At the Park's Flying Derby Training Centre, Rentley and Harriet entered through the door to the reception area where there was a wrinkly old demon lady with grey skin, crooked ears, a white hair bun typing on a typewriter.
Harriet looked to her son, whom was holding his Palisman in his hand, stroking it. "Are you sure you want to do Flyer Derby?" Harriet asked.
"More than anything." Rentley replied.
"But what about Grudgeby?" Harriet asked. "Your team is bound to get suspicious on your absence."
"Don't worry Mom, I got it handled." Rentley assured his mother.
"And what about your Mom?" Harriet asked her son. "You know how easily suspicious she gets."
"Don't worry I….Okay, I don't have that planned." Rentley admitted.
Harriet smiled. "Don't worry, your mother loves the Harriet special."
"Yeah, I don't know if a sandwich is going to help." Rentley said.
Harriet chuckled. "It's not a sandwich but she does enjoy the taste."
They approached the receptionist who made a bit of a tired groan as she looked to the two. "Is your boy here for Flyer Derby training?"
"Yes he is." Harriet replied.
"First name?"
"Rentley."
"Last name?"
"Blockerhon."
"Do you by any chance have insurance?" The receptionist asked.
"Only for Grudgeby." Harriet replied. "Oh and there's my life insurance. Oh, and our holiday insurance…"
"I advise you get it as soon as you can." The receptionist advised the mother. "Flyer Derby might be a sport, but it's not exactly a safe one."
Then, two paramedic witches burst through a door carrying a witch on a gurney. "AHHHHH!" Steve Jr cried. "Why did I stop doing Grudgeby to do this?! Why?!" He then noticed Rentley. "Oh, hey Rentley. How you doing?"
"Um…Excited and nervous." Rentley replied.
"Nervous is good." Steve Jr remarked. "You should be or otherwise you'll have a broken rectum, just like Steve Jr." He continued to cry out in pain all while being carried out by the two paramedics.
Harriet looked on with concern while Rentley looked to be shocked and the receptionist had a deadpan stare. There was a brief awkward silence as they took in the horrifying sight of the boy screaming in pain.
"I still wanna do it." Rentley said.
When Rentley and his mother walked through the door, the gym was more like a ginormous stadium. The ceiling itself was so high above the ground that you could swear it was close to touching the sky, there were bleachers that were placed up against the wall, two poles on each side to represent the two opposing teams and four Flyer Derby Players. As he looked up, he saw four witches on their respective Palismen flying around.
They spun in perfect coordination as one student projected an illusion of a flock of birds being lead by a red cardinal, another witch appeared to make it snow, another witch ignited a bunch of light glyphs and another used a spell to ignite a firework.
Then, they all made an epic landing to reveal themselves as Clarence; a girl with dark skin, poofy black hair with white streaks, brown eyes and bat ears; A white skinned boy with a brown bob cut and a tail; And a dog like witch with grey fur and white patches. They were Mila, Neil and Stanley.
On one of the Bleachers, Rentley noticed a familiar face sitting in the bleachers looking nervous. It was Evelyn. He hadn't seen her since she had that identity crisis nearly a couple of weeks back. And next to her was Mildred, whom appeared to be on her scroll taking pictures.
"Oh hey, aren't those your real friends?" Harriet asked.
"Yes but let's not make a big-"
"Hey!" Harriet cried out to the girls. "Hey! Do you know me?! I'm Rentley's mother! The nice one not the harsh one!"
"Mooom!" Rentley chided with embarrassment.
"I'm only saying hello." Harriet protested.
"Yeah…But…I…I…" He hid his face behind his hands in embarrassment. "Oh Titan."
In the audience, Evelyn looked like she was hiding as well while Mildred just gave a grin. "Hey Mrs Blockerhon! Hey fellow awesome players, I know him!"
Rentley's face turned to even more embarrassment as he hid his face behind his Palisman to hide his embarrassment.
The other players took notice of the newbie and began to approach him with friendly smiles. "New player." Mila remarked.
"I wonder who it is?" Stanley asked with a dry voice.
"I think I know them." Clarence remarked.
"My sleep paralysis demon." Neil said as they approached Rentley. But when they saw who they were approaching and looked either confused or disgusted.
"Rentley?!" Mila exclaimed.
"Oh great. He's here to mock us." Stanley said.
"No, I'm not like that." Rentley said.
"You're part of Grudgeby." Neil pointed out. "Shouldn't you be chasing a rusty smidge?"
"Look, this might seem abrupt and out of nowhere, but I wish to join Flyer Derby." Rentley said.
"Do you now?" Asked a voice that startled Rentley and the others. Sitting on one of the poles was Willow Park herself, who was currently stroking Clover with her thumb as she rested on her index finger. "So Rentley, you gained your Palisman?"
"Uh…Yes, Mrs Park." Rentley replied nervously.
"Do you have a strong bond to it?" Willow asked as she let Clover fly away and stood on the pole with one foot before jumping off of it.
Before she could hit the ground, Clover flew under her so she could catch her owner before she could hit the floor.
Willow then began to steer her Palisman so it could fly around the pole before flying mere inches above the ground, that it caused a bit of a small dust storm. Then, she flew Clover over the opposing goal and began to fly straight up high up the gym while everyone else watched on in awe.
"Someone try and hit me!" Willow commanded.
The students looked reluctant except for Neil, who just shrugged his shoulders and drew a ginormous spell circle that emitted a giant bolt of lightning, that tried to strike Willow. But she avoided it by doing a bit of a roll.
While Neil continued to try and shoot his teacher down with lightning, Mila summoned a guitar and raised her arms high before strumming a powerful soundwave aimed for Willow who dodged it and the lightning flawlessly.
Clarence took a deep breath and exhaled a ginormous breath of fire that Willow was startled by, but drew a plant that did burn it, but still kept her safe from its effects.
Finally, Stanley got on his own Palisman to try and tackle Willow to the ground, but she quickly flew upwards which would lead her to a lightning bolt that she flew under and then rolled through Mila's soundwave. Suddenly, she saw an ice wall that she crashed through and coming out the other side.
She moved towards the opposing pole and took the flag from it. The young students all drew a ginormous light glyph they used to try and blind her. Willow however, saw this coming and quickly shut her eyes and flew through the light.
Clarence tossed a shard of ice in the direction of her, but she caught it in her hand and crushed it as she made her way to her pole and placed the flag on it. Scoring her a goal.
