Author's Note
I would kill to see a Holiday special with BroZone! I also want to see Branch finally getting along with his brothers. So this is my take on it! Hope you enjoy!
Branch sat down in his chair with a cup of coffee. "Aah! Finally some peace and quiet!" He slumped into his chair after taking a long, slow sip from his cup. He put his cup on the table and closed his eyes just as soon as there was a knock at his door. "Branch! Branch! Open up!"
Through the rocks, the voice on the other side is a little muffled, making it hard to hear, but it wasn't Poppy. Branch sighed, rolled his eyes, pointed at his coffee, and said, "I'll be back for you."
He stood up from his chair, walked towards his elevator, and pushed the lever away from him. "Who cold be here right now? I was just starting to get comfortable!" he grumbled.
"Branch! Open up!" called the voice again.
"I'm coming!" Branch screamed. "Geez."
Branch opened his mat to see who was at his door. "Who's there?" John Dory's head popped out from his blind spot and peeked down the hole. He turned around and smiled. "Branch!"
"John?" Branch asked. "One second." Branch closed the slot in the mat and opened the whole thing, popping out from inside. "John? What are you doing here?" Branch asked, smiling.
"I came for the holidays, bro!" John said, extending his arms.
"How did you find Troll Village?"
"I had an invite from..." he glanced at the cutout heart in his hand, "...Poppy!"
"Poppy!" Branch asked, putting his hands on his head. "Really?" He threw his arms down in front of him, towards the floor.
"Yeah! Really!" John Dory replied, copying Branch's movements. "Get over here!" John walked towards Branch with his arms out. "Woah, woah, wait! I don't have any pants on!"
"Never bothered me before!" He reached towards Branch, who had trapped himself against his bunker. "Aaaaaand, scoop!" John said, lifting Branch from the ground, wrapping him in a tight hug. "Still heavier than I remember!"
"Put me down!" Branch cried, shuffling in John's arms.
"Hey, woah! Take it ea-oh! Not again! My back!" John put a hand on his back, Branch taking the opportunity to free himself. He quickly shoved his robe back down at the edges when he got back to solid ground.
"So did Poppy tell you where my bunker was at too?"
"No, he did," John replied, pointing to a cloud in the sky.
"Cloud Guy!" Branch yelled.
"Weird. I didn't know clouds could talk."
"And 'Mr. Adulty McManface' said there's more too."
"Heh." John and Branch stood in silence for a minute. "Can I check your hideout?"
"Uhh..." Branch replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Let me get some pants on first."
Branch came back up a few seconds later with his normal outfit. "Come on." Branch moved over a little to allow John Dory room on the elevator. John Dory pulled out the paper of Branch's bunker. "Soo, uhh..." he tried. No words came. "I...uh..."
The elevator hit the final level and stopped. "Here it is, my bunker," Branch said, stepping off the elevator. John Dory walked off after him. "Uhh...nice job on...ya know...saving Floyd. I-I never got to properly...congratulate you."
"Thanks," Branch said awkwardly. They stood in silence again for another minute. "What's that?" John asked, pointing at some of Branch's rations. Branch turned to see what he was pointing at specifically. "That's just some of my...rations," Branch answered.
"'Rations?'" John asked.
"Yeah...'cause I...uhh...spent so long down here..."
"What happened, Branch?"
Before Branch got to say something, there came another knock on the door, this time, much louder than the last one. Branch and John both looked up. "One second," Branch said, smiling awkwardly and pointing up. Branch hopped onto the elevator and went up.
John watched him go up. Once the elevator got out of view, John looked at the picture again. Branch designated a room inside his bunker for each of them, each room now filled with his rations and other things.
John walked over to one of the walls with pictures on them. All of them feature Poppy in some sort of way. John smiled. His smile dropped some when he caught a glimpse of red words painted onto the rocks. He scanned the room to see if Branch came back.
John reached for the paper, only moving it a little. Under the picture he moved, are red, quickly painted words, which say, 'Eat! Run Away!'
John pulled the picture off the rest of the way, being careful not to pull off any moss with the tape. He catches more glimpses of red words under more pictures. He pulled off another, carefully. The next set of words read, 'They Will Eat You Alive!'
He lifted up another picture to read 'RUN!' John put the pictures back onto the wall and frowned. "Branch. I'm sorry."
Branch came back down, with the rest of his brothers. "John! Look who else showed up!" Branch exclaimed, with a large smile on his face.
"Hey!" John said, pocketing the picture of Branch's bunker and throwing his arms up. "Nice to see you guys again!" John looked at Spruce. "How's Brandy treating you?"
"Oh, Brandy's lovely, just as always," Spruce said.
"John!" Floyd called, coming out from behind Branch and Clay. "Nice to see you again!"
"Same here!"
Branch's Hug Time bracelet dinged. He stared at it, along with all of his brothers. "Hug Time?" Floyd asked. They all exchanged glances with each other before coming to an agreement.
They all pulled in close and hugged. Branch stuck in the middle. For once, he didn't mind. He's enjoying having his brothers back, even if he can't remember much about them. The hug broke off.
"So, Branch," Clay said. "What do you do down here...by yourself?"
"I just...have me time. Not that much," Branch replied. Clay looked around at the rations. "Were you preparing for something?"
"Bergens."
"Oh, okay."
They all stood in silence for a minute, John, Spruce and Branch swinging their arms. "Well, who wants something to drink?" Branch asked rather loudly. No one answered. "I'll just go get some!" Branch walked off, stiff.
"Is he okay?" Spruce asked after he was out of earshot.
"I think this is hard on him," John replied. "I mean, we didn't get to see him grow up."
"But he looks so happy," Floyd said.
"Yeah, but he cold be putting on an act, Floyd," Clay suggested. "After all, we did leave him behind for twenty years without ever talking to him."
"Fair point." Floyd answered.
"What's all this?" Spruce asked, standing in front of the pictures of Poppy.
"Aww, he really likes her," Clay said.
"Aww," Floyd added. John fiddled with the paper in his pocket. Branch went though so much and he hasn't told any of them yet. The only thing he's told them was that grandma was eaten.
"Hey, look!" Clay said, from a little further back in the room. "Grandma!"
All the brothers gathered around the framed picture. Grandma Rosiepuff is smiling at the camera. "I miss grandma," Floyd said.
"She was one of a kind," Spruce agreed.
Grandma Rosiepuff was super sweet. They didn't see her too often, but when she was around, the boys all had fun, even Branch after he was born. "Grandma was never good at her betting games," Floyd said.
"She always believed she was," John agreed.
"Okay, I'm back!" Branch called rather loudly. I've got some hot cocoa...for...you..." his voice trailed off when he saw his brothers gathered around a small picture. "W-what are you doing?"
"Just looking at this picture of grandma," Spruce said.
"Oh...yeah." Branch walked over to his brothers with the plate of cups. They all gladly accepted and started talking.