Quint reached out to the switch that turned on the generator. We made a home. He flipped up the switch with a smile, watching everything turn on. We built a community! And now, with full-on electricity, we have one thing we need for true civilization. June buckled herself up, along with everything else as they had custom-made carts. "BoomKart races!" Jack cheered as he didn't have one, riding on top of Rover. Alfred held up the flag and then waved it. Everyone took off past the zombie and he spun around inside the tires.
"Last one to the pier has to pooper scooper Rover!" June called out to her friends, taking the lead.
"Oh, you're in for it now, Del Toro!" May grinned as she sped up, going right past her friend to her surprise. Everyone laughed in glee as they raced down the streets.
"Video game racing come to life. Streets empty of zombies. Five best friends," Jack stated while looking to the side, hands behind his back as he was in the lead now. "Life doesn't get any better than this!" He said while almost slipping off the saddle.
"Ha ha!" Dirk pulled a lever from his cart. "Don't get too comfortable!" He pressed a button and fired a football from the cart. Jack looked up in disbelief as Rover got distracted from it.
"Nice job, friend!" Quint called out to him.
"Ha ha, thanks bro!"
"But I am taking the lead!" He added in as he pressed his own button, which released a red boxer glove.
"What?" Dirk questioned in confusion before it actually punched the cart and knocked it off the street. Quint laughed as he and the others went past Dirk. "Oh, ho, ho!" He quickly started his cart back up and raced after them. "It is on, runt!"
"You guys aren't the only ones with tricks," June smirked as she pressed her own button, flinging slime in front of Quint and knocking him off balance.
"Heh. You think that's a trick?" May pressed her button as two barrels appeared in front of her cart. She then was able to push past everyone and knocked them to the sides thanks to the barrels. "See ya in second place!" She laughed as June grinned playfully at her. Then Rover got past the girl as they bumped into each other like bumper cars. Quint pressed a second button to make his cart go turbo, going over a make-shift ramp made out of stone. Jack ducked his head as his best friend soared over him and Rover, in the lead. They all laughed as they went past some storage units...and one had a particular shadow in front of it. The wretch that Rezzoch possessed was watching them with a growl.
Everyone soared over a gap, landing on the streets while having fun. "Can I take a moment to say the BoomKarts are the best use for electricity ever," Quint commented before June bumped into him with a laugh. "And we have our certified mechanic that helped make sure they run smoothly."
"I try my best," May smiled while saluting.
"All right. Come on, boy!" Jack encouraged as they ended up behind June and then leaped over her.
"Oh, I don't think so!" She smirked, laughing as they all reached the pier, about to reach the finish line.
"Go, Rover, go!"
They turned left to the arcade, all of them vying for first as they narrowed their eyes. They all ended up being first as they crashed into various areas of the arcade, except for Dirk seemingly. But then all the basketballs from the game fell over him. Jack popped out of the pile of stuffed animals with a cheer. "I won!"
"You wish," June scoffed from her spot as she took off her helmet.
"I totally won," Dirk stated as they got out of their carts.
"You didn't come close!" Quint bragged to them.
"Please, we all know that I was the winner," May gestured to herself.
"Dudes, we all won, because arcade to ourselves. All the games we can play!" He smiled as he went over to the power switch. "Now, here comes the power!" He flipped it, but nothing happened. Rover chewed on one of the stuffed animals, staring at Jack.
"I always thought power would be more...powerful," Dirk pointed out as Jack flipped the switch repeatedly.
"Maybe it's blown a fuse in the time that we've been doing the apocalypse thing," May shrugged to June, who looked exasperated.
"No, Jack, the idea is we bring a game back to town where we have the generator."
"Oh yeah," May blinked; in the time that they were racing, she kinda forgot that there was no power, and apparently Jack did too.
"Oh, right. Uh, yeah, that makes more sense."
"But not all these games need power to be fun," June smiled as she looked around. "Skee Ball!" They all cheered as they ran around to find games to play. Meanwhile, the Rezzoch wretch was right outside. It flew over and as the shadow passed, Rover sensed it. He turned around and saw nothing, deciding to ignore it.
