The week was blowing by in a flash, with planning for the festival in full gear. Thanks to the Sanchez' solidifying the new theme park as the location, everything else slowly fell into place. The news spread throughout the city like wildfire, boosting the park's popularity tenfold. The castle was just as hectic, with the family not having a lot of free time as they did everything they could to help castle staff prepare.
But during one distinct shopping trip for supplies, Merida vanished randomly at one point and reappeared again after an hour. Katania was the only one who noticed, but didn't press when she saw how… secretive the princess was being. So Kat let her be.
But a day later, Merida was still being super secretive, rarely being seen outside her room. Katania was growing more concerned, and as the time became closer for the whole group to head to the festival with some extra guests, she had yet to leave her room. So Kat gained a determined look and left for the princess' room, ready to get to the bottom of this.
Inside her room, Merida was staring at her reflection in her vanity mirror. She was dressed and ready for the festival, but was stuck. She was stuck because she was playing with the thing she bought yesterday in her hand. Something that was crazy special to her, something she's wanted to do for a while. But now she was getting cold feet.
"It's okay, Merida…" The princess said to herself, pacing around the room. "You just wait till you get a chance, and ask her. You ask her, and you;ll both be happy…" She stood completely still, before crumbling. "Oh who am I kidding? This is too crazy even for her. For me. For anyone is this goddamned family!"
The princess now was storming around her room, fuming so much she didn't realise Kat was walking in, a look of worry twisting her face. The general's daughter walked more into the room, watching the princess fumed and rant.
"Merida?"
Hearing Kat's voice made the princess freeze, then spin around to face her friend like a deer in headlights. "Kat! H-Hey…" She looked around a bit frantically. "H-How come you're here?"
"Well… We're going to get going soon. Ruby and Iris are just waiting for the rest of their friends from Gloomsville to arrive, and we're gonna go…"
"Ah, okay, cool! I'll join you guys soon-" The archer shut up the moment she noticed Katania was staring at something with wide eyes. In terror, the princess slowly looked over to the vanity and saw how she left the thing she bought there.
The princess was frozen as Kat walked over to it and picked it up, opening it to reveal what it really was.
Inside the plush royal blue case, resting comfortably in golden fabric, was a ring.
Katania's gaze snapped to the princess in complete shock. "M-Merida… A-Are you going…"
Caught in a corner, Merida didn't fight. "Y-Yeah… Iz means a lot to me… S-So I thought…" The princess started to get tears in her eyes, and she fell to the floor, burying her face in the blanket. "But I'm scared! I'm scared this will make everything fall apart!"
"Woah woah woah, Merida, no…" Kat set the ring case down and knelt beside her friend, rubbing reassuring circles on her back. "Nothing will fall apart. We're all here for each other, remember?"
"B-But me and Iz are from different worlds!" Merida faced her friend, tears already staining her cheeks. "My mum and dad don't even know she exists! What I want to do completely goes against everything this whole blasted world stands for…"
"Okay, hang on… Let's back up." Kat repositioned the two of them so they were sitting on the floor, facing each other. "Where did this start?"
Merida sniffed harshly and took a deep breath. "The day you set up our date. When we were driving back, Iz was drunk as hell and said how she would marry me. I was… shocked, but not surprised. But after that… the idea wouldn't leave. It kept getting louder and louder till we were at the mall… and I saw there was a jeweller…"
"And you bought a ring because you want to propose to Izzy during the festival?"
Merida nodded, head frozen towards the floor. She said nothing as tears kept silently falling, landing in her lap and staining her face even more. Her eyes were fragile and red, and her body shook while she held in sobs.
Kat gave her friend a heartbroken look, then lifted her chin so they were seeing eye to eye again. "Merry, listen to me. Izzy loved you like crazy, and she would for certain say yes. And as for 'What this whole blasted world stands for'…", that made the princess chuckle, "It's not a big deal! Heck, Gladdy told me stories about how a lot of a lot of the old council members were definitely in relationships with each other. And Rainbow encouraged it! So you know she supports you too. And if this would've been an issue, all of us would've stopped you and Izzy from dating outright!"
Merida blinked, her tears calming down a bit. "You… You mean that, Kat?"