Rentley was amazed by what he had just witnessed, the other students looked disappointed, Harriet was giving a dumb looking smile, Mildred was applauding while Evelyn was just in silence.
Willow jumped off her Palisman and landed with fist in the ground and legs spread out. "Nice try students. But you need to try just a little harder to knock your opponents around my calibre from their goal and take their flag. So Rentley, do you have what it takes?"
Rentley gripped his Palisman tight. "I have. I've waited for this moment a long time. My Mom gave me trainings in Palisman driving so I can be here today."
"Okay kid, let's see what you have got." Willow said while folding her arms. "Get the opposing flag to our goal."
And so, Rentley jumped on his Palisman and began flying towards the flag. But on the way there, he was attacked by vines coming from Willow causing him to manoeuvre around them, until he accidentally crashed into one of them and skidded to a halt.
"What the heck?!" He reacted in shock. "What was that for?!"
"That's the thing about Flyer Derby, you have to anticipate your enemy's movements." Willow said. "Act like everyone here in this room will attack. Even your own mother."
"I won't!" Harriet assured her son.
"But pretend she will." Willow said.
"Willow, I refuse to hurt my son." Harriet said.
Willow just sighed. "Harriet, I'm using you as an example. So, please don't…"
"Mom, Miss Willow is just-" Suddenly, he was almost hit by another vine.
"It's Mrs and you aren't keeping on your toes." Willow said before a vine grabbed him and tossed him off.
But then, as he fell, he summoned an Abomination lasso that he used to latch on to his Palisman. He managed to pull himself on to his staff where he almost got hit by a stream of fire from Clarence. The fire however, did catch his shoulder on fire. He quickly patted it out before flying straight into a lightning bolt from Neil, causing him to be electrocuted.
And for the last twelve minutes, Rentley tried and succeeded to get the flag from the opposing goal. He was hit by rocks, tricked by illusions, held by vines, struck by lightning, crashed in the ceiling, crashed on the floor, tricked by illusions, crashed in the Emerald Entrail's goal post and randomly got hit by a barrage of popcorn from Mildred.
Rentley crashed on the ground, looking exhausted from all the punches and spells he had received from his first day of Flyer Derby training.
Harriet ran towards her son's body and pulled him up. "Rentley, dear, are you okay?" She asked her son.
Rentley coughed up some smoke. "Yeah, I feel fantabulous, Mom. Absolutely perfect."
"You stunk!" Mildred shouted.
Willow narrowed her eyes at her daughter's friend. "Mildred! Be a little more constructive. Rentley, you were too slow, you didn't anticipate anything, you couldn't keep yourself on your staff, I do praise you had intuition to get yourself back on just not fast enough and your Palisman flying needs a bit of work."
"Cut me some slack, I just got him." Rentley groaned.
"That could be why." Willow said. "More time with the Palisman. Help build the relationship."
Rentley sighed. "I'm sorry Willow. So, does this mean I'm not going to be a part of the team?"
"Well…"
"Have I failed?" Rentley interjected.
"Pretty much." Neil replied.
"Totally." Mila responded.
"Not to sound mean, but you suck dude." Stanley said.
"I've seen worse." Clarence said.
Willow narrowed her eyes at her students. "Don't make me make you do 40 push ups." the students froze in terror while Neil just looked on with a deadpan face.
"So, does this mean I'm out?" Rentley asked sadly.
"Not exactly." Willow gave him a smile. "I just wanted to see how good you were so we can figure out how to fix it."
Rentley looked surprised by the statement. "What?"
"And I gotta say, you look like you could be a great player with your intuition." Willow explained. "We just have to work on those few areas for you to be truly ready for Flyer Derby."
"So, my son can do Flyer Derby?" Harriet asked.
"Of course he can." Willow stood up. "Once we start his training. Let's say, afternoons around after school."
"But I have Grudgeby practice." Rentley said.
Willow sighed. "Well, that's up to you. Do you want to continue Grudgeby or take on Flyer Derby? Let me know soon, kid." Willow jumped on her Palisman and began hovering upwards. "And students, while I'm teaching a potential new player you'll be briefly coached by Miss Blight."
The students shuddered with fear while the ground shook like an earthquake. And out of the ground, was beastkeeping teacher, Viney Blight.
The students except for Neil shuddered. "Yay, Viney." Neil said.
"Shut up, Neil." Viney said. "Nobody likes suck ups. Just for sucking up, all of you get 40 push ups." The students except for Neil, groaned and began to do push ups.
Meanwhile, Rentley with cuts, bruises and a gash along his cheek stood up while his mother checked on him. "You okay, dear?"
Rentley groaned. "I don't know. Mom will notice the marks on my face."
Harriet smiled at her son and drew a spell circle, causing a circle to appear below his feet and to float upwards, removing every mark from his body.
Rentley looked amazed with what his mother did and stared at her with shock. "Um…"
"I wanted to be a healer." Harriet explained. "But I had to take over the sandwich business. Come on, let's go home so you can make your decision."
Rentley and Harriet began walking out of the area. As they did, Rentley looked back at the bleachers where he could see Evelyn was looking at him with sad eyes. They were eyes of regret and shame. And he stared back with an apologetic stare.
Harriet noticed this and gave her son a smile. "You should talk to her."
"I don't know, Mom." Rentley said. "I don't think she needs time for people."
"She probably still feels regret about that time where she became an overconfident jerk and broke into our house just to say how much she liked you and wanted you to dump your Province boyfriend like I do." Rentley stared at his mother over her specific sentence with a raised brow.
"Very specific." He remarked.
Later that same day, Evelyn was flying with her mother on top of their Palisman with her looking off into the distance looking sad. Willow looked back at her daughter with a sympathetic look and gave her a smile.
"Hey, you were sitting next to someone. That's a solid first step." Willow said to her daughter.
"Well it's Mildred after all." Evelyn retorted. "Nobody cares if they're sitting next to her unless they say something weird."
"Well….She is still someone." Willow remarked. "You saw Rentley, right? You should walk up to him and apologise."
Evelyn groaned. "He probably hates me."
"He probably doesn't." Willow sighed. "Sunflower, I know you still feel guilty about your identity crisis but being a shut in is not going to help. I just don't want you to be in your room all sad. It makes me and your Dad sad."
"I know and I'll try and get better." Evelyn said. "It will just take me time."
