John Dory

The moment those words were hollered, Trolls and Bergens alike looked around to find a mysterious Troll standing on top of the TV antenna to someone's house. He was sky blue with teal hair, wore green ski goggles with pink lenses, a brown leather jacket with a matching fingerless glove on his left hand, and green, tattered shorts.

“Who the heck is this jerk?!" Willow exclaimed.

“Uh, Bridget, do you know this guy?" Gristle asked his bride with concern.

“I can't remember all my suitors, Grissy."

At that moment, everyone watched as the Troll jumped off the building, slid down a cable, swung off a flagpole with his hair, grabbed a balloon string, floated down some, and clumsily somersaulted across the aisle.

“Sorry, is this bad timing?" he asked as he removed his goggles, revealing icy blue eyes. Branch gasped in disbelief once he realized who this was.

No, it couldn't be...

“I'm just trying to find a Troll named..." the stranger gasped in delight as he quickly noticed Branch and ran right up to him. “Baby Branch!"

“Uh, you're making a mistake, stranger that looks similar to me," Branch claimed. “There's no Branch here!"

“Look at you! You've gotten so big!" the stranger said adoringly. “You're not a branch anymore, you're more like a trunk! Junk in the trunk!"

Branch turned around to face Poppy, unsure how to explain this to the confused Pop queen, and was suddenly slapped in the rear by the familiar Troll.

“Ow!" Branch exclaimed as the other guy laughed. Poppy placed a hand over her mouth in shock.

“Ooh, I bet you I can still pick you up! Come on!" the stranger said as he struggled to lift Branch up above his head. “Ooh, you got heavy! Ah! There goes my back!"

“Hey, you can't talk like that to him!" Willow shouted angrily. “Only I can!"

“Oh! Charley horse!" the stranger groaned as Branch struggled to break free from his grasp. “Oh, God! Whoa, ah! Two Charley horses!"

“Want me to set his pants on fire?" Willow whispered to Poppy, creating flames with her hand.

“Will, just hold Flower. I got this," Poppy assured her as she picked up her baby and handed her to Willow. Then, she turned to the mystery Troll and said in a defensive tone, “Hey! Stop right there! You put my boyfriend down and tell us who you are and what you want!"

“Hey! Whoa!" the Troll groaned in pain as he practically threw Branch down. “You're right. Totally rude of me. Didn't introduce myself... I'm Branch's brother."

Willow scoffed. “I don't care if you're Branch's broth... Wait, Branch has a brother?"

“WHAT?!" Poppy exclaimed in disbelief as everyone else gasped, equally shocked.

“Howy fudgie pops," Flower muttered.

“Ooh, drama! Corn me, Dinkles!" Tiny said, and Mr Dinkles spat out a miniature bucket of popcorn for him to snack on.

“Correction: used to be my brother," Branch protested, turning away from him. “Not anymore."

“Okay, I'm confused," Synth admitted.

“Hey, um..." Poppy stammered to her bitter boyfriend. “Remember earlier when I said you should open up to me and be real?"

Branch shrugged. “Well..."

“YOU COULD'VE STARTED BY TELLING ME YOU HAD A SECRET BROTHER!"

“Former brother," Branch corrected her.

“THAT'S NOT HOW DNA WORKS!" Poppy pointed out angrily. “Dad, did you know about this?"

“Ho! What would I know about secret family members?" Peppy chuckled sheepishly, his eyes darting side to side.

“Okay, not at all suspicious," Willow said quietly.

“When she says thats, she means it is... 'spicious," Flower informed her dad's not-brother-anymore.

“You must be my little niece!" he gushed with joy. “You look just like your daddy did when he was your size!"

“How do I know you're my uncle for weals?" Flower asked with a look of skepticism. To answer her question, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a chocolate chip cookie.

“Flower, wait!" Willow said in protest, but it was too late. Flower took the soft, chewy cookie and took a big bite out of it.

“Yep! You're my uncle!" Flower confirmed with her mouth full.

“Uh, Pops, help me out here," Willow pleaded.

“Oh, my gosh! I was being so rude!" Poppy realized, taking Flower from Willow's arms. “I've never met anyone from Branch's family before. Except for our baby girl Flower, here. I'm Poppy, Branch's girlfriend. Should we hug? Fist bump? Smile and wave for now, and see where the night takes us?"

“All of the above!" Branch's brother replied, feeling slightly overwhelmed by Poppy's enthusiasm.

“Wait, I know you!" Poppy realized. “You're the guy from BroZone! We were just listening to them!"

“Yeah! BroZone!" Cooper shouted in excitement as the rest of the Pop Trolls smiled in excitement. The Princess of Rock, on the other hand...

“Who's BroZone?" Ash wondered.

“Uh, they're this really lame boyband from yesteryear, or whatever," Willow explained to her girlfriend.

“Lame?!" scoffed Branch's brother. “Kiddo, we topped all the charts!"

“Yeah?" Willow asked. “Well, not mine, mister..."

“Oh! Wait!" Poppy interrupted. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, don't tell me! Um, okay. Well, you're not the Heartthrob."

“Well, that's your opinion..."

“The Fun One?" Poppy asked herself. “No, you're kind of uptight."

“‘Uptight?'" he said, hurt.

“Not the Sensitive One, either..."

“Okay," Branch's brother muttered. “A lot of assumptions for someone you just met thirty seconds ago..."

Poppy gasped in realization. “Oh! Oh! I've got it! You're John Dory!"

He smiled with pride. “The Leader–"

“The old one!" Poppy interrupted. John Dory sighed in disappointment.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt," Gristle said, “but we lose the venue at 11:00, so–"

“Shh! I'm trying to listen!" Bridget whispered. “Very hot gossip!"

“So, if-if you're Branch's bro, then that means that all the other BroZone bros are Branch's bros, too!" Poppy realized, and gasped in ecstacy. “Branch! How come you never told me?!"

“Because it's complicated," Branch answered with his back still turned.

“Oh, sweetie," Poppy said in sympathy, gently patting his back. “Because you weren't in the band..."

John Dory laughed. “Branch was in the band, alright."

“What?!" Poppy exclaimed. “No way! Which one was he?!"

“Bitty B," John Dory answered.

“Bitty B?!" Poppy repeated. “No, that's impossible. Bitty B had glasses."

“Ooh! And a diaper!" John Dory added.

Aaaannnd... a falsetto made of gold, not that anyone cared," Branch huffed. “But that's all in the past, because they stopped being my brothers the day they walked out on me and never came back!"

“Yo, that's messed up," Synth admitted.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa," John Dory said. “That's not fair, Branch. I did come back, but no one was there. It wasn't until I heard about you saving the world from the Rockapocalypse that I realized you were even still alive!"

“Oh, that-that's so sweet!" Branch said sarcastically. “He realized I was still alive... twenty years too late!"

“Hi! Sorry," Poppy interrupted, pushing him aside. “He gets hangry if he skips breakfast."

“I had breakfast," Branch confirmed, still upset. “It was avocado toast with two poached eggs, some cayenne for a little kick. And you know what? It was delightful!"

“Branch, what's going on with you?" Poppy asked with concern.

“The question we should be asking is ‘what's going on with him?!'" he growled. “I bet you he's only here because he needs something!"

“That's not true! He's your brother!" Poppy tried to reassure him.

“Branch," John Dory cut in, “I'm gonna be straight with you. I need something."

“And there, it is!"

“Come on, man," Poppy groaned in frustration. “I'm trying here."

Branch began to walk away, but John Dory immediately said, “Wait, wait! Hold up, Branch! It's about Floyd."

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