June tossed the skee balls until she got one. "Yes!" She cheered while pumping a fist.
Quint played whack-a-mole, practically breaking some of the miles with a smile. Then they popped back up. "You know, you rarely have to smack moles in real life." He glanced to May, who was tossing basketballs around and getting every single one in. He smiled as she looked happy; if he could, he'd get a bunch of tickets to get her a prize.
Dirk cracked his knuckles as an arm wrestling machine. He then started to pull to the left, before breaking the arm right off. He chuckled as Quint and May just stared at him. "I'm totally monster material. Dirk monster!"
Jack sighed while hugging some games, even though he couldn't play them. "Guys, I don't fall in love easily, but this is a-stinkin'-mazing!"
"Someone's in their feelings right now," June teased with a smile, hands on her hips. Jack then noticed something and gasped.
"Starship Marauders!" He gushed at the game up ahead, his eyes shining. "Star-ship Ma-rau-ders!" He landed in front of the game, trying to pull it out of the sockets. "We need to get this home!" He struggled to say as they just watched. "My happiness—nay, my life depends on it!" He got behind the game, attempting to push it out.
"Let me guess, if we don't, it's something he's gonna bring up time and time again?" May whispered to Quint, who nodded in agreement.
"Precisely. I admire that you feel confident using the word nay in a sentence," Quint smiled proudly at his friend.
"I admire his confidence in pushing in that 300 pound machine," June pointed out as they continued to just watch, as Jack didn't realize there was no way he'd be able to get that out himself. May chuckled while crossing her arms.
"It's honestly a little fascinating to watch how much time will pass until he gets tired of trying to get that out," She commented to the three.
"Should we help him out?" Dirk wondered to them.
"Nay!" They all answered and laughed together.
Quint walked up to his cart and pressed a button to get a small dolly to appear. Jack laughed happily as he watched Dirk carry it, dancing. "See? This is totally awesome! Life really, really, doesn't get any better than this." He continued bopping as May rolled her eyes.
"You know, whenever people say that, something then happens to contradict it," She pointed out and he slipped onto a hot dog, falling to the hot dog cart. The cart then rolls over and falls, sinking into the water below. Then there was a loud roar, getting their attention.
"Dirk, please tell me that was your stomach," Jack said pleadingly as they stared out to the water.
"Not me. Hurley's having quiet time," Dirk patted his stomach. A growl was heard as something shook from the water. A large sea monster appeared, with the hot dog cart right on top of its head.
"That's one nasty-looking level boss! Lopoplos Vitrianthon. Lives in the ocean, doesn't like visitors. Way too big for us to be messing with." The monster roared and shook the cart off him, growling at the group. They all screamed and ran for the carts. "Protect the game at all costs!"
The monster then smashed into the arcade, destroying the place. "Also ourselves!" June shouted at him as their lives were more important than an arcade game. The monster chomped through the rest of the building, holding what remained of it into its mouth. They all started up their carts and made a break for it, except for Dirk who couldn't get his started.
"Oh, this is the worst timing in the history of time!" He cried out as everyone stopped to look back at him. May and Quint backed up towards him, stopping on both sides. "May! You said these were good to go!" He slammed on the wheel in frustration.
"They were! You probably stalled it!" She retorted back as Quint tossed her a screwdriver. She grunted in frustration as she leaned over to quickly fix it. The monster started swimming towards them, destroying the pier in the process.
"Come on, come on!" Dirk urged her as she spun around the screwdriver. Nothing happened and then she slammed at the top hard, causing it to start. All three took off just before they could sink to the bottom of the water. They turned right and the monster roared as it looked at them. "Snooze you lose, sewage breath!" The monster roared again and then started to chase after the group. "I didn't mean that! I'm sorry if I was offensive!" Then the monster grabbed the back of Quint's cart, causing him to be locked in place.
"Quint!" May shouted as they looked back, coming to a stop. Jack pulled out his slicer.
