Hello people! Sheesh it has been forever huh?

But after all these months, it's finally out. I'm sorry this took a while, it went in a bunch of different directions and I feel like it ended up all over the place. But I hope you still enjoy it

CHAPTER 7: MALL

MALL

Making

Appearance

Less

Lame

"You stoopid boy!"

Patton found himself in a different location. One very different from the snow, this time in some kind of grand hallway.

And here he was, being yelled at by a hazy face. The only things that really stuck out from the blurs was a mess of red frizz and green. But what rang loud and clear was a thick Irish accent.

"How could you just let him do that? Do you understand the risks of just letting them escape that easy?!"

"Wh..what", Patton looked around, confused at what was happening. He pointed a hand up, and noticed the orange gloves were back on his own hands. "What risk-"

"You let-", and suddenly a large distorted static temporarily rang in Patton's ear, blocking the voice out. "Just go and escape with all the villains!"

"Wait what villains", Patton tried to press further. "I let WHO do that?!"

"And for WHAT? Just for some stoopid bowling game? Figures a BOY would think that was a good idea."

"Wha….", Patton looked to the side, and found his eyes on the windows. It was also blurry, but he could tell from the blues and blacks in the sky, and the small white dots where it was. But…but it was impossible.

Patton walked closer to the window. "Where are you going", the redhead shouted out, following him. "Are you even listening to me? Get back here!"

Instead, Patton kept walking to the edge, until his nose was practically on the glass. He looked down, and saw the green, blue, and white planet below them.

"Are…are we in SPACE", he asked out loud to the red blur.

"Of COURSE we are! Where did you expect us to be?!"

Patton looked back out into the void, his gloves back in his view. His gloves, and what looked like a green jacket. And on the glass, it seemed like he could slowly see his reflection.

"But..but how are we in space", Patton tried to squint further to see his reflection, a task that was suddenly made harder as the stars started shining brighter. "Wh…Where are we?"

"What is wrong with you today", the harshness waned just a little bit. "We're at the Mo-"

And the static came back. Patton covered his ears, as the stars were even brighter, blinding his view from anything. It seemed like everything was getting brighter, and louder. He couldn't make heads or tails of anything that was happening.

"AAA!"

Patton jolted awake, back in his room again. It was a lot quieter than his dream, and less bright, the sun only just starting to approach over the horizon. A much needed relief from the dream's sensory overload.

After a few moments and breaths, Patton calmed down again, enough to process the dream.

"...Space", Patton said to himself. "That's a first. But…that voice...she sounded like The Fan…"

Patton thought about it further as he gathered his sheets and headed downstairs to the washing machine.

"FANNY PANTS!"

Fanny was taken out of her sleep by the sounds of her mother. And with that stupid childish nickname no less.

"WHAT MOM", she yelled from her bed.

"YOU HAVE A FRIEND HERE!"

Fanny rubbed her eyes and she grumbled to herself. "JUST TELL EM TO COME HERE!"

"NO I THINK IT'S BETTER IF YOU COME DOWN TO HIM!"

'Him', Fanny thought. 'Yeah she's not budging on that.'

Fanny stretched, and got out of bed. "ALRIGHT I'M COMING!"

She yawned, trying to move some of her frizzy hair out of the way, and flatten her bedhead to something more presentable. Through the window, the sky was just starting to change colors, from the dark midnight blue to a low burnt orange. The alarm clock on the side table read "6:02 AM"

'Who the crud is bothering me at this godforsaken hour, Fanny thought, exiting her room, and stomping down the stairs. 'I swear if this is a trick from Paddy, I'm going to throw him so far-'

Whatever threatening thought Fanny had was interrupted when she heard a familiar voice at the bottom of the stairs.

"Morning The Fan!"

Fanny looked up wide-eyed (or as wide as her still half-asleep eyes could open) to see Patton standing in her kitchen. Wearing a yellow Yippee hoodie instead of the green one, but accompanied with a green rainbow Monkey hat. The pink scarf was still around his neck like usual.

Fanny looked at him, as if she was still processing his presence, before her face slowly formed an annoyed frown.

"WHAT THE CRUD ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Well, you said you wanted me here first thing in the morning so-"

I DIDN'T MEAN AT 6 IN THE MORNING", Fanny shouted at him. "DON'T YOU KNOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SLEEP IN LATE ON A SATURDAY?!"

