Rocky Meets the Boss

The week was slowly ending and many kids were happy about the oncoming weekend. Among them were Lucy Loud and her Morticians Club friends, who were already speculating on what her party might be like. "You think your parents will hold your party at the old house in the cemetery" Dante asked, "that would be so cool!" The rest of the club chimed in with equal joy, each of them presenting different ideas on décor should the party be held there.

Of course, the whole time this was going on, not one of the Goth kids realized that someone was listening in on their entire discussion. At a table not too far off from theirs, Rocky sat gloomily in his seat; mindlessly picking at the food on his lunch tray. His mood ironically seemed to sink even lower the more he heard the Goths talk about Lucy's upcoming birthday party.

"I could ask my parents to lend some food from the Party Cruise buffet" Bertrand offered, "with the exception of the garlic bread that was served during last Saturday's Italian Cuisine theme." Upon hearing mention of garlic, the group hissed softly under their breath; as if acting like vampires. These children weren't actual vampires, of course; contrary to rumors that were spread about the school.

However, that didn't stop them from mimicking any and all known mannerisms known in Vampire culture. Most of the kids in Royal Woods (even some of the teachers) thought the Morticians Club were weirdos for doing this...but not Rocky. In fact, while he wasn't fond of lying in a coffin like Lucy was, he still felt that Lucy's love of the macabre was one of her most appealing qualities.

"Perhaps your sister, Luna and her band could perform at the party as well" Boris suggested, "I am willing to offer my musical skills as well." Upon saying this, Boris reached under the table to collect his trusty keyboard; which he then used to play a chilling pipe organ tune. After that; Persephone, the eldest female member of the group, offered to have someone decorate the tombstones outside of the old cemetery house.

"Ooh! That sounds like an excellent idea" Morpheus said with glee, "it'll probably make the area less 'scary' for all the normies who might attend the party." Soon the whole table was abuzz with chatter, save for Lucy, who was mentally prepping herself for the celebration to come.

(Line Break)

Despite whatever sorrows he was currently feeling, Rocky couldn't help but think of how cool the Goth group's party ideas sounded. But then, without warning, Lucy quickly brought their discussions to a halt; revealing that they wouldn't be allowed to hold a party at the cemetery house. "It's not so much a legal issue, we hold our club meetings at the cemetery loads of times" she stated, "it's more of a family one or...more specifically, my father."

Within seconds, the club's "happy" mood (or whatever word a Goth might use for expressing levels of joy) quickly disappeared. For as long as she can recall; Lucy's father, Lynn Sr, had always been terrified by anything remotely horror related. Her sister, Lisa even had video compilations of every time Lynn said "I HATE HALLOWEEN" at home. So, the idea of him (let alone the rest of her family) coming to the cemetery house for her birthday party would be out of the question.

"Besides, my dad may either want the party to be at home or down at the restaurant" Lucy stated, "either way, I'll be happy...and I mean that in a genuine kind of way." The other Goth kids smiled softly and murmured with equal approval, expressing equal approval towards whatever sort of celebration they might take part in. Of course, the whole time this was going on; Rocky's mood grew even grimmer with every word they said.

Finally, he let out a heavy sigh, turned towards the Goths' table and softly cleared his throat. "Greetings, Rocky" said Lucy in her usual monotone, "do you have something to inquire upon us?" Just as he was about to speak his piece, Rocky took one look at Lucy and froze. What could he possibly have to say in this situation?

It wasn't until Lucy spoke up again that the poor guy's already frazzled thoughts went haywire. "Are you planning on coming to my birthday party this weekend, Rocky" questioned the young Goth, "I promise there won't be anything...too morbid for you or your brother to see." Despite the otherwise innocent nature behind this inquiry, poor Rocky's heart started to tighten up; as if it were being squeezed in a vice.

Finally, Rocky let out a heavy sigh and worked up just enough nerve for him to speak his mind. "Luce...I would absolutely love to go to your party" he said with the faintest of smiles, "but after some...things that have been happening to me lately, I just don't have that much of a festive mood." Understandably so, Lucy and the Morticians Club were flabbergasted by this statement, to say the least.

