The trolling wasn't answering, eyes closed, his chest wasn't even lifting a single bit. Floyd was the first to tear up again, going to his side to grip into his t-shirt and bury his face into it;

- Oh no... oh no, oh no, OH NOOOOO !!! He whimpered.

- ... no... n-no... it's... it's my fault... it's my fault, it's my fault !! Clay was blaiming himself.

If he had been a better friend, this wouldn't have happened ! If they didn't fight all the time maybe he could have–

- H-Hey, no no no ! John Dory's voice interrupted his spinning thoughts, he's gonna be okay, okay ?? Just– ... Spruce ??

- Y-Yeah ! T-Slush nodded, C'mon Bruce ! Wake up !

- IT'S SPRUCE !!! Clay yelled as he corrected him, PUT SOME RESPECT ON HIS NAME, FOOL! AND GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHERS !

He pushed him away, still mad at him for stealing Chloe and causing this whole mess... Spruce was still unresponsive, laid on his back with his breath not-existent.

- Spruce !!! John Dory shook him more, Spruce this ISN'T FUNNY WAKE— he sniffled out loud, breaking down and shaking him again unable to hold back the pain from showing anymore, Wake up... ! please...!

- Spruce !! Floyd cried louder.

Clay stayed back, feeling like he couldn't even go near him... This was all his fault; he's been nothing but trouble for his dear brother.

- We... JD choked on a sob, we need you brother...

There was a long, painful silence for what felt like forever... until John felt small twitch like movements in his arms.

- Wha..

The oldest opened his tearful eyes, confused, until he felt it again and realized what it might be, looking down at his younger brother;

Hearing the mumbling, the rest of the gang looked over at him immediately,

- What was— Floyd had felt the mouvement too, raising his face from Spruce's chest.

- S..Spruce... ? John Dory was careful to see any sign of his brother waking up.

The purple one didn't give any response for a bit... until his body got taken by violent coughing, John Dory immediately rolled him on his size so he could throw up the dirty water out of his lungs, directly on the ground.

Clay gasped quietly, Floyd's eyes lit up with hope;

- Spruce ?!?!

Shivering, the trolling was finally councious, wheezing for air after he was done emptying his lungs.

- Spruce ?... John Dory turned his head around so he would see his eyes open and staring back at him, SPRUCE ! The eldest gave one square smile as he starts to tear up happily, wrapping his arms around his tightly.

He took just a sniffle for the kid to start to tear up as well, whimpering as tears started to pour out of his purple pearls, realizing he had almost just died.

- H-Hey, hey, it's okay, I gotchu.. always... JD held him closer, relief filling him.

- Awe... Floyd shushed him and burried his face against him again, Spruce, I thought you dieded !

Even Branch made his way over to them and nuzzles close to them... in his egg shell.

Spruce, still silently crying, rested in John's arms as he was being held. Away from the group, Clay was staying in the back as he felt like this was all a dream, trembling as tears spilled on his own chubby baby cheeks, not joining feeling like... he had no right to do so.

Spruce yet, felt like someone was missing in the embrace, his arm searching for the trolling with yellow hair. Not finding him, he opened his eyes scared to see him missing, but calmed down seeing Clay staring at him while crying.

- Clay...? He mumbled.

He said nothing. He didn't know what to do other than just... stand there.

... Until his brother opened his arms weakly, signaling for him to join the hug.

Clay let out a happy sob, unhesitatingly ran over to them and jumped into Spruce's other side, nuzzling into it. His heart was speaking his worries out to him;

- I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry, he mumbled into his side, again and again.

- For what? Spruce wrapped an arm around him, genuinelly not understanding, you didn't... cough... you didn't do anything..

- I'm a bad brother... Clay admited what he thought was the obvious truth.

His older brother's eyes widened slightly in shock for a few seconds, before pulling him closer and burying his face in his yellow hair;

- No you're not you moron..!! He said in a shaky voice, I couldn't imagine a life without you annoying me all the time, don't ever say that again... !

If him saying they had never been friends hurted Clay, Clay saying he had been a bad brother hurted equally Spruce. The younger one of the two stayed quiet, soft cries could be heard as he was pressing into his side more. More comfort was requested. With this conflict over, John Dory was smiling through teary eyes, hugging all of his brothers closer, and yes, including eggie Branch.