Patton nodded his head, smiling. "I did sleep in. If it was Monday, I'd be here at 5."

Of course he would. Fanny rolled her eyes.

"Well, most other teens sleep in until NOON. At the earliest", she said less annoyed. She started to turn around back towards her room. "So, you can go home and just come back later-"

"Aw hush, Fanny Pants", and there was her mom butting into the conversation. "You could stand to spend a few more hours up and about. Learn a thing or 2 from your little friend here"

Fanny looked back up at Patton, still towering over her smaller stature. "..."Little", Mom?"

"You know what I mean dear", Mrs. Fulbright glared in a way that said "you're pushing it". A glare that vanished when she looked back up at Patton. "Come here, you 2 should have breakfast first. My husband is out on a business trip, but we still have some of his leftover pancakes. And of course, plenty of Rainbow Munchies."

Fanny's stomach nearly growled. As tired as she was, she still couldn't turn down a breakfast like that.

"Aw that's very nice of you Mrs. The Fan's Mom, but I couldn't. The Fan and I should probably get going."

Well Fanny couldn't turn down that breakfast, but apparently Patton can.

"Ah, a busy Saturday huh?"

"Oh yeah", Patton beamed at the thought. "We have a lot of stuff planned."

"Hmm. An early riser AND a productive weekend", Mrs. Fulbright looked down at her daughter. "DEFINITELY could learn a thing or 2."

Fanny rolled her eyes and looked back at Patton. The taller boy looked down at her with an unassuming smile. "Are you ready?"

Fanny sighed. "Lemme get dressed first. Gimme a few minutes."

The redhead walked back towards her room, a taller teen immediately following behind her. At least until he was stopped with a harsh slam of a bedroom door.

"Where are they? It's been 20 minutes!"

Rachel peeked out of the bushes by the Fulbright house, sporting an old, but still trusty, pair of KND goggles. Only the "K" was spraypainted over with a "T". Beside her, Abby was relaxing in the driver's seat of the car nearby.

"Don't worry", Abby looked down at her friend. "They'll be out here, just give it time."

"I know but", Rahcel looked at her watch. Shoot, it was only 30 seconds from that. "Come on, Fanny wouldn't just waste time like that with a new recruit."

"Yeah but most of her training for that begins at noon", and a yawn came out of the teen's mouth. "Girl's probably just as tired as Abby is, being up so early."

"Yeah", Rachel looked back a little bittersweet. "I guess that part of Patton still hasn't changed."

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?!"

And there was that familiar harsh monkey violin voice Rachel had grown so….well she grew with it. The blonde quickly ducked back in the bushes, and Abby just rolled up the car window. And outside the target house, came out the target duo themselves.

So now let me get this straight", Fanny asked, as she and Patton walked out to the driveway. "You're dragging me out of the sanctity of my own bed, at 6 in the morning, on a SATURDAY, and having me eat nothing but this", she held out a rectangular wrapped bar , that was promptly thrown out to the ground, "cruddy granola bar, and now, on top of ALL of that, you expect us to WALK there?!"

Patton looked down at her as now she was so close to him in anger the ends of his scarf barely starting to touch her red curls.

"Well, that's how I got here", he answered. "Besides, it's good exercise. It gets the blood moving to start the day."

Fanny looked at him fuming. 'Great. Not only is he an early riser, he's a gigantic health nut.'

Normally this would be the part where Fanny would verbally tear this guy a new one. However, instead, she breathed in, still looking peeved, then turned around back towards her house. She wouldn't make any progress if she just scared him away so early on. She opened up a garage door to reveal her large black van, sitting right next to a SCAMPER.

"Let's go", she motioned to Patton while grabbing a set of dangling keys off a wall hook.

"But I thought we were-"

"Lovsky", Fanny interrupted him. "If you think I'm about to walk 15 miles to a mall at this horrid hour, you're crazy."

'Or more like crazier.'

Fanny opened the sliding door, and stepped inside to the driver's seat. "Get in."

"...Ok."

Meanwhile the 2 teens watched as the van took off in the sky, nearly scorching the pavement below them. Abby started the ignition as Rachel got inside.

