Chapter 10 The Enthusasim

Iris woke up to the sound of Josh snoring loudly, which made her realize why Jane had brought ear plugs. She sat up in bed and looked around the living room. Josh was lying on Lila fast asleep with some drool coming out of his open mouth. Erick and Jane were sleeping on a mattress next to each other. Jake and Hannah were on the couch; Jake had his hand over Hannah and Paccia was sleeping on Jake's head. Ed was sleeping on the other side of the couch; however, Jenny was sleeping next to him but she wasn't there any more.

So she got up and looked around for Jenny as she was curious to know where she was. As she explored the house she saw more photos of Lollie and another man standing next to her. Some of the photos also had Josh, Lila, their mother, and step-father in them.

'Hun I wonder who that other man is?' Iris asking herself.

She then heard Lollie's voice coming from the next room, so she took a look inside and saw Lollie praying at an altar that had a photo of the man in the center of it along with other items in front of it.

"Um Lollie what are you doing?" Iris asked.

"Oh Iris I didn't hear you come in, but I was just praying to my late husband." Lollie explained.

"Oh really, who is he?" Iris asked.

"His name was Fern and he was the sweetest, unfortunately God took him too soon. A few years ago he got diagnosed with cancer and he didn't make it," Lollie explained sadly.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that," Iris said, feeling sorry for Lollie.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault, it was just bad luck that he got sick. Oh and if you're looking for Jenny she's in the kitchen making breakfast with my sister and brother-in-law," Lollie explained.

"Oh okay thank you Lollie," Iris thanked before leaving.

'Hmm I wonder which one of the plants Fern became after he passed? I should go looking for him after breakfast.' Iris thought to herself.

Later after having breakfast, Iris was out on the cherry farm knocking on different cherry trees, then calling out Fern's name; however, Josh and Apollo soon came outside and saw what she was doing.

"Iris, what are you doing?" Josh asked.

"Oh I'm just looking for your uncle to get to know him more," Iris explained.

At the mention of his uncle, Josh's face changed to sadness and he took his hoodie off and walked to a nearby tree and sat under it.

"Iris, can I talk to you for a moment?" Apollo asked.

"Um sure?" Iris said, confused while following Apollo a bit away from Josh.

"Iris when a human in this world passes away they don't become a plant that allows us to talk to them from the afterlife. Things here don't work the same way as they do at home. When a human here passes on they are gone for good and there's nothing that can be done about it," Apollo explained.

"Oh right, different worlds have different laws. Sorry, it's just that I really miss home and I keep on thinking things here work the same way as they do at home," Iris said while looking down.

"I miss home as well, Iris and I understand your grief, but you need to remember that this is earth and things here are different," Apollo explained.

"Yeah you're right... I need to talk to Josh," Iris said before getting off her knees and walking up to him. When she got there she saw that his face was drenched in tears and he was looking at the tag in the back of his hoodie.

"Hey Josh, you okay?" Iris asked.

"Yeah it's just that I just can't get over losing Uncle Fern. He was like a second father to me and a best friend," Josh explained.

"Oh I know how you feel as my Uncle Smith was the same way to me," Iris said.

"At least you know he's still alive," Josh said before facing away and holding his hoodie closer to his chest.

"Um Josh, is it okay if I ask, but what's with you and that hoodie?" Iris asked.

"Oh, well it was the last thing Fern gave to me before he passed away. He had it custom made and had "To My Loving Nephew" on the back of it," Josh explained then showed Iris the stitching he was talking about.

"Oh so It means a lot to you doesn't it?" Iris asked.

"Yeah it does, by the way why were you knocking on the trees saying you were looking for my uncle?" Josh asked.

"Oh well back in my kingdom whenever one of our people goes to heaven they would sit in a field of plants and become one of their favorite plants and they'll be able to talk to us from the after life whenever we miss them," Iris explained.

Before Iris or Josh could keep up the conversation Abmel called them inside. So they got up off the bench and went inside to see what she wanted. When they got inside Abmel sat them down in the living room with the rest of their friends.

"So kids I heard that the town's fair is open, so Jason is going to take you all there while me and Lollie stay here and do some chores, along with taking care of grandma as she can't be alone in her old age," Abmel explained.

