Second to the last chapter before Part 2 ends. This was probably the longest, bu funnest chapter to write, because it included the wacky Robinsons. I hope I gave the family justice in their personalities. Oh and by the way, I apologize for the lack of description of what Al looks like. I do have an idea in my head, but you're free to think what you want. I will say she is wearing a striped dress. Anywyas, enjoy!

Chapter 10

Meeting the Robinsons

-

Al was so nervous about her assignment. She had no idea what to say, or how would she'd react to meeting the founding father of their city. As she traveled in the bubble, she worked desperately on her questions, making sure not to drop her camera in the process.

-

"Wow."

Al stood before the Robinson house in awe. It was beautiful. It hade a hedge maze entrance, and inside the small front yard were dinosaur like hedges and strange purple things on the ground. With great determination, Al headed up the stairs and was about to ring the doorbell when a head popped out of a potted plant.

"Hey! Ring my doorbell," said the head.

Al backed away and bumped into the other pot, which had a head pop out of it as well.

"No, no, no, no, no! Ring my doorbell! Come on! Look at it! Ring it! Do it! Do it! Do it!"

Al backed away and without realizing, she pressed the doorbell. Horn popped out of nowhere, blaring, causing Al to fall over. The second head grinned, while the other one sulked.

"Yes! Take that Spike," said the head.

"At least when someone rings my doorbell, it isn't an accident Dimitri," responded Spike.

"Your just jealous," stated Dimitri.

"Oh…lay off the plant grow, I think your head grew too much."

As the two argued, the door opened to reveal a giant octopus with one eye. Al screamed as the octopus looked down at her and brought her inside using its' tentacles. Once inside, Al was dropped by the octopus and was then being helped up by an old man. She brushed herself off, but couldn't help but notice that the man was wearing his clothes backwards.

"You okay there little lady?" he asked kindly.

"Uh…yeah, I suppose," she said shakingly. "What was that thing? And who are those two outside?"

"Oh!" said the man with laugh. "The two outside are Spike and Dimitri: A bunch of potheads. And this," he said motioning to the octopus, "Is our butler Lefty."

Lefty offered his tentacle to Al, who took it in a handshake. "Pleasure."

"Name's Bud by the way," said the old man. "What's you name Miss Stripes?"

Al looked at him questioningly. "Huh?"

"Stripes silly! Your dress has stripes! Hey, does my outfit look okay?" he asked turning around. Al noticed a drawn smiley face on the back of his head.

"Uh…you look fine," she said with a nervous grin. "My name is Allison Weatherly, and I'm here to interview Cornelius Robinson. Do you happen to know where he is?"

"Oh sure!" said Bud with a wave of his hand. "Come follow me! I'm pretty sure I know my way around here."

Al followed. She noticed Bud crossed over a bunch of train tracks. Al wondered about it, and then shook her head. She crossed them without noticing a big train coming.

"Watch out!" yelled a woman's voice.

Al turned to see the train, but before she could react, someone pushed her out of the way just in the nick of time. Al looked up at her savior to be a big muscular man, wearing what looked like a super-hero uniform.

"You okay there young citizen?" he asked as he helped her up. A woman ran over to where they were.

"Better watch yourself lass!" said the woman, "I was practicing for my race with Gaston!"

"Which won't do you any good!" said a man in a strange jumpsuit.

"Al," said Bud, "This here is Uncle Art, Uncle Gaston and Aunt Billie. Gang, this here is Al and she's here to interview Cornelius"

"Hello!"

"Nice 'ta meet ya stripes!"

"Hey!"

"Nice to meet you all," said Al with a wave. "Um…Bud, do you think we could…"

"Oh! Right!" said Bud, who obviously already forgot. "Come on! Let's try upstairs!"

-

A young boy with a lightning bolt on his shirt and swirly hair came out of his room in shock when he noticed Bud showing a strange woman in a striped dress around. He looked at her from head to toe, and rushed downstairs. He headed towards a music room, which held a woman with a similar hairstyle to the boy. She was conducting a band of frogs, who were all dressed in snazzy blue suits.

"Mom!" he yelled. The woman took notice and stopped conducting.

