Ronin Toad: Redux

[Zack]

(I wonder when this takes place? I haven't seen a CD player in a while.)

 

[Nace Bilby]

2002.

 

[Nace Bilby]

Babies, Birds, and Delgado Family Disputes, Part One​

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Author’s Note: The characters of Brittany, Quinn, and Daria were created by Red Witch.

---

The Pit, Medical Center
Psyche-Out, Beach Head, Scarlett, Roadblock
19 February 2002, 1315

Psyche-Out would find Roadblock sipping coffee with Beach Head and Scarlett.

“Okay, I think he’s figured it out by now.” Psyche-Out sighed, “With three hours of work between the two of us to drill that into him.”

“I’m sorry I made all those dents in your wall.” Roadblock said.

“With your head.” Beach Head quipped, “You’ve got to have a skull as hard as concrete to want to raise that boy.”

“Beach Head!” Scarlett admonished.

“The kid drives me crazy sometimes.” Roadblock replied.

“Well,” Psyche-Out replied, “At least you stopped banging your head before you got a concussion.”

“Only because you made me leave the room,” Roadblock replied, “Why would he do something like that?”

“I think the boy uses stealing to cover up some emotional issues.” Psyche-Out replied.

“I think the kid’s nuts.” Beach Head snapped.

“Beach Head!” Scarlett admonished, “I wouldn’t call him that. What did he do anyway?”

“He stole 5000 batteries from all around the base for me.” Roadblock said.

“Oh-kay, I think I’ll call that a little odd.” Scarlett replied.

“I’ve come to the conclusion,” Roadblock said with a sigh, “That the boy has a bit of confusion.”

“Well,” Psyche-Out added, “It’s obvious the boy’s got a problem with stealing. In fact he probably has some form of kleptomania.”

“PROBABLY has kleptomania?” Roadblock said.

“He’s nuts!” Beach Head declared.

“Todd is not nuts.” Psyche-Out stated.

“I mean you, Spaced-Out!” Beach Head snapped, “You counseling that little lunatic? What a laugh! It’s like the Mad Hatter counseling Screwy the Screwloose Loon!”

“So where’s the kid?” Roadblock said, “You didn’t leave him in your office did you?”

“He’ll probably steal the light bulbs next.” Beach Head quipped.

“No, I thought you might want a break from the kid for a few hours so Shipwreck said he’d…” Psyche Out began.

“Shipwreck?” Roadblock exclaimed, “You left him alone with SHIPWRECK!”

“The Napoleon of Nuts if there ever was one!” Beach Head replied.

“I hope Althea’s there,” Scarlett replied, “She’s the only sane one in the family.”

“And believe me that’s a frightening statement.” Beach Head replied.

“Well I suppose it couldn’t hurt if I left him there for an hour,” Roadblock replied, “I mean how much damage could he do there? Don’t answer that.”

“Agents Hart and Todd are with him as well.” Psyche-Out said, walking out of the room, “And we can have a talk later about his progress.”

“Where are you going?” Beach Head asked.

“I’ve got to go buy some batteries. You never know when disaster will strike.” Psyche-Out replied.

Roadblock sat there. “Maybe I’ll pick him up in two hours.”

---

Agent Phillips,

I’ll clarify my last few reports with a single sentence. Yes it’s all true. I can’t possibly make any of this up.

From what I’ve observed Roadblock is making progress with the kid minus a few setbacks. Of most recent vintage involving the theft of 5000 batteries from all around the base. The base psychologist, Psyche-Out, is doing his best and actually both myself and Agent Todd are going to have a chat with him.

Of late I observe Agent Todd is an entirely trustworthy individual. She seems genuinely ok with working with us regarding the Tolansky Case. I have no misgivings about her whatsoever.

Agent Hart

---

 

[Nace Bilby]

The Pit, Delgado Residence
Shipwreck, Todd, Kate, and Conrad
19 February 2002, 1317

Todd felt the wind rush through his hair as the Army jeep drove down the road, happily he said, “It’s real nice of you to let me come over.”

