Author's Note: This story is a bit unusual for two reasons; Firstly, this is my first "Addendum", the format/sub-series introduced to Infinity Crisis by Movie-Brat. Secondly, this is an idea I had only fairly recently, due to the news of the passing of the creator of the show this story is based on. So while I am fully aware this isn't necessarily what people were waiting to see next from me, I hope you enjoy it. It isn't long, but I put a lot of thought into it. Here we go.
Earth-5282
The Suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
A teenage girl emerged from the back door of a large pink house with red shutters and stepped into the sunlight. She was African American and noticeably had vitiligo, including on parts of her face. Her dark hair was very shortly cut, giving her a tomboyish air. She wore a mostly black school uniform with a light orange and blue pinwheel-like insignia on the jacket over her heart.
"Hmmm hmmm," she hummed to herself as she stepped onto the grass. "Hmmm hmmm…"
It had been a fairly long time since Uniqua had stood in the backyard of her childhood home. It had been a fairly long time since she had been back in the neighborhood in general. She had always meant to come back to visit her parents and old friends ever since she started attending the Pinwheel Institute, but that had been easier said than done. Crumbling to dust and then returning in mere moments, however, had been more than enough to finally give Uniqua a reason to come back. She had arrived the previous night, enjoyed a nice dinner of Frogmore stew with her parents, and then afterwards spent the night in her old bedroom, which was just as pink as the spotted overalls she always wore when she was a little kid. Just as she left it. As she stood there in the grass that was warmed by the morning sunlight, the girl wondered what else had remained the same.
"Uniqua?" she heard a voice a short distance away.
She looked over at the mainly deep blue house that sat nearby, just past the orange one between it and hers. A guy had just walked up from behind the side of the house, carrying an empty recycling container, which he set down by the back steps.
"It is you!" he beamed.
He walked over to her part of the large, connected backyard. When he got closer, she saw he was a partially Hispanic white guy who was around her own age. He was short in stature, had a light brown buzz cut, and was dressed in faded yellow pajama bottoms and an oversized blue t-shirt with the logo of the video game and anime franchise 'Blue Penguin'. Even if it was strange to see him without his childhood bow ties and propeller hats, it wasn't hard for Uniqua to realize who he was.
"Pablo!" she smiled.
The two shared a friendly hug. He looked at her uniform for a moment, seeming confused until his eyes lit up.
"Oh right, the private school," Pablo remembered. "The others told me that you were staying there. Sorry I wasn't around to congratulate you on getting accepted."
"It's fine," Uniqua shrugged. "I…know you were going through a rough patch."
"Pablo wasn't the only one," a new voice commented.
The two looked over to see that the gate to the fence between Pablo's home and the yellow house next door had been opened. Through had come another person around their age. She was a strong chinned, pear shaped white girl with bright blond hair in a medium bouffant bob. She was dressed in an orange floral nightgown, as she hadn't gotten changed for the day yet. If she had, she most certainly would've been in her signature red Mary Janes.
"Good morning, Sasha," Pablo greeted her as she approached them. "You don't seem surprised that Uniqua is home."
"That's because I'm not surprised," Sasha flipped her hair with her hand. "I saw her arrive last night."
"You did?" Uniqua asked.
"I did," Sasha nodded. "I was having some tea in my dad's study upstairs and I saw you get out of that taxi. I would've come down to see you, but it was so late. I figured it'd be better to wait until morning."
"…What did you mean just then when you said Pablo wasn't the only one?" Uniqua asked her.
Sasha and Pablo exchanged a glance, the latter looking more nervous than the former. Uniqua raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing.
"Erm…Oh nothing!" Sasha grinned somewhat awkwardly. "What matters is that we're both so glad to see you, Uniqua!"
"Yeah," Pablo agreed. "Hey, does Tyrone know you're home yet?"
The three then heard an exaggerated forced cough and looked up to see someone poking out from one of the windows on the upper floor of the orange painted house and looking down at them. He was black and also around the same age as the others, but taller than them. His dyed orange hair was in a fade and he wore an unbuttoned red and blue striped sweater over a long sleeved shirt with two moose printed on it.
"He does now!" he called down to them, gesturing at himself. "I could hear you all the way from my bathroom. You're clearly not as quiet as you think. Gimme a minute and I'll be down."
Uniqua, Pablo, and Sasha walked over to the back of Tyrone's home and he came out from the back door shortly after. He ran up to Uniqua and lifted her up in a hug.