After a short while, Morpheus decided to ask Rocky what was troubling him; only to be met with the simple and swift response of "it's complicated" from him. "Well...I'm sorry for whatever troubles you might be experiencing, Rocky" Lucy murmured sincerely, "I hope everything will work out for you in the end." The young Spokes boy smiled softly at her, thanked Lucy for her kind words and dumped out his tray just as the bell started to ring.

The students poured through the cafeteria doors in droves, not wanting to be tardy for their next class. But Rocky, still feeling downtrodden, simply slinked his way out as if his feet were flat tires. "Maybe some learning can take my mind off of Lucy's party" he thought dejectedly, "ugh...saying that feels weird."

(Line Break)

In time, the school day had finally reached its end and the students came rushing out the doors like a herd of longhorns; all while cheering with excitement. "YES! Finally, the weekend is here" Zach said with relief, "anybody got any plans?" One by one, each member of the friend group sounded off their individual plans for the weekend off-time.

Clyde raved about how he and his dads planned on experimenting with different pumpkin spice related recipes. Liam mentioned a new batch of sheep that his father brought to the farm that he'd been eager to mingle with. Stella intended on just having a nice Movie Night with her parents and granny tomorrow evening and Rocky spoke about a "potential new soul patch hair" he intended on grooming.

"That's a bit too much info for us, Rust-Man" Lincoln said with a grimace, "as for me, it's Lucy's birthday tomorrow and I'll be helping my family with the preparations while she's looking at new batches of Statue Polish for Edwin." The group couldn't decide which of the statements sounded more unpleasant, doing work on a Saturday...or Lucy's continued fascination with her vampire bust. But before the situation could feel too uncomfortable, Lincoln assured everyone it was no big deal (the party prepping, that is.)

"I've got the family to help me out and vice versa" he assured, "but if you wanna help, you can." Almost immediately, Rusty openly protested the idea of doing work on a Saturday; even if it was for a birthday party. It was here that Lincoln's "Man with the Plan" Mode kicked in and made his friend(s) and offer that no one could resist.

"My dad plans on making Lucy's favorite cake for the party, double dark chocolate fudge cake with blood orange icing" he said with a grin, "if you help, I'll see to it you each get a slice of it." While the mention of the words "blood orange" sounded kind of creepy to the likes of Stella and Rocky, the overall flavor of the cake did ultimately sound appetizing. But the group felt that cake alone didn't seem like enough to sacrifice a few hours of their homework-free Saturday.

"Add in those lil' take home party favor bags and we have ourselves a deal, dude" Rusty stated, "you think your parents will have them?" As if expecting this, Lincoln assured his friends that there would most certainly be party favors for all the guests. However, he was also quick to add that a Goth's choice in such things may be on the...creepy side but they didn't seem to mind.

Unbeknownst to them, however, Rocky (who was just within proper earshot of the group) overheard everything. The more he heard about Lucy's party, the more ashamed he felt of himself. That's when he decided to go for a walk instead of heading straight for home.

"Okay, lil' bro...if that's what you want" Rusty said uneasily, "just make sure you're back before curfew or Pop will be real sore." With that, the two Spokes Bros said their momentary goodbyes and went their separate ways. But unbeknownst to them, something had been watching over them the whole time the boys were talking.

Up in a tree not too far from the school, a familiar owl kept a watchful eye on Rocky until his departure from the other children. After that, he took flight from the branch and flew off high above Royal Woods.

(Line Break)

Sometime later, Rocky had made his way down to Tall Timbers Park; an area that wasn't too far outside of Royal Woods. At first, he thought about going down to one of the other park areas in town. But due to his current emotional state, he felt that Tall Timbers provided the perfect kind of isolation needed for him to think a little.

"I can't believe I just lied like that, not just to Lucy but to her bro too" Rocky thought dejectedly, "maybe I should've fessed up when I had the chance." The instant these words passed his lips, the "common sense" part of his brain suddenly started screaming at him; questioning what good telling the truth would've done. How could he possibly have the courage to come to a birthday party without a present for the person of honor, especially Lucy?