“Well you and my daughter have been friends for a while now,” Shipwreck replied as he drove.

Conrad leaned over to whisper something in Kate’s ear, “I think this is a good development for the kid.”

“It’s only natural she should have you over.” Shipwreck continued, “Can’t think of why she hasn’t invited you over before. Ah, here we are.”

They pulled into a cul-de-sac where a medium sized gray building with a boat on cinderblocks on the front lawn stood sentinel as the only house in the cul-de-sac.

“It’s not fancy but it’s home sweet home.” Shipwreck said as he parked the jeep.

Looks normal enough, minus the boat. Kate thought as they stepped out of the vehicle and towards the house.

“Welcome to Casa Delgado!” Shipwreck said and flung the door open.

As soon as Shipwreck opened the door he was tackled in the face by a green plumed parrot with a yellow plumed head.

Ok, the parrot’s a little weird but…Kate thought.

“AWWWWKKK! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? POLLY WANTS A PSYCHIATRIST!”

Shipwreck spit out a mouthful of green and yellow feathers before commenting, “Calm down birdbrain, I was only gone for fifteen minutes!”

Ok. Parrots are known to talk, but I’ve never heard of one demanding a psychiatrist before. Kate thought.

“What did they do this time? Are they playing with explosives again?” Shipwreck asked.

“Wait, did you just say explosives? And who is he talking about?” Kate yelped with surprise.

“Worse!” the bird called out, flapping around the room in circles, “MAKEUP!!!”

With a sigh Shipwreck said, “Don’t mind Polly. He has a nervous condition.”

“How do you think I got it!? Oh, I know, by living in this nuthouse!” Polly said as he flapped around the room.

“How does a male parrot have a female name?” Conrad asked.

“Forget the gender mix up,” Kate replied, “I’m wondering what Shipwreck’s talking about for one…”

“That bird can talk? Cool!” Todd commented.

“Polly is a very smart bird.” Shipwreck replied.

“If Polly was really smart, Polly would’ve joined the circus! It’s quieter!” Polly screeched as he flapped around.

As they walked past the foyer and into the living room, which, like every other room in the house was decorated with a cheerful nautical motif Kate noticed a large bell mounted to the nearest wall.

Shipwreck went to ring the bell and shouted, “GIRLS GET IN HERE! WE HAVE A GUEST!”

Three nearly identical looking ten year old girls walked into the room just then, clad in identical pink tops and blue skirts. They had long black hair and blue eyes and minus their hairstyles they couldn’t be told apart.

“I’m Daria,” the triplet with the ponytail on the right said.

“I’m Quinn,” the triplet with the ponytail on the left said.

“I’m Brittany,” the third triplet with pigtails said.

“This is Todd,” Shipwreck replied, and then indicated the two agents with him, “And this is Agent Hart and Agent Todd, all three of whom you’ve heard all about.”

Then, with a raised eyebrow Shipwreck turned to the girls, who giggled, “Ok, that’s enough. Now what did you do to Polly this time? You better not have been using him in one of your experiments again.”

“We were just playing house,” Quinn said innocently.

Ok, they seem normal enough. Kate thought as she looked at the three girls.

“Oh Lord that’s even worse.” Shipwreck replied, rolling his eyes.

He turned to Conrad, Kate, and Todd and said, “The girls are very smart, but they tend to be a bit hyper at times.”

Shipwreck paused for a moment before saying, “Wait a minute! What about your brother?”

"We put him down for his nap." Brittany said.

Why does the way she said that make me nervous? Kate thought.

"And no, we didn't use duct tape. We could never do that to our brother." Brittany added.

"You used it on your last babysitter." Shipwreck countered.

"That was completely justified and you know it." Quinn replied.

"It was Beach Head after all." Brittany added.

Conrad chuckled only for Kate to elbow him in the ribs, fixing him with a glare.

"What, I happen to find it funny that these three girls used duct tape on Beach Head." Conrad replied.

"Oh God you're going native..." Kate replied.

"Oh yeah," Shipwreck conceded to his daughters' point.