"I honestly am glad you're back," he set her back down. "Are you just visiting? Or…are you moving back home?"
Uniqua paused at that, as she honestly wasn't even sure herself. The look on her face made this very obvious to her childhood friends. Sasha rested her hand on Uniqua's upper arm and Pablo shook his head.
"Oh," Tyrone winced. "Sorry, Uniqua. I didn't mean to put you on the spot."
"It's…It's fine," Uniqua rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. I'm not even sure I fit in the best at the Institute. I'm learning a lot, but it feels strange there."
"It could be that you just left home too soon and you're missing it." Sasha suggested.
"I think that's part of it, but it's more than that," Uniqua looked at her. "It's not like Philly is that far away. It's something else, but I'm not sure what."
"Heh," Tyrone chuckled. "Maybe we could play a game where we're spies and solve the big mystery of the place."
"Dun dun dada Dun dun dada Dun dun…" Pablo sang.
Tyrone playfully pretended to punch Pablo's arm and the two smiled, as did the girls.
"Cute idea, boys, but we wouldn't want to get our friend here in trouble." Sasha teasingly admonished them.
"Good call, Sasha." Uniqua winked.
This all felt good. It felt right to Uniqua to be there in the backyard again with the old gang back together. Except that wasn't quite true, since there was one neighborhood friend from back in the day who wasn't there.
"…So…Have any of you talked to…Austin lately?" Uniqua asked.
Austin. The fifth member of their merry little troupe. Thinking back, he was the one who most regularly sat out on their make-believe adventures, but that was only because he had felt shy being the new kid in town. After he had come out of his shell, he became such a regular figure in their lives that their friend group would be incomplete without him.
"We talk every now and then when he isn't on the road with his band," Pablo answered. "But they've been playing more and more gigs out of state."
Sasha shuffled in place, but otherwise stayed silent.
"I never would've guessed that he'd be the one to make it big," Tyrone added. "We talk too sometimes and he insists he's hardly a star, but more and more people are hearing of Kangaroo With Purple every day. I'll be surprised if he has the time to check in with us anymore."
He then shot Sasha a look and she gulped. She wondered if Tyrone had picked up on what she was struggling to not blurt out. Uniqua and Pablo then looked at Sasha too, then at Tyrone, then back at Sasha.
"Umm…It's not like I'm in tune with the spirit world, guys," Pablo said. "What's going on here?"
Sasha suddenly took Uniqua's hands in hers.
"Oh fine, I can't take the secrecy anymore!" Sasha exclaimed. "After I saw you had come back home from the Institute last night, I…well…I called Austin and told him this was his chance to see you again! He could be here any minute, just for you, Uniqua!"
The others gasped. Sasha's tone alone told them everything they needed to know.
"Austin is gonna confess his feelings! He's gonna admit you broke his heart when you left!" Pablo threw his hands up in the air. "Don't panic! Nobody panic!"
Uniqua felt stunned that it barely registered that Pablo had started running around in a circle all up in a tizzy. Tyrone had to say his name three times to get him to calm down. Even though it had been practically ages since Pablo had done that, Tyrone had handled it the same way he had as a kid like it was yesterday.
"I…I broke Austin's heart? What?" Uniqua sat down on the grass next to Sasha. "I don't understand, Sasha."
"It's not quite as dramatic as Pablo made it sound, sweetie," Sasha knelt down and caressed her arm. "But…well, when you started staying at the school's dorm instead of commuting, Austin took it the hardest out of all of us. He shut us out for a time, and that's when he formed his band."
Uniqua had been made privy to the existence of Austin's band. She thought back to a day in the Pinwheel Institute's dining hall when some of the other students had been watching a livestream of a music festival that the group had managed to get invited to. Uniqua had been shocked to see Austin of all people up on a stage acting as the frontman, singing and dancing for a crowd in the hundreds. And her peers had been equally shocked that she knew him. The lyrics she had heard came back to her, and sounded much different with this new context.
"So that song of theirs about getting left high and dry…is about me?!" Uniqua could hardly believe what she was suggesting. "But Austin and I were never…y'know, we were never a thing! If anything I thought he liked…"
Tyrone walked over and touched her shoulder. Pablo stood next to him.
"We shouldn't jump to conclusions. It may not be like that at all." Tyrone stated.
"I'm sorry for putting an idea like that in your head," Pablo said, clearly feeling bad about it. "We should be happy Sasha called Austin. It would be great to all be together again."