"That's our cue."

Patton was still a little shaken from the ride. He had heard from passing conversations about how Fanny had a short fuse, but the amount of road rage she had was unprecedented.

Especially since the "road rage" wasn't even on the road.

He could still feel how close the van, and his seat, got to the bus on their drive. He almost didn't even have time to process it. A bus? In the sky?! How could that even happen?!

And yet something about it just felt so…

"Hey Lovsky! You gonna eat those?"

Patton blinked and turned away from the window. He looked back at the small redhead across the table from him. Around her was an array of waffles, pancakes, orange juice, and other breakfast dishes. Currently she was in the middle of, rather bluntly, stuffing her face with flapjacks, syrup dribbling down her chin. Patton couldn't help but smirk at the undignified display.

"Hey shut up! No teenager is up this early to see me", Fanny defensively spat back mid-chew, before swallowing and continuing on. "We still have a couple of hours to kill before our next stop opens, and no one's going to believe you if you tell them."

"Yeah I guess they wouldn't", Patton shrugged, and pushed a plate of cinnamon rolls to Fanny. "But, this is all way too much sugar for me."

"Said the guy on his third cup of hot chocolate", Fanny snarked as she engorged another 3 pancakes in.

"Hot chocolate is different", Patton took another sip. "It warms you up, not weighs you down with a bunch of carbs."

"Aw come on loosen up", Fanny grabbed a cinnamon roll. "We won't have these fast metabolisms much longer, so we need to take them for granted while we still can!"

Patton chuckled, and looked down at his mug, eventually picking up a fork for a few bites of scrambled eggs.

"Aw what", Fanny watched him. "Not even gonna add some ketchup first."

"Don't need it", Patton shrugged. "Still too much sugar."

"Geez, you ARE a health nut" Fanny rolled her eyes, but shrugged it off. "Well more pancakes for me."

It was a few hours later, a much more reasonable time of day. When more people were awake, breakfast was going to roll over to lunch, and more importantly, stores were opening. Patton and Fanny were walking in the early-ish hours in a large building of stores, foods, and cinema. The stereotypical haven of teenage solitude and hangoutery.

The mall.

"So The Fan", Patton looked down at her. "Why are we here again?"

Fanny turned up to him as she walked. "If you're gonna get the gang to like you, we need to get you a cool new look."

"But I already got a new look", he said pointing towards his Yipper hoodie. "I don't really wear it often but I figured I could show off-"

"I meant a look that isn't going to get your head immediately dunked into a toilet."

"Oh", Patton looked down at his hoodie, sad.

"And if you're going to be around The Fan, the coolest teenager that the Teen Ninjas has ever seen, you're going to look like someone she would associate with."

"Oh yeah, the Ninjas", Patton rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno. It doesn't seem like they really liked me there. I remember when I was training they-"

"Aw that's all stuff in the past", Fanny interrupted him, stopping at a black store with loud music and clothes decorated in pop culture references. "Well this is a decent start."

"Hmm..hey Lovsky, which of these bands do you like more?"

Fanny held up the 2 shirts to the larger teen . "Are you secretly a RAWG fan, or are more of The Upper Crust kinda guy?"

"Uh..I don't know", Patton got out nervously, as he covered his ears. "Could we go into a store that's a little quieter?"

"QUIETER", Fanny looked appalled at the thought. "Lovsky, loud blaring music is a proud part of teen culture. One of the oldest known forms of showcasing angst and rebellion. If you can't handle it in a store, how are you gonna handle it in a car with 6 other teens around?"

"Uhhh-"

"Exactly", Fanny put both shirts into Patton's lap. "Here we'll just get you both."

Patton looked back at one of the shirts, in defeat. "I've never even heard of The Upper Crust before."

"That's ok" Fanny examined a box of black headphones, then tossed those over to Patton as well. "Nobody has."

—-

"Hmm…ok so pick out one of these hoodies."

Patton squinted his eyes as he looked at the display. True, in this store the music was much quieter, but now there was a new kind of discomfort.

"Now yellow is way too harsh on you already", Fanny gestured to the Yipper hoodie around him, Patton now wearing the black RAWG shirt. "And probably the color that'll remind most people of…algebra, so we're gonna stay far away from vibrancy. We need edgy, so something more muted-"

"Nothing here looks muted", Patton pushed his hat down to get more shade on his face. "Everything's so bright in here."