"Oh I remember that Uncle Fern used to take me and Lila there whenever it was open when we were little!" Josh said excitedly.

"Yes, Oh and Josh I need your hoodie. It's really dirty and it stinks," Abmel said.

"WHAT?! No!" Josh exclaimed while clutching onto his hoodie.

"Josh I know it means a lot to you but it needs to be washed. If you don't comply then you're not going to the fair," Abmel stated very clearly.

Josh groaned and handed his hoodie over to his mom before stuffing his hands in his pants pockets.

"Hey Bro it's okay you have another hoodie," Lila reassured her brother.

"Yeah, but it wasn't a gift from Uncle Fern and it's black! That's for Jane and Erick as they make it work, but yellow is more of my color," Josh stated.

"Yeah he's right." Jane said.

"But Josh, your T-shirt is black?" Iris said confused while pointing to his shirt.

"Hey in my defense this was the only TMNT shirt left in the shop when mom bought it I wanted the white one," Josh explained.

"Oh well I think it looks good on you," Iris said.

"Thanks Iris but still I prefer yellow over black," Josh said.

"Hey son you'll have your hoodie back in no time. After all it'll only be in the wash for an hour, also it's hot out so you wouldn't be able to wear it anyways," Jason tried reassuring his stepson.

"Yeah and hey you'll get it back once we get back from the fair right?" Hannah asked Abmel.

"Yes, by the time you all get back the wash will be done. Now run along all of you, after all you don't want to miss the fair," Abmel said.

Everyone nodded and Jason led them all into the car to take them to the fair. When they got there they were all excited as they saw many rides, games, and snack shacks.

"Wow Jake, is this what fairs are like in your world?" Paccia asked in a whisper.

"Yeah it is, don't you have fairs back in your world?" Jake asked in a whisper.

"Yeah but they're more colorful and brighter," Paccia explained.

"Hey Jake, who are you talking to?" Jason asked, having heard Jake whispers.

"Oh I was planning on what to do here in my head and I didn't realize I was talking out loud," Jake quickly lied.

"Oh okay, just make sure you keep an eye on that. We can't have people thinking you're a weird kid," Jason stated jokingly.

Jake sighed out of relief and looked to see that Paccia had imprinted herself on his vest in the same way that Apollo does with Iris's dress. Jason then went up to one of the employees and got ten wristbands and gave nine of them to the group and kept one for himself.

"Now kids don't lose your wrist bands as they're the only things that allow you all to ride on the rides as well as play some of the games," Jason stated, turning on his father mode.

"Oh please the games here are rigid so I wasn't going to play them anyway," Erick stated.

"Yeah that's true, babe," Jane said while still reading a detective book and not tripping over anything.

"Well with that out of the way, you all go on and enjoy yourselves. If you need an adult to go on a ride come get me at the BBQ stand as I'm gonna be reconnecting with some old pals," Jason said.

The group all nodded and ran off into the fair to have a good time.

"HEY BRO LOOK!" Lila shouted while grabbing onto Josh's head making him look at an old ride they used to go on.

"Oh hey I remember that ride. It always went so fast that at the end of it I had to throw up HAHA!" Josh laughed remembering the good old times.

"Yeah wanna go see if it'll still happen?" Lila asked.

"Oh you bet I do!" Josh exclaimed then followed his sister on the ride.

After they got off the ride, Josh was leaning over a bin puking his guts out as he still got sick at the end of the ride. Lila was standing next to him with her hand on his back.

"Hey guys, is Josh okay?" Iris asked, noticing Josh hugging the trash bin.

"Oh he's okay. We just got off of a really fast ride and he got sick at the end, like always" Lila explained.

"Always?" Iris said, confused.

"Oh yeah we used to go on that ride all the time when we were younger and Josh always threw up at the end when we got off. Oh hey do you wanna go on with us?" Lila asked.

"Oh yes, it sounds like a lot of fun!" Iris exclaimed.

"Hey why don't you two go on the ride again and I hit up the snack bar," Josh suggested.

"Are you sure bro?" Lila asked.

"Yeah if I go on that ride again I'm gonna lose twenty pounds," Josh said.

"Okay see you there," Lila said before taking Iris for a ride.