"I completely mean it, Merry. I would never lie to you, or anyone. And this will stay secret with me, I promise."
The princess swallowed and stood up, nodding as she wobbled on uneasy footing. "Thanks… Kat. Really, this means a lot… to me…"
Kat gave her friend, her sister, a sad smile before hugging her. "Don't mention it, Merry." She pulled back, smiling more brightly. "Now you get cleaned up, and bring that ring. You deserve to take the next step."
The princess nodded and headed into her personal bathroom, with the general's daughter walking out of the bedroom and closing the door behind her. Just as she did, Caleb walked up to her. He was flanked by Gladius and his squad of critters, Purdy perched on his head and the unhatched Tornadus egg strapped to his chest. This was something he wanted everyone to feel included in.
"Is everything okay with Merida, Kat?" He asked in concern.
"Yeah, everything is okay. She just needed help doing something before we got going."
"Okay. Hopefully she doesn't take long, the Gloomsville gang are here, so we're all heading to the limo out front."
"Ah, you don't need to get your pants in a twist…" Merida said as she walked out, a bag on her. "I'm here…" She walked down the hall, leaving the permanent castle residents behind. Caleb shared a look with Kat, his hand motioning to refer to Merida's faintly tear stained face.
Kat simply mouthed the word "Later" and followed after the princess. Caleb hummed in worry and headed after them, Gladius by his side and the critters all right behind. heading down the hall, Caleb and Gladius caught up with the third member of their trio and walked in comfortable silence, passing by the mid afternoon light window. The whole city was buzzing with activity as people from all over were heading towards Crazy Core for the festival.
All the way there, Kat kept her look of worry locked onto Merida. As they entered the castle foyer, she was put more at ease as Izzy came clamouring over and pulling the princess out the door. Noah looked over at Kat, showing he did catch the faded tear stains, but didn't remark on it.
Outside, everyone was chatting and excited to spend the festival together at the base of the front steps. Baby and NightBon's arms were locked as they talked with Amy and Rory; Vanellope and Hilda were running around as Twig chased them; Ruby and Iris were giving their friends the rundown of the Capital; Alfur was scribbling in his notebook as he rested on The Doctor's shoulder, who was talking with Zomboss about science stuff; Warlord, Pryo and Viper were with Vec as they did a last rundown over everything.
Caleb and Kat smiled at the scene, sharing a looked with Gladius. He silently nodded happily in response, and they headed down the steps to join up with the others. Merida and Kat locked eyes for a moment, and Kat simply nodded. Merida blinked twice, then turned her attention back to Team E-Scope.
Kat smiled brighter, while Caleb cocked an eyebrow in confusion. He knew something was happening, but he hated how he didn't know what it was. It made him really scared, but he thankfully buried it as their transport came driving up.
It wasn't like the usual limo they got, no. This was some sort of triple deck limo that was longer. It was bizarre to see, so much so that most of the group started to laugh at the vehicle's ridiculous appearance.
"That's our ride?" Flowey chortled from atop Barranco's head. "That's gotta be the dumbest looking limo I've ever seen!"
"This place has an out there sense of design, huh?" Jenny giggled.
"It is unique, I'll give it that", Dry Bowser grumbled as he crossed his arms.
"Now I've seen everything…" Majima said in a pretty flat voice. He suddenly gained his classic smile as the limo parked before them. "Dibs on a window seat!"
"No fair, Majima!" Eva roared as she marched into the limo after him. "You know that's not how it works!"
"Nothing ever changes, huh?" Steve said with a sigh, a happy glint showing in his eyes. "Man I love you guys…" He stepped inside, and slowly but surely everyone else followed suit. Caleb, Kat and Gladius hung back so everyone could get in before them, which was the perfect time for the boy to strike.
"What's going on with Merida?" He asked. "It's not like her to just burst into tears without something to cause it."
Kat cringed as she contemplated telling him, but she finally relented. "You drove Merry and Iz on their date. And you picked them up. You heard what they were talking about…"
Instantly, Caleb baulked. "Merida… She's going to do it?" Kat nodded, and the boy clutched where his heart was. "Holy shit, it's actually happening… Okay, yeah, we'll give them space. Don't come off as suspicious."
