As Rhonda ran down the streets beyond Bergen Town, everyone took their time to change out of their formal wear and into their normal clothes. Except, technically, Synth didn't wear clothes, so he just ripped off his light-up bowtie.
"Say, Dubstep, what are you up to?" he asked Branch, who had already changed into his leafy vest and patchy brown shorts.
"Setting up a clue board to find Spruce and Clay," Branch answered while Flower, wearing her pink dress and hair ribbon, held up a magazine photo of Spruce squirting moisturizer all over his muscular body. "Thank you, sprout."
"You're welcome, Daddy," Flower replied as he pinned it to the board. "Say, Daddy, if you don't mind me asking... what exactly happened when you last see-d your bwothers?"
"It's a little hard to explain, Flower," he admitted. "For one thing, I was about your age. Maybe younger. I don't know."
"Can you at weast twy to expwain it?" Flower asked, giving her father puppy dog eyes. Branch took a moment to look around the van. John Dory was brewing himself a cup of coffee while singing to himself, Synth was staring at the photos of Spruce on the clue board, Poppy was still in the bathroom, changing her clothes, and Willow, wearing a denim jacket, black pants, a white button up shirt with a red neck tie, and a beret with three colorful buttons on it (a frowny face, a sparkly butterfly, and the lesbian pride flag), was simply meditating.
"I think it's safe enough..." he said to himself before turning back to his baby girl. "Back in the day, before we were discovered by the Bergens, Daddy and your uncles were the hottest boyband in the Troll Tree. But Daddy didn't make his live debut until the first show of the Perfect Family Harmony Tour... which ended up being the band's last show ever."
"What happened?"
"We tried to achieve the Perfect Family Harmony, which can only be achieved when a family of Trolls is in sync with one another," Branch explained. "It's powerful enough to shatter diamonds. Or, at least, that's what I hear. But one thing led to another, and..."
Flashback
"See what happens when you don't follow my lead?!" John Dory scolded Spruce and Clay as all five brothers made it back home.
"Dude! That is exactly what happens when we follow your lead!" Spruce shouted.
"Oh, so it's my fault?" John Dory angrily said to his brother. "Is that what you're saying? I know we can reach the Perfect Family Harmony!"
"What if we don't want to?" Spruce asked.
"Yeah, dude!" Clay butted in. "This used to be fun! Now, it's all about being perfect!"
Putting on a vest made of leaves, Floyd quickly noticed Baby Branch getting upset at the sight of his brothers fighting. But just before he could say anything to comfort their littlest member...
"You know what? I'm done playing the Heartthrob!" Spruce declared, ripping off his puffy, purple vest. "My exquisitely chiseled, rock-hard abs and I quit!"
"I quit, too! And you can keep these!" Clay said, tossing a pair of Funderdrawers into John Dory's face. "I'm more than just the fun one! I'm in a sad book club! Did you know that? A sad book club! I'm gonna find Trolls who take me seriously!"
Having enough, John Dory grabbed a backpack and grappling hook and said, "Fine! I don't need this! I'm out! I'm done, I'm sorry! I'm gonna go hike the Neverglade trail by myself, bro-lone! Yeah, that's right! Bro-bro going solo! YOLO! Goodbye, forever!"
All four Trolls watched as their oldest brother used his grappling hook to grab a tree limb and clumsily fall to the ground.
"Later, losers!" they heard him faintly shout one last time.
"Fine! I'm outta here!" Clay said, storming out of the pod.
"Same here!" Spruce agreed, following his little brother.
"Guys, please, come on!" Floyd pleaded, but it was too late. His older brothers were already gone. There was no BroZone without all five bros, so there was only one thing Floyd could do with his music.
But first, he had to say goodbye.
"It's my fault," Branch admitted. "I ruined everything."
"No, no, Branch. This is not your fault," Floyd insisted with a sigh. "We're not in sync. We've gone from boys to men, and now, there's only one direction for us to go: the backstreets."
"But not you, Floyd," Branch said sadly. "You're not leaving, too?"
"Not forever," he insisted. "I'll be back, I promise. But right now, I... I have to follow my heart. It's telling me that it's time to start a solo career."
"But... what am I gonna do?"
"Branch, you are going to do the most important thing of all," Floyd answered. "You're gonna... take care of Grandma!"
"Aw, come on, Branch! Let's play some rummy!" their grandmother said sweetly, before her face turned serious and she said, "But I won't let you win, because I play for the money!"
