Robbery at Springtime Bank

As our group travelled through many hilltops on foot and past some fine skyscraping mountains, they soon found themselves in the lovely Tulip and Daffodil plant grown town that is Springtime Village. Even as they walked right through the town, they could see many homes decorated with tulip and daffodil coloured rooftops and brick chimneys that has graffiti of the flowers on them as well. They kept walking along the straight sidewalk of the suburbs that seemed to have many different kinds of fencing from left to right each time they looked. To add to this wondrous paradise, they locals were so friendly that they all said hello to our travelers as well in a sincere manner too and even offered them a piece of cheesecake and apple pie they were baking for their annual Springtime Bakeoff. Zoey then asked Brock, "Are the locals here supposed to be this friendly? I mean I can understand showing some common courtesy, but this is ridiculous." "I never did much show a lot of that kind of kindness and let alone this even before Kagome placed this necklace on me too.", Inuyasha said feeling the very necklace that bound him to Kagome in the first place of his own adventures. "We gotta keep in mind though that these people have different customs too you know. Apparently Ignaryu has all kinds of people with many different kinds of traditions." Victor then spotted an Italian food restaurant and then Sora asked, "Hey Victor, you mind iuf we take five and get something to eat? We've been travelling for four days straight and my feet are so sore my toes are getting numb." Victor sighed as he asked Brock, "So how far are we from Asperground City again?" "The map says about one mile to go, but we have to take an underground track from the old mill just in those mountains to the north." Brock said pointing north. Then Victor asked as the whole group sat down, "Hey where's Bart?" Then Zoey pointed behind her at a nearby payphone where Bart was prank calling a random bar again, but this time the bar keep sounded a lot friendlier as Bart said, "Hello, I'm looking for a Smellem I. Butt." Then the barkeep said it out loud and the whole bar was saying there is no Smellem I. Butt. Then the barkeep told Bart, "Nope, no Smellem I. Butt here." Then Bart sighed seeing that his pranks wouldn't work this time on these people and hung up. "Aw man, even a prank call isn't the same in this dump." Then Bart heard a quiet clearing of the throat coming from just behind him as Victor crossed his arms and Bart made an innocent smile with his eyebrows pointed up saying "Hey Victor, how's their pizza in this Italian restaurant? Heheheh…" "Bart what did I just say about prank calling?", Victor asked with a slight frown on his face. "It's never to be done?", Bart asked. "Yes. Besides, we need some of that money to get by. Plus unfortunately I just realized my accounts in Pillsbury and Hersey's don't work intergalactically. Stupid chocolate companies and their cookies and cream and dough man credit cards!!"

A half an hour later, after the group ordered some tortellini and some pepperoni pizza to dine on, Zoey then asked as she drank some of her ice cold fruit punch in a regular glass, "If were in outerspace, how's there an Italian restaurant way the heck up here then?" Sora then said, "Maybe more product placement for popularity I guess." Brock then said, "From what some of the people have been saying across town is that this Italian restaurant has been sent up here as a way of becoming Earthenized, if that is even a word." "Actually my good sirs and madam, all the restaurants you see in this tiny little town were all founded from the Springtime Bank. In honor of the town's founder, Sir Elliot Springtime, the shareholders of the bank bought rights to many restaurants, toy companies and various sorts of things as well to ship out here. The problem is that our town is so small and very few people do actually come out from anywhere in Ignaryu anymore.", said their waiter. He was dressed like that of Groundskeeper Willie from when Lisa made him a gentlemen, but he had a German accent and his mustache was brown. Then Victor asked, "Excuse me for being rude, but we don't even know who you are and…" "Why I am your waiter sir. I was waiting on you the whole time, but it is Springtime tradition that the waiter never shows his face that and it is illegal to make prank calls." Victor then looked at Bart as he stretched out his collar with sweaty guilt on his face as he said, "Huh…you don't say."