"Now you see why we can't get you too much attention", Fanny kept looking at the rack, and finally settled on a dark green hoodie. "Here, we'll get you this one to start."

—-

"Now one of the biggest things that's gonna make you a target of any enemy is body odor. Your smell is gonna give you away. Makes people suspicious. So, you mask it."

Patton looked at the different containers of body spray, tinted slightly through his new sunglasses. He opened one that he was sure was red, and sprayed it out in the air.

"ACK", he coughed, eyes watering and nose burning. "The Fan, that's awful!"

"That's the point", Fanny rolled her eyes. "Spray this all over yourself, and then no enemy's gonna want to come near you!"

—-

"Now we got the shirt, the hoodie, the accessories.." Fanny looked over Patton as they walked further. It was suddenly in that moment she noticed the on and off lighting coming from the bottom of his shoes.

"Ah yes! You need SNEAKERS", and suddenly the boy was pushed into a shoe store. "Real ones that don't look like they came from a kiddy aisle!"

"But I like my shoes", Patton looked down at his feet. "They're exclusive Yipper merchandise."

"Teens don't like Yipper, Lovsky", Fanny looked at the variety of footwear. "Little kids like Yipper. And you are not a kid, or anywhere close to little."

She weaved through the maze of aisles fast, sneaking through empty shelves and cases to move easier. Patton watched her over the shelves, and followed closely behind.

"Ah her we go!" Patton jumped as Fanny poked out of a cabinet, with a pair of black boots and silver buckles. "Something PUNK to tie it all together."

"But I'm not punk The Fa-"

"Lovsky, you don't have to BE punk", Fanny shut him down fast. "You just have to LOOK punk. We can work on really converting you later."

"Converting?"

"But for right now, these should complete the whole outfit!"

"Hmmm…Not bad"

Fanny looked over her work, sipping on her orange soda. It was a lot of hours of walking, shopping, and Ninja fund money, but now she thought they were actually making progress.

In front of her was the taller teen boy, dressed in a RAWG shirt and a dark green zip up hoodie and black leather boots. He had headphones around his neck, and sunglasses on his face. Not as cool as hers, but for the moment they'll do. She wasn't a miracle worker after all. The only thing that stayed from his previous outfit were his brown jeans and pink scarf.

"Not bad at all", the girl repeated to herself, nodding satisfied. "At least not for 3 hours."

Across from her, Patton had to disagree. Sure, everything wasn't so loud or bright, and he didn't smell AS strong with body spray as the store, but geez, did everything have to be so uncomfortable?

"So do I really have to wear this", the boy was scratching at his arms. "All of this stuff feels funny."

"It's the feeling of actual style, Lovsky", Fanny brushed it off.

"Well style right now feels a LOT like itching powder."

"Your skin will adjust", Fanny looked around the mall attached restaurant. There were more teens around this time of day, chatting and walking around with their own skateboards and shopping bags. Good, now that Patton looked somewhat cooler now. She looked back at Patton, drinking his water, taking note of the scarf on his neck, the pink clashing majorly. "Ah! I almost forgot! The scarf", she held her hand out. "Hand it over."

"What?" Patton looked down at his scarf and shook his head, clutching the scarf defensively. "Bu..but I like this scarf."

"Come on, it's the last thing that's gonna tie the outfit together!"

"What's wrong with my outfit with the scarf", Patton pressed it further.

"It's so..pink! Cool teens don't wear pink like that. That's for cheerleaders and valley blondes, neither of which you are. Now come on, fork it over."

"No", Patton refused to budge. "This scarf's my favorite. Sonia made it for me."

Of course she did, Fanny thought and rolled her eyes. She doesn't know teen fashion, she's just a kid.

"And I'm already in all this itchy stuff to look cool enough", Patton scratched into his torso. "And I want this outfit to work without it". The boy looked back at the small redhead's agape expression. "…I-If that's ok."

Fanny was almost taken aback. The nerve of this dork, after everything she's doing for him, to just refuse to follow her orders. Why she had half a mind to just deck him into the wall and rip the scarf off herself.