"Not today, fish face!" He and Rover ran up, the others driving back up. They started firing their weapons at it, and it roared once more. Jack came up to hit it with his slicer, and it reacted by slamming down on the pier. Jack and Rover ran off, Dirk firing footballs. June then sliced at its legs with her spear. May finished it off by making the barrels appear and smashing through between its legs. It finally released Quint and they drove off. The monster swung its tail to make all of them go flying into a pole. And with that, it swam back into the water.
"Maybe don't taunt the scary monster next time, Dirk," June suggested with a smug smile.
"I apologized, didn't I?" He defended back to her. "If he can't accept it, that's on him."
"But still something you should probably keep in mind next time we face more giant monsters in town," May grinned a little before looking to the side and gasping.
"Oh, no! Serious damage!" Quint exclaimed and Jack ran up to the game.
"To the game?!" He hyperventilated as he looked it over and then hugged it.
"No, my tire," Dirk retorted as June's spear was stuck in it.
"Sorry," She removed it and then he pulled out the cart. The tire flattened, to Quint and May's dismay.
"Man..." The girl sighed at this, a hand on her forehead. "I don't have spares on me, they're back at the treehouse. And even then, I don't have my tools," She said to everyone, a little disappointed that on the first test run, she had to go back and repair one.
"We'll need to lose the game and use the trailer to tow your BoomKart," Quint explained to Dirk.
"Guys, she'll hear you!" Jack tried soothing the game as if it had feelings... "Shh, it's okay, it's okay. Don't listen to the bad people."
"...Maybe we should leave the game behind," May suggested quietly as Jack was starting to freak her out a little bit.
"Wait! I know how we can get both home!" June smiled as she pointed to a tool box just sitting across from them.
"Good idea, June. Tools!" Quint cheered while he and May ran over to open it.
"Sweet. We should have it fixed in no time!" She smiled as they took a look.
"Fix the BoomKart, head back to the tree house, and then it's Space Marauding time," Jack smiled while punching the air. "Just call me Captain Top Score."
"Oh, you underestimate your competition. Astro-not!" Quint smirked smugly up at him.
"Ooh, hoo, hoo! Was that smack talk?" Jack pointed at him.
"Ha! You have been served!"
"Nerds!" June and Dirk said in unison, though it didn't seem to bother May. Quint whined a bit before the girl patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, Quint. You're great the way you are," She assured him and walked off towards the cart, blushing to herself. Quint just smiled and followed to help fix the BoomKart.
Minutes later, they had it repaired. "All done."
"Finally!" Dirk exclaimed a few feet away.
"Just don't wreck it on the way back," May warned him while standing up, some oil on her cheek. She used a napkin Quint gave her to wipe herself off.
"Is anyone out there?" A voice was heard from inside.
"What?" June turned around in alarm, as everyone else had heard it as well.
"Is anyone out there?"
"That's...someone else," She said slowly as they stared at the building. "There's someone else!" She smiled at everyone while pointing forward.
"Yeah."
"Huh?"
"Wow!"
"Someone else?"
"I'm not going crazy, right?" June asked her friends for clarification that they all heard the voice. "That was a human voice."
"Hey! Bros in the firehouse!" Dirk called out to them. "Are you still there?" Inside it was dark, but that was because of the lighting.
"Guys, there's other people in there!" June said excitedly as May hummed in thought. The firehouse would be a good place to hide out, since no one really had a reason to go in. And it seemed zombie proof.
"It sounds like it, but let us proceed with caution," Quint stated to everyone. They alll pulled up the door, Jack falling to the ground as he pushed too much.
"Ow!"
"Shh!" Everyone shushed him in unison.
"We don't wanna startle anyone hiding out in here," May whispered to Jack while helping him up. Much like every other building, the firehouse was abandoned with one light flickering from the ceiling. A noise was heard and then static.
"Hello?"
June gasped and pointed to where it came from. "Over there!"
"Trigger-happy much? I just said we can't startle anyone!" May whispered in disbelief to her. She walked forward and May sighed in exasperation. "Once something's on her mind, there's no stopping it," She murmured to herself as she followed them.