"Nice parenting." Kate remarked.

"Look, I'm going to try to give Polly some Valium so he gets off the ceiling." Shipwreck said as he grabbed a broom from a nearby closet, before turning to the girls, "Why don't you show Todd your room, and be nice about it. I mean it."

"AWK! Polly want a psychiatrist! Forget it! Polly want some grain alcohol!" Polly said as he clung to the ceiling.

"Well," Conrad said, "We can either watch Shipwreck try to talk a severely disturbed parrot off the ceiling or venture off into the dark and frightening unknown."

"Dark and frightening unknown?" Kate commented.

"The Triplets' room." Conrad said, "The bedroom of three of preteen girls has got to be a dark and frightening unknown."

"Conrad," Kate laughed, "They're three preteen girls. How dangerous could their room possibly be?"

"I gather from your response, mademoiselle, we are about to find out." Conrad replied, "And between the two of us my inner alarms are screeching louder than our fine green and evidently alcoholic friend on the ceiling..."

"Come. On. Bird." Shipwreck said as he stood up on one of the arms the couch on his toes, holding the broom, trying to get the bird clinging to the ceiling down.

"Conrad, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about..." Kate replied as she headed up the stairs, Conrad on her heels.

"Well, mademoiselle," Conrad replied, "My gut instinct is telling me there is a lot to worry about."

"Conrad, this isn't Africa and the French Foreign Legion." Kate replied as she opened the door to the Triplet's room, "I'm sure there's nothing...

"AGGGHHH!!!!" came a scream as Todd hopped out of the room, narrowly avoiding a collision with Kate, baby Claudius in his arms and heading for the staircase.

Conrad smirked as Kate threw herself to the floor to duck just as Todd hopped over her. “Come back here with our dolly!” the Triplets shouted and Kate barely managed to roll out of the way as the Triplets chased Todd down the stairs.

“What just happened!?” Kate said as Conrad helped her stand back up.

“It appears that Todd was carrying baby Claudius dressed up in a pink frilly dress and what looked like bows in his hair.” Conrad replied.

“I saw that!” Kate snapped, “I’m just trying to figure out what caused that?”

Kate heard the sounds of the triplets chasing Todd through the house downstairs. “Something tells me that we’ll never know, but we’re also heading right into a fair amount of zaniness.” Conrad quipped.

---

To Be Continued...

 

[Julie Justice]

Great, as usual, Nace, and very humorous, too. Hahahaha. I can't wait to see what happens next. Like if poor Polly will ever get off the ceiling, and if we will ever find out how the bird can actually TALK!!

 

[Nace Bilby]

Glad I made you laugh with this one, @Julie Justice. Working on the second part of this chapter through the week.

 

[Nace Bilby]

Babies, Birds, and Delgado Family Disputes, Part Two
​

Disclaimer: Same as before…

---

The Pit, Delgado Residence
Todd Tolansky, Quinn, Daria and Brittany Delgado
19 February 2002, 1345

"Come on." Quinn said, taking Todd's hand and leading him upstairs to a their room.

This has got to be the strangest room I've ever seen.Todd thought as he walked in. It looks like someone took parts of Dexter's Laboratory, painted them pink and shoved them into a little room crammed with stuffed toys.

“This is our room where we sleep and play,” Quinn began.

“And do our experiments,” Brittany grinned.

“That’s nice,” Todd said with a sigh, looking around the room.

His eyes fell upon a picture on one of three desks. It was of a blue skinned woman with jet black hair.

“Is that your mom?” Todd asked.

“Yup,” Quinn said, “Before she went away.”

“She didn’t die!” Brittany chided, “Stop making it sound so dramatic!”

Daria explained to Todd, “Our mom ran off with some guy from Atlantis.”

“You mean Atlanta?” Todd said, brow furrowed, “Like down south?”

“No, Atlantis, as in under the sea.” Daria explained.

“O-kay…” Todd replied, “So what do you like to…OW!”

Todd yelped as electrical shock flowed through him, “What did you do that for?”