"Yes, like not-so-old times," Tyrone helped Uniqua up to her feet. "Now why is it that you're wearing your school uniform this morning? Force of habit?"
Before Uniqua could answer, a cellphone began to ring from somewhere on Sasha's person. The song used for the ringtone was a rather unexpected choice to say the least, especially because it sounded like it was a younger Sasha and Austin singing it together;
Well I saw the thing comin' out of the sky
It had the one long horn, one big eye
I commenced to shakin' and I said "ooh-eee"
It looks like a purple people eater to me
It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
One-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
A one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
Sure looks strange to me!
Sasha pulled out her cellphone, which had a yellow case with a sticker of a hippo on it. She looked at her three friends looking at her oddly.
"When did you guys ever sing that?" Uniqua questioned.
"Yeah, I like to think I'd remember it." Pablo added.
"And why do you have your phone even though you aren't dressed yet?" Tyrone asked.
"If you must know, we did it while none of you were around to play and my mom recorded us," Sasha explained. "Don't look so shocked. You three played without either of us sometimes. As for why I have it, I simply didn't want to miss Austin if he called."
With that being said, Sasha answered the phone. It was a video call, and it was indeed Austin. The others crowded behind her so they could all say hello.
"Hey." Austin said on his end.
Austin was an Indigenous American with slicked back, medium length black hair and big brown eyes. He appeared to have just taken a shower, as he was a plush purple bathrobe decorated with a print of stylized kangaroo silhouettes. He was sitting at the small table in his band's motorhome, and appeared to be calling from his laptop, as he was applying glittery purple polish to his fingernails. There was more purple makeup of his on the table next to his bottle of nail polish, such as eyeliner and lipstick.
"Hi!" the four greeted him back in unison.
"I sure didn't expect the whole gang to answer at once," he smiled. "Not surprised you're there, Uniqua. Sasha told me you were back in the neighborhood."
Pablo gulped and Tyrone shot him a look. Uniqua ignored the two as best as she could and she took hold of Sasha's free hand, which was naturally out of frame.
"Yeah, she just told us you're on your way back home," Uniqua said. "It'll be good to see you."
"Yes, and then we can catch up over brunch! My father is making his signature quiche," Sasha beamed. "Were you calling to tell us you'll be home soon?"
Austin's face fell, but he didn't look entirely sad. More like he didn't want to disappoint anyone.
"So…about that," he put down his makeup brush and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know I said I'd be back in town but…after you called, we got an offer for a gig. Probably the biggest one we've gotten so far."
The four were all surprised by their friend's news, but all looked excited for the opportunity he was getting.
"That's awesome!" Tyrone gave him a thumbs up. "Where at?"
"Not far, I hope," Sasha said. "That way you can get back bef—"
"It's in LA," Austin confirmed. "Yes, as in Los Angeles. I know it's super far, but it'll be our first show where we aren't just an opening act. We just couldn't say no. I hope you understand."
Uniqua, Pablo, Tyrone, and Sasha hid their disappointment as best as they could. They didn't have to exchange a word to know that it would just make Austin feel bad before what sounded like his big break. They all hoped it would go well for him and his band, though mostly him as none of them were well acquainted with his bandmates.
"Of course we do!" Pablo exclaimed for everyone. "I just know you guys'll rock the house and make a huge splash! You'll be on fire and blow them away!"
The others all murmured in agreement.
"Thanks, everyone," Austin blushed. "But I really hope we—"
"Hey, babe!" a girl could be heard yelling to Austin from across the motorhome. "I know you're on the phone, but we're trying to decide where to stop to eat!"
The group then saw her partially come into frame. They saw that she had tan skin and that she was wearing a striped yellow romper, but couldn't see her face from the angle she was standing at. Austin held up a finger to indicate that it'd only take a minute and got up from his laptop to talk to her. All his friends could see was part of his back.
"Sorry, but the others are hounding me to see what you feel like," she could be heard saying. "They're all like 'He's your boyfriend, not mine'."
"I'm good with whatever you decide on, Monika," Austin could be heard answering. "You're as good at making the final call as you are at playing those drums."
"…Well, that's not the worst attempt at smooth talk I've heard." the four saw this 'Monika' girl drape her arm over Austin's shoulder and play with a strand of his hair.
After she pulled away, Austin sat back down. All they could see of Monika before she left was a brief flash of the end of dark brown ponytail."
"Sorry about that," he said. "So, yeah, we're on our way to LA. But after that, I'll be coming to see my parents, so you'll most likely see me then."