They stopped near an open door as a shadow was moving around...but it turned out to be a firefighter zombie hiding out. They heard another growl, turning ot the open door to see two of them, some falling down from the ceiling.
"Zombies?! That's the opposite of people!" Dirk exclaimed at this.
"No, I heard talking," June insisted, looking around. "Real people talking. Not just these..." She faltered as one zombie dropped down from the firepole. "Surprisingly beefy zombies," She couldn't help but notice, and they all stared at her weirdly. "What? It's an observation." She held up a calendar with the month May on it, showing the people that the zombies used to be in front of flames. "They are super beefy. May, back me up on this."
"If I ever use the word beefy to describe a zombie, then the chances are that I'm secretly one myself," May retorted to her before one of them popped out of hiding behind a fire truck. Then another one growled and bit at the calendar, causing her to scream.
"June!" He lunged forward and pushed the zombie away. Dirk ran up and dragged one away, tossing him into a room.
"Let's cage 'em in!" He told his friends as one of them approached June. She gasped and then grabbed a ladder, using it to crawl over one and then trip two. She dragged one down by using the ladder around its neck. Quint backed away from one and then saw a fire extinguisher.
"You need to chill out, buddy!" He used it on the zombie, distracting it long enough for May to backflip over to them. She then swung her leg to knock it off its feet. Once all of them were in the cage, Jack closed the door.
"That was like a five alarm beatdown. Nice!" Jack smiled at his friends.
"Come on! We gotta find whoever was talking," Quint grinned as he took the lead. They came across a door and Jack opened it, taking a look around. He then opened it while waving a flashlight, revealing they took a staircase.
"Sneaky time." The others stepped in and were looking at the second floor of the firehouse, but it was dark and no one seemed to be around. "Hello? Anybody here?" He called out while the others looked slightly hopeful. However, there didn't seem to be anyone coming out of hiding. Quint looked underneath a table, gasping at something.
"Hello?" June asked while looking around the room. She pulled open a door, but the room was also empty. "Hello? Uh, anyone?" She sighed as she closed the door, spinning her spear to her back. "We searched everywhere, but no one's here. What gives?"
"Could it be a trap?" May wondered while crossing her arms.
"Maybe..."
"Hello?" The voice they heard before came right behind June. She yelped, turning around to see a radio tuning in. "Is anyone out there?"
"Holy-"
"Ravioli!" Quint finished for her and they leaned in closer, giving the radio full attention.
"This is...please respond if you can. Is anyone out there?" June gave a shocked look as Jack picked up the radio, holding it to his ear.
"Super trooper, that's a big 10-4, code blue, breaker, double breaker, bravo."
"Do you even know what you're saying?" May raised a brow before Dirk snatched the radio.
"Hey!"
"Copy transmission. Please repeat. Over. Dork," He gave Jack a small glare, the boy crossing his arms.
"Hello? Is anyone out there?" The woman asked, unable to hear them.
"Oh, why isn't it working?" June wondered in frustration.
"Ahh," Quint took the radio from Dirk. "This is a radio scanner. One-way transmit only. They can't hear us! We can only hear them!"
"Them..." June processed that word. "Them," She chuckled as she turned around. "Them!" She then squealed happily, turning around to her friends. "Humans! We heard other humans! Woo-hoo!" She jumped up, spinning May into a hug. "Other humans!"
"Okay, okay," She chuckled while trying to calm down the girl.
"And with any luck, they'll make contact again," Quint smiled hopefully.
"I-I guess we're not the last ones on Earth after all!" Dirk added in awe.
"Parents! Family! There's hope now. Life can get back to normal." Jack's eyes saddened at her for some reason. "You, my friend, are coming with us," She took the radio scanner and kissed it.
"Seriously?" Jack asked her in disbelief.
"Oh! This from a guy who practically proposed to a video game?" She retorted back to him.
"Radios, video games, let's focus! What's the priority here?" Dirk questioned and May facepalmed.
"The game/The radio," Jack and June said in unison.
"The game first," Jack interjected, earning weird looks that he was making a decision like that without their input. "And also the radio."