He rubbed his bottom shortly after the shock, as Brittany held a taser in her hand, she advanced on him and said, “I wanted to see how well you conduct electricity.”

“Hey! I’m telling!” Daria shouted, “Daddy told us not to use that on guests!”

“Yeah!” Todd replied, only to find himself dodging a jet of flame.

“Of course he didn’t say anything about fire…” Daria said, with a smile.

“You girls are seriously whacko!” Todd replied.

“His reflexes are good,” Daria noted, “Take note of that Quinn.”

“Sisters I believe we must do further experimentation.” Quinn said.

“I’m not letting you do anything!” Todd said, and hopped out of the way.

“Maybe he wants to play with our dolly.” Brittany said, picking something off one of the three beds.

Oh. My. God. Todd thought as he saw in a frilly pink dress with bows in his hair. There was some makeup splattered on his face.

“What are you doing to that kid, yo!” Todd shouted, grabbing hold of Claudius, “You trying to scar him for life!?”

“Give me back my dolly!” Brittany pouted.

“No way!” Todd shouted, “Come on Little C, I gotta get you outta here.”

The door opened as Todd hopped towards it and he found himself face to face with Kate who promptly threw herself on the floor to avoid yet another collision with Todd Tolansky.

“Come back here with our dolly!” the Triplets shouted as they chased Todd, running towards Shipwreck who had only just managed to get Polly off the ceiling.

“What’s going on!?” Shipwreck demanded.

Todd held up the baby and Shipwreck gulped, “Yeesh! Run kid run!!”

He and Todd raced away from the Triplets as fast as their legs could carry them, and towards Claudius’ bedroom. As soon as they got inside Shipwreck locked the door behind him.

“I can’t leave them alone for one minute.” Shipwreck groaned.

“Don’t worry about it Shipwreck,” Todd said, as he wiped away the makeup, “I’ll fix it.”

“There are some outfits over there,” Shipwreck said, pointing as he barred the door. Todd nodded and went to change Claudius’ outfit.

With a sigh he added, “Ever since their mother...took off they’ve been impossible.”

“Okay. Now that’s better!” Todd replied, as he surveyed his handiwork, “Check it out! Now Little C is stylin’.”

Claudius now wore a yellow shirt with mini jeans that were a bit too large for him together with a baseball cap turned backwards, sunglasses and some gold jewelry.

“My son the future rap star…” Shipwreck said, eyes rolling.

Claudius giggled as Shipwreck went over to fix his clothing, “Come here Claudie.”

“How did he get the name Claudius anyway?” Todd asked.

“Claudius was the name of a great Roman emperor,” Shipwreck began, “It was also the name of my great uncle who was the navigator on the RMS Titanic. Let’s just say nautical disasters run in the family.”

Oh-kay. Todd thought.

“There we are,” Shipwreck said, as he finished straightening up Claudius’ clothing.

“Oh, before I forget, do you know your kids have a flamethrower?” Todd replied.

“Oh no!” Shipwreck groaned, handing Claudius to Todd and opening the door, “I thought I got rid of that thing. Girls! Okay, line up, I want to….ACK!!”

---

The Pit, Delgado Residence
Conrad and Kate
19 February 2002, 1352

“Girls! Okay, line up, I want to….ACK!!” Shipwreck’s voice echoed up the stairs where Conrad had helped Kate to her feet.

The shout had been accompanied by the sound of hissing air. Conrad and Kate looked down the stairs, and then at each other before running down the stairs just in time to see Shipwreck covered in whipped cream.

With a glare at the three giggling girls he headed into the kitchen with a whip cream spray can of his own.

“That’s it! You are in for it now! Take that!” He shouted and sprayed the girl’s with whipped cream.

“EEEEEE!” The girls screamed and retaliated right as Kate and Conrad ran down the stairs.

“Conrad! Look out!” Kate shouted as Quinn sprayed whipped cream. Kate jumped between Conrad and Quinn and promptly caught a spray of whipped cream in the face.

