(Beep!) (Shuffle Shuffle Shuffle) (Ahem) (Sigh)

...well...i never thought i'd find myself back HERE.

No seriously, with how much i've pretty much been banging my head against the wall for the last... what, 2 years? Let's just say i'm SO glad my spark is returning.

Where did i go? Long story short, i've been through moving, some work experience, the threat of jury duty, an un-motivated downtime, 2 courses at two different TAFEs, being kicked from a community, and going to brain therapy.

But thanks to the last part, i'm looking for a job (possible Announcer for a Musical Bingo Tournament, details unknown), i've been defeating the minons known as depression and anxiety and are battling the boss known as attention span, i've been trying to find more friends, and i've been feeling more generally motivated and happy lately.

So what the hell, let's tie up this chip on my shoulder and finish this chapter, huh?

As mentioned before, it's nothing special, just some Josh backstory, but with this out, i'll be looking at my next fanfic, with Pirate101, so keep an eye out.

With that said, Enjoy!

Back On Earth...

Nighttime was upon the mall. And while all the other shops were closing down for the night, Madame's Paranormal and Mystical Treasure Trove remained open for anyone to wander in and take a look at the place. Some may say that that doesn't sound like a good idea, seeing how it could easily lead to a robbery of the shop, while others call it a convenience to have a shop open 24/7. Whatever the case, the shop remained open to the public.

In the backroom, Cristie and Drake watched the crystal ball. Inside it, their son talked to the other strange creatures and soon went to sleep. They couldn't actually hear what was going on in this... world that Josh was in, but seeing how he wasn't being eaten alive by these 'dinotrux' as the woman called it, they assumed he was ok.

They had been watching their son for days now, probably a week, and so far it had been an emotional roller-coaster, mostly with fear for his life. But everytime he looked like he was going to die, he thankfully didn't. It was almost boring watching their son but not being able to do anything to communicate with him. The strange woman would sometimes talk to him, but they couldn't hear what Josh was saying back.

So, to pass the time of waiting for Josh to be free from the other world, Cristie and Drake did a lot of talking, mainly about everything that lead up to this point. It was what you would expect. Cristie kept trying to justify keeping Josh protected all those years, while Drake argued that she was just being overprotective.

One small highlight came with Josh/Scratch's fight with the scraptors.

As his parents watched him kick their butts, Drake commented, "Looks like our son has some hidden talents."

"No kidding." Cristie replied. "I never knew Josh was so good at fighting..."

"Well it's not like you tried to find out, seeing how you never took him to any martial arts classes."

"Hmph, whatever." Cristie said, though she knew he was right.

However, the main highlight happened when Scratch faced off against D-Structs on the cliff. After watching him foolishly get knocked off but seeing that he was ok, the strange woman asked Cristie, "Your son seems to have a bit of clumsyness about him. Is this normal for him?"

Cristie sighed. "Unfortunately so. He's never exactly been a... careful person."

"I see... and has this kind of thing happened before?"

"Well, his clumsiness did end up with him getting embarrassed at one point... thanks to his STUPID classmates..."

Many Years Ago, Josh's School...

Cristie got called down to the school one day, just after lunch, by the principal. Apparently there had been an incident involving her son.

When Cristie got down there, she entered the schools lobby where the front desk and office of the principal was. Once there, she entered the principal's office and saw the principal sitting behind his desk, two teenagers sitting in two chairs in front of the desk, and two adults standing around one of the children. One of the teens in the chairs was a student she hadn't seen before, and the other was Josh. She gasped when she saw him. Josh was not only completely soaked in water, he also had scuffle marks on him, like he had been in a fight.

Cristie immediately went over to her son and hugged him. "Oh you poor thing! What happened to you?"

Josh held his arms together like he was sulking, and told his mother the story.

Apparently he had been walking with his bag towards a secluded spot after his class to sit down and read a book his mother had packed for him. On his way he had to go through a wide open area where there was a fountain of the school's mascot, a giant mosquito, shooting water upwards in the middle.

While he was walking, he looked over to the right and watched some of the girls from his class talking to each other. As he looked, one of the girls noticed him looking at them, looked back at him and waved. He smiled and waved back. In his mind, he thought about his mother. What was so bad about other people? Why was she always trying to keep him away from them? Why-

Right at that moment, his leg dead stopped on a hard surface. Before he had any chance to react, the rest of him continued to move forward, and he fell headfirst right into the fountain, covering himself in water. Thankfully the water was deep enough that it stopped any painful injuries, but even so, it was completely embarrassing. To make it worse, there were about 20 other teenagers, including the girls Josh had waved to, who had seen him fall in, and, instead of doing something useful like help him, started laughing at him.