Josh then headed off to the snack bar; however, on his way there he saw a kid that seemed to be seven getting his face painted.

"Hey look uncle Matt Im a tiger!" The kid excitedly told his uncle.

"Ha you're always a tiger kid." The uncle jokingly said before ruffing up his nephew's hair.

When Josh saw this he felt like a million pounds where just sat on his chest. He remembered when he would go to the face paints and he would also get a tiger painted on his face and how Fern would tell him that he was always a tiger. Tears started rolling down his face as he remembered all the good times he had with his uncle Fern and that now all those good times were at an end.

Josh Put his hands in his pockets and with his head down and him still slightly crying. When he got there he took a seat at the counter and ordered a soft pretzel, a coke to drink, and some chocolate ice cream.

"OH hey Josh is that you?" The man working at the counter asked.

Confused, Josh looked up and recognized the man.

"Mr. Carter! It's been a while hasn't it?" Josh asked, slightly happy to see him again.

"Yeah it is, you've grown up alot I almost didn't recognize you till you made that order, as you order it all the time here," Mr. Carter said, in a friendly manner.

"Yeah I did and still do hehe somethings never change," Josh said while laughing slightly.

"Yeah and you know it's strange to see you wearing a black T-shirt as that yellow hoodie makes you more recognizable. Where is your hoodie anyway, you've never taken it off ever since Fern had made it for you?" Mr. Carter asked.

"Oh my mom is washing it," Josh said, resigned to the idea that he didn't have it on, while also thinking about his late uncle.

"Oh well that explains why you're down as it's all you've got to remember Fern by, aside from the photos and memories." Mr. Carter explained trying to help Josh feel better, as he never liked it when the kid got sad as it's just not how he is.

"Yeah it was the last thing he got for me before he died," Josh said sadly before he began crying again, but even harder this time.

Mr. Carter felt bad for him as he was a close friend to Fern, he knew that Josh loved his uncle very much, the two were best of friends when Josh was just a child.

'I think I'll give him a free cookie for his troubles,' Mr. Carter thought to himself as he went to get Josh's order.

Meanwhile, in the shadow realm, Adrienne was in her room holding another shadowy spear and looking into a crystal ball.

"Crystal ball Crystal ball show me which Squads' powers are weak." Adrienne said into the crystal ball. It showed Josh who was still moping at the snack bar eating his food with some fresh tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Ah so the yellow one who's supposed to be happy and enthusiastic is all sad and blue so his powers are weak, perfect," Adrienne said to herself as she left to tell one of the others to go after him while she continued looking for the Rainbow Crystal heart shards.

Back on earth, Josh was now sitting on a bench by himself; he had his legs up and his head buried in his arms.

"Uncle Fern I miss you so much... *sigh* I wish you were here. I've been finding it hard to stay happy here as it brings back so many memories," Josh said to himself as he continued crying with even more tears coming out of his eyes.

Just then he heard a male voice calling out look out below. He looked around, but did not see anyone, that was until he looked up and saw a portal over him. A big yellow dog that looked like a golden retriever came out of the portal and fell right onto him.

"Wow that was a doozy, but hey I'm on earth now!" the yellow dog exclaimed happily.

"Hey get off of me!" Josh exclaimed as the dog was crushing his lungs making it hard for him to breathe.

"Oh sorry," the dog said while getting off Josh's chest.

The dog then noticed something shining out of Josh's pants pocket so he started digging through the pocket.

"HEY! HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Josh shouted, surprised.

The dog then pulled out his amulet and once he saw that Josh had the yellow amulet he jumped for joy before tackling Josh again and licking his face.

"It's you! I found you! You're my new student!" the dog exclaimed happily as he found the new owner of the yellow amulet.

"H-hey stop it haha!" Josh exclaimed while laughing.

"Oh sorry it's just that I'm so happy to be on earth and to have found you in one day!" the Dog exclaimed while wagging his tail.

"Okay, but who are you?" Josh asked, confused.

"Oh right, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Umang and I'm your new animal guide. I started looking for you after I felt you activating your powers. However your happy aura is weaker than it should be, why is that?" Umanga asked.

Josh signed and then told Umang about how he's been feeling all day and that no matter what he always feels sad about this fair as it was the place where himself, his sister, and their uncle, would have the most fun of their lives.