"Okay guys, keep practicing," said the woman. "I want that song perfect for when my husband wins the 'Scientist of the Year' award!"

"Ya got it Franny," said the lead frog with a wink.

Franny then turned to face the boy. "What is it Wilbur?"

"Mom," began Wilbur, "who's the hot chick that Grandpa is showing around?"

"What? Wilbur what are you talking about?" asked Franny incredulously.

"Grandpa Bud is showing this really cute chick our house," said Wilbur as smoothed his hair. "Do you know who she is?"

"Hmm…that must the reporter here to interview your dad," said Franny thoughtfully.

"Really?" asked Wilbur surprisingly. "Gee, I never thought a reporter could look so hot…"

"Wilbur!" yelled Franny in surprise. "You will respect this woman and not do anything to jeopardize your father's interview!"

'Okay! Okay! I will mom," and with that, Franny went back into her music room. When she did, Wilbur whispered under his breath:

"I still say she's pretty hot…"

-

"What are we doing up here?"

Al and Bud were on the roof of the house. Al looked down ad held on to Bud for dear life.

"You know what? I have no clue," responded Bud. "Well, we better get down from here!"

And with that, Bud jumped off the roof, taking Al with him. She screamed as Bud screamed in happiness. They landed on one of the purple things on the ground and bounced back up into the air. Al was somewhat relieved, until she saw a huge T-rex catch them in his mouth. The T-rex spat them out and they landed on the ground. The dinosaur looked menacingly until it took out a tree from it's roots and placed it in front of Bud and Al; his tail wagging.

"Wha—"

"This is our pet dino, Tiny,' said Bud as he tickled the dino's feet, making him rock back and forth. "Hey Tiny, say hi to Al!"

Tiny stomped over to where Al was and licked her, making Al completely soaking wet. She laughed.

"He certainly is friendly…"

-

"Lazlo!"

"Ha ha!"

Two red heads were fighting as Al and Bud arrived back inside. The redheaded girl jumped for a hat while the redheaded boy was hovering above her. He held what look like an airbrush filled with blue paint and he held it up to the hat. A woman ran out of there, warning the two.

"Watch yourself dear," she said to Bud. "They're at it again."

"Al, my wife Lucille," said Bud as Al shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you ma'am."

"Likewise!" she said. "You need to come disco dance with me sometime. I could use a partner in crime!"

"Uh…maybe some other time…"

"Alright1 Your loss!" said Lucille as she ran off.

"Laz, give me back my hat!" yelled the red headed girl.

"Come and get it Tallulah!" said Lazlo as he held up a hat that resembled a skyscraper. Tallulah jumped and retrieved her hat, causing Lazlo to fall flat on the ground. As he did, blue paint squirted out of his airbrush, splattering it in Al and Bud's faces. Bud took off his glasses and wiped it off as if it were nothing. Lazlo came over to them.

"Hmm…blue is definitely your color!" he said to Al who wiped the paint off her face.

"Children!"

A man appeared, hiding half of himself behind a wall. Al ran over to him.

"Excuse me sir," she said, "my name's Al Weatherly, and I was wondering if you happen to know where Cornelius Robinson is?"

"Oh yes," he said nervously. "He's right in—"

'WHAT'S THIS!?"

Suddenly, the man came completely from behind the wall, revealing a puppet on his left hand. The puppet looked at Al, then at the man.

"Fritz!" she screeched. "I'm surprised at you! I go out for FIIIIVE MINUTES! And here you are! Talking to some floozy!"

"Hey!" yelled Al, who was seriously offended.

"Petunia! It's not like that! She was just asking for directions—"

"Shut up!" yelled Petunia. She gave Al a glare. "I'm going upstairs! Enjoy yourself here with your little girlfriend!"

"Petunia!" yelled Fritz as the puppet started to walk off.

"I'm so sorry…," began Al.

"Ah…don't worry. Happens all the time," said Bud.

"Ahem!"

Everyone in the room turned to see a tall man with a wacky hairdo. He smiled at Al.

"Are you the reporter?" he asked.

