Captain Underpants: Bad Dolphin AU; The Full Story

Chapter 7: They Have Friends in Scholarly Spaces

Krupp reaches for the phone, but George climbs onto his desk and prevents him from accomplishing this. He takes the work phone and descends back onto the floor.

"What are you doing?" Krupp demands, abruptly rising from his chair, almost knocking it over as he does.

"Don't call my parents! They're on vacation!" The boy takes out the note to provide empirical evidence that his parents entrusted him with the freedom of being home alone. "Please, Mr. Krupp, don't tell my parents! They'll never let me be alone again!"

Krupp snatches the small paper from George's hands and scans it a few times. "What kind of mother lets their nine-year-old stay at home by themselves? Besides, what do you want me to do if I can't contact them?"

"Nothing! Nobody has to know about this, it'll probably just... pass on it's own!"

"Uh-huh, right," Krupp comments. "And what if, pray tell, it doesn't?"

George hadn't thought that far ahead. He doesn't reciprocate at first. If he keeps changing hue, there is no doubt that people are going to get suspicious.

"I...don't know?"

"Well, then what about the hospital? It's their job to handle things like this."

"They get patients that change color often?"

"Do I look like a doctor to you? How would I know? Now get out so I can call those guys."

George is, more or less, hauled out of the office so Krupp can do his business. George puts his ear up against the door, straining it as much as possible to hear the conversation. All he could make out were a few shouts and reluctant agreements before he hears the 'click' of the handset landing on the switch hook of the phone. When the door starts to open, George jumps into his designated chair to relieve any doubts about his eavesdropping.

"They said that I have to bring you in for diagnosis."

"Does that mean I get to leave early?" George's face lights up as he says this.

"No, of course not." Krupp cackles when the small boy's eagerness is diminished all at once. "You still have to go to class. We'll leave after everyone else leaves." George pouts and lazily slides off of the chair and onto the floor. "Oh, and I'd do something about those off-color spots if I were you."

"I'm way ahead of you! I'll say it's paint. It might get me detention, but I'll go to the art room and splatter myself with paint. No one will suspect a thing." Before Krupp can object to this idea, George exits the premises and rushes down the hall.

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS, BUB!" Krupp shouts after him.

George does exactly what he said he'd do. Entering the art room, he grabs all the paints he can find, and gets to work. After roughly fifteen minutes or so, he's finished. With enough paint to conceal his tinged areas, he's quite proud of himself for coming up with his plan, as unrefined as it was. It is almost time for the lunch bell to ring when George begins his trek back to his class. He'd have some explaining to do. Not just to the teachers, but to everyone.

- 

The bell rings, signaling for the kids to go to lunch. Placing Sulu into a pocket on his backpack, Melvin sees a blur of color pass him by and stop at the teacher's desk. He doesn't pause to consider why George would be covered in paint. It's not important, he has things to do, there isn't any time to inquire about the weird kids in class. Today, it is imperative that he gets to lunch, and allowing for any distractions would cut into his time.

In the lunchroom, Melvin surveys the area. It's hard to distinguish anyone from the sea of students who morosely marched in uniform to obtain their food. Or, at least, it would be hard if the person being scoped out didn't have a unique haircut. Harold stands at the far left wall of the cafeteria, forcing something into a garbage can. Even from where Melvin is standing, it is obvious that Harold is upset over something.