Captain Underpants: The Heros Are Back

Chapter Six: The Return of the Waistband Warrior

"Oh my god," said Meena in awe as she stared at the superhero in front of them. "Is that really you, Captain Underpants?"

"Let's see, und-" the captain cut himself off when he saw who he was talking to, and beamed with joy. "Buh-Bi! Wild Ace! Transcendence! I almost didn't recognize you guys, you changed so much! How long have I been out?"

Oh no, of course he would ask questions like this. Meena wasn't prepared for questions like this. She gave her friends a somber look, and they gave her that same look in return. How could he break the news to him that he was 'out' for 25 years? The Acronym grew up and hung up their capes, let alone that one of them is dead? That would crush him, thought Meena.

"Sidekicks, may I ask what troubles you?"

"Umm...well," said Kei, "Those people that you mentioned? We're not them

Captain Underpants gave them a confused look. "But you did summon me, so you must know who I am?" he replied, starting to look about the destroyed room. "Is it just me, or does this office look different then the one I usually wake up in?"

"That's because it is a different office, uh... Mr. Underpants," Donna explained, "You've been 'out' for 25 years! Your 'sidekicks' have grown up. The Acronym hung up their capes and have their own lives now! One of-"

Meena slapped her hand over Donna's mouth before she could say anymore. "How about one horrible truth at a time? We need time for him to process this," she scolded before turning her head to the Captain. She reached out her hand and introduced herself. "My name's Meena Beard. I'm George Beard/Buh-Bi's daughter."

Captain returned the gesture and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Miss Meena. The pleasure's all mine."

Kei did the same thing Meena did. "Kei Hutchins. I'm Harold Hutchins's daughter."

CU shook her hand as well. "Marvelous to finally meet you," he greeted. He then turned toward Donna. "And you must be Melvin Sneedley's daughter, right?" he asked.

Oh no. It wasn't until now that Meena fully realized how much Donna looked like Melvin. Red hair, freckles, glasses; she was basically the spitting image of him!

"Umm...no, actually," replied Donna, "My name's Donna Pentman, and if I had any relation to this Melvin guy, I'm certain I would've known about it by now. " She tried to explain as gently as she could, knowing what she was gonna have to say next.

"Oh, well nonetheless it's a pleasure to meet you," Captain Underpants said before turning to the window. His eyes widened. "You did say this was a different office, but you didn't say anything about a whole new city!" he exclaimed. The girls knew what was gonna happen next, so they pulled the captain away from the window.

"You know, we should probably clean up this dump before someone walks in," Kei observed.

"The janitors' closet ain't far from here. I'll go steal some supplies," Meena offered. The other two nodded, and she rushed out the door.

After a brief pause, CU was the first to speak. "So, other than what you've already told me, what did I miss out on over these last, what was it? 25 years? Yeesh, that's a long time," he asked, smiling.

Kei looked over at Donna. Donna shook her head, signaling that she was not gonna say anything.

Kei signed and looked at Captain Underpants's joyous face.

"Actually, why did The Acronym break up?" he asked, then added to himself, "Probably think I died or something."

"Well, it wasn't just that," Kei started to explain.

"I'm all ears."

"Well, Transcendence, or Melvin, the guy you thought was Donna's dad?"

CU nodded.

"Well, shortly after you went 'out', he, umm... well he...he died," Kei hung her head, not wanting to see the result of her confession.

Before CU could reply, Meena burst through the door with a bang! Her hands were filled with mops, buckets, and cleaning products. She noticed the sad look on everyone's- even CU's- faces.

"Let me guess, you told him?" Meena assumed. Kei nodded. "Well, let's try to get our minds off of it by cleaning this pigsty, whadaya say?" Meena gave an awkward smile as she handed two brooms to Kei and Donna.

~And now, a cleaning montage brought to you by Treehouse Comix, Inc.~

"Whew," Meena wiped her forehead in relief as she put down her mop, "I think we did a pretty good job, don't you guys?"

"Honestly," answered Donna, "I expected some potty-humor themed monster to spawn out of nowhere, so I'm glad that didn't happen."

"SIDEKICKS, LOOK AT MEEE!!"

The three turned around to see Captain Underpants suspended in the air by nothing. Just flying in the air!

Kei leaned over to her friends and whispered, "Uh, how's he doing that?"

"Wait, you said that the original Captain Underpants was this guy's dad, right?" Donna asked. Meena nodded. "They both share the same blood! It's only practical that this guy has the same abilities as his old man, right?" she added.

"That makes sense, yeah," said Meena, "we should probably get him down, though." Suddenly, Meena's phone starter ringing.

"Okay," said Donna, "Meena, you take that, we'll handle this guy." The other girls nodded.

Though she didn't recognize the number, Meena answered the call, thinking it was some sort of spam or wrong number they could prank.

"Hello?"

An old, raspy, male voice answered her.

"Am I speaking to the descendant of George Beard?"