To him, such a scenario would feel more awkward than arriving at a black-tie party with a Halloween costume on. On the other hand, not showing up would be just as bad; especially if the person of honor was really hoping to see you. "Man...I just don't know what to do" sighed Rocky, "I really wish someone could help me outta this."

Just then, a sudden gust of wind blew by; sending leaves and twigs flying everywhere. At first, Rocky took this as a sign of a possible storm coming...but there were no clouds in the sky to be seen. That's when his inner sadness got the better of him, causing the poor guy to think this was the universe punishing him for what happened.

Whatever the case, Rocky didn't want to stick around for much longer and get caught up in something bad. So, he was moments away from making a run for it back home until he saw something that caused him to freeze in place. While it was true there weren't any storm clouds in the sky, Rocky did happen to see something floating above him.

At first glance, it looked like a foggy mist; which is something commonly seen during the Fall. But then, it slowly descended downward to where Rocky stood. "Hold on...it's moving like it's alive" he thought worriedly, "which could only mean that...it's a GHOOOST!" The moment this thought passed through his mind, Rocky's nerves finally shattered and fear quickly overwhelmed him.

The poor kid was so scared by what was happening, he pulled out his phone and tried to call for help. But due to his frazzled state of mind, it fumbled right out of his hands and fell into the lake. Now, poor Rocky was left all on his own; face-to-face with...heaven only knows in front of him.

With a whimper in his throat and a nervous sweat trickling down his brow, Rocky closed his eyes in preparation for whatever fate he was about to receive. Then, almost seconds later, he suddenly felt a rather...wet sensation in the palms of his hands. Nervously, he cracked open one of his eyes to see...his cellphone, safe and sound back in his hands (despite some slight water damage.)

"Wait...What the heck" he murmured softly in confusion, "how'd this get back to me?" Almost immediately, a voice suddenly spoke out from seemingly out of nowhere saying "I saw you drop it, dear boy...I thought you would like it back." Understandably so; the disembodied voice speaking to him, while calm and nurturing, completely freaked Rocky out.

He was about to make a run for it out of the forest when he suddenly noticed he was floating/running in midair. "Okay, this is getting too freaky" cried Rocky, "who are you and why are you messing with me?!" The instant he said this, Rocky looked ahead of him and saw the strangest sight transpire before him.

Within seconds, the strange mist he saw from earlier started swirling around; creating what looked like a human-sized whirlwind. Then, it started morphing itself into different shapes as if it were alive. Finally, Rocky could see that the mist had taken on some sort of human shape; one that seemed...creepily familiar to him.

(Line Break)

For what felt like ages, Rocky remained still as a stone and equally silent. When the strange mist had finally taken its full form, he suddenly recognized its shape as that of the hooded man he saw at Mr. Thorne's home. This left poor Rocky's mind practically buzzing with many questions; who exactly was this stranger, how were they doing all this, how did they end up finding him and above all, what did they want?

After what felt like ages of silence, the strange figure made of mist finally decided to speak; albeit in an odd warbling tone of voice. "Mr. Spokes...can you hear me, young man" they asked with concern, "it's me, Mr. Thorne." Upon hearing this reveal, Rocky's demeanor had suddenly become less fearful and more worried/confused than anything.

If this truly was his former employer, why didn't he come to speak with him in person...and how was he able to do this wind/mist trick in the first place? This and many other questions ran through Rocky's already frazzled mind, but he decided to be respectable and greeted the figure accordingly. "It's me, Sir; Rocky Spokes" he said as casually as possible, "I, uh...I guess you're probably here to fire me in person...or whatever this is you are now?"

Rather than be put off by the boy's choice of words, Mr. Thorne (or at least, this manifestation of him) shook his head and questioned why he would want to fire him. It was here that Rocky not only brought up the library incident back at the manor but also his failure to collect his last list of supplies before "quitting." "Ah, yes...Octavia has brought that incident to my attention long ago" the figure stated, "as I recall, it took her and Farquard quite some time to restock all the shelves."

It was bad enough to be reminded of this incident, even after so much time had passed from it. But the somewhat stern tone in Mr. Thorne's voice was what really hit Rocky the hardest. It was as if his heart was being stabbed by an icy knife...several times over. With a sigh and his head hanging low with shame, Rocky openly apologized for the "library incident" as many times his voice would allow.

