mother once again."
"Thanks. Bye bye." Todd waved goodbye to them as he and his mother began to take their leave until Todd finally noticed that Surly and Buddy were already gone as he let out a soft grin and looked at the sky with a smile. "Thank you Surly and Uncle Buddy. Goodbye for now." Todd thought as he and his mother headed back to the Oakton Hotel to rest up after today.
"You know, I'm still shocked on hearing all this talk about you transforming into a fox squirrel and all that, but nonetheless, I'm glad to have you back Todd." Alexa smiled in relief.
"Me too mom, me too." Todd nodded in agreement.
"So…what was it like? How was your adventure with that friend of yours? Surly, was it?" Alexa asked with a curious look.
"Well…it's a long story." Todd rubbed his head bashfully with a sheepish smile. "It be best if I told you back at the hotel. Trust me, you're gonna be pretty amazed by everything I've done for the past few days." Alexa nodded in understanding that as they continued their way towards the hotel until Todd was bumped into someone.
"Ow! What the heck?!" Todd muttered before looking up and became shocked to see who it was. It was a chubby kid, probably in 8th grade as he wore a red striped shirt with brown pants with hazel hair and had blue eyes. "Ah! Y-you're…!"
"Todd?!" The boy exclaimed in shock.
"Oh? Do you know him Todd?" Alexa questioned in concern.
"Yeah…remember I told you about the bully that broke my PSVita?" Todd asked, which Alexa nodded as he glared at the chubby boy. "Well…this is the guy who did it. Max Travis."
"What?!" Alexa gasped before looking over at the chubby boy with a hard look. "So he done it, huh? The one who you fought over that gotten you suspended?"
"Let's…not live in the past, mom." Todd chuckled nervously before looking at Max and asked "So what is it Max? What are you doing here?"
"Well…I guess I wasn't really expecting to see you here in the city." Max rubbed his head with a sheepish smile before looking down with a sad and shameful look. "I was planning on seeing you at school, but it looks like I don't have to."
"What? What are you talking about?" Todd asked, feeling confused on what he meant by that.
"Well…" Max rubbed his arm with a sad look before saying "Look Todd…about what happened before you got suspended…I'm sorry for breaking your game."
"What?" Todd asked in confusion.
"Yeah, I-I didn't mean to break it. I soon find out from some kids that you gotten it as a gift from your dad and when I learned what happened to him, I…I felt so terrible. I'm sorry for everything I've done to ya. I guess I went too far, eh?" Max chuckled nervously, rubbing his arm bashfully.
"Y-you really mean it?" Todd asked incredulous.
"Yeah…and to prove it…" Max took something out of his pockets, showing him a broken Wii U gamepad, which took Todd and his mother by surprise. "I guess Karma had really hit me hard, eh?"
"Sure has." Todd commented with a light chuckle.
"Oh, you poor dear." Alexa said, feeling terrible of him. "What happened to your game?"
"Well after school came for a close for the weekend, I headed back home and took my Wii U Gamepad with me to play around it until I accidentally tripped over a small rock and dropped it into the middle of the road, and I tried to get it back, but a car drove right over it apparently." Max sighed in sadness.
Todd couldn't help but feel sorry for the bully, seeing that he gotten his own gaming console destroyed as well. Todd placed a comforting hand on the bully's shoulder with a soft smile and said "Well…I guess we're even, huh?"
"Yeah, you're right about that." Max chuckled with a soft smile.
"You know, I can help pay for it as a tribute of you forgiving my boy from all the troubles you caused." Alexa offered until Max shook his head and replied "Nah, it's alright. My family are working on getting it fixed."
"Oh, I see." Alexa nodded, understanding about that.
"Well…I'm glad to hear that at least." Todd chuckled with a grin. "And thanks for the apology. I forgive you."
"Oh, thanks Todd." Max smiled. "You can hang out at my home next week if ya want."
"I see why not. Once you get your Wii U Gamepad working, I hope we can play some games together…as friends." Todd nodded, while Max smiled over at Todd. Alexa couldn't help but smile happily at her boy, seeing that things for her son are finally getting better. "Well anyway, it's best if we took our leave. See ya Max."
"I'll see ya later too, Todd. You too Ms. Lloyd." Max bid farewell to them as they began to take their leave by taking their separate paths as Todd and his mother headed back to their hotel room.
"I'm really proud of you Todd." Alexa smiled at her boy as she continued "I guess that little adventure of yours was really worth something, huh?"
"You betcha mom! It was really worth something." Todd winked as they continued their way, now with things back to normal. But unbeknownst to them, a girl was watching from behind the shadows. She looked like she was the same age as Todd as she smiled softly at him with a light chuckle before walking off, promising to meet with Todd with a big surprise.
The Next Day
It was another beautiful day here in Oakton City, and things were looking better than ever. At the hotel room, Todd and Alexa were seen eating breakfast with Todd telling her the story on his adventures at Liberty Park. Alexa felt shocked a couple of times on hearing the dangers he faced through, but was happy to hear that her son was able to change the purple squirrel's heart while becoming good friends with him and the other animals. Ever since the adventures on Liberty Park, Todd changed. He was feeling happy and positive than who he was before. If it wasn't for reading that fortune cookie, then maybe he wouldn't have met Surly, Buddy, Kokichi and friends.
Just then, there was some knocking at the window as the two turned over to it as they got up from the dining table and opened the curtains and window, revealing two familiar rodents.