"Uh…yeah…"

"Cornelius!" exclaimed Bud. "Where were ya son? Me and old Al here were looking for ya!"

"Oh…working in the lab,' he said pointing to a room not to far from where they were. "Come on Al, you can interview me there."

"Thanks Mr. Robinson," said Al, relieved. She shook Bud's hand. "Thanks for showing me around."

"No problem Stripes!' he said as she and Cornelius walked away. Once out of earshot, Cornelius whispered to Al.

"I hope they didn't scare you too much."

"They just startled me is all," she said honestly, "but they all seem so nice; I really enjoyed meeting them."

"Great, so after the interview is over, would you like to join us for dinner?" asked Cornelius.

"Um...sure! That would be great!" exclaimed Al. They stopped in front of a door. Cornelius opened it wide for her.

"Shall we begin?" he asked. She nodded and went inside, with Cornelius close behind her…

-

After the interview, Al found her self in a big dinning room, filled with everyone she met earlier. She even saw a few more people she hasn't met yet such as Franny, Cornelius' wife, Uncle Joe, Billie's husband, Buster the family dog, Wilbur, Franny and Cornelius' son and even a robot named Carl who was serving them all dinner. She was sitting in between Wilbur and Tallulah. Right across from her was Bud, who waved at her in a kooky way.

"I love your dress," said Tallulah to Al. "It's so chic! Where'd you get it?"

"Uh…just at a thrift store…nothing special," she said as a mini Carl handed her a plate with pizza.

"Vintage!" squealed Tallulah with delight. "It's soooo in this year!"

"So, how was the interview?" asked Franny.

"Wonderful," responded Al.

"Agreed," said Cornelius. "So, what's it like working for a newspaper?"

"Great I suppose," said Al with a grin. Carl came over to them as he spread cheese on everyone's pizza.

"Pretty hot ain't she?" whispered Wilbur to his friend. Carl just rolled his eyes and extended his arms so that he could put cheese on Al's pizza.

"So…"said Wilbur casually. "You got a boyfriend?"

"Wilbur!" exclaimed Franny.

"Um…no…" she said with a little bit of hurt in her voice. 'No…not anymore…"Wilbur sunk in his seat, realizing he made her feel miserable.

Wanting to change the subject, Franny said, "So...anyone here about Mike Yagoobian?"

Wilbur spat out his water when hearing that name.

"Bowler Hat guy," he said menacingly under his breath. Al raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah!" responded Cornelius. "Apparently, he's inventing new inventions for Invent Co. He's even nominated for the 'Scientist of the Year', award. Old Goob really is making a name for himself. It's a good thing too."

"He's nominated for that award too?" asked Franny. "Good for him!"

"Wow…maybe I should interview him as well," whispered Al to herself.

"Ahem," said Franny clanging a spoon to her glass. "I propose a toast to Al Weatherly. May your success bring you good fortune in the future... And I hope you continue to…

"Keep Moving Forward!" yelled everyone in the room. Trumpets blared.

"To Al" said Franny.

"To Al!" everyone repeated, as they splashed the water in their glasses on their faces. Al did the same, laughing as she did.

"Hey! Could I get a picture?"

"A picture? Ooh…Laz, how's my hair," said Tallulah frantically as she tried to poof up her hair.

Al got up from her chair and went to the back of the room, holding up her camera. "Ready?"

All of them nodded, holding up their glasses.

"Say 'cheese!"

"Gorgonzola!" yelled Billie

"Brie!" yelled Tallulah

"Monterey jack!" yelled Fritz

"I hate cheese!" yelled Petunia

And with that, Al took the picture.

-

"Bye everyone!" waved Al from the hedge front. Everyone was outside waving.

"Bye" said everyone as they waved.

'Come back any time!" yelled Carl.

"I will!" she said and with that she walked off.

"Bye Ally!" yelled Wilbur. "If you need anything just call! Or, better yet, call me!"

"Wilbur!" whispered his mother and Carl slapped him.

"Ow!" he winced in pain. "What did I do?"

"You know," said Carl, "I wonder why I hang out with a hormonally crazed teenager. Guess I'll never know."

-

Thank you for reading!

-Kim