MEANWHILE...
"Uh, yes, hello there, Paul, I'm fine, thank you," Prickly said, taking a phone call right now. "I-I love you too. I miss you a lot... we SHOULD try to become friends..."
"Uh, Principal Prickly?" TJ asked as he came to see his school principal.
"Huh? Oh, it's you, Detweiler. Just a second," Prickly then said once he saw the young boy. "Listen, I've gotta get back to doing what I was doing... okay, I'll see you later, Paul." he then said before hanging up.
"Was that your brother, Principal Prickly?" TJ asked out of surprise. "I thought you hated him."
"It's... it's nothing you need to worry about," Prickly dismissed. "Anyway, I was just, um, cleaning up the mess Phillium left."
"Listen, sir, I never really got a chance to thank you for all the stuff you did," TJ soon said to the adult man. "You know, quitting your golf game, telling Benedict to let me go, helping me save the world and junk."
"Oh, actually, Detweiler, I'm the one who should be thanking you." Prickly replied.
"Huh?" TJ blinked.
"You did me a big favor by dragging me into this mess," Prickly said as he thought back to what had happened, he even looked over to the leftover peace medallion. "See, I didn't get into teaching for the promotions or the pension plans, or so I could get to the golf course by 3:45. I did it 'cuz I wanted to help you kids. And I'd forgotten that. 'Til today."
Just then, there was a knock on the window.
Vince and the others were standing outside. "C'mon, Teej!"
"The pond awaits!" Spinelli added.
"I'll be out in a second!" TJ responded.
"Hey, it's a gorgeous summer day, and your pals are waiting," said Prickly. "Go have some fun while you can...Teej."
TJ smiled. Maybe Principal Prickly did understand after all. "You got it... Pete." he responded.
They shared a smile before TJ opened the window and headed off with his friends.
Prickly stared at his peace medallion before he put it on. "But don't forget: come September, you're mine!" he called out after TJ. "I haven't forgotten that 'saggy butt' comment!"
"Hey!" TJ responded. "September is a long way off!"
Prickly glared, though his face softened as he smiled warmly, feeling satisfied as TJ ran along with his friends.
And so, there was a big Kids Next Door victory party at the pond as everyone played games, ate some food, went swimming, or just talked and hung out to enjoy the rest of summer vacation while they still had the time.
"Well, you guys, we did it," Akito said as he was sitting with his siblings by the water. "We managed to help save summer vacation in our brand new adventure that needed our help."
"NOW JUST A PISTOL-PACKIN' MINUTE!" LJ remarked. "That couldn't be further from the truth!"
Suddenly, a record needle scratch was heard that interrupted the Calypso music.
"Yo! Sorry, mon! Saw a spider!" One Jamaican operative called out from behind the turntables, swatting his hand on one of the records playing the steel drum music.
"No worries, Numbuh 1-Love!" LJ called back before he looked back at his cousins. "Now, what was I saying?" he then asked himself.
"You said something about us not being truthful or something?" Estelle prompted him.
"Exactly!" LJ said. "I didn't ask for your help, you guys invited yourselves and forced yourselves into this!"
"You know we're always there to help you out." Vincent reminded him.
"Do YOU even really do anything besides hang out with this Jenny Foxworth girl?" Zofia commented as she sat with Lemony.
"I do other things!" Vincent defended. "I'm a painter!"
"And...?" Lemony prompted him.
"I have my own kitten who Oliver hangs out with." Vincent then added.
"...yeah," said LJ. "But keep in mind, I never actually invited you to help. You just decided to come and worm your way into things."
"Well, I had to do something when I saw Sector X sneaking off from wrestling camp with Spinelli and I thought that maybe Rikochet, Buena Girl, and The Flea would wanna help." Akito explained.
"Yeah, but this was mostly my adventure." said LJ.
"Sometimes things just don't have to involve you guys," Felicity said softly. "We know you wanna help and you mean well, but maybe give us a chance to shine in our own adventures too like when I first met Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos."
"Oh, yeah, what was that thing you said?" Zofia recalled. "Uncle Atticus talked Belle into sending invitations to visit Auradon Prep so Akito, Estelle, and Vincent could experience it too when it was mostly Felicity's destiny?"
"Yes, I was very unsure about the experience overall since your big sister used to be painfully shy around groups of people she didn't know and while it was nice to have them to help her out," Cherry replied. "It seems like she didn't have much of a chance to grow because Akito was thinking about the Fudo family connection to Sombra."
"Exactly," nodded LJ. "It was supposed to be her adventure, then you hijacked it and forced your plotline into it."
"Well, we're sorry, but-" Akito started to say.