- Gosh... I love you guys so much..! He realized and he just had to tell them.

Floyd giggled and, not wanting to offense Spruce for the fact that would soon be revealed, nuzzled in John's arms instead, I'm so glad, you're okay Spruce ! He still added.

- Me too... Clay comfirmed, but smelled the air and saw– well smelled– the problem; but eugh.. you smell like shi-

- And there it is, Spruce rolled his eyes playfully, ... what are you looking at ? He added as he saw Chloe still peaking from her hiding place.

- ... yeah... I love you but I'm gettin off now, Clay pulled away.

It was true that well- Spruce had fell in a waterwaste channel filled with the same water that was used in... every bathtub in the village.

- eeewww... Floyd realized the smell was from Spruce and climbed out of John's lap, Yeah me too...

Spruce wasn't offended as he only laughed;

- Well- at least he said he loves me, he shrugged, chuckling before looking at John Dory;

JD didn't really minded, grining back at him before embracing him again, overjoy;

- YOU'RE ALIVE, YOU'RE ALIVE, YOU'RE ALIVE!!! He kissed his cheek, dirty water not being an obstacle to give affection to his babies.

- Eughhhh.. Clay personally, was grossed out because he kissed his cheek covered in dirty water.

- Awww, Floyd had already forgot, giggling and ready to jump back in the hug, I want a kiss too !! He reached at John Dory with grabby hands.

- No no, no, Clay patted his shoulder, I don't think you do—

- Yeah... all thanks to you, Spruce declared at John and leaned on his shoulder, Cmere Floyd ! He also playfully carried Floyd in again and gave him a kiss on the forehead too.

- YAYY !! The toddler decided to ignore the smell.

Clay stood there.

- .....NOT ME-

- Cmere !! JD playfully wrapped an arm around him to pull him in the group hug.

- NOOO-

Clay tried to grab Branch's shell to not get carried away, but that only pulled all of them in a giant group hug. It was comforting and liberating to know everyone was safe now, even Chloe joined their hug !

- YAYY, Floyd lifted the armadillo, WE ALL SMELL LIKE CLAY'S HAMMER NOW !!!

- BLERURHHRHR, Clay faked throwing up, even if he had no hammer to let out of his stomach this time.

T-Slush sighed in relief, happy this whole thing was done.

Suddendly, coming from the entrance of the huge rooms, you could hear a bunch of trolls making their way in. Terrified, T-Slush was about to form his hair onto a camouflage, thinking maybe Mango had some army of bodyguards... only an elder and none other than June walked in, a group of cops following closely.

Grandma Rosiepuff's green eyes met her grandsons. Her heart jumped inside of her chest and finding lost energy of her younger days, ran up to them, feeling joy spread through her body;

- OH THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE ALL OKA- oh- she suddendly stopped when she got up to them, OH my god what is that foul SMELL-

She plugged her nose and glared at them; had any of them even took a shower in the last 2 days they had been missing ?? Floyd did not hesitated to get on his little feet and hug her grateful she found them. T-Slush appeared by June's side from nowhere, nudging her;

- Yeah, purple's gonna need a thousand showers before we head home- maybe more than that– his eyes widened at the look June gave him.

- We all gonna need showers... Clay agreed as he stepped between the two, By the way Miss.June- Tony saved Chloe.

- Did he really— wait CHLOE ??

Hearing her mama's name, the pet ran up to her, jumping into her arms for cuddles. June realized her baby was back and hugged her, tearing up and petting her; Chloe's tail had never been wagging that fast.

Meanwhile, Rosiepuff had gathered and was hugging all of five grandsons tight and sighed heavily. She was rassured she got them all back by her side now;

- Good absolute heavens.. I'm so glad all of you are safe and okay !!... I just have one question...

They knew it was coning, so they all just stood there in a straight line, shocking the cops that did not expected such a powerful voice from that old woman;

- HOW THE HAIR— Branch I see you, don't try to get away— DID YOU GET AAAALLLLL THE WAY FROM THE EAST SIDE TO HERE FROM... WHATEVER SOURCE OF TRANSPORTATION YOU GOT !!!!!

There was a long moment where all you heard was the echo of the woman's voice against the walls of the large room. The brothers all blinked synchronised, and stared at her in silence.

- .......WE KILLED A MAN— Clay blurted out.

- WHAT ?!?!?!!?