The girl nodded, and they boarded the limo last. Gladius was busy putting the pieces together in his head, before it all clicked. He gasped, looked to the window he could vaguely see Merida and Izzy's silhouettes, and took a deep breath. This festival was going to be one to remember, he just knew it.
As soon as he Shook of the shock and entered the super limo, they were off…
~X~
Crazy Core was bursting with excitement and activity as all the decoration set up started to pay off. Banners, lights, and signs hung from lampposts, walls, fences and even some attractions as the Summer Nights festival was in full swing. At the heart of a lot of the activity was the mismatched family from the castle, who split up the moment they arrived to do their own things.
Izzy dragged Team E-Scope to some of the wilder roller coasters, the Ponds and kids followed the Robots to the laser tag arena, Ralph headed off somewhere random that no one knew the reason to why, Ruby and Iris took their friends elsewhere, Corey lead his band to the stage, and the critters all headed towards the petting zoo.
This left Caleb, Kat and Gladius with Maple, Z-Tron, Purdy and the egg.
"Looks like it's just us, guys", Caleb said with a shrug before facing his friends. "Want to just go for a walk? See the sights of our hard work?"
"That sounds like a lovely idea, Caleb", Gladius said politely. "Grojband's performance isn't for two-ish hours, so let's see how well things turned out."
Katania nodded and followed her friends, but was noticeably slower than she usually was. "Kat, I know you're worried about Merida", Caleb said reassuringly. "But wanting to go and spy on her and stuff will just stress her out more. Let her figure this out on her own."
"I know, I know…" She sped up so she was in line with the bespectacled boy. "I just don't want her breaking down, that's all. She was so freaked out earlier that she was breaking just… existence as a whole by even wanting this."
"Rainbow never had a rule against that", Gladius explained. "She knew love was a natural feeling, and when she saw Loki and Bastet going on dates, she knew it was best to let love flow. If she blocked it, it would spell more doom than letting it run free."
"She even talked to me not long after Izzy and Merida got together", Caleb added. "She said that I didn't need to worry about it, because she supported them no matter what. So the fact my mom is with them should be relaxing enough."
"It is to me, but I'm not the one trying to propose…" Katania said with a frown. "Merida needs a serious pep talk, but so far we don't even know where she went."
"Again, let her figure it out herself. She's in her element, Kat. With Izzy and the rest of E-Scope with her, that confidence will skyrocket! And hey, maybe she'll propose when we're all on our platform to watch the fireworks? You never know."
Kat blinked absentmindedly, then nodded slowly. They continued along their walk, talking about other things as they went. As they walked, however, they stopped by one of the stands which was being run by two familiar faces.
"Spamley! Gord!" Caleb said happily, running over to the stall. The green internet denizen Perked up and looked over, beaming as the group came over.
"Caleb! Kat! Pleasure running into the two of you here!" The sleazy pawn shop owner said with a smile. Gord, who was stocking the shelf behind the counter, turned around and waved happily. "Although I shouldn't be surprised!" He looked up at Gladius, and tipped his hat, earning a bow from the blade in response.
"I'm more surprised you're here, Spamley", the bespectacled boy said happily. "How come you've got a stall here?"
"Well, I just thought that since this festival is so big, why not advertise my services! That way I can rake in the cash!"
"So you opened a mini pawn shop?" Katania said curiously as she looked over the shelf. "Unorthodox, but smart."
"Thanks. So, how have you kids been?" Spamley leaned against the counter, petting Purdy as she hopped in front of him.
"Eh, it's been fine", Caleb said with a shrug. "Was mainly just planning for this whole thing, so we didn't do much else. What about you?"
"Oh, you know, just making it by. Living here has been so much nicer, though! No Ad Blockers shoving me to the ground, no kids who accidentally click on my site and dip, no potential viruses. And people actually like me!"
Caleb nodded with a sad smile, only to just now notice the internet denizen wearing a vest. And he gained a smirk because of it. "Where'd you get that new vest, Spamley? Because it looks a lot like one Ralph bough a few months back~"
The con-man blushed and looked down at his vest, tipping his hat in embarrassment. "Ah, kid, it… I-It was just a gift from him…"
"Oh yeah, definitely a gift~" Caleb said with a laugh, which made Gladius chuckle and Katania giggle. "You know I'm just teasing ya', Spam. If this means we get to see you more often, I'm all for it!"