"Oh, you're sorry, you're sorry, and you'll try to do better next time," Cherry interrupted and memorized. "I've heard a lifetime of that. Look, we're not asking for much, we're just asking for a little chance to show off what we can do too even without god-like strength or special ballet dancing, or... or..."
"King Sombra mentions?" Lionel guessed.
"Those too even if he somehow reformed in this universe." Cherry remarked.
"When was that again?" Zofia asked. "Something about them with the Clark siblings and finding an ancestor?"
"Yes, King Sombra teamed up with Rasputin and even tried to use Akito as leverage when they met Anastasia and I don't mean Cinderella's nicer step-sister who-" Cherry began to say. "Nah, I shouldn't say any more than that."
"No kidding," replied Lionel. "This is getting bewildering."
"We're all friends and family, we're trying to help each other." Atticus reminded Cherry and Lionel as he came by along with Mo.
"We know, but sometimes you just help even when it's none of your business and teams have their own levels of strength and skills and EVERYONE should get a chance," Cherry reminded him. "Drell told me about a time we were going to meet The Manhattan Clan's gargoyles after their reawakening and after we got them settled and adjusted, you just suddenly moved in especially with your never before established fandom for those guys from a show called The Pack and Wolf saw you as the son he never had."
"You said you wanted an adventure with gargoyles aside from Victor, Hugo, and Laverne." Atticus pointed out.
"That may be so, but it was just going to be a first meeting and we come back occasionally until Brooklyn suddenly got a girlfriend who was made just for him and eventually you forgot my birthday and were about to stab yourself with your crystal spikes because of that and then we ended up going home right after that." Cherry said to him.
"I don't have that in your scrapbook until that time we went there and there were also Mike Mazinsky and her island friends." Lionel remarked.
"Apparently it's a lost adventure until Mike, Lu, and Og got involved with the time we did it." Cherry tried to explain to him.
"Ah, right," Lionel responded.
"It's about as obnoxious as how Numbuh 5 makes fun of Numbuhs 2 and 4 liking the Yipper card game because it's supposedly for 'dorks and nerds'," said LJ. "I mean, COME ON!"
"Hey!" Abby ranted.
"Don't 'hey' me, you know what you did." LJ retorted.
"Yeah, Numbuh 5, that WAS pretty uncool of you." Wally had to admit.
"Yeah, I mean, we don't pick on YOUR favorite things." Hoagie added.
"Yeah, well, Numbuh 4 always makes fun of Numbuh 3 for liking Rainbow Monkeys!" Abby defended.
"Yeah, but that's just how he is," said LJ. "Besides, we all know he doesn't like Rainbow Monkeys, but it doesn't mean he dislikes her."
"Not that I like her like her or anything like that!" Wally quickly said and blushed. "She just owes me a quarter."
"How long are you gonna use that excuse?" Zofia asked him.
"Until after graduation?" Wally shrugged in response.
Zofia just rolled her eyes at that.
"Are you just acting out like this because you secretly wear glasses and don't want people to know?" Felicity asked Abby.
"Numbuh 5 don't wear glasses!" Abby defended, though her eyes darted around.
"In other words, don't throw stones if you live in glass houses," said LJ. "Which just means, take a long look at yourself before you go criticizing others. Anyways, back to the main issue of our cousins forcing themselves into stuff that didn't involve them."
"Can't we just have fun?" Akito asked. "We saved the day and we saved summer vacation for everyone."
"It'd be fine if you could just wait for people to ask for your help, man," LJ replied. "Otherwise, it just seems like you guys wanna do this to hog the glory."
"Don't you remember what happened with Jimmy Neutron on that game show in outer space?" Cherry prompted. "All of his friends had unique skills and talents they could all shine in as long as they would work like a team instead of Jimmy taking control of everything."
"And yeah, it took Jimmy a while to figure that out," said Lionel. "But he did realize it."
"I guess that's true, but we can't just stand around and do nothing." Akito said.
"Otherwise, it feels like we're not needed." Estelle added.
"And we understand that, but give others a chance is all we ask and maybe not just assume this is a problem that needs a superhero or super-powered strength or something?" Cherry remarked. "If you really wanna be friends and be helpful, it's like you guys just can't let Felicity have a chance to learn and grow for herself."
"Aye," nodded Lionel. "Sometimes it just helps to let people do stuff themselves, without the use of superpowers or a zillion other characters."
"I guess even being the world's best ace detective makes mistakes and misses some major clues." Atticus commented.
"Or the next Detective Fudo who's also a superhero like Superman solving mysteries." Akito added since that was what he wanted for himself.
"...yeah." everyone else shrugged.