But after probably the tenth apology, Mr. Thorne's mist form urged him to stop; assuring him that no real harm had been done. "Truthfully...this isn't the first time my library was left in a mess" he stated, "nor is it the only time someone misused the winged sandals while attending to specific high-rise cleaning duties." Following these words, Mr. Thorne revealed three separate moments where the winged sandals had been poorly used; which (as it turned out) were all the fault of Farquard, Octavia and even Mr. Thorne himself.

Confused by this, Rocky asked how all three of them managed to make the same mistake he did? To which Mr. Thorne replied in saying that the sandals were only used once by him, hoping it might save him the trouble of traveling to and fro on foot; be it at home our outdoors. "As for the others...well, Octavia felt genuinely curious of whether or not she could wear them on any of her tentacles" Mr. Throne explained, "Farquard meanwhile chose to wear them out of pure recklessness and laziness towards his duties."

Much to his surprise, Rocky found himself laughing at all of this; as if he were just told a silly joke. But all too quickly, he realized why he was laughing and quickly apologized for it. Mr. Thorne ultimately dismissed the apology, insisting that "what was done is done" and there was no point in scolding Rocky further on it. Instead, he chose to question the boy on a different matter; namely a recent set of intruders that found their way to his estate.

"According to Octavia, she assumes the children were associated with you in some way" Mr. Thorne prodded, "did you happen to share whom it was you were working for with anyone? At first, Rocky didn't quite understand what Mr. Thorne was talking about; save for the part questioning if others knew what he had been doing. In response, Rocky confessed that he had only shared stories about his part-time work with family and a small collection of school friends.

"Then, I can assume the children we saw must be among those friends of yours" Mr. Thorne inquired, "perchance you may recognize them?" Before Rocky had a chance to speak up, he witnessed the strange mist being perform a most spectacular "magic trick." With but a wave of his hand, Mr. Thorne summoned what looked like small flame shapes out of thin air.

Upon taking a close look at the shapes, Rocky suddenly felt that these shapes looked eerily...familiar to him. As if sensing they were getting somewhere, Mr. Thorne's mist-self waved his hand again; which caused the small flames to move like people. Soon, Rocky found himself feeling drawn towards one of them...a flame figure that seemed to be ordering the others around for some reason.

Finally, a sense of realization had struck Rocky like he had been beaned from above by a hundred dodgeballs. "I recognize these figures" he proclaimed, "that one reminds me of Chandler McCann...he's a jerky, snobbish, entitled brat who uses his popularity to boss everybody around!" Intrigued by this reveal, Mr. Throne urged for Rocky to share more about this Chandler lad.

Within seconds, the young Spokes boy referenced all the times he made not only his life miserable but also that of his older brother and their friends for years. "Just because they guy throws big parties; he expects all of us other kids to bend over backwards for him, thinking he might probably invite us" Rocky explained, "but he never keeps his word, trust me." Although the misty figure's hood completely obscured his face, it was clear by the apparent murmuring under his breath that Mr. Thorne found all this rather interesting.

When he later chose to question if this Chandler and his group were friends with Rocky in any way, Mr. Thorne was rather surprised by Rocky's response. "I wouldn't hang out with that creep for all the money in the world" the boy proclaimed, "or all the parties in the world for that matter." Upon mentioning the word "party," Rocky's mood shifted suddenly from anger to utter shame in himself.

Meanwhile, Mr. Throne (after taking a mental note of everything he had just learned) soon had a clear idea of exactly how Chandler and his group came to his home. "It must've happened while Ibid was making his journey back" he thought to himself, "those children no doubt followed his flight path all the way back to the estate!" While this reveal did give Rocky some semblance of relief, he suddenly remembered that Chandler and Crew must've also seen him talking with Ibid on that same day.

When he brought up this little tidbit to Mr. Throne, he, once more expressed his regret for what happened...even though he wasn't directly responsible for it all. "I should've known...I should've known from the get-go this sort of job would be way over my head" grumbled Rocky, "I should've gone to Flip's to earn the money I needed for Lucy's present." In that moment, Mr. Thorne suddenly found himself feeling something he hadn't experienced for a very long time; genuine concern towards others.