But the other half of her mind reminded her to cooperate with him. These were baby steps. And if she pushed too far, he'd leave and her plan would be shot in the water.

"...Fine", Fanny rolled her eyes, leaning back against her booth. "I guess the scarf is a minimal blow."

"Wait really ", Patton blinked a bit surprise. He was almost sure she was gonna blow up at him. "O-Ok, thank you."

The teen boy slumped back into his booth satisfied, and took the hoodie off. Around the same time, a waiter came over to their table.

"Orange soda", the drink was put on Fanny's side. "And a water", and the clear glass was placed on Patton's. "And have you 2 decided what pizza you want?"

"Well I think I gotta have-"

"Oh definitely-"

"Meat Lover's Special", the 2 teens looked at each other shocked

"Ok 2 Meat Lover's", the waiter wasn't as impressed by this and jotted it down. "Give it a few minutes."

Fanny and Patton didn't really acknowledge it, more focused on each other. For the first time that day, they had a shared singular thought.

"...Good pizza choice", Fanny smirked and sipped her soda. "Maybe there's some hope for you to be cool after all."

"Huh", Patton smiled a little and drank his water. "I-I think I can take that."

Patton looked at the restaurant background. Among the poster and knick-knacks on the walls, the thing that stood out the most was a picture of a galaxy in space. And Fanny next to that brought up a confusing, but familiar feeling. "The Fan, do you know anything that happens in space?"

Fanny raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well", Patton looked down at his water. "Last night, I had this dream where-"

"Patton?!"

The teens turned around to the voice. Fanny almost spat her soda out her nose when she saw, standing in the restaurant hallway-

"TOMMY", Patton however, looked delighted, running over to his smaller friend. Him and the boy quickly and flawlessly did a semi-complicated handshake. "Ah it's so good to see you! What are you doing here?"

"Oh just dragged along, shopping with my brother", Tommy rolled his eyes. "It's such a waste of time."

"Oh yeah, I know you like working alone", Patton chuckled and looked over at the Gilligan teen, sitting in a nearby booth with headphones. "It looks like he's pretty busy though-"

"Yeah. He told me to go bother someone at the arcade or something, but then I saw you. Why are dressed so weird."

"It's not weird." Tommy felt himself droop in defeat. "It's COOL!"

Slowly, the lone boy turned around to Patton's booth, and came face to face with a bossy redheaded teenaged girl. "AAA! T-T-T"

"Oh right, I almost forgot", Patton didn't seem to notice the animosity. "Tommy, this is The Fan. She's my new friend!"

"Well it's a start in progress-"

"Ohhh", Tommy gulped and shook. "Uh, that's…nice."

"Yeah, she's been helping me get my outfit together", Patton scratched at his shirt. "I feel bad having to cancel on Sonia today, but she's probably been busy with something, right?"

"Oh not really", Tommy shrugged.

"Cause I know on weekends you guys sometimes-wait, what?" Patton immediately stopped as Tommy's words really registered.

"No, I just saw her and Lee at the Rainbow Monkey store. After you canceled, Lee and I figured that would cheer her up. You know before Hoagie dragged me out of there."

Patton looked devastated. Was Sonia really upset for him canceling? Was she mad at him? Oh she probably was terrible if Tommy and Lee had to bring her to the store and-

….Wait, the store was on the other side of the mall….He could make that.

"LOVSKY!"

Fanny could barely process how fast Patton bolted out of the restaurant back into the super complex, his glass of water spilling on the table in the process. After a moment of blinking, she got up and ran after him. Guess the Meat Lover's was gonna have to wait.

As Fanny ran out, Hoagie looked up from his headphones, and spoke into the mic piece. "They're on the move. Rainbow Monkey store."

"Lovsky!"

Fanny panted and ran as fast as she could, trying to keep up with her target. Ahead of her was Patton, zooming ahead straight into a large crowd of people.

Thinking fast, te boy quickly weaved through the crowd. Squeezing between quick spaces from people, ducking under bags and jumping over children and plants. At one point, he jumped onto a mall bench to move that way and make it onto an escalator.

"Woah", Fanny looked on at the boy in awe. All of his actions and movements were so surprisingly coordinated. She wasn't expecting that from a to left footed giant like that.

She eventually made it onto the escalator to find Patton, breezing past into a Rainbow Monkey store.