“Now, petite filles, you leave me only one choice.” Conrad began, calmly as he strode into the kitchen, returning with two cans of whipped cream.

With his thumbs he popped the lids off of each can, brandishing them like an Old West pistolero and spraying whipped cream towards the Triplets.

“Kate! Catch!” Conrad said, tossing one can to Kate who promptly caught it.

Oh dear God this family is insane! Kate thought as she ducked behind the sofa, before Brittany could nail her with a jet of whipped cream.

Daria sprayed Todd with some whipped cream only for Conrad to spray her. Then Brittany sprayed Conrad with her own can.

Despite herself Kate couldn't help but laugh, and shot a spray of whipped cream at Brittany only to have Daria and Quinn converge on her. Then Shipwreck and Conrad turned their own cans on Daria and Quinn.

Claudius giggled with glee in Todd’s arms as everyone in the house ran all around the place, spraying each other with whipped cream.

“AKKK!” Todd shouted, “Stop it with the whipped cream already! AGH! OK! I warned you!”

Todd spit a small quantity of slime at Quinn.

“DADDY! TODD SLIMED ME!” Quinn shouted.

“Impeccable marksmanship.” Conrad quipped.

“Don’t encourage him!” Kate glared as she wiped a bit of whipped cream off of her face.

Meanwhile Shipwreck snapped back to Quinn, “Well, you shouldn’t have squirted him with whipped cream, then.”

“Go get ‘em kid!” Shipwreck shouted.

“Nice parenting!” Kate snapped only to narrowly dodge a squirt of whipped cream.

Todd smirked and spat slime onto the three girls. “That’s for the flamethrower!”

He set Claudius down, grabbing another can of whipped cream, “And this is for the electric shocks!”

Claudius squealed with delight, getting whipped cream everywhere.

“What’s going on here now?” Althea shouted as she opened the front door, and observing the chaos added, “Oh no, Dad, what did you do this time?”

“They started it!” Shipwreck pointed at the Triplets.

“I see you guys are settling disputes in the traditional Delgado manner,” Althea groaned.

Reverting to a stern parental figure, Shipwreck admonished, “I want you girls to apologize for how you treated Todd! He’s a guest in our house! You should be ashamed of the way you treated him!”

“We’re sorry.” The girls apologized.

“Now first I want you girls to clean up this mess. And I want the flamethrower and any little weapon you’ve built right now. After you clean up this mess we’ll discuss your punishment. Understand?” Shipwreck replied.

“Yes sir,” they said.

“Althea why don’t you help Todd get cleaned up and hang out with him for a bit?” Shipwreck said.

“Come on, Todd.” Althea said, leading him towards the bathroom.

---

To Be Continued…

 

[Invader]

That was most entertaining to read, very well written as well.

 

[Zack]

Nice addition. You should do a separate post giving us a brief bio of all these people. Really like catching up on these story updates but get confused sometimes.

 

[Nace Bilby]

@Zack, I'll do that. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll divide it with X-men: Evolution, Original characters, G.I. joe Characters and Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego characters.

 

[Jade]

@Zack, I'll do that. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll divide it with X-men: Evolution, Original characters, G.I. joe Characters and Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego characters.

That's a splendid idea...not joking!

 

[Nace Bilby]

Babies, Birds, and Delgado Family Disputes, Part Three​

Disclaimer: Same as before. Again, many thanks to Red Witch for creating the Misfitverse for all of us to write in. The idea of the Delgados resolving family disputes with whipcream fights was her idea.

---

The Pit, Delgado Household
Todd Tolansky and Althea Delgado
19 February 2002, 1433

Althea handed Todd a towel as soon as they were in the bathroom. With a sigh she began, “This is why I never invited you here.”

“They ain’t that bad.” Todd replied as he wiped some whipped cream off of his face.

He laughed and said, “Hey back when I lived with the Brotherhood we used to do this kind of stuff all the time.”

Todd looked away uncomfortably after he had brought up the Brotherhood.

“You don’t owe them anything, you know.” Althea replied.