"And me and your Dad will be patient." Willow assured her.
When they arrived at their cottage, Hunter was already outside dressed in his apron with O'Bailey waiting by his side. Hunter smiled at the two special ladies in his life and walked up towards them as they landed.
"And how are my two favourite girls?" Hunter asked.
Willow jumped off her staff with Evelyn following behind and walking into the house instantly. "Hey, Dad."
Hunter looked at his daughter with a concerned expression and sighed. "Is she still not okay?"
"She was sitting next to Mildred." Willow said. "It's a slow start but she is trying. By the way, we're probably having a new student tomorrow. Boscha's son."
Hunter raised a brow. "But I thought he was a Grudgeby captain with his boyfriend."
"We'll see." Willow said. "We'll see."
Hunter sighed. "I'll prepare the first aid kit."
At the Blockerhon residence, Rentley was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling thinking about the future he wanted for himself. Did he want to continue Grudgeby to try and impress his mother? Or should he follow his dreams of becoming a Flyer Derby player?
He turned to his Palisman, who was licking their hoof while Rentley watched. "So Kit's your name, huh?" The Palisman nodded their head. "That's a cool name. What do you think I should do? Should I follow my dreams or listen to my mother and become just another version of her?" Kit just made some squeaking noises. "My choice? Well, you're not much help." He sighed and began to stare at the ceiling. "Well, on the one hand, if I leave Grudgeby then people will start getting suspicious of my leave of absence and Mom will start asking questions. But other Mom won't ask, because that's just her. But then my team could lose Grudgeby without the third player. Unless, I ask someone to cover for me." then, an idea came to his mind. "I have an idea."
Later, he was on a scroll call with someone to help cover him at Grudgeby. And that person was unfortunately, Mildred.
"No."
"Come on Mildred!" He pleaded. "Why can't you just cover me for a period of time while I train at Flyer Derby?"
"Because I just wish to see you humiliated and Mrs Park's rocking bod."
"Wait, what?" Rentley reacted in shock.
"You think I would miss an opportunity to see Mrs Park's abs?" Mildred made barking sounds, causing Rentley discomfort.
"Thank you, Mildred." He hung up the call and sighed. "I should go to a person who will never say no to anything."
Meanwhile, Boscha was strolling around the bathroom looking annoyed. "What an ungrateful little child! Can't he see what life I'm giving him?! The life I had but with a partner to help him through! He's Grudgeby Captain and he has a boyfriend, why isn't he grateful?" She looked to the person she was talking to and it was her wife, whom was having a bubble bath.
Harriet looked to her wife and raised a brow. "Were you talking to me?"
"No I was ranting at myself!" Boscha retorted. "Of course I was talking to you!"
"Oh." Harriet said before positioning herself back up to get in a relaxed position.
"Uh! I gave him this life and heck, I even made deals with the Province to prevent him from being hurt!" Boscha complained.
"Why make deals with the Province?" Harriet asked.
"Because I don't wish to see my son hurt!" Boscha exclaimed.
"Because you love him?" Harriet asked.
"Well, I need to gloat to other parents." Boscha replied.
In that moment, Harriet stood up in the tub with anger and narrowed her eyes at her wife. "Dear…" She then realised that this was a bad time for her to stand up and quickly sat back down so her wife wouldn't see her naked.
Boscha groaned. "Come on, we're married."
"Listen here, dear, what you said just a moment ago is absolutely disgraceful!" Harriet exclaimed. "Treating our son as an object to gloat about and make you feel good! Like, what would your own mothers say?!"
"They'll be proud." Boscha replied.
Harriet narrowed her eyes at her wife and picked up her towel. She got out of the bathtub as she wrapped her towel around her body.
"You are to sleep on the couch until you think about how you feel about our son!" Harriet exclaimed.
Boscha looked shocked. "But dear, it's bad back season!"
"Should think like a mother instead of like yourself." Harriet retorted.
Boscha's eyes widened and she pulled a disgusted look. "Think like a mother? What are you trying to say?! Uh!" She got out of the bathroom to lay down on the couch so she could think about what she did.
The next day, at the Grudgeby court, Jakob and Flozz were getting ready to train. "We are going to pummel them into their afterlife!" Jakob exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Flozz cheered. "And if they lose, we could make them our slaves."
"We are going to kill them so hard that murder will have to be legal!" Jakob boasted.
"To them this could be less painful than the Infinite Darkness." Flozz yelled.
"The what?" Rentley asked as he entered the court.
In that moment, Jakob stuttered. "De…De…Dear, don't worry what F…Flozz said. Just, boasting banter."
"It's okay." He assured his boyfriend. "Listen, Jakob, Flozz, I haven't been catching up on my studies so I might need to take some time off."
"What?!" Jakob exclaimed in shock and confusion. He gave a nervous and confused grin. "But dear, we have a match coming up!"
"Honey, don't worry…." He gave him a quick peck on the lips. "…You'll have your third player. And even if I don't join, you'll be temporary captain."
Jakob looked interested by the proposition. "Captain? Me? I like that idea. Wait, who's the third player?"
"A guy who likes doing favours." He replied while pointing to the guy standing behind him, which turned out to be Steve JR.
"I don't like you guys, but I like Rentley." Steve Jr said. "I'll do it even with a leg cast. Nothing can stop SJ!"
Jakob groaned. "Pass."
"We could go with Jakob Krej." Rentley suggested.
"SJ it is!"
Rentley reached his arm out and summoned his Palisman. "I gotta fly."
"Nice Palisman." Jakob remarked. "Honey, you should take me on a romantic flight with them." He tried to stroke them, but then they tried biting his finger, causing him to pull back.
"Maybe some other time, okay? I just wish to take it for a test drive." He jumped on his staff before taking off toward the Park residence.
"Hey, I really don't like you two, but maybe we can make a great team." Steve JR said. "I meant, in this game, teamwork is more important than friendship."
Floz and Jakob sighed. "Oh Belos help us." He whispered.
At the Park Residence, Willow had finished setting up some dumbbells, weight lifts, two pairs of heavy rope and what looked to be a monster truck tire right in the garden.
"You know Mildred, maybe you could help instead of sitting down." Willow suggested.
"Nah, you're doing just great." Mildred said while sitting on a deck chair and eating some hex mix.
