Chapter Text
Autumn had arrived in Lakewood, painting the streets with vibrant leaves and filling the air with the scent of crisp apples. For Meisaku the tanuki and his mini red panda companion Meilin, it was the perfect time to head back to Lakewood Plaza Turbo and reconnect with the Bodega Squad. After exchanging greetings with the plaza residents, they made their way into Gar's Bodega.
"Hey everybody!" Meisaku greeted.
"Welcome back, Meisaku!" Prohyas and Vambre said happily.
"Beast-brother Meisaku! You've finally returned from your glorious journey." Fangbone said.
"Yup, it's good to be back. So, how was your summer vacation?" Meisaku asked.
"Well, you know the usual," Prohyas said. "Vambre and I spent our summer vacation in Rhyboflaven completing quests to collect new Magiswords, including the Flame Fist Magisword!"
Prohyas showed off his new Magisword, which fires a flaming fist that sends Pird flying out of the bodega.
"Oh please," Vambre scoffed, "That's nothing compared to my newly obtained Candy Cane Magisword. In case you haven't noticed, it actually shoots Candy Canes."
"Hah! frankly, the weapons you have obtained will not get you far against the vicious monsters me and my battle-brother Bill fought back in Eastwood," Fangbone said, "When we learn that Drool has escaped from the confines of the Ghost Zone, we decided to train ourselves long and hard for the many battles to come!"
"Oh sweet. So how did that turn out?" Prohyas asked.
Fangbone sighed.
"Not very well. As such, I was the one who grew strong and wise over these three months, Bill on the other hand stagnated to the point of suffering from hallucinating nightmares of anything threatening his life."
"Huh. Probably because normal people like Bill doesn't fare well in a world populated by cartoon heroes and villains." Prohyas said, "Hey, speaking of heroes, I bet K.O. was having an awesome summer."
"I agree. I hope he was cured of that were-animal curse Crinkly Wrinkly gave him." Vambre said.
Carol drops off K.O. to the Bodega.
"Bye, sweetie!" Carol's voice said.
"See you later, Mommy!"
Sure enough, K.O. walks into the Bodega, and to the surprise of Prohyas and Vambre, he remains the same cheerful and carefree were-puppy.
"Aww! He's still so cute!" Prohyas and Vambre said happily.
"Hi guys, nice seeing you again." K.O. said, "So how is your summer vacation?"
Prohyas, Vambre and Fangbone told K.O. about how they spent their summer vacation.
"Wow, even during the summer, you still manage to do all kinds of hero stuff."
"We sure did, little buddy. Which reminds me, how do you spend your--"
But Prohyas was interrupted when the alarm went off.
"Oh, nevermind! Sounds like a perfect time for us to show you how stronger we became!"
The Bodega Squad ran out to the parking lot.
"Oh, boy! It's been a while since I got t—"
However, K.O. notices that the Boxmore box did not drop from the sky.
"Huh? Ahaaa! Where box?!"
"Yeah, about that," Vambre said, "Do you remember the chaos you caused at Boxmore while battling Dark Danny as T.K.O.?"
"Yes?" K.O. said.
"Well, it turns out one of the Boxmore Robots, in this case Darrell, decided to use said power battle as an opportunity to rat Lord Boxman out to the Board of Investors," Prohyas explained, "After which Boxman got blasted into the sun and the factory is now under the control of Hannibal McFist and Wilhelm Viceroy."
"In other words, we don't fight robots anymore." Meisaku clarified.
"Oh." K.O. said, "If we're not fighting robots, then who are we fighting against?"
As if to answer K.O., Drool's toe inside Fangbone's satchel reacts and a portal opens, which reveal an army of orcs and trolls.
"Woah! Orcs and Trolls?! That does explain how Drool managed to escape back to Skullbania!"
"So, K.O.," Meisaku said, "Ready to take down those punks the same way we do with the robots?"
Hearing this makes K.O.'s puppy tail wag with excitement.
"Awooo! Let's get those orcs and trolls!"
After spending three hours fighting Drool's orcs and trolls, the Bodega Squad took a break.
"Whew, who would have thought fighting a bunch of orcs and trolls from your homeland could be this exhausting." Prohyas said.
"That much is true," Fangbone said, "Though Drool's evil knows no bounds, we triumph all the same!"
"True that." Vambre said, "By the way, K.O., we never got a chance to learn what you've been up to over the summer."
"Well, it was just like every summer with my mom," K.O. said.
The scene flashes back to K.O.'s summer.
"I ate oatmeal for breakfast every day, the same way I always do!" K.O. narrated.
Carol sat down with her coffee on the table while Mr. Gar cooked the oatmeal.
"Played at the beach."
K.O. turns to wave at Carol, but the waves tug his shorts down, leaving a starfish clinging to his backside.
"Practiced my rocket skating."
Mr. Gar pushes K.O. onto the rocket skates, while Carol records him. The rocket skates launch K.O. straight into a wall.
"And watched all the Chip Damage movies with Meisaku and his tanuki friends."
K.O. eats popcorn while Mr. Gar and Carol, along with Meisaku, Maru, Tadao, Kazue, Osamu and Atsushi watch the movie with him. Mr. Gar hugs Carol.
After the flashback, Prohyas and Vambre watch K.O.'s summer unfold through his thought bubble.
"Like I said, nothing special." K.O. said, "No big changes in my life or anything, but I still had fun."
"Uh, K.O., it actually looks like there was a pretty big change in your life." Vambre said.
"What? No. I just hung out with my mommy."
"Yeah, that's true, but did you know that your mom is dating Mr. Gar?" Prohyas said.
"Yes?"
"You see where we're going with this?" Prohyas said, "Meisaku, you saw that coming, right?"
"Yeah, me and my boys did," Meisaku said. "Heck, even Kazue started fist-pumping when Mr. Garcia finally got a chance to score."
Just then, Carol entered the Bodega.
"Hey, guys!"
"Greetings, mom of K.O." Fangbone greeted.
"Hey, you." Carol greeted Mr. Gar, before kissing him and holding his hands. K.O. gasps loudly.
"Hey, you guys! I think my mom and Mr. Gar might be... dating. Well, hey! Looks like I had a pretty cool time skip after all!"
"Yeah, it was fun," Meisaku said, "Welp, see you guys tomorrow."
"I shall take my leave as well." Fangbone said, "Until we meet again!"
K.O., Fangbone, and Meisaku leave the bodega, while Prohyas and Vambre remain, staring in deadpan silence.