"Quint, May, can you gadget up this thing?" She walked up to the duo. "I wanna make contact fast."
"Well, I haven't actually seen this exact model before," Quint rubbed his chin. "I'll have to open it up."
"And my grandma used to have a similar radio, but it looks like an older model. That probably-" A crash was heard, stopping all of them short and interrupting May.
"Hurley?" June looked at Dirk nervously, who patted his stomach.
"Nu-uh. Still hibernating. Something just landed on the roof."
They looked up at the ceiling, as the tension turned up to eleven. "Something enormous," Quint added in.
"Someone should go up there," June suggested to the four, and everyone touched their noses except Jack.
"Not it!"
"Not...afraid of going," Jack finished bravely, holding up a finger. "I was gonna volunteer, anyway. Cause I'm brave and cool like a radio," He stepped forward and May blinked, baffled at the comparison.
"What?" She asked quietly in utter confusion. He climbed up the ladder, grumbling to himself. "Come play BoomKarts, we'll go to the pier, have a few laughs..." He glanced down at his friends, Quint giving him two thumbs up. He opened up the roof...and came face-to-face with the wretch Rezzoch possessed. He gasped sharply at its appearance as it growled. The yellow spots on top of its head glowed to turn into eyes, and the creature growled at him. He screamed in terror, falling down the ladder.
"Jack!" Quint cried out and Dirk caught him.
"Brave like a radio, huh?" He asked with a smug smirk.
"Yup," Jack answered, getting out of Dirk's arms. "So, no big deal, but death is on the roof."
"Death as in...?" May waved a hand for him to elaborate. A thud was heard and they yelped as debris fell from above.
"It was a wretch, but-but huge! Like a royalty wretch—a king wretch!" He stammered to tell them.
"Uh-"
"Bone wings, ginormous jaws, razor-sharp talons, and freaky-deaky swirly eye balls," Jack continued to the four.
"Um-"
"Like if two winged wretches had a baby, and that baby ate both parents and leveled up times 9000!" Jack interrupted Quint.
"Er-"
"Oh, one of those," June remarked in dismay, interrupting May.
"Is anyone out there?" The radio went off again. The wretch attacked the ceiling, slamming against it multiple times. It then ate the satellite...which was attached to the radio. "Repeating." It dragged June along with it and Dirk grabbed her legs. "This is a survivor." The wretch continued pulling and the others joined in to help. "This is a survivor." The satellite broke off and they all fell into a heap in front of June.
"No!" She cried out as the wretch ate the satellite. The creature broke through the ceiling, roaring at them.
"Wh-what do we do?" Dirk asked them nervously. "As soon as he's clawed through that roof, he's gonna start clawing through us!"
Jack ran off, grabbing the pole. "I have a plan!"
"I hope not," Quint looked annoyed.
"Your plans are bad," June added in quickly.
"You are plan challenged."
"Not to mention they end up getting out of hand because you always hide stuff," May pointed at him.
"Okay, ouch," He retorted to her. They felt a boom, turning around anxiously before the wretch broke through the window. The four screamed, running away from it.
"Trust me!" Jack grabbed the pole, sliding down with a scream. "I'm okay, landed on Rover." Rover purred up at him. "Okay, boy, time to save the day!" The two went outside, the wretch looking down at the duo. "Hey, nothing interesting in there. I'm Mr. Interesting. Come get me!"
The wretch screeched at him while the others watched from the broken window. "He's gonna get himself killed, isn't he?" Dirk asked the three.
"The odds are good—or not good, rather," Quint winced a bit.
Jack laughed crazily, looking down at Rover. "My plan to go really, really fast is working, boy!" He glanced behind him to see the wretch no longer on the roof, but flying after him. "Okay. Maybe I didn't fully think this one through!" He cried out nervously as the wretch closed in on him. Rover ran as fast as he could, the wretch swooping down and grabbing him. Jack fell right off the saddle, looking up in worry. "Rover!"