Willow sighed as she adjusted her glasses. She then noticed the tire was kind of out of place. "Hang on, it's out of place." She grabbed the rope and began pulling it. As she pulled, she flexed her muscular biceps, causing Mildred to gush.
"Oooooh, Mildred likey." Mildred gushed. "It was a good idea to avoid Alistair."
"Will you stop, gushing over my Mom?" Evelyn asked from her window. "It's creepy!"
Then, they heard the sound of someone coming in on their Palisman and looked up to see Rentley flying in on his Palisman, Kit.
He landed with a skid on the ground which Willow took notice of. "I see those so-called Palisman flying lessons are paying off."
"Yeah, but I can't exactly stick the landing." Rentley said.
"We will work on that." Willow said. "Don't want you damaging those shoes."
"Don't worry, these aren't my best ones." Rentley assured her. "I'll use those for Flyer Derby just to tick off my Mom. As in Boscha, not Harriet."
"Alright Rentley, if there is one thing that is important in Flyer Derby, it's your physical appearance." Willow said. "Now, there is nothing wrong with you physically right now, you need to maintain strength and a healthy physique if you wish to get better at the game."
"Do I need to gain any kind of muscle?" Rentley asked.
"Don't worry, you just need a little bit of muscle." Willow assured him. "Just nothing like these…" Then with a single flex, Willow's shirt torn off revealing her to be wearing a green sports bra, exposing a six pack and a muscular back.
Evelyn just hid her hands behind her eyes while Mildred crushed her hex mix and went red in the face. Rentley on the other hand, felt intimidated by his teacher's body.
Hunter then walked out with a bottle of water. "Hey Willow, you left your water bottle." He froze when he saw his wife flexing. "I'll be in my bedroom for 12 minutes." He placed the bottle on the firewood logs and walked back inside the house.
"Okay, Rentley, you've lifted heavy stuff before?" Willow asked while lifting one of the dumbbells.
"Sure I have, just…" He went to pick up the dumbbells and suddenly went down with them with a thud. "Ow!"
"Okay, this might take time." Willow said. "Commence montage!"
And so, in a training montage Willow and Rentley were working out with Willow doing well and Rentley was not. Willow was doing sit ups, working on her ab crunches; While Rentley didn't do so well with the sit ups himself as he just couldn't sit up with his hands behind his head. He just made grunts and sweat like a leaking bucket.
Then, Willow lifted a weight lift over head while Rentley did lift it around three inches off the ground, he dropped it and crushed his toe.
Then, they tried pull ups which Willow succeeded at while while Rentley could barley pull himself up and fell off.
Then, Willow was busy pulling a tire with her strength while Rentley tried but couldn't since his arms were Grudgeby arms.
Then, Willow was doing some rope waves while Rentley couldn't get the hang of it as he accidentally kept hitting himself in the face with either the rope or the hands.
Then, Willow was jogging on the spot which Rentley could do. "Hey, jogging on the spot, I can do that!"
"Yup." Willow said. "But can you do it with dumbbells?" She abruptly handed Rentley a pair of dumbbells which he took out of her hand and then fell on the ground with them.
"Ow."
"Maybe not."
And so, after a few hours of exercising, Rentley was lying on the ground panting from exhaustion. Willow looked down on him and folded her arms. "You definitely need to work on that. Come back tomorrow around the same time and while you're at it, work on your strength. It's the most important part."
Rentley just panted as he lied on the ground. "Okay…Mrs Park."
"Don't lay on the ground for too long." Willow said. "You still need to get home." Willow entered the house while Mildred just got off her chair and approached Rentley.
"Hey Mrs Park, what do I need to work on my strength?" Rentley asked.
"Healthy consistency of protein diet, sleep and workouts." Willow replied.
Rentley sighed. "Okay."
Mildred looked down on him while she held a can of soda in her hand. "Need a drink?"
Rentley sighed. "Just pour it in my mouth."
"Sorry, it's empty. I was just curious if you wanted a sip." Mildred walked back inside while Evelyn just watched on.
As she did, she heard her parents talking to each other. "So, how was he?" Hunter asked.
"For a Grudgeby player, he isn't as physically strong as I thought he was." Willow said.
"Isn't he the Grudgeby captain?" Hunter asked his wife.
"Yeah. But I don't know if he wants to." Willow said. "He hasn't committed himself to getting physical. I mean, he didn't even try to lift the dumbbells or pick them up, it's like something is holding him back from being committed."
"Maybe he just needs more time." Hunter said. "He might not be strong, but his speed might grow."
"I don't know." Willow said. "If he doesn't start improving then he could be a lost cause as a Flyer Derby player. But I hope he doesn't because I see a ton of potential."
Evelyn sighed sadly, feeling sorry for Rentley. She wished she could do something about this but the trauma of what happened between her and him was still in her mind.
She heard the door open and turned to see her Dad standing by the door. "Hey, sunflower."
"Oh, hey Dad." Evelyn said.
"Listen, I know sports are not your thing right now but there's someone out there who might need some support." Hunter said, hinting towards Rentley.
Evelyn groaned. "But what if…He doesn't want me to visit him? What if I make him feel less confident?"
Hunter shrugged his shoulders. "You don't know that. Why don't you sneak out and see him?"
Evelyn stuttered. "W-What? Didn't you forbid me to sneak out?"
Hunter shrugged his shoulders. "You're a teenager. Besides, I used to sneak out of Grandpa Darius' to see your mother. Yeah, wish I teleported for most of that." He left his daughter's bedroom to leave her to her thoughts.
As her Dad left her room, Evelyn began to think about what he had said. Maybe he was right. Maybe she could see Rentley, to get out of the house for a bit.
Meanwhile at the Blockerhon residence, Boscha was struggling to sleep on the couch since this was where she was restricted to until she figured out how she felt about her son.
"Uh, why can't Harriet understand?" Boscha groaned. "I want my son to succeed. Uh, I gave birth to him, I gave him a roof for him to do his male witch stuff, I gave him the right amount of food, I gave him a boyfriend and I gave him a winning team! And he doesn't feel grateful?! Uh! Why do I give him so much when he can't be grateful?!" Boscha tossed and turned on her couch while groaning. "Uh, this little twerp is so ungrateful. Harriet asking me how I felt after he was born." She began to think back about to when she gave birth to Rentley.
She was lying on the gurney after giving birth to her son, watching her wife fondling him like he was the most important thing in the entire Isles.