After some flailing around, Josh managed to get out of the fountain and saw everyone around him laughing at him. He couldn't believe it. He had just taken a tumble and everyone was laughing at him! What the hell was wrong with them?!

Just then, one of the guy teenagers came up to him, still laughing, and said, "Wow dude! You are such a god-damn klutz! Hahaha!"

With that insult, Josh was enraged. He charged at the teenager and tackled him. What followed was a series of fierce punches against each other. The other classmates were no help. They just circled around and started yelling, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

In the end, two teachers had to come out of the nearby building to break up the fight, and the two of them were taken straight to the principal's office.

Cristie nodded, looking up and at the other student with glaring eyes. The student, clearly nervous, shifted around, not trying to make eye contact. He was told how scary Josh's mother could be. If only he had remembered that BEFORE he had teased Josh.

The mother of the teen wrapped his arms around her son, as a subtle message of protection against Cristie. The students weren't the only ones aware of Josh's reputation, as was made clear by the principal, who had just gotten out a folder from a drawer in his desk.

"Mrs. Marsh, I must express serious concern regarding your son," He began, putting the 2cm thick folder in front of her. "Seeing how this is not the first time your son has blown up."

The principal proceeds to open up the folder, revealing multiple incident documents. "This last incident has made it the 4th time your son has been set off, and the 2nd time it has come to blows. If this issue is not resolved, more incidents will put your son into the realms of being expelled."

Cristie simply glared. "You can't just do that. My son is being harassed by the DEMONS you call your students, and you have the gall to make him suffer even more?"

The principal remained straight-faced. "I assure you Mrs. Marsh, the other students get sorted out for their involvement. But considering your son is, as i've been told, the one who starts the physical assault, I have no choice but to give him punishment as well."

Cristie scoffed. "That's ridiculous. You don't punish a victim of a theft because he defended himself."

Sadly, the principal shook his head. "Mrs. Marsh, this is not a tough guy with a knife, this is a young man about Josh's age."

"Whatever. I'm taking Josh home."

"Please do. But i implore you Mrs. Marsh, have your son taken to a professional. He needs someone to help and talk to him."

"Oh please, i'm the professional here. I've been with Josh my whole life. You know nothing." With that, Cristie and Josh stood up, Cristie put an arm around Josh, and they left.

The other mother watched them leave, then turned to the principal. "You REALLY need to call the police on that woman."

"Trust me ma'am, that option has truly been considered."

"And?"

The principal turned to the closed door. "...let's just say that i may care for all my students, but Josh's safety may not be the only one on the line if that option were taken."

Outside...

Cristie and Josh walked back to the car, buckled up, and started driving back.

"I can't believe i was called from work to once again be told about my son's apparent problem. Seriously, what is wrong with these people..."

As Cristie talked to herself, Josh stared out the window. He had cooled down, and he knew he had screwed up again, but he couldn't say that to his mother. She'd just argue with him too. Just keep living her lie.

Keep living her lie...

(Sigh)

Present Time...

The mysterious woman nodded her head, listening sadly.

"I still can't believe you met that principal 4 times and NEVER thought there was one problem with Josh." Drake noted.

"Well..." Cristie said, slightly hesitantly, "It wasn't that there was NO problem with Josh, but i couldn't just say that to him, otherwise he would go off trying to fix it. Besides, it was OTHER people causing the problem, so it's not REALLY his fault."

Drake just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like the mother not telling the truth about him."

Cristie shot him a glare. "It was for his own good, DEAR."

Once the two were back at it, the woman looked back down at the ball, where by now, Scratch was being lifted back onto the cliff. She really pitied him, she really did. She may be having to deal with one of the most problematic cases she had ever seen, but HE was the result of it. She didn't care how long it took, but she knew she HAD to help. Josh was counting on her, and she WOULD make things right.

...once they stopped yelling at each other that is.

Welp, hopefully that was worth.. something.

My deepest apologies for the sudden drop, but rest assured, i'm ready to hopefully get more stuff out.

I must say, if there's one thing that truly gave me the want to come back, it's this.

You guys and girls are STILL leaving kind reviews on this story, even years later. Thank you so much. Especially to AhO4464, who i give a virtual, joy-tears-filled, hug to.

Here's to more amazing stuff in the future, and have an AMAZING rest of your day.

P.S. Seriously, thank you guys so much for all the kind comments on this story (happy 100 reviews!), and to anyone following this story, or even ME. This is a truly blessed community.

P.S.S. Oh yeah, and to people like Calvin wondering about using Scratch in your own story, as long as you credit me for my character, go right ahead. I look forward to seeing what you do.