"Oh no", the teen's face turned to dread. No way could she be seen in THAT store. She was already taking some big hits, the risk was too big…But so was the risk of Patton ditching this plan completely. With a deep breath, Fanny ran into the store.

"RAINBOW MONKEYS RAINBOW MONKEYS"

And yup. Her rep would be toast there.

The store was still that same colorful cheery happy sugar-overdosed stuffed animal land that she remembered it. The theme song blaring into the speakers, children running everywhere cuddling onto the toys. Fanny quickly ducked into a monkey pile, to get away from the crowd, and any potential spotters.

…..Sigh. This was actually kinda nice, Fanny thought as the soft plush material surrounded her. And the scent of fruit and candles. This must be the new Super Smiley Soothing Scented Rainbow Monkeys her dad was talking about. A little much when they were all around her, but a small price to pay for surveillance.

"SONIA!"

Fanny turned under the pile, and pulled a Monkey out of her vision. And there was Patton, who seemed he just found his friend.

"Patton", Sonia looked up at him. Fanny scowled as the girl trembled upset. "B-But you said you were gonna be busy."

"I was, but I heard you were upset", Patton looked guilty. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to cancel-"

"But you DID", Sonia suddenly noticed his attire. "And what are you wearing?"

"WEll", Patton scratched his hoodie arm again. "I'm supposed to look cool-"

"You look uncomfortable", Sonia noticed, and took the hoodie off him. "...What's RAWG?"

"I have no idea", Patton slumped in defeat. "I'm supposed to look punk, but I really hate it. Everything's too itchy and too small, and I just…I don't want to look like a teenager."

Sonia looked concerned at her friend. "I feel like I'm pretending to be something I'm just not. Trying to look cool and be cool, but I'm just not cool. And I know that, but I'm not supposed to let other people know that. But, what's the point? Everybody knows that….Nobody's actually gonna think I'm cool."

Fanny looked a bit, and noticed more at how he looked. Smushed into clothes, and awkward (well more than usual), and insecure. Even though he had potential to NOT be. True, he definitely had some dorky habits, but there was some potential there. She was pretty sure most other teens couldn't weave through that crowd like that. It actually took her by surprise that he could even do that.

"Well, I think you're cool", Sonia finally said, confidently. "And who cares what teenagers think of you? Teenagers are just a bunch of jerks…besides you, of course."

Patton looked down at Sonia, as she reached into a Rainbow Monkey bag. It was really nice to have a friend like her. Her and Lee and Sonya….Maybe if they were teenagers, that would make him feel a bit more better.

"Here", Sonia interrupted his thinking, and gave him a Rainbow Monkey hoodie. A pink one, the same shade as his scarf. "It was supposed to be for your birthday, but I think you need it now."

Patton looked at it, and put it on. This one WAS much softer than the last one, and he felt more relieved and relaxed. "Thanks Sonia."

Fanny watched the 2 hug, conflicted. On one hand, this was so sappy it could top a stack of pancakes. Figures a kid would resolve things so cheesy. But on the other hand, Patton DID look more comfortable. A lot more comfortable than the stuff she gave him. And it was clear that as annoying as Sonia was, she was a person Patton trusted completely. The level of trust Fanny needed to get info out of him.

…Maybe this was gonna take a little longer than she thought.

"Mommy! I want this one!"

Fanny looked behind her, as a pair of small hands grabbed a Rainbow Monkey out of the pile. Of course, one of the ones at the very bottom.

And the Monkey Pile came tumbling down, exposing the Teen Ninja Leader's position to the rest of the store.

"...Boss?!"

Fanny looked out the store entrance, and saw Bartie and Virginia, who looked like they were trying to film some indoor stunt…But instead, were filming her in the store.

"What are you doing around RAINBOW MONKEYS", Virginia dared to smirk at her higher up's predicament.

"OK LOVSKY WE GOTTA GO", Fanny grabbed Patton by the arm, and dragged him out of the store, her face as red as her hair.

Sonia watched the duo leave, as Bartie and Virginia smirked at their new video. Since when did Patton know The Fan?!

Fanny ran into the car and panted heavily. That didn't happen. She wasn't filmed in that store. Bartie and Virginia clearly were just practiing and didn't start their video yet. Their hannel barely had 30 subs, nobody was gonna see it. No one was gonna notice. Nothing was gonna happen.