"Oooooh, I can't believe I have a son! Well, we have a son! Sorry for excluding you! You did all the work after all." Harriet said.
Boscha groaned. "Yeah, sure whatever."
Harriet handed her wife their son which she reluctantly took in her arms. "Here, you go."
"Hey!" Boscha exclaimed.
Harriet skipped out of the room. "I'm just going to sign the birth certificate!"
Boscha narrowed her eyes at her wife. "My arms are tired you know!" She looked at the little bundle she was holding in her arms and began to stare at him. In that moment, he opened his eyes and began to stare at her back.
Boscha just looked back at her son with a scowl. "Don't look at me all lovingly! You caused me a lot of pain! I thought it wouldn't be that painful but I guess I was wrong!" He made some cooing noises that warmed her heart up a bit. She gave a small smirk and a stray tear fell from her eye. "Then again, you are my son. I'm going to make sure you are well and healthy enough to beat your own mother at a game of Grudgeby." Rentley began reaching his hands out towards his mother who just gave a small grin at his antics.
Boscha lied on the couch as she smiled about the birth of her son. Feeling a warm sense of nostalgia and love for his birth.
Upstairs in the bedroom, Rentley was busy trying to do a push up. He wasn't doing a good job as he was sweating and putting pressure on his muscles.
He collapsed on his back and began panting. "Titan, this is difficult. I'm not physically fit for Grudgeby. I'm going to fail." He panted again. "Maybe I should just go back to Grudgeby."
He stood up where he saw a silhouette standing in his bedroom. He screamed, summoned his Palisman and aimed it at the stranger. "Who is it?! A member of the Province?!"
The silhouette of turned on his desk lamp and revealed themselves to be a nervous Evelyn. "Um….Hi."
Rentley sighed. "Oh hi." His staff turned to Palisman form and ran towards Evelyn. Kit just nuzzled her ankle which made her smile.
"Your Palisman….Is adorable." She remarked.
"Yeah." Rentley agreed. "I carved him myself. What are you doing here? My Mom doesn't want you here after you snuck in."
"Not after I nailed you to a wall?" She asked.
"Well, she didn't want me to exactly converse with the family enemy." He explained. "Why are you here?"
"I…I made a stupid decision." She admitted as she tried to leave. "I..I…I..Did you need help with working out?"
Rentley sighed. "I don't have the strength for it."
"You do." Evelyn said. "You just gotta focus more about lifting your whole body. Act like you're trying to prevent your nose from touching the floor." She jumped out of the window while Rentley just watched on, thinking about what she said.
"I wonder if that would…" He then began to test that theory out and dropped to his knees. He took her advice and tried press ups again. But when he did, there was a bit of struggle, however, he managed to get it this time and performed over twenty in the span of three minutes.
He smiled over what she taught him and bounced a bit. "Hey, I got it. I got good at this." He smiled and walked towards the window where he saw Evelyn running as fast as she could. "Thank you." He said while blushing.
The next day, Willow was waiting for Rentley with Mildred and Evelyn, whom was standing by the shed. "You seem to be coming to my place a lot more, Mildred." Willow remarked. "Shouldn't your Dad be worried?"
"Don't worry, Mr Porter is fine with me." Mildred assured while staring at Willow's muscles.
Evelyn just narrowed her eyes at Mildred. "Dude, can you stop staring at my Mom like that?"
Suddenly, they heard someone scraping their feet on the ground and turned to see Rentley performing his award winning landing skills.
"Ow!" He jumped off his Palisman and approached Willow. "Afternoon, coach."
"Afternoon, Rentley." Willow said. "So…Did you try and improve your exercising?"
"Yeah, I even made a protein shake." He drank a bit from his bottle and spat it out. "Still trying to swallow it."
Mildred just chuckled. "It." She chuckled again.
Then, a vine popped out from the ground with a bottle on the stem. "Here you go." Rentley looked far ahead to see the shy Evelyn. "I knew you wouldn't know how to make the perfect protein shake so…I came pre-prepared." She quickly hid half of herself behind the shed so Rentley wouldn't see her face.
Rentley gave her a thankful smile before turning to Willow. "Okay, I managed to do something about my exercises." He dropped to the ground and began to do some press-ups.
Willow looked mildly impressed and gave a sly grin. "Good job, Rentley. But we're not learning about physical exercise today. We're learning about reactions. Now, you must know somethings about reaction timing."
"I mean, I have to do a lot of dodging in Grudgeby." He remarked.
"Show me." Willow summoned a soccer ball and tossed it towards him. He dodged the ball by bending his back backwards.
Willow then summoned the ball back towards her. Rentley, however, just dodged the ball by bending forward and tying his shoelace.
Willow grinned. "Good job. Now, can you dodge while flying a Palisman?"
"I can try." Rentley replied before jumping on Kit and quickly began ascending.
"Alright, I'll hit you with my best shot." Willow said. "Now, I'll go slow but at some point…" Before she could finish, a wrench flew over his head that he dodged by descending as fast as he could.
"What?!" Willow exclaimed. "Evelyn?"
"I swear, Mom! Not me!" She assured her.
Mildred had a hammer in her hand that she looked like she was about to throw. Willow instantly snatched out of her hand. She narrowed her eyes at the girl who just shrugged her shoulders.
"If he can dodge a wrench, he can dodge whatever you throw at him." Mildred said.
And so, a few minutes later, Rentley was sitting on his staff ready to evade whatever his teacher will throw at him.
"When it comes to Flyer Derby, you have to act like anything from every direction, every corner, every nook and cranny or even in the audience…" She snatched a saw from Mildred's hand. "…Look around you. Analyse where someone could hit you from."
Rentley gripped tightly on his staff to try and make sure he didn't let go. He looked around the area he was currently in.
There was a small garden filled with Willow's plants, there was a ground below him which would be a perfect opportunity for Willow to grab him, Mildred had a bag with a bowling bowl for some reason which she could use to toss straight at him while Evelyn was out from behind the shed and like 20 feet close to her mother with no intent on hitting him, was Evelyn.
Willow narrowed her eyes at her target and fired a barrage of vines towards him that he managed to avoid by ducking up and ducking down and doing a little twirl. They continued to try and grab him, but he just dodged them by going up, down, left, right and right around them, causing them to be tied into a bit of a knot.