"I want to know who kissed who first", Kat said cheekily. That made Spamley's face explode in a dark green blush, and he fully hid his face behind his hat. Gord reached up and pat his back reassuringly as Kat egged the con-man on about details.
As they stood around and talked, the egg strapped to Caleb's chest wiggled around a bit, clearly staying it wanted to get moving. So Caleb, Kat and Gladius waved goodbye to a flustered Spamley and silent Gord, but the boy stopped and turned around suddenly when he remembered something.
"Oh yeah! Spamley, when it gets closer for the fireworks, come over to the centrepiece of the park. We have a raised platform just for us to watch the show With us."
"You got it, kid!" Spamley responded, getting some of his energy back from the earlier embarrassment. With that, the trio and their little friends left to check out elsewhere in the park, no one place really set in mind.
As they walked, they talked about a variety of things, but Kat still had this aura of uncertainty around her. But she buried it deep down, for her own sake and Merida's.
They walked past Scrap Baby and her group, who were all sitting at a large outdoor table for one of the cafes. Baby and NightBon's hands were intertwined as Marco and Majima talked with Molten about random things.
"Are you guys excited for Corey's song?" Star asked excitedly. "Because I am!"
"I'm curious to see what he had been planning for the past month…" NightBon said inquisitively. "He's been more secretive about it than usual."
"I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say it's passible", Baby said flatly. Although there was the hint of a smile in her voice.
"Cold, Baby", Lefty chided. "Our friends have been practising this for forever, and that's the best you have to say?"
"You know I'm only joking, Lefty. Don't get your gears in a twist…"
"Well I know it'll be amazing", Star said with a defiant pout directed at the clawed animatronic. "I got to see some of Grojband's practices live, and it was amazing. If I could, I'd pick them for my song day."
Baby hummed, then looked over at Star in confusion. "By the way, Star… Where's Tom? You said he'd be joining us tonight."
"He is coming, just running a bit late-" The Mewman was cut off when a pillar of fire suddenly erupted from the ground next to them, and those at the table looked over as a boy about Star's age emerged from the flames. He had pale purple skin, spiked pale red hair, horns, and three eyes, and smiled at Star happily.
"Tommy!" Star squealed. She jumped up and dashed over to the demon, hugging him so tightly that the others swore they heard a bone crack.
"Ack, Star!" Tom squeaked out. When he was freed, he took a deep breath, and smiled at his girlfriend. "I told you I was gonna show up. I just needed to do something first."
"And what would've that been, Peepers?" Majima joked with a smirk.
The demon prince regarded the yakuza with a flat, irritated look before giving Star a smile again. "This." He waved his hand around, and from a burst of blue flame came a very fancy looking necklace, with a red gem on the pendant. "This is a blood diamond necklace I had specially made just for you."
Star's eyes sparkled as she took the necklace and put it on, looking down at it with teary eyes. "Tom, it's beautiful… Thank you!" The Mewman princess kissed him as thanks, making Majima groan and everyone else smirk. Mainly at the yakuza's inconvenience.
"So, what kind of story did you spin to slip away this time, Tom?" Marco asked as he and the demon shared a fist bump.
Tom sat down between Star and Marco, and shrugged. "Surprisingly, nothing crazy. It was kinda an off day for my family, so I was able to slip away and 'do my own thing' without them caring all that much."
"That's good", Lefty whispered. "Do they know you and Star got back together?"
"Not yet. After the whole Blood Moon thing, I felt it would've confused them way too much if I went 'Oh yeah, by the way, even after all that Star and I got back together!' They would've thought I did some sort of demon magic on her or something."
"That would've had a lot of… really bad consequences…" Star said in dread, looking terrified at the implication. She then shook her head. "Luckily that's not what happened, and things are all good! So, Tom, are you excited for Corey's performance later?"
The demon looked thoughtful for a moment as he snagged a breadstick from the basket on the table. "More curious, just to see what he's been cooking up."
"You and me both, Tommy!" Molten said excitedly as he appeared suddenly between the young couple. The wire amalgam then straightened up and looked over the whole table, pulling out a notepad. "I'm gonna go and order our food now that our plus one is here, who wants what?"