- HAHAAAAA CLAAAAY FUNNY JOKE HAHA- he means he missed you- John Dory corrected him

- WE GOT ON A TRAIN ILLEGALLY- Clay elaborated.

- W- Wh- WHAT ???? Grandma was getting more shock by the second.

- ... Could you run your mouth for any LONGER?!?!?!? John Dory groaned at him.

- Actually I can- Clay cleared his throat, John Dory got mad after we lost the contest and said fu-

He earned a slap behind the head, making poor Clay almost fall foward;

- POINT IS, John Dory then placed his hand on his sibling's mouth, we're healthy, fine and alive and we'll never do that again ever ! He promised.

Grandma raised an eyebrow at him, not sure if she should believe what she heard just now. Clay, annoyed of John, decided it would be an amazing idea to lick the square's palm covered in dirty water;

- EW would you STOP DOING THAT-

- Would you rather me bite you instead? Clay rolled his eyes.

- ....., John Dory was considering if he SHOULD consider it.

- ..... I ATE A HAMMER

- Well yeah, you better not ! Grandma confirmed John Dory's words, Do you know how worried I was ?! I don't know what I'd do if I lost all of you ! You're.. you're— she would then wrap all of them closer to her and hug them; You're my sweet little angels ! I love you all dearly !

Feeling loved, BroZone hugged her back, snuggling into her. It had been a long journey and the comfort of their only family left had been needed.

Only John Dory hadn't join the hug yet. He thought back of the words he had told her... did he really deserved Grandma forgiving him this easily ?

- G-Grandma, I.. a-about what I said before, I-I didn't—

It was hard to explain. Even with his 12 years of experience he had never been that good at communication, and he was afraid no matter the efforts he gave it would never change. Gladly, Grandma Rosiepuff smiled to him;

- Mean it ? She chuckled as she completed his sentence, I know.. trust me.

JD felt his heart drop and before anyone could see any drop of water on his cheeks, he ran up to her to burry his face into her side along with his little brothers.

- ..I love you...

- I love you more my brave little peachfuzz..! She held a hand on the back of his head and kissed his temple gently, You all know that don't you..?

- Of course we do ! John nodded.

- Mhm ! Spruce hugged her tightly

- I love you more than they do‐ Clay blurted out.

He got for this, a punch on the shoulder from his favorite brother AND best friend;

- Owwww !! I was JOKING !! He complained.

- Try again it wasn't funny, bestie, Spruce wrapped an arm around him.

Rosiepuff chuckled, surprised to see them not starting a whole fight about this, and shook her head; apprently they had learned a lot on this trip !

- Me too ! Me too ! Floyd was pulling in her dress, I love you, Grandma !

- I love you more my sweet baby peachfuzz !! She kissed his forehead.

Branch only shook his blue hair, he was happy all of his family was back together.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

A few days later — the news had spread like glitters !

New boyband BroZone saved Chloe the armadillo from kidnapping !

From this, even if we had lost the contest– June C. thanked us by giving our family the right amount of money to pay the pod... well... OUR NEW POD !!

After the whole adventure that the brothers had went through and saving Chloe the armadillo, June C. had decided the best way to thank them was to assure Rosiepuff to keep her babies home.

Not only had she hired them a new manager, her own brother named Hairwin Cowbell, but with BroZone now breaking the records, Rosiepuff didn't have to worry anymore about missing of anything ! And John Dory was very proud he got the idea of forming the band, since everyone was having fun writing songs and performing !

So then, when Cotton Candy visited Rosiepuff and the boys again, finding the door open and letting himself in, he was shocked to realize that the new pod was bigger, but also in a better state; the rooms were cleaned and no one had locked themselves inside to rot alone to emo songs. Rosiepuff had maybe got actual control of the house? Even if her grandsons were more chaotic then ever...

- HAI COTTON CANDY ! Clay waved as he ran by.

- Oh hai Cl—

He was cut short by Clay rushing straight into the trash with the sound that came along with it, falling backward on his butt. He took a second, analysing what had just happened before John Dory came rushing, obviously after him;

- MY GOGGLES WHERE DID YOU HIDE MY GOG- Oh hey Mr. Cc !! He smiled.

- Oh hey, John- have you seen your Grandma ? He questionned.

- Oh yeah, she's in the kitchen— he cleared his throat, CLAYYYYY !!!! He went back on his pursue.