"Oh, but where are my manners. I am Archibald Renegade. And who might you travelling youngsters be?" Then of course the group got up as Brock started, "My name is Brock sir, I am the navigator of this trip we are taking." Bart then said, "My name's Bart, prankster extraordinaire and good with a slingshot, who the hell are you?... oh whoops, I guess you already said that." Zoey then said in kind, "My name's Zoey, only girl in this group and a good fighter too." Sora giving a kind smile and shaking Archibald's right hand as he offered said, "My name's Sora, a little rusty at this kind of fighting they have on Ignaryu, but a quick learner." Victor then said in a stern, but respectful manner, "And I'm Victor, the leader of this group you see before you. We're all heading into the GoldConoton Tournament." "Ah you don't say. That brings me back. Why the Springtime Bank was the very same place that started up the rest stop paths and then created the badges for the Tournament in the first place. It's also here where I started my journey. It took me seven long months, but I managed to beat the pants of the competition and I kept a good five year streak going on Ignaryu. That is until someone else got the better of me though…" Sora then said as the others got a saddened frown, "We're sorry to hear that Archibald." Archibald smiled and ruffled Sora's hair as he said, "Ah don't be lad. Thanks to that loss I realized that I was an amateur fighter. Sure I won my titles fair and square, but I wasn't even trying and thanks to that man I got even stronger. In fact that champion still holds the title to this day. He's had it for twenty straight years!!"

The group gasped as they said, "Twenty years!!" Then a siren whirled by as Archibald rushed to a ringing phone excusing himself and as he came back dropping the phone, he said, "Oh no!!" Then Victor asked, "What is it Archibald?" "The Springtime Bank is being robbed by a couple of newcomers to the town. Everyone's stocks and savings are in that bank. We need that money to keep our economy going here. Without that the whole town will go bankrupt!!" Brock then said, "Just leave it to us Archibald. We can handle this." Then they ran off past the fencing and the sign for the Italian restaurant as it was called 'A Taste of Italy'. Archibald said, 'But…' yet it was too late. As the group arrived at the bank rushing past various tall brick tulip coloured and daffodil enhanced buildings to a building in the shape of a dollar bill. There was broken glass people with their hands in the air, and a police car in the regular blue and white colours we usually see in real life. Inside, was a man holding a sack, but his face was covered as was his body in a black over shading from the window and the same went for the man holding the gun. Victor then said, "It's gotta be Snakes again. This reeks of his dirty work." Then Bart laughed as he said, "Hahaha…dirty!!" Sora laughed a little as he said, "Yeah I get it… Hehehe…" Then Brock and Zoey looked at them with firm eyes and slight frowns as the laughter died down and Victor said, "This is no laughing matter boys. There are people in trouble. Bart, I need you to go and block out the windows on all sides of the bank." Bart nodded and ran off saying, "Back in a jiffy." Victor then told Inuyasha, "You're coming with me and the same goes for Zoey. Brock I need you to surround the back door and Sora I need you to cover our backs in case they have more than one guy here." Then Sora and Brock ran off as Victor said, "Let's go save a bank." Then they barged in as Victor said, "Drop the sack…" Then surprised Victor saw it was a couple of men in black suits and sock hoods and they pointed their guns at him as Victor said, "I'm warning you guys, you won't get away with this you know." Then the guy holding the sack tried to make a break for it and Bart came in from the back door saying, "I can handle this!!" he shot the guy in crotch as Inuyasha used his Iron Reverse Soul Stealer attack on him and it turned out to be a cyborg robot. Then Victor unveiled the last man's mask and it was none other than Sideshow Bob. Even in his sinister stance he said holding his hands together like what Mr. Burns did and he said, "Hello Bart." Bart then screamed as he yelled, "AHHHHHH Sideshow Bob!!" Victor then asked, "I didn't know you were into robberies. I thought you were classified as a downright murderer." "Tomato-tomato (that old saying so don't get too confused if it looks the same.) either way I'm still breaking the law. I also hijacked that little robot to take me here to this world where the law from Earth does not impede on me here on Ignaryu."