Willow summoned a monster plant that tried to eat Rentley, but he only dodged it before flying deliberately flew into its mouth and flew out of its top jaw, screaming while covered in plant juice.
Rentley then noticed a bowling bowl flying towards him and quickly summoned a shield made from Abomination, causing the hard ball to shatter.
More vines shot out from the ground and he began to either dodge them or slice them with his blade. As he performed all those manoeuvres, Evelyn was watching on at the boy whom her mother was training.
She saw the sweat dripping from his face that shone in the glistening sun and how he manoeuvred over and down the plants so gracefully and without any hesitation. Then, Evelyn tossed an anvil straight towards him that he avoided by dropping off his Palisman.
As he fell to the ground, the Palisman managed to swoop down and he landed on him. Then, some thorns shot out towards him that he dodged by doing a roll.
After he was done with the roll and put into a position where he was just hovering, his hair flew freely in the wind almost in slow motion that made Evelyn's stomach turn and her cheeks to turn red.
But he was knocked off when he got hit in the head by a watermelon, causing him to fall. That was until, Evelyn quickly summoned a plant spell to summon a flower that he landed on with a soft thud.
Evelyn realised that she used magic in front of people and quickly hid her hand behind her back and ran behind a small tree to hide her shame.
"Um…Thanks for the save." He said.
All of a sudden, Willow walked up to him with her arms folded. "Amazing performance. Yet you get defeated by a watermelon even after you evaded a bowling ball and an anvil."
"I got a crowbar for him to dodge next." Mildred said as she got it out of her satchel.
"No!" Willow said instantly and snatching it out of her hand.
"Awww!"
"You can practise on your dodging when you get back home." Willow suggested. "Right now, lunch!"
Later that night, Boscha was in the kitchen cleaning a dish while her wife was drinking her tea. "So…Have you given thought on our son? And how he makes you feel?"
Boscha shrugged her shoulders. "Eh."
Harriet just groaned, feeling disappointed with . "I'm..Still going to sleep alone." She began walking upstairs, leaving Boscha on her own.
"What?!" Boscha exclaimed. "Come on! What's it going to take?!"
"Our son!" Harriet screamed. "Your blood! One you gave birth too! That one! Do you even love him?! Or are you trying so hard to act so tough that the mere thought of verbally admitting to loving our son is just sign of weakness?!" Boscha just said nothing as she looked out the window. "Come up with a reason as to why you love our son before you come up to bed!" She walked upstairs in anger while Boscha just continued to look out the window.
"Rentley." She just scoffed. "I love Rentley." She shuddered. "Saying that is making me feel like that there are bugs crawling around my body." She looked at her arms and saw some crawling up and down her arms. Then, she lifted up her shirt and saw a hive crawling around her abdomen. She pulled her shirt down with wide eyed shock. "I should get that looked at." Then, she noticed a bookcase just beside her where she was standing and noticed a photo album with a love heart on the centre.
She removed it from her shelf and sat on the couch to look back on the memories. She opened the book to see that the first page had her holding her baby in her arms while Harriet was crying tears of joy. One thing Boscha did notice, was that she wasn't smiling. Then, there was a picture of baby Rentley taking hits first steps with Harriet clapping her hands while Boscha just watched on, looking unimpressed.
Then, there was a picture of Rentley's first birthday and he appeared to be clapping while Harriet just smiled.
As she flicked through the pages, she saw that Rentley looked happy while she looked to be making a deadpan stare. When she saw that her son was happy, she felt a little something inside her that felt like it was warming her. She even gave a small smile at the images.
That was until, she gotten to later pages. She saw when Rentley was playing Grudgeby she saw how happy she looked while how unhappy he looked. Then, there was a picture of him and Jakob going to Grom. She saw how happy she and Jakob looked while he looked unhappy. Then, there was the picture of Rentley winning his first Grudgeby cup. She was cheering with his team, while Rentley looked unhappy.
The pictures of her son looking unhappy, made her feel something that she never felt, she felt sad over this. She felt sad seeing her son like this. "Rentley…" She said sadly before closing the book and lying in her back with the book close to her chest.
All of a sudden, some of the bugs began crawling up her neck, causing her to scream and to fall onto the floor.
Upstairs however, Rentley was busy doing some sit ups while holding some dumbbells in his hands. "And that's 42." Unbeknownst to him however, someone was outside watching him.
It was Evelyn, whom was looking nervous to talk to him over what had happened in the past before. She wanted to say something. Something simple like a 'Hi.' Or, a 'How are you?' Or maybe 'I'm sorry for being a jerk can we talk?'
"You know if you want to talk, you don't need to stand outside." Rentley's voice made Evelyn jump that she almost fell off the roof, until Rentley used some Abomination rope to lasso around her wrist to pull her up.
She landed on her knees just as Rentley began walking across the roof to talk to her. "Hey."
"H-Hi." Evelyn said, feeling red in the face.
"Hey." Rentley's cheeks turned red. "You want to talk?"
Evelyn turned to try and turn away, until Rentley latched his rope around her waist and pulling her towards him with a twirl. He held her by her back, causing the girl to blush some more.
"Listen Evelyn, I know you wanna talk, so what is it?" Rentley asked.
Evelyn sighed sadly. "Rentley, I am so sorry for what happened. I…I…Lost myself."
"It's okay." Rentley assured her. "That wasn't you."
"But it was me!" Evelyn shouted. "I became some smug jerk for no reason!"
"And you seem remorseful." Rentley stated, causing Evelyn to pull her hair down.
"But I embarrassed myself!" Evelyn groaned. "You shouldn't forgive me. I'm not worthy."
Suddenly, Kit ran towards Evelyn and began to nuzzle her ankles, startling her. He looked up at her and gave her a smile.
Evelyn was surprised by the affection this Palisman was giving her and nervously stroked him. Rentley walked towards her and smiled. "Looks like someone likes you."
"Uh…." Evelyn blushed just as Rentley picked him up and turned him to staff mode.
"How about we go flying?" He suggested.
Evelyn just turned red in the face and looked baffled. "But, I don't have my Palisman."
"Who says you need yours?" Rentley retorted smoothly.
In that moment, Evelyn knew what this was implying. And, after that, Rentley was flying through Bonesborough with Evelyn holding tightly onto him so that way she wouldn't fall.
As they flew through Bonesborough at a speed that was the equivalent of an eagle swooping down to gain their prey.
"Take in the sights Evelyn." Rentley said.