“I know that,” Todd said, with an audible gulp, “But sometimes I still remember the good times, when I thought we were a family. I miss them and it hurts.”

“Yeah, I know how that is.” Althea replied, “Come on, let’s go in my room.”

Todd followed Althea towards her bedroom. Well this is the opposite of the Triplets’ bedroom. Posters of all kinds of boy bands. A radio. Bean bag chairs. CDs on the desk. It looks so normal.

“I guess you kinda figured out why my mom left, huh?” Althea said as she plopped down onto one beanbag, “She didn’t want anything more to do with this crazy family!”

“That can’t be true,” Todd said, shaking his head as he sat down in the beanbag across from her.

“It is,” Althea sighed, “And we’re not that nuts! I mean, we are, but in a good way. I mean it’s not like my Dad beats us or anything. Although I wish he’d give the triplets a smack every now and then! When all’s said and done he’s a good dad.”

“Your sisters said she left for some guy under the sea…” Todd began gently.

“That was just an excuse,” Althea snapped, “She didn’t really wanna get away from my dad. She wanted to get away...she wanted to get away from us.”

“Look, if you don’t wanna talk about it…” Todd began.

“No, I don’t mind telling you the story.” Althea began, “I’m just surprised you haven’t heard it already, what with the way gossip flows around here.”

Todd said nothing, he had heard the story but decided saying nothing was the best thing at the moment.

“My mom used to be a Cobra soldier who volunteered for some genetic experiment. She was supposed to be an amphibious stormtrooper. But something went wrong and she couldn’t survive out of the water. She got sick of being a lab rat and escaped and my Dad and the rest of the Joe team saved her. For a while she lived on an island so she could be safe from Cobra. My Dad visited there whenever he could and one day she and my Dad got together and I wound up the result. So she married and moved in with him. They got a mini-aquarium so she could rest and even figured a way that she could stay out of water for a while, other than wearing a diving helmet full of water. Life was pretty good, I guess. Even when the triplets were born. She took care of us and even did some missions with the Joe team. And then just about over a year ago...well Claudius was born. Dad took his mutation well, but my Mom…”

Althea paused for a moment, taking a couple deep breaths before she continued, “It’s not like Claudius could help it! It was just the way he was born. Then there was this mission that had the Joes contact Atlantis...don’t ask about the details, they’re classified. Well needless to say my Mom ended up being a liaison to the Atlantean nation for obvious reasons. She met this rich guy and…”

“I think I can guess the rest.” Todd sighed, “Why didn’t she take you guys with her? Did you want to stay with Claudius?”

“More like she didn’t want us,” Althea snapped, “I heard her say that.”

“But she must have loved you or something?” Todd replied.

“I thought she did too,” Althea coldly replied, “I guess she loved her new life more.”

“Maybe your mom had problems or something?” Todd gently offered, “Maybe it wasn’t because of that. Maybe it was something she couldn’t handle…”

“She couldn’t handle being the mom of freaks!” Althea snapped, fighting back tears, “And she was a mutant too! Logically it should’ve been my dad that should’ve dumped us! But then again logic’s never been his strong suit.”

“At least your father loves you,” Todd replied, “That’s more than my dad ever did. My dad didn’t want me either.”

“I guess we both know what it feels like to be dumped, huh?” Althea replied.

“Yeah,” Todd sighed, “But at least you ain’t alone. You got your brothers and sisters to keep you company.”

“Some company,” Althea groaned.

“But you love them, right? They make you feel less alone, and it makes you feel good bossing them around and stuff. Makes you feel important and not totally helpless.” Todd replied.

Althea regarded Todd and asked, “When did you get this insightful?”

Todd shrugged his shoulders and said, “I dunno, I just get to thinking why people do what they do. I mean you and your dad yell at each other, but you don’t have any hate or malice in your tone. Believe me, I know that tone. You guys are so comfortable expressing yourselves. You don’t hold nothin’ back. You ain’t afraid of him and he ain’t afraid of you. That’s how it should be between a parent and his kid. You guys really love each other.”