Everyone started lobbing out their orders, with the wire amalgam working fast to get it all written down. When it was all on paper, Molten slithered off towards the cafe to get their orders in, leaving those at the table to continue their earlier conversations.
Across the road from the cafe, exploring a gift shop, was the Gloomsville gang. They were taking to the customs of the Capital well, and Ruby herself was particularly happy. And best of all, Misery didn'T have a torrent of bad luck following in her wake. It was mostly just her personal thundercloud.
As Ruby wandered the isles, she bumped into Frank and Len as they looked over some vinyl records. "Hey guys! Find something that caught your eye?"
"Just looking over all this music!" Len said in excitement. "If we knew this place had all of this, we would've begged you to let us visit sooner!"
"I agree", Frank said with a nod. "Is there ever a musical festival here, Ruby?"
"Yes! I'll be sure to sign you two and Scaredy up for it next time it pops up." The ragdoll girl left the conjoined brothers to their own devices, exploring more of the store. Misery and Poe were together checking out a set of pretty fancy and durable umbrellas that used rubber to disperse electric charges.
As she headed deeper into the shop, she passed by Scardey and Boo Boo, who were both helping Venus pick out some accessories to wear before eventually finding Iris and Skullboy at the back of the store. They were simply browsing what there was, not seemingly all that intent on buying anything.
As Ruby silently joined them, her heart twisted a bit.
"So, what you thought of all of this so far, Skullboy?" Ruby asked her friend with a light smile, trying to hide her bubbling feelings.
"It's been amazing, Ruby!" he responded with a smile. "Iris was been telling me everything that you guys have been up to, and I'm not gonna hide the fact I'm a bit jealous."
"Awwww, don't worry Skullboy. Starting now, you and all the others will be more included in all of this. I'll just need to talk to Virus to make phones for all of you."
"Oooooooo, I can just imagine the crazy gadgets you, Zomboss and The Doc will build together", Iris said in giddy excitement. "If you guys are able to make something for Squig, I'd be so happy!" The skeleton blushed, looking a bit sheepish.
Ruby giggled and looked between both her friends, her heart twisting even more. Her smile fell as she looked around to make sure it was just the three of them, and then looked back. "Guys, while we're alone… I need to talk to you about something…"
The skeleton and cyclops looked at their friend in concern. "What's wrong, Ruby?" Skullboy asked.
"See… I…" She hesitated for a moment. "I talked with some of the others a bit back, and it turns out I'm Bi!"
The other two shared a look, then faced her again. "I'm proud you figured that out for yourself, Ruby!" Iris said happily. "When'd you figure it out?"
"When my crushes for both of you flared up…" The ragdoll girl ducked her head a bit as her two friends gained gobsmacked expressions.
"You have crushes… on both of us?" Skullboy asked in disbelief, fully turning to his friend.
"The one I had for you has been with me for a long time, but I got a crush on Iris since we started hanging out here more", Ruby gestured to just the general space. "And it really sparked when I saw Merida and Izzy together. So I just… I just needed to tell you guys. But now I'm stuck because I don't want to just pick one of you…"
She looked down in shame, with Skullboy and Iris sharing a look. They seemed stumped at how to take this, only for Iris' eye to sparkle. "You could pick us both!"
Ruby and Skullboy gave her a confused look. "Huh?"
"Okay, here…" She stood between them, beaming like the sun. "I decided to talk to Rainbow one day about sexualities and such, and she told me that people can actually be in a relationship called a 'Poly'."
"What's that, Iris?" The skeleton asked.
"It's basically what we could do!" She took both Ruby and Skullboy's hands in her own, smiling at them lovingly. "We can all be together in a relationship, and it'd be totally normal! So what do you say?"
Ruby's eyes widened as her heart started to beat faster, and she looked over at Skullboy in excitement. The skeleton looked the same, seemingly all for this idea. With a squeal, Ruby pulled both of her now partners into a hug and started planting kisses on their cheeks, her heart exploding in joy.
From around a corner, the rest of the Gloomsville gang were watching the whole exchange happen with beaming smiles. Even Misery was smiling happily. Frank and Len shared a fist bump, and Poe took out a camera and took a picture, the flash making them all freeze.