"You might have to let her win, occasionally," Floyd said with a wink. Branch nodded as Floyd took off his leaf vest and wrapped it around Branch's shoulders. "When you miss me, you can wear this. It'll be like I'm right here with you."
"And when you come back, we'll make our hideout!" Branch said, holding up a piece of paper.
"Definitely," Floyd agreed, looking at the drawing of the underground hideout. "Wow! Is that a ten story waterslide?"
"Yeah, that's how we shower!" Branch explained with a giggle.
"Well, we better keep this in a safe place," Floyd suggested, folding the drawing back up and tucking it in one of the pockets of the vest. Knowing this would be the last time they would see each other for a while, Floyd offered his little brother a hug goodbye, who tearfully accepted.
"I'll see you soon, Baby Branch," Floyd said, and headed out the door. He gave Branch one final smile before stepping outside and into the wilderness.
"Bye... See you later..."
End flashback
Flower quickly noticed her father's eyes get watery once again and wiped them away with her tiny hands.
"We'll save him, Daddy," she assured him. "I knows we will. And then, we can be a famiwy again."
"You're sweet, Flower," Branch replied with a smile, but it quickly vanished once he noticed Poppy had already changed into a blue and green knit dress with matching leg warmers. "But you're my daughter, and right now, that's all the family I need or want."
"You sure?"
"Positive," Branch replied, and sat her down on the couch. "Okay! Operation: Family Harmony is on and poppin'!"
As her boyfriend looked through more BroZone memorabilia, Poppy waltzed right up to him with a mug of coffee in her hands. Branch quickly noticed her smug grin.
"What?" he asked.
"What? Oh, nothing!" she replied. "I just... Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd almost say you were excited."
"Uh, it has nothing to do with my brothers," Branch insisted as Poppy smirked.
"What else woulds it be?" Flower wondered.
"Bitty B Junior is right," John Dory agreed. "You can't deny that you're happy to see me."
"I know I can," Willow muttered.
"Okay, Little Miss Hater," John Dory said to the teen Troll. "You've made you're presence known."
"Not as much as you, Mister 'Leader,' quote-unquote," Willow huffed. "I can smell your ego from a mile away."
John Dory flinched as Willow flicked her tongue at him rapidly. "With your tongue instead of your nose?"
"John Dory, meet Willow," Branch introduced. "She's half Rattlecobra."
"Funny, she doesn't look snake-ish," John Dory chuckled, and the whole inside of the van fell silent as Willow gave him an icy glare.
"I was designed by my father," she explained, "to blend in with other Trolls, until he would use me to steal their energy."
"But that didn't happens," Flower pointed out. "Thanks the heavens."
"Yo, I just realized something," Synth interrupted. "If we're all here, who's driving Rhonda?"
"Alright, alright!" a voice suddenly announced over them, confusing the six Trolls. "Tiny, Branch, Poppy, Flower, Willow, Techno boy, and this random dude..."
"What?" John Dory muttered.
"... on another musical adventure filled with heart, hilarity, and happiness!"
As Tiny Diamond let go of the microphone, Poppy, Branch and Flower walked right up to find him in the driver seat.
"Tiny! What are you doing here?!" Poppy asked, both excited and confused.
"Well, Aunt Poppy," he said, "for your information, I am no longer a baby. I am a big boy now, and I'm on a man-sized rite of passage to learn lessons of life, courage, and maybe love."
"Aww!" Poppy gushed as Tiny gave Flower a flirtatious wink, who just blinked in obliviousness.
"I talked to Guy Diamond before we left," Willow said. "He said it's fine, so long as we keep him safe and he gets home before supper."
"If you say so," Branch replied.
"Uh, should we be letting a baby drive?" John Dory asked with concern.
"Not to worry, fellow grownup! I have procured my learner's permit!" Tiny assured him, holding up a card made out to an Adulty McManface and had a picture of Tiny with a moustache on it.
"Who is Adulty McManface?" Poppy wondered.
"The better question is... Are you a narc?" Tiny asked Poppy with a glare of suspicion.
"What? No!" Poppy stammered. "No, I... Why? Are you?"
"Enough chitchat, Adulty McManface!" John Dory said. "Step on it!"
Sorry this took so long. I'm trying to continue my Brucandy fic (to popular demand, at least until I write in their wedding). But since that might take some time, I thought I might as well update this.
I'm not sure if I already shared it, but this is what Willow wears throughout the rest of the journey.
I'll see you next time. 🌈