With a sigh Althea replied, “You’re the first person I feel I can talk about this with. I dunno, I’m just so comfortable with you, like I can tell you anything. Ever meet someone like that?”

“Yeah.” Todd replied, before looking at Althea, “I do.”

“I really don’t feel like talking about this anymore.” Althea replied.

“Okay so tell me something else,” Todd said cheerfully, “Like about that spaceship I’m not supposed to know about.”

“Well...that’s classified,” Althea said with a smirk.

“Then how come you know about it?” Todd replied.

Althea maintained her smirk.

“Aw come on! It ain’t like I’m gonna take joyride in it or anything!” Todd replied.

“Couldn’t even if you wanted to,” Althea replied, “Can’t fly anymore. Let’s just say one of the geniuses on base accidentally broke it. Maybe someday I’ll tell you more about it.”

“Why does everyone around here know all the good stuff except me?” Todd asked with a pout and folding his arms.

“You haven’t been here that long.” Althea replied.

“Hey kid,” Shipwreck said, poking his head into the room, “Roadblock’s here.”

“Well, there’s my ride.” Todd replied, “I hope he’s not still mad at me.”

“No, just concerned about you.” Roadblock replied as he walked into the room, “I heard you had an interesting time here.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Althea quipped, before turning to Todd, “I’m sorry how my insane sisters treated you.”

The foursome walked out of Althea’s room, and down the stairs to the front room. The triplets were still cleaning up and Claudius was in his playpen, licking whipped cream off his flippers.

“Well Roadblock and I have been talking,” Shipwreck began, “We decided tomorrow you don’t have to work in the cafeteria.”

Shipwreck the pointed to the triplets, “You three will take his place.”

“That’s child labor!” Quinn snapped.

Althea and Todd gave evil laughs and Quinn glared at them.

“Well maybe from now on when I tell you to be nice to guests you’ll actually be nice to guests.” Shipwreck replied.

“Todd, what do you we say to Shipwreck?” Roadblock prompted.

“Oh! Thank you very much for having me over at the house,” Todd replied.

“Well it was nice having you here,” Shipwreck replied.

“Can I come back sometime?” Todd asked.

“Are you serious?” Althea said, eyes widening.

“Come on down any time, Swabbie.” Shipwreck replied, “Say goodbye to Todd everybody!”

“Bye Todd,” the triplets said as Roadblock and Todd headed for the front door followed by Conrad and Kate.

“See ya tomorrow,” Althea replied, “We’ve got swimming practice! Remember?”

“I remember,” Todd replied, “Bye!”

“Bye bye!” Claudius giggled.

“So did you two have fun in your room?” Quinn snickered.

“Shut up plankton brain,” Althea snapped, “We didn’t do anything!”

“Don’t bother your sister,” Shipwreck replied, “Besides, we all know Althea isn’t like that. When you three get to be her age, then I’ll worry.”

Shipwreck turned to Althea, “So he actually sounded like he had a good time today.”

“Well he didn’t run off screaming so I guess it went well,” Althea replied as she plopped down onto the couch, “He even wants to come back.”

“So you like him, huh?” Shipwreck smirked.

“He’s kinda weird, but he’s all right,” Althea replied, “But okay. As a friend. Nothing more. It’s not like I’m attracted to him in any way.”

“Today I met the cutest boy,” Daria read from a purple book, “His name is Todd Tolansky. He has these adorable yellowish eyes that are so wide and expressive! I’m so glad he’s a mutant like me! I hope we get to hang out more!”

Where did you get that?” Althea paled, “She’s making it up!”

“Someone’s got a crush.” Quinn teased.

“I do not!” Althea snapped.

“I had the best dream last night,” Daria continued reading from the book, “I dreamed Todd and I were getting married and…”

“DARIA YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!” Althea screamed and started chasing her laughing sister around the living room.

Shipwreck doubled over, gripping his sides and laughing, “Oh yeah. This kid will fit into our family alright.”

“DADDY!” Althea screamed.

The resulting whipped cream fight meant any cleaning on the part of the triplets was quickly rendered moot.

---