The CPS then took that direction, meeting Spruce and Floyd that were eating breakfast while watching the TV in the living room. He took the door leading to the kitchen and found Rosiepuff emptying some boxes of dishes since they had just moved;

- Oh hey ! Cotton Candy ! What a pleasant surprise, who let you in ? She pulled a chair out for him.

The troll sat down, already taking notes as he noticed a way better smell around the pod;

- ... Well the door was open— he cleared that question out of the way.

- Oh ! The elder troll's eyes widened in shock, That must have been King Peppy when he left earlier....

She had said that with a smirk, which caused Cotton Candy to raise an eyebrow at the mention of the name;

- King Peppy ? ... he repeated.

It didn't take much for the lilac troll to slam a sheet of paper on the table; officially signed by King Peppy, it was now an order to let her keep the boyband BroZone with her since she had officially got the title she had begged for;

- I'm their legal guardian now ! She leaned on the table, Prooved to be the only troll able to raise my little peachfuzzes ! So you can forget about all of... this, she pointed to the pile of paper in the CPS's hands.

To that, the troll smiled back, taking off his sunglasses. He took the papers and ripped them in half; half of the sheets that fell on the ground already were covered in positive reviews after this visit he just had; he already knew, satisified that things had gotten better, Rosiepuff was the right one.

Spruce, Clay, Floyd and Branch all cheered from behind the door, giving high fives to each other. They were officially gonna stay with Grandma !!

John Dory well... he kept searching his goggles. He looked around the living room, lifting cushions and even Floyd's toys off the ground... when he founds them on the couch, he jumped when he accidentelly stepped on the remote, changing the channel on the TV to a commercial filled with explosions and fire;

THEN CHECK OUT THE ONE AND ONLY...

👹 R H O N D A A A A 👹

John Dory jumped, scared at first by the deep voice; only when he saw the critter on the screen, his heart melted.

It was a stripped armadillo, just like June Cowbell's one but this one was instead showing off her red stripes on her sides, with adorable green eyes and a happy expression that just made John's heart squeeze in affection for the creature.

- John likes... he nodded, already knowing what he would be asking for the next christmas to come... that is, if he wasn't Up To Snow Good !

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

- This was great ! Grown up John Dory, petting the Rhonda the armadillo's inside, while he was laying down, exhausted, We saved an armadillo, became a boyband had our first concert AND got a new pod in the same week ! Man, we were on a ROLL !

Bruce, Floyd and Branch were all asleep, the only one still awake was Clay that had been attentive since the start of the story.

- So then... that's it ? Clay raised an eyebrow.

- What do you mean that's it ? I just told you a story about 44 thousands words long !!

- Well... Clay sat up, somehow still not tired even if John Dory himself was struggling to keep his eyes open, How does this whole thing helps me with Viva ? Now I know how we became a boyband but... I still don't get it.

John Dory rolled his eyes playfully, he took his bit of energy to sit up as well, yawning as he took off his goggles to let them on the side, and getting up. He walked up to Clay, lifting his legs to not step on Branch and Floyd just laying on the floor in the middle of the room. When he got up to the middle child, he forced him to lay down and grabbed a blanket, wrapping him in a burrito;

- Now... John Dory ignored his own need of sleep to tuck in Clay, what I want you to take away from this whole thing little brother... is when it comes to making important decisions, especially when they involve people close to you, you have to have a balance of using both your head and heart !

He kneeled down, next to him, staying next to him as he noticed with a silent cheer that Clay's eyes were starting to close by themselves.

- We would learn that on the way, right ? We did some crazy things back then but with the right intentions and direction.. you get where you need and want to soon enough, John Dory explained; ... even with Grandma, she took us in when we lost mom and dad... and when she was close to losing us, she didn't stop fighting for us...

Clay still looked a bit lost, so John Dory raised a hand to gesture;

- That's a choice she made with this...

He gestured to his forehead.

- ... and this.

He then pointed to his heart.

Clay undertsood, and actually nodded, satisfied with the advice and closing his eyes. John Dory having accomplish his mission, streched his arms, yawning and going back to his sleeping back without a sound.

In the corner of the room, the glowfly that had been listening to this whole story streched her wings; after resting, she flew out of the window; the sun would soon rise and she wanted to be home before it happened.

... until Rhonda ate her in one gulp.

THE END.