The poly looked over in shock, their faces burning bright red as they took in the audience's reaction, knowing this was going to take some getting used to. But for now, they'd celebrate this festival. Together.
~X~
As the setting sun began to make the sky glow a warm orange, the few clouds there were adding to the beauty of it all, Corey and his band were busy doing some last minute preparations before their performance.
"So, we got everything we need rigged up, right?" Laney asked Kin.
"It should be", the keyboardist responded as he looked over a special effects trigger board. "It took a while, but Zomboss' help did make this go by a lot smoother. If everything is rigged up properly, certain effects should only trigger at certain lyrics."
"You guys always impress me with how clever you are with making our shows as rockin' as ever!" Corey cheered as he flashed a rock sign with his hand.
"I just hope we don't disappoint everyone…" Kon said as he sat down at his drum set. He glanced at the curtain that shielded them from the public. "Our first time performing in the Capital…"
"It'll be alright, dudes!" Corey said with infectious enthusiasm. "If we just stay focused and do what we always do, then there's nothing to worry about!"
"Honestly, I'm with Kon, Core", Laney said with a hesitant look, Kon nodding alongside her. "This isn't like Peaceville. Who knows how the Capital would react." She sighed. "It's times like this I wish Kate and Allie were here…"
"Just stay calm guys. We put so much work into this That is we get cold feet now, we'll never improve!" Corey cleared his throat. "I picked that up from Manolo and his lessons. Just… Be yourselves, okay?"
The rest of the band shared looks, but then nodded hesitantly before resuming their last minute set up. Corey breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed significantly, heading over to the curtain. He barely opened it and peeked out, seeing the massive crowd that was forming in Crazy Core's amphitheatre. Right at the front row, either sitting or standing, was the rest of Corey's chaotic family.
Caleb was busy adjusting the egg that was still strapped to his chest, while the others were all talking amongst themselves. Gladius was looking towards the stage, and nodded at the guitarist reassuringly, silently answering all of Corey's unspoken questions. Corey smiled back and took a deep breath. He walked into position, sharing nods with his band mates, and they all positioned themselves.
The curtains parted, and the crowd roared as Corey took the microphone. "Hey there, Capital! Hope you're having an amazing festival so far!" The cheering became louder. "Awesome to hear! So I hope you're ready to hear us rock out and add to that awesomeness for the evening! We're Grojband, and we're your band to end all bands!"
As the cheering started to peak again as Grojband started up their first song, Caleb smiled as the excitement started to get to him.
"This is so cool!" Vanellope cheered as she ran around the massive open area, dancing as the song rang out through the speakers. She was joined by Hilda, Iris and Buttercup, which invoked a bout of laughter from most of the others.
Baby bobbed her head to the beat as she leaned against NightBon, with Molten handing out drinks happily to everyone who wanted one. Maria and Monologue, after silently discussing it, joined the four kids to dance, shortly followed by The Doctor and the Ponds.
Katania was glancing at Merida, who was just leaning back in her seat, playing with her hair as Izzy was dragged into dancing by Owen, alongside Noah and Eva. Majima mumbled something to her, and the princess decided to tag in with dancing as well. It did make the general's daughter smile, but she was still worried regardless.
As Grojband rocked out with their first song, a cover of Tevor Guthrie's Soundwave but with their own flair, Caleb closed his eyes. Things had come so far since coming back home. It was right around this time, three years ago, when he made it back with everyone. Looking back at how far things have changed… It made him feel nostalgic. From the blooming love, to the expansion of the hallway, to the silly little adventures… He felt at home.
Grojband finished up their first cover, and moved on to their second one. This time, it was a more celebratory and rock version of Calvin Harris' Summer, which was accentuated by the smoke and sparks. Most of the crowd pulled out sparklers as they cheered and celebrated with the music, which made the bespectacled boy smile even more.
Soon, more of his mismatched family started to get up and dance with the music, which made Caleb get up and join in. As he danced with his family, the egg bounced around more and more, cracking to the point of bursting. Before he could react, the top of the egg broke open and a rush of wind blasted out, nearly knocking him to his feet. The others all jumped as the egg fully hatched, and a buff green man came out. His lower half was a cloud, and he had a massive tail.