"But what if I lose focus and fall?" Evelyn asked.
"I'll catch you." The three eyed witch assured her with a smile.
And so, Evelyn loosened up a bit around Rentley's body and began to look around Bonesborough. As they flew through the town, they saw the lights that shined up the town, looking like a bunch of fireflies dancing in the light.
As they flew through the town, they flew past Jill's Sandwiches where Harriet was just locking up for the night. When she looked up, she saw her son flying through the town with that Park girl right behind him. The sight of her son with someone she thought was better for him, made her smile.
At one point, they flew over Jakob and Floz who appeared to be spray painting some anti governor propaganda. Thankfully, Jakob and Floz didn't see Evelyn flying overhead.
At one point, they flew past the Clawthorne residence where Eda and Raine were snuggling in front of the fireplace together. While in Ronda's bedroom, she was staring at her reflection in sadness while drinking a bottle of elixir.
At one point, they flew past the Porter residence where Gus and his son were laying on the couch together, sleeping. While upstairs, Mildred appeared to be crying her eyes out while sleeping in her bed.
Then, they flew past the museum where Lilith was in her office writing an entry in her journal about a recent find in the exhibit.
Then, they flew over Hexside where Bump was doing some late night gardening, he looked up to see the two witches flying above him and he gave them a small wave that they both returned.
Soon, they flew past the Noceda household where Luz and Amity were snuggling against each other in a kissing session with one another while upstairs Azura was doing some beast keeping studying for an upcoming project while Manny was watching Doctor What on his orb.
Soon, they were now flying over the boiling sea where Evelyn was having the urge to touch the surface. When she dipped her finger in the water, she felt her finger burn a bit, causing her to pull it out as quick as possible.
"They don't call it the Boiling sea for nothing." Rentley said.
They soon flew towards Blight Manor where Alador was working on a car shaped project covered by a sheet. Darius was inside reading the latest memoir about how Alador came into power of Blight industries after Odalia's 'resignation'.
They stopped over the Isles where they could see the corpse that made up the entire Isles and residence. They sat on the staff together, very closely I might add. Close enough for their hands to touch.
Evelyn looked at Rentley with a blush on her face which Rentley took notice of. "Beautiful isn't it?"
"Yeah, very beautiful." Evelyn said.
Rentley looked surprised. "Very? I had no idea my face was like that."
Evelyn playfully shoved Rentley and hid her hands behind her face. "Stooooop!"
"Sorry." Rentley said while laughing.
"Look Rentley, I came to yours to apologise about that-"
"Titan, I assured you it was okay!" Rentley exclaimed. "I mean, I do have to admire the way you told me that you liked me. But I have to ask, do you?"
Evelyn turned red in the face as she stared at Rentley's face. She did like him. Not for looks or anything, but he was kind and skilled and how he always looked out for everyone even when he was in the wrong crowd.
"Y-yeah, I do." Evelyn admitted. "But, you're with Jakob so it's weird."
Rentley looked into the distance, unsure about what will happen next. He looked at Evelyn with a bit of a blush on his cheeks. "I guess it will be for a bit."
"Huh?" Evelyn reacted. "What do you mean?"
"Never mind." Rentley said. "Besides I have something special planned for him at Alleviate and it's not a proposal or a breakup. Depends. So, you still struggle to do magic?"
Evelyn was about to draw a magic circle but then panicked. "No! I still can't do it."
Rentley smiled. "I see what your problem is. You're more focused on other people and how they will feel. You should concentrate on yourself as opposed to what others might think. The only person who needs to judge their magic is yourself."
Evelyn gave a sly grin. "Who taught you that?"
"My Mom." Rentley replied. "The sandwich making one."
Evelyn in that moment just focused on one thing, herself as opposed to others. When she did, she summoned a small plant from her finger that formed into a flower.
Rentley smiled. "That's a beautiful flower."
"Awwww! Thank you, Rentley!" The flower gushed. "You look beautiful too."
Evelyn removed the flower from her finger and placed it behind her ear. "Hey, question: Since you've inherited your mother's abilities do you have any powers of your Dad's you've inherited?"
"Besides his nose?" She touched her nose, emphasising her point.
"That and his carving skills. You are part Grimwalker so, is there anything in your system? Like, teleporting?" Rentley asked.
Evelyn looked at her arms with curiosity. "I don't know. I mean, I haven't tried myself. Or heck, I haven't thought of the idea of there being a possibility of me teleporting just like Dad. But maybe I could try." She said as she carefully stood on the staff. "I want to figure out my abilities without being terrified of what people think!"
Suddenly, she felt some movement coming from her satchel which almost made her fall off the staff until she quickly summoned a plant spell to pull her back up on the staff.
"What the heck?!" She reacted as she saw her satchel moving about.
Rentley raised a brow. "That wouldn't happen to be a beeper, right?"
"No, it's at home." She assured him. when she opened her satchel, she saw something that made her eyes glisten. Inside, her little anteater Palisman was alive and licking her master's finger.
Evelyn pulled them out of her satchel, eyes still glistening over how perfect they look. They had brown fur with white stripes and a long tongue that they used to lick her face.
"Awww!" Evelyn cooed. "I have a Palisman!"
"They're pretty cute." Rentley said. "Whatever it's supposed to represent."
"An anteater." Evelyn stated. "And their name is Anthony."
"Anthony?" Rentley laughed. "That's a name. Indeed."
Evelyn jumped off the staff just as Anthony turned to staff form and she got into seating position. "Oooh, nice seating."
"So, do you wanna take them on a test drive?" He asked.
"Sure." She replied. "I've practiced on Waffles." Suddenly, she zipped off. As she zipped off, she was screaming like she didn't have any control of her staff.
"Evelyn!" Rentley flew towards where Evelyn had crashed. Which happened to be in the offices of Dr Steve Tholomue, whom was having a therapy session with Hecate.
Evelyn, covered in all sorts of dust and brick, groaned while the therapist and witch looked on with surprise.
"Evelyn?!" Hecate reacted in shock.
"Can't you see my patient is talking about problems she is terrified will ruin friendships?" Dr Tholomue asked.
"Sorry Dr Tholomue." Evelyn said. "I just got them and as you can see I've pretty much failed the first test drive."
"It's okay, Park. I go easy on first timers." Steve assured her just as Rentley arrived.
"Maybe, we could practice together." Rentley suggested.