With genuine curiosity, he questioned Rocky about the sort of gift he wished to give this Lucy girl. "It must've been something quite extravagant for you to seek employment in Huntington Manor" Mr. Thorne stated, "let alone my home specifically." Rocky gave a light chuckle at this idea, whether it be out of sarcasm or slight ironic amusement and confessed that his idea wasn't one that anybody would consider "extravagant."

"Long story short, Lucy and her friends are Goth kids, and they happen to love to watch creepy yet cool stuff on TV" Rocky explained, "one of those shows ended up being cancelled long before the two of us were even born...the Vincent Van Ghoul Show." The instant he heard mention of this program, the figure's demeanor suddenly became mildly irritated; as evident by his clenched fists and the way his cape was floating.

Feeling nervous yet curious, Rocky asked Mr. Thorne if he had said something to upset him in any way. "It...It is not you, child; rest assured" the figure murmured tensely, "it is just...how could the public get so much so wrong?!" No sooner having said that, Mr. Thorne proclaimed that the program's "true" title was Mr. Thorne's Mystic Hour...but quickly revealed that it must've been chanced due to demands from "concerned parents" decades later due to a period where anything fantasy or horror oriented were dubbed as "occult."

As a result of this, anyone in today's time who happened to find themselves watching the program must have been watching the highly edited versions from TV. "Oh! Makes sense, Lucy did say her Pop-Pop recorded the episodes live" Rocky gasped, "but wait...how did you know about this, Mr. Thorne; are you a fan?" The instant this question was asked, Mr. Thorne's mist-form started chuckling loudly and then, it shifted into full on laughter.

The whole time this was going on, poor Rocky was scared out of his wits; wondering if he said something funny...or if Mr. Thorne truly was some crazy wearing his former boss' clothes (as well as using his magic tricks.) Moments later, however; the figure finally stopped laughing and glanced down at Rocky slighty. "I am more than familiar with the program you speak of, child" Mr. Thorne stated, "but I am no mere follower or fan of it."

Understandably confused by such words, Rocky was prepared to question what his former employer was saying. That's when he saw the mist figure reach his hands up towards his hood and grab hold of it. The moment he watched the hood slowly move backwards; Rocky suddenly felt an odd combination of fear, excitement and anxiety swirling inside of him.

Oh, man...oh, man...oh, man" he murmured frantically, "I'm finally gonna see what my boss really looks like!" Soon, his mind started thinking up all sorts of possibilities about what to expect. Would Mr. Thorne be some kind of old guy in his 80s, will he have razor-sharp teeth, will he have any kind of face at all...or even weirder, will the guy end up shooting laser beams at him from his eyes?

Of course, Rocky already knew all those ideas sounded too nuts to be real. But after seeing Mr. Thorne's eyes glowing beneath his hood on the day he chose to leave the estate, Rocky still hung on to some possibilities. What he saw next, however, was so shocking; it blew all those ideas right out of his head.

As Rocky watched the mist figure of Mr. Thorne finally throw back his hood, his face slowly underwent a full plethora of wild emotions; confusion, suspicion, surprise and finally, full-on shocked amazement. As his mouth hung open with a choking gasp, Rocky lifted a quivering hand to point at the figure. Finally, after what felt like ages, he finally gained enough of his voice to murmur three simple words before passing out; "what...the...what?!"

(First AN: Aaaaand that's where we'll end things off for now, everybody. Not only did our lil' dude finally get to meet his boss *so to speak* but he also got to see his face. What do you think it was that caused him to pass out the way he did, what do you think will happen to Rocky next and above all, will he be able to go to Lucy's party?

Tune in next time to find out)

(Second AN: So sorry, everybody for taking so long to write and upload this chapter. Between finding a quiet moment to write, busy home life and a moment where I almost had some serious computer issues...you can see why it took me so long to complete this. Don't worry, though; the computer issues have been fixed and I'm still eager to complete Rocky's story.

I hope to possibly complete this in time for Halloween, next month. But I also have another Loud House based fanfic to work on at the same time as this one. So, we'll see what the cards have in store for me. But rest assured, this story is not dead)