Tornadus had finally hatched, but he looked different than the one Caleb and his Pokemon hunting crew found in Unova.
"YOU'RE SHINY?!" Caleb screeched in pure joy. He cheered, which made the shock within the others immediately vanish and for everything to kick back up into a celebration. As they all danced and partied, Grojband's third song started playing. It was wholly original, which made the mismatched family in particular even more hyped up and excited.
As the dancing continued on, Merida felt the ring case jostle around in her bag.
Soon.
~X~
An hour or two later, the whole family were on the top of Crazy Core's centrepiece, ready to watch the fireworks cap off such an amazing day and very hectic week. As everyone got situated, getting snacks and drinks as they saw fit, Merida found herself looking around. Everyone was so cosy, so safe, so secure. The couples were all together and happy, with Spamley making a surprise appearance and gravitating to Ralph.
At the unimpressive side eye Vanellope shared with Gord, the princess almost burst out laughing. But she held her tongue as Izzy sat down next to her, making her heart slam against her chest. She needed to do this, and it was now or never.
"So, Merry, what are you hoping for most for Christmas?" The Psycho Hose Beast asked. "Because I want to get everyone down on a list so I know what to snag."
"Wouldn't me telling you just defeat the point?" The archer asked with a light smile as her mind and heart screamed at her.
Izzy gained a look of realisation. "Oh. Good point."
Merida snorted and laughed, but calmed down pretty quickly as she started. "Hey, Iz… Can we talk about something important privately?"
The wildchild looked at her girlfriend in concern, but nodded. "Uhhhh, sure." They both stood up and walked way, heading towards a staircase that led to a lower platform.
Katania watched them go with wide-eyes, her body shaking. She nudged Caleb repeatedly, who looked at her in concern.
"Kat, what's going on?" He asked quietly.
"It's happening…!" She responded with a subdued squeal. She pointed to the leaving twin redheads, and the boy's own eyes bugged out. Gladius almost went completely limp in shock.
"Holy shit it's happening…"
"What's happening?" Steve asked aloud as he sat down next to the three permanent Capital residents. The two of them bristled as everyone looked over at them in confusion, but then at where the redheads used to be.
"Where the heck did Merida and Izzy go?" Owen asked in concern.
"Eh, probably to have a private make out session", Majima responded boredly, which earned him a slap on the back of the head by Jenny.
"Seems a bit random…" Zomboss said in a questioning tone.
"You three clearly know what's up, so spill", Amy said in a demanding tone.
The trio all slowly shared looks, and then paled a bit. "Uhhhhhhh…."
Down on the lower platform and unaware of what was going on, Izzy and Merida looked over the whole park and the lights of the distant city.
"This is such a pretty view, Merry", Izzy said breathlessly. "Is this what you wanted to do?"
"No. There's something else…" The wildchild looked at her, but was surprised to see the start of tears in the princess' eyes. "Iz… We've known each other for three years at this point. Dated for two, and dealt with a bunch of stuff any normal person would crumble under."
"Yeah… Yeah we did…" The Psycho Hose Beast fully turned to her girlfriend. "Merida, what's going on? Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong… I just… I need to do this…" The princess took a deep breath, then opened her eyes. "There's a reason I took so long to get ready. Kat helped me out, but… I'm scared. Scared of what I'm about to do…"
Carefully, Merida took out the ring case, which made Izzy look at it in confusion.
"We;ve been there for each other for so long, Iz. You were willing to be there and help me when the lords first showed up. But you are more than just a sister to me. You're my girlfriend. My best friend… and I want to go further…"
Izzy gasped and took a shocked step back as Merida knelt down on one knee. Popping the case open, the ring was visible in all its glory. It was a faded green with a vibrant green gem on it, smaller golden gems lining the whole thing.
"Iz, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend my life with", Merida said, her voice wavering as she fought back her tears. "I love you, with all my heart, and I'd fight any bear or beaver or whatever came after you. So… Izzy…"
There was a long pause. "Will you marry me?"
Things were dead silent for a long time. Izzy was staring at the ring in earth-shattering shock, hands over her mouth. Merida was worried she would say no, but the eyes said it all: Izzy's own heart was exploding.
"Iz?" The princess asked in concern.