The group all wished Austin good luck and waved goodbye before ending the call, with Sasha slipping her phone back into her pocket.
"So…" Uniqua glared at Pablo. "He has a girlfriend."
"Way to freak out and make her worry over nothing," Tyrone joined in, his arms crossed. "Clearly he can't be that hung up on Uniqua."
"In my defense, I had no idea!" Pablo held up his hands defensively.
"Obviously," Tyrone shook his head. "To be fair, neither did I. I don't even know who that girl is."
"Monika Meanswell," Sasha sighed. "She's the band's drummer. She's like a fine tuned machine when it comes to the drums. It never occurred to me that she'd ever make a move on Austin, though I suppose I don't know her that well," she bit her lip a little. "I honestly had her pegged as a le—"
"Anyway, I am sorry," Pablo interrupted. "I went and spoiled our little reunion by getting you worried, Uniqua. Unlike Robin Hood, I was way off the mark."
"Heh. Heheh," Uniqua started to chuckle. "Not sure I remember that one that great, but I think Austin played the villain that time."
Just like that, things went right back to feeling good. Uniqua, Pablo, Tyrone, and Sasha all sat down on the back porch of Tyrone's home and reminisced about the fanciful stories and songs and dances they had come up with together in that big backyard. While it was true that it felt a bit incomplete without Austin there, it felt like they were all where they belonged nonetheless. After a while, Sasha invited her friends to come over to her place to try the quiche she had mentioned earlier. The group naturally all accepted and they followed her through the door in the fence.
"It's good to be home." Uniqua smiled.
The four went into Sasha's house through the back door, all happily unaware that they had been watched the entire time by the large glowing eye of an only vaguely humanoid robot that was hovering far above behind a cloud, which obscured most of its appearance except for some patches up muddy bronze tinted green.
"Intel-Drone 2405," an oddly accented, nasally voice could be heard coming from it.
The alien machine responded in fuzzy sounding beeps.
"We have concluded that our target is not in this sector. Proceed to the next sector," the voice commanded it. "Remember the importance of your mission; The target is why we plan to invade this world at all. She is the key."
Back when The Backyardigans first aired, I was a slightly over the intended age range of the show. But it was still a fun program with enjoyable music and a nice sense of humor. Even if it didn't impact me as much as it may have impacted others, I still wanted to do something to honor the show in some way after news broke of the passing of its creator, Janice Burgess, whom I learned was quite the accomplished woman and an inspiration to many. That's why I decided to integrate the cast of the show into Earth-5282. It just felt like the natural course to take, given that it was a Nick Jr. cartoon.
Some Notes:
- Uniqua's mysterious boarding school known as the Pinwheel Institute is named after the the very first Nickelodeon program to ever air, the preschooler show Pinwheel. The colors of the school's logo are taken from the colors of the logos for Nick Jr.
- So...umm...Yeah, they're humans in this universe. My thinking was that this would make them fit in better with the established setting and that as kids they often pretended to animals. This change isn't universal for talking animals from Nick Jr shows on Earth-5282, of course, but that's the decision I made in this case and I'm sticking with it. I did make it a point to associate them with their respective animals with their clothes and accessories though.
- I decided on Uniqua being a black girl with vitiligo because that seems to be a popular choice for Backyardigans fan art that depicts the characters as humans. I went with my own interpretation for the rest of the gang.
- The characters living in Pittsburgh is a reference to their creator's own background, as she apparently grew up in a suburban neighborhood of the city.
- Pablo's "Blue Penguin" shirt is a reference to the video game/anime Blue Dragon, which featured character designs by the legendary Akira Toriyama, who also passed away this year. This connection is inspired by a piece of fan art featuring Pablo and a young Goku playing together, as a tribute to both Toriyama and to Burgess. I was originally going to go with "Penguin Ball", but given that Pablo was literally a blue penguin in the show, I'm sure you can understand why I went with a Blue Dragon shout out instead.
- Speaking of which, if a couple of Pablo's lines vaguely made you think of Avatar: The Last Airbender, that was 100% intentional, as Pablo's first voice actor was Zach Tyler Eisen, AKA the voice of none other than Aang himself.
- Austin's girlfriend/bandmate Monika Meanswell is intended to be a relative of Stephanie Splitz from LazyTown, through her uncle Mayor Meanswell's side of the family. LazyTown was previously confirmed to be a part of Earth-5282 in the two anonymously posted Archive of Our Own one-shots that expanded on the setting.
Dedicated to the memory of Janice Burgess (1952-2024)