And so in a montage of a passing of time, Rentley continued to train with Willow. He managed to learn how to quickly grab the enemy flag while avoiding obstacles which included Mildred bringing stage light.
Willow timed his flying skills to see how fast he goes. Not as fast as some of the best Flyer Derby players but still pretty quick.
Then, there was more workout lessons where Rentley was performing a lot more pull ups than before. He yanked on the rowing machine which made his biceps glisten due to the sweat and sun.
As Rentley trained, Evelyn was watching on with redness on her cheeks especially while working out. At one point, he got so sweaty that he had to take off his shirt, revealing his newfound abs to Evelyn.
The girl held on to her chest as she felt it bumping. And it wasn't just her whom was swooned, Mildred was also smitten with how well toned Rentley looked without his shirt.
At one point, Rentley and Willow were taking a break and sharing a laugh with each other. Then, they were cooling off with Willow sharing tips on how to become a top Flyer Derby player.
All while that went on, Rentley was helping Evelyn to fly on her Palisman which she was getting better at. But it wasn't just that, she appeared to be getting more close to Rentley while the latter was also feeling some feelings for the girl whom he was teaching.
As Rentley's new improved life went on, Boscha was still thinking about how she felt about her son. She lied on the couch looking at photos of her and her son together. There was one of her giving him as a baby, a bath where he was laughing and giggling while Boscha tried to make sure the bubbles didn't get into her eyes.
Then, there was one of him sleeping soundly on her lap as a toddler. This sight made Boscha smile and to look at her own lap, wishing that Rentley was there sleeping on it.
At one point, she looked at her reflection in guilt over how she treated Rentley and tried to think of ways to get him to understand how she felt.
She ate some a sandwich as she watched him return home from studying. Noting that he looked sweaty. Then again, studying did make her sweat buckets back when she was his age.
Speaking of sweaty, Boscha was feeling sweaty herself and decided to have a nice warm bubble bath.
As she laid in the warm and foamy waters, eating a purple fruit and some yellow berries and some shrineapple slices; She could hear her son running.
"I'm going to dinner with Jakob!" Rentley was heard yelling. "See you in a bit Mom."
"Okay, dear, be safe." Boscha could hear her wife yell out.
Boscha sat up a bit and yelled to her son, "Be back! I…" Before she could finish, the door to her house slammed shut. "…Love you."
She lied back into the tub and exhaled in frustration. "I was so close. Well Boscha, you can't say I love you out of the blue." She scoffed at herself. "Please, lots of people do it. Yeah, but Rentley is just going to dismiss it! Uh….."
She stared up at the ceiling for a little bit, hearing the bubbles fizz and pop and the water swooshing as she moved her hand. She pondered what she could do right now. Could she lie down in the tub or tell Rentley about the mistakes she made? Or could she just get out and confront her son?
She stood up proudly in her tub and raised a fist. "I'm going to make things right with my boy!" She then looked down and exhaled. "Right after I dry myself off and get dressed."
And so, Boscha arrived at the Krej residence to talk with Rentley's boyfriend. "Okay, okay, just knock on his door to see if Rentley is okay to talk. Yeah, as if Jakob is a member of the Province."
When the door opened however, she was greeted to an innocent looking demon. "Yes?" He asked.
"Jakob Krej?"
"Yes." Jakob replied.
"You're not Jakob. My son's boyfriend." Boscha crossed her arms.
"Oh, you mean that jerk, Widebent." Jakob said. "I'm always getting blamed for his misdeeds."
"Do you know where he lives?!" Boscha asked.
"Yeah! Number six hallow lane." Jakob explained.
"Thank you." Boscha was about to jump on her Palisman until Jakob stopped her.
"Oh, Rentley isn't at Jakob's." He said.
"What?" Boscha reacted.
"He's at the Park residence having dinner." Jakob explained.
"And how do you know?!" Boscha exclaimed.
"All thanks to me." Then, Neil from the Flyer Derby team walked out of the house. "I'm Jakob's half brother. This Jakob by the way, not jerk Jakob. I'm a member of the Flyer Derby team that Rentley will soon be a part of."
"Flyer Derby?!" Boscha screamed.
"Yeah. With good ol' Neil." Neil said.
Later, Boscha arrived at the Park's cottage to see if what those Krej boys said was true. But what she saw will forever horrify her.
Looking through the window without being seen by the Park family, she could see that her son was having dinner with the said family.
Hunter and Willow were sitting close to each other because of course they would be. And across from them were Rentley and Evelyn.
She wanted to burst in there and yell at Willow for indoctrinating her son into Flyer Derby. She felt angered, lied to and betrayed by her own son no less.
Then she realised, maybe she deserved it. Maybe this was her punishment for not giving her son the love he needed when he most deserved it. And instead, just preferred to be cold and distant.
Compare it with home life she gave him, he looked really unhappy. But at the Parks, he was happy. He showed a genuine smile.
Boscha was jealous of Willow for giving him the love and affection he wanted but another part of her felt guilty. All the cold shoulders and forceful intentions were all catching up to her.
She turned away from the cottage to fly straight back home to her wife. She jumped on her Palisman, Shelly and took off back home.
After she left, Rentley looked out the window as if he had sensed her. But when he did, he saw no sign of her whatsoever.
"So, where are Azura and Luz?" Willow asked. "I haven't seen them in a while."
"I heard she went to a human Covention." Rentley explained, getting back to the conversation as if he had never left.
When Boscha returned to the Blockerhon residence, she walked into her bedroom where she saw that her wife was on the front of the bed, brushing her hair.
Harriet saw her wife standing by the door and scoffed. "So, have you figured it out?" She then noticed that her wife was silent. "Are you going to say how you feel about our son?"
Then, her heart sank when she saw that her wife had tears falling from her face and was close to crying, something that she rarely saw in Boscha.
Seeing her crying in front of her was a rare yet heartbreaking sight to behold. Boscha walked towards the bed and stumbled onto it where she began crying into her wife's knees.
"I'm…I'm….I'm….I'm….I'm….I'm….I'm…A terrible mother." Boscha cried. "I'm…Horrendous. I'm…I'm…"
Harriet began shushing her wife and holding her by her head. "Ssssshhhhhh, it's okay…It's okay. It's okay, Boscha. Everything's okay. You'll make amends."
But Boscha said nothing as she just continued crying into the night until she got her well deserved sleep.