"Yes", the wildchild responded. "Yes, yes, holy shit yes. Oh my god Merida YES!" Before the archer could react, she was pulled to her feet and brought into a passionate kiss by her partner. Her… Her fiancée. With the tears finally escaping, Merida kissed back just as passionately, pulling back for but a moment.
"You're impossible, Iz."
"We're impossible, Merry."
With bright smiles, Merida put the ring on Izzy's hand, and the wildchild looked at it with a massive grin. She was shaking all over, and was just about to latch onto Merida again… only to see Merida put on an identical ring, only with the greens swapped with blues. The princess flashed her ring, and Izzy almost screamed with how happy she was.
The two redheads hugged again, and were about to kiss… Only for something to stop them.
"Oh. My. God."
Freezing, the two redheads looked up and saw all the rest of their family looking down at them from the main platform. They were all smiling, some of them were getting a bit teary-eyed, but all of them were clearly excited.
"'Bout time you two tied the knot!" Barranco joked.
"You guys… This is… OMG!" Star squealed as she pulled Tom and Marco into a hug.
"There's no way this is real, right?" Zomboss said in shock. "And I mean that in a good way. I never thought the day would come…"
"I never thought I'd see the day…" The Doctor said with a warm smile.
"Iz, what the heck!" Noah cried in bewilderment. "You're getting married?!" The rest of E-Scope was with him, looking down at them with wide-eyes.
Izzy blushed and gained a loving smile. "I guess we are…" She pulled Merida into a second passionate kiss, making the princess melt and the others cheer. Cheer like it's to stop the world from ending.
But they were all cut off when there was a distant boom, and looking up they saw the first of the fireworks start to set off. They all beamed and made their way back to their spots on the platform, with Izzy and Merida flanked by their little team. Already, wedding ideas were being lobbed around, but Merida and Izzy were all fine with it. They were just wrapped up in each other's arms, their ringed hands intertwined.
As the family all got comfortable and watched the fireworks, Caleb sighed happily. Purdy was on his lap, Maple and Z-Tron were on his shoulders, and Kat and Gladius were both leaning against him.
"I gotta say, this has been amazing so far, guys", the boy said out loud. "With everything we've gone through, I can say for certain I'm happy."
"We found home", Ralph said, raising his drink as Spamley mirrored him.
"We found love", Merida said as she and Izzy snuggled together.
"We found adventure!" Flowey cheered as he rested on Dry Bowser's back.
"We found each other", Jenny said in a whimsical tone. "I know that sounds cheesy, just let me have this." That got laughter out of the others.
"We found it all", Caleb continued. "We've still got a lot coming, so let's do this, take it all on as one. As a family! As the Imaginationeers!"
He was met with silence, so he goofily grinned up to the starry sky. "I felt we needed a team name, so why not that? Our title, one that's for this family and this family alone."
Everyone smiled and nodded, all sounding off shouts and cheers off agreement.
"For more adventures to come!"
"YEAH!" Everyone sounded off, with the Pokemon all letting out their cries. Even Purdy let out a loud meow to add to it.
The boy relaxed as the fireworks continued to explode in the sky, his smile bright as it brought forth a brighter future…
~X~
Holy shit, a lot happened in that chapter, huh? We got Ruby starting her poly relationship with Skullboy and Iris, more examples of Ralph and Spamley's relationship, the shiny Tornadus hatching from the egg, and even the biggest of all…
MERIDA PROPOSED TO IZZY!
That last one was a long time coming, you have no idea how excited I was to get to it. Seriously, this ship, which started out as a joke, is now fully my crossover crackship OTP. I love my twin redheads so much.
Other than that, we've hit the big 10 for chapters! Already I've posted 10 of these bad boys in a few months, and already surpassed 55k words. That is just crazy to me. As for a bigger milestone… Well, the DCT series as a whole is almost at 900k words! Yes, seriously! That's such an incredible milestone, and I couldn't have gotten there without all the support from my fans and especially my friends.
You all mean the world to me, so thank you so much!
And this isn't the end, don't worry. We still have 70 more chapters to go. Just you wait and see what's to come…
Up next: After cooling down from the festival and spending some time talking, the group all head to the theatre to watch the early screening of Encanto!
~Caleb~