Then Brock came in from the back and tried to take down Sideshow bob by using his Croagunk and Sudowoodo, but Sideshow Bob revealed phase two of his plans. "You all didn't think I'd come in here unprepared did you?" He used a flash of smoke and from it revealed a suit like that of Samus' but purple and blue. Bart then laughed as he said, "Nice job Bob, you look so girly, Hahahaha." Sideshow Bob then gritted his teeth and shuddered as he said, "Just for that you'll be the first to go. Introducing my new M80-Mark1. It's my personal self sufficient armour, harder than steel, agile as a motorcycle, and most of all it's as snug as a mother's blanket tucking a boy like you Bart into bed. It can also take any damage you throw at me and bounce it right back at you. So good luck laying a hand on me." Then Victor took out his Sword of Light and jumped right at Bob slashing right at him left, right, left, right, sideways to his right and then his left, then an uppercut, but Sideshow Bob back shuffled them like a pro in a boxing ring. Then Sideshow Bob punched Victor hard in the stomach five times causing him to spit out a drop of blood as the bankers gasped and then Sideshow Bob ran at the speed of light and tied up everybody else, except for Bart and Victor. "I hope you're getting all of this Bart in your little head now, because after I'm done with your little hero, you my dear little boy will be soon to be chopsticks for my Chinese food." As he kicked Victor out of the way even as he ran in front of Bart to protect him, Sideshow Bob held out a classic knife he always used and Bart started backing away slowly as Bob laughed and laughed getting closer to him and then whack!! A rake was in front of him as he grumbled and snapped it in half saying, "Who leaves a rake in the middle of bank I ask you?" "A man who's clever enough to take your little suit down." Then Archibald rushed in from the back door of the bank and punched Bob hard and ripped off his suit literally and got Victor to come to as he told Bart giving him fifteen pebbles, "These pebbles are as hard as diamond my boy. Use them wisely." Bart nodded with a smile as he told Bob holding his slingshot and a pebble in it, "Hey Bob!! Eat my shorts!!" Then the flinging begun as stone hit Bob and he ran out after using a set of smoke on the room saying, "You may have won this round Bart, but your friends have now made a new enemy this time today and I shall not rest until I hang your boney hides off a roof!!" Bart snickered about it as he said, "Yeah, and maybe I'll clean your clock when you can face a stone like a man and not use a suit to fight back."

Then an hour later after things were cleared up at the bank, Victor said to Archibald, "You saved our lives Archibald. I don't know how we could possibly thank you." Archibald raised his hand saying, "Think nothing of it. I'm plenty rich after winning the GoldConoton Cup and four straight times after that. I only work as a waiter part time to pay for my heating and electricity bills. Besides a fellow man I used to know said this to me in the same way I am telling you now. 'Ask not why man does what he does for the good of the community, but ask why he doesn't do what he does for the good of the community.'" Victor nodded as he said along with Sora, "Good advice!!" Then Sora turned and faced Victor saying, "Jinx you owe me a coke!!" Victor then stomped the ground saying, "Nuts, I always lose at those!!" The group laughed at his little stomper and then they waved goodbye to Archibald and the happy-go-lucky town of Springtime Town as the Sun began to set and Then Sora asked as they headed out over the hills to the north, "You think we'll ever see Archibald again?" "Who knows Sora. Over the past ten years I have met lots of people and I have re-met them over and over again a lot of times. Chances are I think we should expect the same from Archibald." Then Bart said as he flung his pebbles about, "Alright, Asperground City you're next for my pebbles of doom!!" The group tried running as fast as they could so as to avoid Bart's aim as the sun set for a spectacular evening.

(A good chapter if I do say so myself. I also remembered Sideshow Bob's little blunder with the rakes so as to keep you good Simpsons fans entertained as well. Other than that, I'd probably give this one about a four or four point one out of five in my books. But who knows, maybe you guys have a different rating for my chapters, I don't know since I don't know your preferences. Either way, stay tuned for another exciting adventure from the world of Ignaryu.)

(Next Time: Factory Billigan.)