The wretch screeched down at him and then threw him down. "NO!" Jack shouted as Rover landed had, now having some scratches on him. "Boy, are you okay?" He patted the top of Rover's head. "Here, buddy. Don't worry, we'll get you fixed up." He looked at the wretch angrily as it flew around. "Think you're gonna hurt my friend and get away with it?" He called out while pulling out his slicer. "Come at me, bro-berry!"
The wretch landed in front of him and roared, glaring at him. "I dare you," He challenged the creature to come closer. The wretch just stared as he charged forward, and the green eyes appeared once again. He froze as he was hypnotized by them.
Thrull as the tree monster exploded to bits. And as they celebrated their victory as Joe's Pizza, Rezzoch possessed the wretch.
"Wazzup?" Quint asked as they stood in front of the treehouse to take a picture. The wretch asserted dominance over the others.
The king wretch continued affecting Jack, stepping forward. "Ugh, feeling woozy," He groaned, trying to get his eyesight back. "Get it together, Jack!" The wretch was about to EAT him before a siren was heard. It screeched as it turned around to see a fire truck crashing out of the fire station. Dirk, Quint, and May were all wearing hats as they narrowed their eyes.
"Leave him alone, you winged doofus!" June shouted and fired water at the wretch. Dirk then drove straight into it, knocking it down to the road. He came to a stop, smirking.
"Anyone order a plate of 'you got served'?" He then rang the horn, May rolling her eyes in amusement.
"He did! He super did!" Quint called out as the others cheered. The wretch stood up with a screech, using its tail to knock the truck back. All of them screamed in alarm as the truck landed on its side.
"Anybody got a plan B?" June called out as the other three got out of the truck. Jack groaned while standing up, rubbing at his face. He was still too distracted to do anything about the wretch. Quint stood up immediately, holding a remote.
"Secondary evasive actions!" He summoned the BoomKarts, which drove right past him. The wretch turned around, seeing the vehicles circle around him. Dirk's cart fired a football at it, distracting the creature momentarily. It screeched and flew into the air. "How do you like me now, non-friend?"
"Seriously?" June asked him in disbelief. "We couldn't have led with that?"
The Karts all came to a stop, and the wretch set its sights on Jack, growling. Rover ran up while the four get into their BoomKarts. Dirk pointed up at the creature. "You mess with Jack, you mess with all of us!" And with that, the wretch finally flew away. Rover nuzzled Jack, who hugged him with a smile.
"Jack!" Quint shouted as they ran up to the duo.
"You guys okay?" He asked the four.
"Yeah, are you?" Dirk wondered while patting Rover. May got out some disinfectant to tend to Rover, who howled in pain. "Why were you just staring at that thing?"
"Was I? Uh, yeah, I was just trying to psych him out, ha ha," He laughed a bit nervously and June gasped sharply.
"NO!"
"I'm not saying it worked," Jack tried to assure her, but she was looking at something else. And that something happened to be the radio scanner, as it was now damaged.
"No, no, the radio is broken."
"Arcade game's still okay, though," Jack smirked, earning looks from them. "In case anyone was wondering."
"The answer, no one was besides you," May retorted to him. "Look, that game isn't the problem! That radio proved that we aren't the only humans, and all you think about is that thing." Quint gestured to how worried June was.
"Sorry," He rubbed the back of his neck. I know the radio's important...to you," However, he seemed a bit bitter about it still. Quint bent down to it, May joining his side.
"Do not stress. With my lab tools, May and I should be able to repair it. You said you've seen this model before, right?" Quint looked up at May.
"Yeah, my grandma used to be a trucker, so she had like a mini version of it, but it had a transmitter," She gestured to the radio. "Otherwise it'd be pretty useless to keep around if you had a one-way radio."
"That's it! That's what it's missing, we could possibly add a transmitting feature at the same time!"
June stood up with grateful looks to them. "You guys are life savers!" She hugged them both.
"No worries, we're happy to do it. It'll be a fun project for us."
"Heh, yeah," May looked away with a smile and blush.
"The important thing is, we had serious BoomKart fun, escaped monsters and fireman zombies, and lived to play another day!" Jack exclaimed happily, waving his friends forward. "Come on, bring it in!"