"I'm trying to have a good time but I can't help but feel sad as I miss him so much," Josh said sadly.

Umang laid down on Josh's chest gently so that he would not crush his lungs and thought about what to say. "Hey kid, I know you miss him very much but you're not the only one. Why don't you talk to your sister and other family members and they could help you feel better by talking about how they miss him too? After all you might not be the only one who's suffering from the loss but them as well," Umang suggested.

Before Josh could say anything back to him they heard people screaming. The two quickly got up and headed towards the source of the screams. When they arrived they both saw a shadow raven attacking everything in its sight.

"Oh crap! I gotta take care of this!" Josh exclaimed then grabbed his amulet and screamed, "RAINBOW POWER ACTION!" The amulet glowed and Josh transformed into his Rainbow squad form and ran right at the Shadow Rave.

"Well, well, well look who it is, the enthusiastic one," Shade mockingly snarled.

"Shade, what are you doing here?!" Josh retorted angrily.

"Oh, I'm just here to have fun at the fair, isn't that what a fair is meant for?" Shade mocked while eating some dark chocolate.

"Oh so you're here to ruin everyone else's fun and eat dark chocolate which is gross?" Josh asked.

"How else am I gonna have fun and be happy, isn't that what you want for others?" Shade hissed, still mocking Josh.

"If your fun is eating gross candy and ruining other people's fun then I won't let you do that!" Josh exclaimed.

"Oh well that's too bad. SHADOW DESTROY HIM!" Shade commanded the shadow and it charged aggressively at him.

It flew right at Josh attempting to grab him with its claws, but thankfully he dodged the attack and tried to summon his gun. However, his amulet wasn't glowing at all which made him very confused. "Why isn't my amulet working?!" Josh asked, scared.

"It's because you're not truly happy, you're still sad about your uncle! Try to think of something that'll help you feel better about his death!" Umang exclaimed.

Before Josh could say anything the Raven managed to grab a hold of him and flew up with him still logged in between its claws. Josh panicked as he knew that whatever it was planning it wasn't going to end well for him.

"I need to feel better but how?!" Josh thought to himself with panic. He then remembered something that aunt Lollie said to him after Fern's funeral.

He remembered himself as a seven year old Josh in his old room hugging tightly on his teddy bear. He was wearing a black suit as he just got back with his family from Fern's funeral. Just then Lollie came into the room and saw her sobbing nephew. "Hey Josh, how are you doing?" Lollie asked.

"Not good, sniff... I want Fern back." Josh said while wiping his face of tears.

"I know I miss him too, but he's in a better place now and whenever I miss him I'll just think of the good time's I had with him and tell myself that I will always treasure every moment with him and stay happy whenever I can. Even if I cry about him being gone I'll tell myself that he would want me to not be sad for long and live on so he can rest knowing that I'm still happy even if he's no longer here," Lollie explained while putting her hands over her heart before reaching over to hug him warmly.

Josh hugged back, then looked at his aunt in curiosity for a while and decided to do the same thing. He thought about all the fun he had with Fern. When those thoughts entered his head, at first he cried a bit more. However, as his thoughts continued he felt the sadness slowly leaving him, while he still felt sadness lingering there he also felt some happiness returning. He understood that Fern would want him to be happy and he would always be with him whenever he was happy.

Instantly Josh remembered the trick his Aunt Lollie taught him on that day that helped him feel better even if that wasn't the best day of his life. So he decided to use the trick again to see if it would help him feel better. So he put his hands over his heart and thought about all the good times he had with Fern when he was younger.

He was sad at first but then he remembered that his beloved uncle was in a better place now and he was no longer suffering. He also remembered that Fern would want him to be happy as much as he can be even if he still misses him. Josh then showed a genuine smile on his face showing that he was truly happy now.

His amulet then glowed brightly and he was then surrounded by a big yellow ball that made the Raven let go of him as the ball was growing bigger and bigger like a bouncy ball. The bubble then popped and Josh looked below him and saw he was getting closer to the ground. So he summoned his gun and shot a blast at the ground. The blast instantly formed a bouncy castle that cushioned his fall and mitigated any kind of danger where he could get hurt. As his new powers allowed him to create things for others to have fun too but also be safe as getting hurt can instantly ruin the fun.