"Surly? Buddy!" Todd exclaimed in joy, happy to see them. "You're back!"
"Told ya we'll meet again." Surly smiled while it caught the humans' surprised by that.
"S-Surly?! D-did you just…speak?!" Todd exclaimed in shock. "But how? I'm not even a squirrel!"
"Oh, you can thank Kokichi for that." Surly smirked. "Remember that fortune he gave to me yesterday? Well apparently, I discovered that it had the power to allow the user to speak and understand animals, as well as humans. I gotta hand it to him. He sure knows how to get good gifts."
"Wow! So that's what it was? Awesome!" Todd smiled in joy. "I gotta thank him later."
"Well that was quite amazing." Alexa commented before realizing something. "Wait, how did you knew about it? The fortunes themselves speaks in riddles."
"Well…" Surly rubbed his head with a sheepish grin while Buddy tried his best to hold back his laughter. "Let's just say that we may or may not scared a few humans who heard us talking."
"Oh Surly!" Todd laughed, along with his mother. Surly and Buddy couldn't help but laugh alongside them as well. "So what's up?"
"Well we came over and found out where you and your mother were staying. So looks like you're still here, huh?" Surly asked curiously.
"Yeah, today's our last day anyway." Todd replied.
"That's good to hear. Just in time to ask ya something." Todd became confused, wondering what Surly was about to ask as he continued "So anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to head out with me and Buddy on a little heist. Remember, we agreed to help out with the park on food crisis now that Raccoon is gone for good."
"Really?" Todd asked with a grin.
"Yep! So are you in? Because this adventure may not be exciting as our last, but hey, at least it's worth something to pass the time, eh?" Surly chuckled.
"Do you guys even have to ask? Sure can!" Todd nodded before turning to his mother and asked "Say mom, you wouldn't mind if I-"
"You can go Todd." Alexa nodded, catching Todd by surprise. She put her hands on Todd's shoulders with a smile and said "After all, I can't stop ya. After everything you've been through, I think you're becoming a great man. Just like your father."
Todd looked at his mother for a moment before nodding with a smile and said "Thank you mom."
"Anytime Todd, anytime." Alexa nodded. Todd soon took out his fortune and chanted the spell, reverting back into his fox squirrel form. He climbed up the window as he met up with Surly and Buddy and said "Alright! I'm ready to rock and roll Surly!"
"Thanks kiddo." Surly smiled, ruffling the fox squirrel's hair before saying "But say, can you and Buddy wait outside with me?"
"Sure thing dad." Todd nodded before turning to Buddy and said "Come on Uncle Buddy! Let's go!"
Buddy nodded before he and Todd began to take their leave as Alexa called "Remember Todd, be careful and stay safe, okay?"
"Right back at ya, mom!" Todd smiled with a wink. "We'll be back mom, bye!"
With that, Todd and Buddy exited out of the building, leaving Surly and Alexa alone in the room.
"You know, Todd told me a lot about you Surly. I still can't believe that he would team up with a thief, but I am glad that you took good care of my boy." Alexa smiled, causing Surly to smile sheepishly at her and said "Well I don't mean to brag, but I am a great guardian to the kid. He was quite a good friend to have…No, a great son to have."
"Heh heh, well it seems like he wasn't kidding on saying that he sees you as a father figure." Alexa chuckled. "Well I wish you good luck on watching over my boy. You're quite a smart squirrel despite how cute you are."
"C-cute?!" Surly blushed at that before rubbing his cheek in embarrassment. "Pfft! Like I'm cute! I prefer to be cool! I am the coolest squirrel of all Liberty Park after all."
Alexa couldn't help but laugh at that before saying "You know, that cockiness of yours somewhat reminds me of Ben."
"Huh? Really?" Surly asked in surprise.
"Yeah. He would always comments something cocky about being a good parent and a role model to Todd. We all were so close until…well you know."
"Yeah, I know." Surly nodded in understanding. "Well anyway, I gotta go. Todd and Buddy are waiting for me and don't worry, I promise within my heart that I'll keep Todd safe and watch over him." Surly winked at Alexa before she happily watches him leave to catch up with Buddy and Todd.
"I know you will Surly because…your Todd's hero." Alexa smiled. "I'm so happy for you, Todd. I'm so glad to see you smiling once more. Though, I'm glad Surly is a good kind of thief too since Todd said that he's gonna do good deeds to help out those poor little animals at the park, after all."
She looks at the sky with a bright smile and said "Oh Ben, I hope you're watching us over because our son made you proud."
She then closes the window while watching Surly, Buddy, and Todd leaving the hotel together as they cheerfully got ready for their adventure.
"Alright you two, come on! We're heading back to the nut shop and steal some more nuts there. After all, we got the perfect ticket on entering there." Surly smiled as he lead the way with the other two rodents following him. Todd chuckled at the purple squirrel while Buddy crossed his arms with a bright smile at his friend. Todd then turned to his 'Uncle Buddy' with a smile.
"Ya know Buddy, I'm really glad I have you two and everyone else from the park in my life, especially Surly." Todd stated with a bright smile. "He is my kind of guy. He's someone I can look up to. He's my hero. He…is my father figure, Surly Squirrel."
THE END!
Hold up!
(Kokichi appears with a bright and sly grin on his face!)
Kokichi: This story isn't over yet! There's a secret ending to show you all! Everyone knows that you can't end a story/movie without a super finale secret ending! So here it is...in the next and final chapter!