"No time," June stated while looking at the radio the entire time. "We have to get this home ASAP."
"Uh-huh."
"Yep!"
"Besides, the faster we get home, the less time I get to hear about that game," May jerked a thumb to the arcade game.
"You're not helping," He grumbled at the brunette.
"Who said I was trying to help?" She shrugged casually and he sagged his shoulders. If it wasn't for the radio, things would've been back to normal already...
"Fine. Guess I'll hug myself, then," And he did so, glancing at his friends and sighing.
A bunch of giggles were heard from the baby rocks near the generator. The monsters were all eating and talking, enjoying themselves while someone snatched food from Chef. Meanwhile, the others had just arrived back.
"Should we tell the monsters about that...thing?" June asked skeptically, referring to the king wretch.
"Tell them what? Another monster was after us. How is that different from any other Tuesday?" Jack responded casually, May patting Rover and he nuzzled her cheek. "Besides, you know what time it is. It's arcade game ti-"
"Fix the radio time," June interrupted with a smile. "Thanks, Jack. We should really get on that."
"Oh, not what I meant at all," He lamented at this.
"Well, how about a little music while we work?" Quint offered, pressing a tune from the jukebox. He turned up the music and all the monsters started to dance...well, except for Bardle. He grunted in annoyance from the loud music, floating over to Quint and May dancing together.
"Your noises are disruptive to my meditation," Bardle held out a hand, turning it down to the point where barely anyone could hear it. All the monsters groaned at him.
"Hey!" Quint protested and turned it back up. "Ha!" The monsters cheered again. "Achieving this level of amplitude is actually quite the technological marvel."
"It is not good for the spirit," Bardle shut off the music completely.
"I could just-"
"Oh yeah?" Quint interrupted May. "I can magically change it without touching it too!" He held up a remote for the jukebox, turning it up again with an adorable grin that made May swoon a bit. Bardle glared and made his ears disappear, walking off to their disbelief. "Why didn't you just do that to begin with?"
"Note to self: get Bardle some grade-A earmuffs," May shook her head at him.
Dirk went up to Chef to try and get on his good side. "Tasty burgers, bro!"
"What else would they be, you pink baboon?" Chef retorted back. "Tasty is the minimum requirement." He then threw his spatula into a grimy bucket, with a lizard crawling out of it.
"True, true," Dirk chuckled and held up his hand. "Monster five, then?"
Chef picked up the bucket, slithering off with a scoff. "Your hand smells like Bardle butt."
"How would...you know what-" Skaelka walked up and licked his hand, to his disgust. "Ugh, gross!" He wiped it off onto his shirt.
"You initiated traditional greeting," She told him as apparently that was customary back from their dimension. "You owe me a lick," She held up her hand and he groaned. He then slowly licked a finger, already disgusted. "Not like that!" The monster then heard the music. "Monsters, it's time of the synchronous hurling of the body parts!"
They all cheered, dancing past Dirk and pushing past him. He fell to the ground, looking up at the group as he was left out yet again. "Uh, that's cool, guys. I'll learn the monster dance later." They all cheered as they weren't even paying attention to him anymore. "I'll-I'll just...human o-over here." They all gathered around to watch a monster dance and he frowned. He tried pulling off the same moves himself, and just fell to the ground. "Guess you need three legs for that one..."
June looked over Quint's shoulder as May was helping him tune up the radio. Jack approached June with a grin. "Now that we're back and still alive, shall we dance?"
"Sorry, I'm kind of focused on the radio right now," She glanced over her shoulder.
"I promise I'll dial the awesome back. Make it easy for ya," He wiggled his arms around like they were weightless and she laughed. He then wiggled his legs to make himself look like a fool more to entice her. "Come on, don't let me be silly by myself. We can be silly together!" He held out his hand and she smiled. She then slowly took it and the two smiled at each other. He laughed nervously, hoping not to make too much of a fool of himself since it was his crush. She giggled as he pulled her forward.