"Oh COME ON!" Shade screamed angrily.

"HA get ready to be happy again LIGHT!" Josh called out as he bounced up and aimed at Shade.

Shade froze for a moment as someone called out that name, it had seemed familiar to him but he couldn't remember why. However, once he saw Josh aiming at him so quickly, he got out his crystal ball to try to blast Josh with it. In response Josh pulled the trigger on his gun first and it blasted the Crystal ball. It shattered causing all the positive emotions in it to get back into the shadow raven, allowing it to immediately turn back into the man Josh saw with the kid at the face paints earlier.

"Ohh! Just wait, Lucifer will one day rule over this world!" Shade exclaimed before teleporting away.

"Yeah and one day Light you'll be back to your real self and not just a tool that Lucifer wants," Josh murmured to himself.

The man who got turned into the shadow got up and rubbed his head. "Ug what happened?" he asked.

"Oh you just got turned into a shadow monster but I was able to save you," Josh explained.

"Oh thanks. Wait, I know you... You're that superhero on TV that my nephew is a fan of," the man said.

"Oh really? Well, I'm happy to know that," Josh said enthusiastically to hear he had a fan.

"Hey, if it's not too much to ask, do you think you could spare some of your time to say hello to him and give him your autograph as it is his birthday and he would love to meet you?" the man asked.

Josh thought for a moment, however before he could give an answer, the nephew raced to the bouncy house. When he saw Josh he screamed in delight, ran up to him, and tackled him in a hug.

"Hey there, sport look, it's your favorite member of the Rainbow squads," the man said happily informing his nephew.

"Yeah and thank you for saving my uncle, you're awesome!" the little boy exclaimed.

"Hey, it's just what I do, and I'm glad to hear you're such a big fan of mine," Josh explained with joy coating his voice.

"Oh hey I know you might have to go, but can you please sign this?" the Little boy asked then pulled out a marker and shirt that had Josh in his Rainbow squad form on it.

Josh smiled brightly and took the marker and signed the words, "From your friend, The Yellow Squad" on it. The little boy jumped for joy and thanked Josh before him and his uncle left. Josh then got out of the bouncy castle and changed back into his normal form once he saw that no one was nearby.

"Well then Josh I must say I'm proud of you. You unlocked a new power and you were able to help yourself feel better about your uncle's passing," Umang said.

"Thanks Umang," Josh responded. He then transformed back to normal.

"JOSH JOSH ARE YOU OKAY?!" Jason's voice called out.

"Oh Dad! I'm over here!" Josh called out. Jason then turned the corner and ran up to his step son and hugged him tightly.

"Oh Josh, I was so worried about you I heard about the shadow raven and I started rounding up all your friends and when I didn't find you at the snack bar I got worried and..." Josh cut off Jason by hugging him and reassuring him that he's alright.

Umang then barked, getting Jason's attention and when he saw the yellow dog he was surprised.

"Hey Josh where did you find this dog?" Jason asked.

"I'd like to say he found me. Hey, do you think we can keep him? He looks hungry and tired," Josh asked.

"Well, we'll need to talk to your mother about it but I think she won't mind having a pet," Jason said.

He then told everyone that it was time for them to go home and while they were upset he reassured them that they could come back tomorrow. While they were heading to the exit, Iris went to Josh and Umang to talk to them.

"Hey Josh, I'm glad Umang found you and hey from the aura you're giving off you seem to be feeling a lot better," Iris said.

"Yeah I do feel a lot better and very happy as I met my first fan and gave out my first autograph. That was awesome," Josh announced while smiling brightly.

Just then his amulet started glowing and when he took it out of his pocket a beam of light pointed to one of the fair rides. Iris and Josh looked at each other before following the light. When they got there they saw something that made Iris cry out of happiness. It was the yellow shard of the heart, Iris picked it up and held it tightly to her chest.

"We found another one! Just six more left!" Iris exclaimed.

"Wow! Awesome! Come On Iris, let's tell the others when we get back home and have some pie and ice cream to celebrate," Josh suggested.

Iris nodded and the two went back to the group and headed back to the house.

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