Cole threw open the door to the penthouse, beaming even though he had to crouch to fit through. "Hey-o, everybody!"
He straightened up and cracked his head against the ceiling. A few thick chunks of ceiling fell down right on top of Jay, who had hurried in after him. The fixer yelped and dropped dead with a lily appearing in his hands. Ominous organ music played and the party guests froze in horror.
Jay's prone form flickered a few times before he regenerated. He jumped up, quickly reassuring, "I'm okay! I'm okay. I'm fit as a fiddle."
A mass sigh of relief escaped from the guests as they relaxed.
"Now, you all know Cole, right?" Jay asked nervously.
"Evening," Cole said, equally nervous as he tried to get off the steps and accidentally broke them. "Oops. Uh, evenin'. Nellie. Lucy. Brad. Dana."
"Deanna," the Nicelander corrected softly.
"Big Gene," Cole sarcastically continued.
"Why is HE here?" Gene asked, annoyed.
"He's just here for a slice of cake and then he'll be on his way," Jay soothed.
"And you know, I am a big part of the game," Cole pointed out, bending down to get in the Nicelander's face. "Why are you here, Gene?"
Jay pushed between them nervously, breaking it up. "Oh look, the cake!"
Cole looked up and gasped in amazement. Mary had wheeled out an elaborate decorated cake that looked like the Nicelanders' apartment, complete with candy "We love Jay" fireworks.
"Well, I'll be dipped," Jay said with amazement. "You've really outdone yourself, Mary."
The other Nicelanders agreed happily.
"Oh and look, there's all of us at the top!" Roy admired.
There was a little tiny version of each Nicelander made of candy. A tiny Jay was reaching for a big candy medal suspended over his head. There was no sign of Cole.
"Each apartment is everyone's favorite flavor," Mary explained. "For example, Norwood's is red velvet."
"Guilty!" Norwood chuckled.
"There's lemon for Lucy," Mary continued. "Rum cake for Gene. For Deanna-"
Cole wasn't listening as he stepped closer to examine the cake. It was amazing, but there wasn't a candy version of him. No, wait. A vaguely character-shaped thing was planted in some mud at the bottom of the cake. It was growling, showing pointed teeth. And it was wearing black overalls.
"Hey, what's the flavor of the mud I'm stuck in down there?" He asked.
Mary paused uncomfortably. "Hmm? Oh, that. That's chocolate."
"I've never actually liked chocolate," Cole mused, reaching out and poking the figurine.
Mary winced. "Well. I did not know that."
"One other little thing. I hate to be picky but this poor guy might be a lot happier if you put him up here. With everyone else," Cole explained. He plucked his figurine from the 'mud' and carefully fit it onto the roof. The cake smushed under the extra weight.
"My cake," Mary whimpered. She took a step back.
Cole pushed his fingers from the corners of the figurine's mouth outward. A lopsided smile indented into its face. "See? Much better."
"No, no, no," Gene said angrily, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. "There's no room up there for him." With a jump and an aimed swing of his arm, Gene knocked the little Cole back into the mud.
"Well, how about this? They can make room for him. They can take turns. Would that be so hard?" Cole swapped his and Jay's little selves, placing Jay in the chocolate. The Nicelanders gasped.
Jay didn't really care, he just wanted this to end without anyone getting hurt. "Here's an idea. How about, we just EAT the cake? Wouldn't that be great!"
"Sorry, Jay. Just give me a minute." Gene turned back to the argument. "Jay needs to be on the roof, because he's about to get his medal!"
"Maybe you- I mean, THEY should give the medal to Cole for once," the crusher growled, ripping the candy medal off the fireworks (destroying them in the process) and placing it on the figurine-Cole's chest. "It wouldn't be the end of the world."
"Now you're just being ridiculous," Gene snarled. "Only good guys can win medals. And you, 'Crush it', are definitely no 'good guy'."
"I could be a good guy if I wanted to!" Cole spat back, unconsciously taking a threatening step towards the orange-haired Nicelander. "I could win a medal."
"Uh huh," Gene said nasally, putting the candy figures back in their original places. "And when you do, come talk to us."
"And then would you finally let me be on the top of the stupid cake?" Cole burst.
"Are you kidding?" Gene retorted, hopping onto a nearby counter. He spread his arms wide. "If you won a medal, we'd let you live up here in the penthouse!"
Cole's jaw dropped. He could live in the penthouse. All he needed was a medal.
Gene saw the look on Cole's face and hastened to clarify. "But it will never happen." He hopped down, snatched the candy medal off candy Cole at the bottom, and carefully patted it back onto candy Jay.
"Because you're just the bad guy that crushes the building."
"No, I'm not," Cole said, raising his fist angrily.
"Yes, you are," Gene replied angrily. He flicked over the Cole figurine face-first into the 'mud'.
"No, I'm not!" Cole roared, bringing down his fists onto the cake. Frosting, filling, and crumbs splattered everywhere.
Gene wiped the bits of cake off his face and calmly replied "Yes, you are."
He stared in horror at what he had done. Cole caught Jay's eyes and something inside him turned over at the fixer's shocked face. "I... I didn't... I mean..."
Jay turned away to comfort Mary, who had started crying.
"All right, Gene," Cole said quietly. "You know what? I'm gonna win a medal."
He began backing toward the door, characters cringing out of his way. "Oh, I am gonna win a medal! The shiniest medal this place has ever seen. A medal so good that it will make Jay's medals... Wet their pants!"
The corners of Jay's mouth twitched upward and he stifled a giggle.
Cole addressed his last words towards the kind fixer as he walked out the door. "And good night. Thank you for the party."
Once Cole was gone, Brad leaned over to Gene and whispered, "Is he serious?"
"Oh please," Gene scoffed squeakily. "Where is a bad guy going to win a medal? Of course he's not serious."