"Shall we?" Quint offered as he held her hand. She smiled and nodded at him. They started to shimmy while still working on the radio. Because if they stopped, June would never let them live it down. Jack dragged the girl to the middle of the dance floor, moving his hips and arms. She raised a playful brow as she watched him move. She let out another laugh as he waved her forward. The girl smiled and started to dance, but only a few seconds as Quint and May approached her.
"June, we were examining the radio. It's not as broken as it looks," Quint revealed to her.
"Yeah, it's still a little damaged, but it could be way worse," May added in with a small smile.
"Great!" She smiled happily at the news. "What do we have to do?"
"Look at me!" Jack called out while still dancing. "Doing the paddle boat." Dirk walked over as they were no longer focused on him once again. And his dancing didn't seem to be getting their attention anymore either.
"Once we fix the circuit board, we can experiment with adjustments," Quint explained while looking down at the radio in his hands.
"I call this move 'alphabetizing the spice rack'," Jack stated while doing exactly that. June's back was turned to him.
"I can't wait to see who we make contact with. I know my parents are out there. Yours too!" June said hopefully to the three.
"I hope so. I am definitely eager to discover who sent the original broadcast," Quint turned the radio over. "Maybe it's another scientist."
"Or maybe someone that one of our parents knew or worked with," May smiled as she had hope for her mother. Her father...not as much as that experience before everything went down would never change to her who he was.
"Backflip! I'll do it. Just watch," Jack perked up, but they walked past as soon as he pulled it off, leaving him behind. "Oh my g—I actually did it!" He said in surprise while another monster clapped nearby. "Did you guys see?" He gave a look of dismay as they were focused on the radio. Quint cheered in excitement as they couldn't wait to see who was on the other line.
"I know my parents are out there..." June's statement echoed in his head. "Yours too."
Suddenly June's back was turned to him in a field. She turned around and gasped sharply...as her parents were standing right behind her. They smiled lovingly at their daughter and she laughed as she ran up to hug them.
Quint ran up to his parents and grandmother, who pinched his cheeks.
May rushed up to her mother, hugging her tightly with a relieved smile on her face. Quint tapped her shoulder and she turned around as he introduced his family to her. His grandma hugged the girl as did the parents and she looked flustered. Quint rubbed the back of his neck while introducing himself to Ms. Yoon.
Dirk had tears in his eyes, crying happily as he reunited with his kitten. He snuggled her happily while Jack just looked on sadly...since he had no family to look forward to seeing again.
"They're all leaving me..."
"Jack." He gasped at a new voice while the sky got cloudy. He turned to see two shadows, a man and woman, holding out their hands to him. "Come to us, Jack." He gasped and laughed happily, running towards them...but when he went to hug them, they disappeared into thin air. He panted heavily as he realized he would be all alone. He fell to the ground while crying, now surrounded by just grass and the wind.
"Who am I kidding?" Jack lamented to himself as it was now nighttime. "No one's waiting for me," He walked off sadly, watching all of the dancing monsters. They continued to party while Jack slipped past all his friends to reach the treehouse. Rover whimpered at him as he looked at Space Marauders right across from him. He sadly joined as Space Marauders was up to a four-player game. "You in, buddy?"
Rover went straight to sleep and he scoffed. "Faker. Number of players...one," He tapped a button and was unhappy playing. "Yay, Starship Marauders..." He said in an unenthusiastic tone, dancing by himself. Rover just whimpered at him, lights going off from Joe's Pizza...and those lights were enough to attract zombies. They all started heading to the restaurant from all sorts of areas, with no one aware of it...
May shivered a bit and they all looked up at her. "You okay, May? You look a little uneasy," Dirk asked her and she turned to him.
"I'm fine, I just...I dunno, something just feels a bit off to me. I can't place my finger on it..." She looked away in thought, the others glancing at each other.
"Why is it that you're always on top of stuff like that?" June raised a brow and she just shrugged cluelessly.
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Quint placed a hand on her shoulder and she smiled gratefully to him. As they turned back to the radio, she bit her lip as the feeling was still there. For what, she was honestly nervous to find out sooner or later...