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"So, no ones dead."
That's how the phone call started. The sentence alone put Chief Burns on edge. Why the school's principal would start a call like that? That was beyond Chief Burns. But it definitely got his attention.
Charlie Burns was just hanging out with Doc Greene when he got the phone call. The two of them went out for a walk to get some lunch while the kids were at school. They usually don't go out as both their jobs keep them busy. But, they made some time for today.
The day was going great. There hadn't been any science related accidents at the lab, no car crashes had happened, and no one was hurt. The sun was still shining bright over Griffin Rock and the people around the city were laughing, talking and working as normal. The day had been great.
That was until the chief got the phone call.
His phone flashed green, buzzing slightly, as he noticed the school was calling. Wondering what the town's school could want in the middle of the day, he answered.
“Chief Burns speaking”
“So, no ones dead. And this isn't an emergency per say. But, you do need to come to your son's school” The voice from the phone rushed to finish their sentence. Their breath was short, and the sounds of paper being written on were being heard in the background. Charlie Burns immediately got up from his seat before whoever it was could finish.
“I'm sorry, but WHAT.”
“Oh, my apologies. It's been a hectic few minutes here. Let me start again.” The voice on the phone paused for a second as they coughed slightly. “Hello Mr. Burns, it's Linda Starlings, Principal of Griffin Elementary. I was calling about your son Cody. There has been an… incident that requires your attention.”
“Is he ok?” Chief Burns started jogging to the car, Doc Greene close behind him.
“Uhh, he is ok. I would rather talk about this in person if that would be possible.”
“Yes. I'm on my way now” Chief Burns jumped into Doc Greene's passenger seat and they wasted no time driving off.
“Yes yes. Good bye.” The phone beeped as it went red.
Now, walking up to the school, Chief Burns wonders what could have happened to his son. He saw no ambulances, no fire trucks, and no commotion. He saw a few cars in the parking lot, along with a bus or two. But nothing out of the ordinary. So, he hoped nothing too bad had happened.
When he walked into the principal's room, he stopped and gasped at the sight. Cody sat in one chair, his right eye bruised and swollen. He fist were bright red and he had mud on his knees. Across the room was another child. One with dirty blond hair and green eyes. He recognized the kid as Oliver Anderson. His father was one of the mail men on the island. When he looked at the boy again, he saw cheek was bruised and swollen and he had an ice pack up against it. He had a small amount of blood on his bottom lip that his father was wiping away. He saw the kids' clothing was muddy and there were tear stains going down his cheek.
“Hello, Mr. Burns. As you can probably see from the appearance of these two boys, there was a bit of a fight between them.” Ms. Starling stood up from behind her desk to face the parents in the room.
“YOUR RAVAGE SON ATTACKED MY PRECIOUS BOY!!” Ms. Anderson screamed as Chief Burns walked into the room.
“HE PUNCHED ME FIRST!” Cody nearly jumped out his seat as he responded but stopped himself. “ It's not my fault he can't hold his own.” Cody mumbled as he rested back into the seat.
That seemed to snap Chief Burns back to reality as he then went right to his son. Once he got to him, he knelt down to face his son. He brushed his hand against his black and blue eye. Cody flinched away slightly at the touch.
"Cody, what happened?" Cody let out a sigh at his dads question before he answered. "This kid was being mean! So I called him a butt hole. Then he punched me! So I punched back and won."
Chief burns mind flooded with questions. Cody? In a fight? He wondered why Cody would do this or even why he thought this was ok. He always told his children to talk through arguments, not get into physical fights. Now Cody was fighting in school? He couldn't understand what could have caused this. Cody might yell back at a mean kid but fight him? He was taught to get a teacher first. Not fight first.
Chief burns let out a sigh before he stood up. He turns around to face the other adults in the room. "I'm so sorry about this. I will take care of this at home."
"You better. Look what he did to me son! My son would never deserve this." The woman held her son close to her chest.
"Cody, let's go. Now." Cody jumped out his seat and ran towards his dad who was walking towards the door. As he was leaving, Cody turned his head around, sticking his tongue out at the kid. He then ran out before anyone could respond
Chief Burns got into the passenger side of Doc Greene’s car while Cody jumped in the back. Doc Greene took one look at the face of his older friend and decided to just drive. It seemed like a family problem. And although they might be close, he is not Cody's parent. Not at all.
As they drove to the house, Chief Burns couldn't help but wonder where his kid got the idea it would be ok to get into a fight. He always told his kids to stay out of school fights. He always told them to be the bigger man. He could figure out where he got this idea from. He kept him out of the dangerous rescues. He wouldn't have gotten it there. He just could put his finger on it.
When they arrived at the firehouse, the two of them walked in. Doc Greene drove away with a slight wave. Chief Burns was slightly behind Cody as they walked up. As he approached the building, his brain wandered back to the first question. Where did he learn this from? Cody seemed ok so it must not have been too bad, but he still was concerned over who taught his son this. He couldn't figure out where this terrible influence came from.
Once the pair got inside, the rest of the family turned to look at them.
"Hey Co- OH MY WHAT HAPPENED!" Blades jumped from his seat and ran over to Cody. He pulled out a towel out from steaming nowhere and started wiping the blood and dirt of Cody.
"Got into a fight" He mumbles.
“a WHAT!” Blades yells in a panic.
“A fight” Cody tossed his backpack onto the ground as he walked towards the group.
“Did you win?” Heatwave approached the kid and knelt down to see him.
Cody laughed a little before he answered “ Hell yeah!”
“NICE!” Heatwave held up his hand for a high five and Cody gladly took it.
“Was it deserved?” Blades took out an ice pack and handed it to the boy.
“Yes. He was a butt head.”
“Nice going buddy.” Blades had a little smirk on his face as he said this.
“OOOO His first fight! I'm so proud!” Dani ran up to Cody and grabbed him for a hug.
“Let go squirt! Tell me the details” Kade walked over and rubbed his little brother's head, messing up his hair.
Heatwave then picked up the three humans and tossed them onto his shoulder. “I think this is calls for ice cream.”
“Hell yeah!” Dani laughed as they walked off.
While these interactions happened, it started to click with Chief Burns. He sighed as he remembered that he has arrested all of his older children. On multiple occasions. He also remembers that he has 4 aliens who are from a war torn planet.
Chief Burns groans as another realization hits. His kids are going to be menaces to society. And they have the robots alien friends to help them hide and get away from any repercussions of their actions. He is going to be chasing his children one day. He is not excited.