Everyone then decided to go back to the party, enjoying what they could.
"So, uh, Kuki, where's your sister?" Kimberly asked the cheery girl of Sector V.
"Hmm..." Kuki paused to think. "I did see her when the bus dropped us off to Happy Camper Rainbow Monkey Summer Camp 24/7 Fun and Hugs!" she then started to say as she had a brief flashback.
A school bus pulled up to a very colorful camp that had the cursed theme song that every little girl knew and loved with balloons and giant Rainbow Monkeys everywhere.
"Oh, it's sooooooooo beautiful and cuddlyful!" Kuki beamed and gushed at the camp so far. "Mushi, come take a look!" she then called over to the distance where her little sister would be.
Two of the attendants wheeled Mushi off the bus, but the younger girl was bound in a Hannibal Lecter-style apparatus. Kuki giggled and wrapped her arm around her younger sister to hug her.
"Say 'Happy Camper Rainbow Monkey Summer'!" An adult man said to them as he brought out a giant camera.
"Happy Camper Rainbow Monkey Summer! Yaaay!" Kuki beamed and cheered as there was then a bright flash.
"#HappyCamperRainbowMonkeySummer!" The photograph said underneath it and it was soon posted to the camp's website for everyone to see.
Mushi grumbled and rolled her eyes as even she hated hashtags.
"But yeah, that's the last time I remember seeing Mushi." Kuki then said to Kimberly after the flashback concluded.
"Well... at least she's being kept under control." murmured Numbuh 2.
"Yeah, but chances are, we'll get to have some more of them." shrugged Vince.
"See?" LJ asked the Buxaplenty kids. "This is way better than just being by yourselves, y'know?"
"I guess you have a point," Queenie said, sitting in a lawn chair, wearing sunglasses and had a floppy hat on as she was surrounded by giant fans. "Man, it's so hot out here. Does Mother Nature not own an air conditioner?" she then complained.
"Sorry kiddo, but if you wanna get in touch with nature like Mother Nature or even Captain Planet, you're gonna have to do without a few things." Vincent advised.
"Like what?" Queenie asked.
"Well, for one..." Spinelli said before she unplugged all of the fans suddenly.
"Hey! I'm gonna get too warm!" Queenie complained.
"Oh, I'll cool you off." Spinelli smirked as she grabbed Queenie and was about to throw the spoiled rich girl into the pond.
"No! Stop!" Kingsley panicked. "My sister can only sustain sparkling bottled water!"
"Well, she's about to get a lesson in other water!" Spinelli retorted before chucking Queenie into the water suddenly.
"...what happened to 'easing them in'?" LJ asked dryly.
"Sometimes some kids need to get into it already." Spinelli shrugged.
"You're so fierce for a girl." Akito commented.
"You wanna make something of it?" Spinelli glared and shook her fist.
"No, I'm just saying." Akito defended.
"Is she always like this?" Estelle asked the Recess gang.
The others murmured and mostly agreed with that statement since Spinelli was often tough and brutal, even to her own friends.
Queenie soon poked out of the water and spat some out like a fountain.
"Miss Queenie, are you all right then?" Mr. Covington asked as he and Consuela rushed over to the heiress. "You know you don't like to swim!"
"Sister, dear, my only friend, please, speak to me!" Kingsley begged.
"Kingsley..." Queenie wheezed. "Closer..."
Kingsley knelt down over the bank and looked his sister in the eyes in concern.
Queenie gasped and wheezed, slowly reaching out and then grabbed his tie with a smirk. "Your turn." she then said before pulling him into the water after her and the twins splashed together, having fun for once.
"Well, at least they're adjusting nicely." said Lynn.
Queenie and Kingsley splashed and yelled at each other before having fun. Mr. Covington and Consuela looked at the kids and then to each other as they never saw this side of them before.
"See? They're gonna be just fine," Spinelli smirked before she suddenly got pushed into the lake next and coughed while spitting up water. "Hey! Who did that?!"
Kimberly just whistled innocently as she went over to visit Gordon, Waffle, Mr. Blik, Simon, and Katilda. Yeah... it was shaping up to be a great summer, no doubt about it. It was definitely going to be a summer to remember for many years to come, especially with help from the Kids Next Door, until the next adventure of course. Who knows what fifth grade will do to the Recess gang/Sector X? Well, I'm not telling you right now because there are plenty of other stories for you to check out in the old database.
The End!
Dedicated to the memories of
DABNEY COLEMAN (January 3rd, 1932 - May 16th, 2024)
MARTIN MULL (August 18th, 1943 - June 27th, 2024)
and
JASON DAVIS (October 14, 1984 – February 16, 2020)