"The Fan?"

Fanny turned around to Patton, who didn't look as dazed.

"Yeah?"

"...I wanna go home", Patton finally said. "Sonia and I are gonna have out marathon for the rest of the day."

Fanny looked at him, this boy she was going through a LOT of work for. But she remembered the trust, she needed to just go with it.

"...Ok." Fanny groaned, and slumped into her seat. She pressed a button on her van, which showed a large holographic map of the city from their location. "Where is it?"

Patton looked in awe at the map. He had never seen anything like that in his mom's van before. How did The Fan's get so sophisticated? She figured her family must've known a good dealer. Finally, after looking he pointed off to a section. "Right there, on Shackleton Street."

"Shackleton", Fanny squinted at the map in disbelief. "But..but that's on the other side of town."

"Yeah", Patton looked at her.

"That's about 10 miles away from MY house", Fanny looked back at Patton agape. "...How did you get to my house?"

"I walked."

"You walked 10 MILES at 5 in the morning to my house?!"

Fanny looked aghast up at Patton, as his eyes darted back to the map. "HOW?"

"Uhh", Patton looked down at the ground, and back up again. "With my feet?"

Fanny inhaled, slowly, and then let out a loud sigh. She looked back at the windshield, her hands returning to the steering wheel. "...Let's just..call it a day and i'll take you home."

Shackleton's quiet street was suddenly interrupted with the loud deafening sound of rockets, as a black van landing on the street corner.

Fanny turned off the engine, and looked at Patton. "Right here work?"

"Yeah", Patton unbuckled and prepared to leave the car.

"Uh, Lovsky?"

Patton looked back at the smaller teenager.

"It um..", Fanny looked at her steering wheel. "I realized that I uh, might have pushed too far on your outfit and uh…you don't have to wear that if you don't want to."

Patton looked a little surprised at what he was hearing. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, uh", Fanny rubbed the back of her neck. "Your outfit's fine and uh…I'm…s…so…Look we just got off on the wrong foot today, so uh, maybe later we can start over on this whole friendship thing ok?"

"So…you still wanna be friends?"

"Yeah dude", Fanny took a deep breath, as she was about to have to suck it up and lie through her teeth. "You're totally cool exactly the way you are."

Fanny felt like she'd have to gargle her mouth with soap when she went back home.

"Awww The Fan", Patton's eyes welled as he leaned to hug Fanny in her seat. "I'd LOVE that!

"Ok easy there big guy", Fanny wiggled out of it. "I still have to drive home!"

"Oh right sorry", Patton let go and walked out onto the street. "I'll see you at school The Fan!"

"Yeah, at school", Fanny finger gun'd at the boy, before pulling up the window. It took a minute, and a quick stepback from Patton, before the van was up in the air again, shooting off into the sky.

After a few minutes, the black van landed again, approaching Fanny's driveway, settling nicely next to a SCAMPER in the garage.

Well it was nicely according to Fanny, who wouldn't have to deal with squeezing by the van to get to the SCAMPER's driver side.

"...He walked 10 miles in an hour", Fanny finally said out loud, to herself. "...He outran me in a mall…He hates soda..And he still wets his bed and likes Rainbow Monkeys."

Fanny took the keys out of the ignition, the van's lights turning off. The keys went into her jacket pockets, as she still sat in the seat.

It was so crazy. Last week, she didn't even notice he was there. And now here he was in her plan, slowly starting to live rent free in her head.

There was just something about him that was intriguing. He had such childish interests, he was like a kid in a teen's body. But he clearly was athletic, and didn't have the same soda addiction the other teenagers had. He definitely had the making for a great Teen Ninja on physicality alone.

But mentally…that was the bigger challenge.

Fanny opened the door and lept out of the van, heading inside the house to close the garage, having another small breakthrough about her next step on Monday.

"I need to know more about how his head works."

Yeah so like I said this is kinda all over the place. I had wanted this big action conflict, but then I realized I can't actually write god action scenes. Which for a KND fic is a little bit of a problem

That's also why here Rachel and Abby's involvement kinda didn't go anywhere and I apologize. But I hope it was at least still enjoyable.