18

Jeffy and his parents sat on the red couch as always. Without Junior there with his friends to take it, no one else really used it besides Duggie on occasion. Marvin wasn't complaining, but he also didn't really like the reasoning behind the empty couch.

The house felt weird without Junior or Chef PeePee's presence besides the empty couch. Marvin had to do a lot more work cleaning Jeffy's messes up since the chef wasn't there to do it or help him. It was also quieter without Junior and his friends playing whatever. Jeffy was a lot more clingy too, since he had no one else to play with. The night before, Rose and Marvin decided to teach Jeffy how to play some of the older Nintendo games to keep him occupied and not let him loose to potentially break something.

The episode of the show they were watching ended, and after a quick commercial, it switched to the news.

"Breaking news, m'kay!" The news anchor said. "The two people who had gone missing last friday night haven't been located yet. The last known location of them was near a gas station in Titoville." Blurry camera footage of the two waiting for Joseph outside of a gas station was shown. "They seem to be accompanied by a young, dark-skinned boy in a green hat. If you know the whereabouts of these people, or have any tips, please contact the local police station. The father of missing 12 year old Justin Braxton Reynolds Jr, or more known as Junior, has told us that the 31 year old Fernando 'Chef PeePee' Strongbottom has kidnapped the boy. An interview with the father is coming up, but for now, in other news, people around the world are theorizing that Tiktok is going to be banned..."

"I can't believe that the police haven't found them yet, poor kid." Rose said apologetically.

"I know right? I can't believe Chef PeePee would do such a thing." Marvin agreed. Jeffy was zoned out, patting his diaper like he always did.

"I can! He was always such an asshole! Always talking back and not doing his job!" A voice added. The two adults looked to it and saw Bowser in a polo and tie, and actual pants instead of shorts. "I hope he gets justice for kidnapping my poor baby."

"Me too... What's with the outfit?" Marvin asked, confused by the sudden change of appearance.

"I have an interview, duh! Since the police force hasn't found the two yet, I'm going to go describe them in more detail so they'll finally be found." Bowser responded sassily.

"Is the interview here?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, it's actually right now. I gotta get to it. Don't bother me, I'm going to be on TV like Charleyy!" Bowser responded, before heading down the stairs. Marvin and Rose looked at each other.

"He is one odd guy..." Rose whispered, even though Bowser couldn't hear her even if she said it out loud.

"I know, but he's probably going through some stuff right now. His kid got stolen for crying out loud. You know how we get when we don't see Jeffy for even 5 minutes." Marvin reasoned. He then realized Jeffy wasn't right beside him. "Jeffy?"

"Meeeeeooooowwww." Jeffy said. Marvin looked behind the couch where the voice came from to see Jeffy hiding back there.

"Jeffy stop it! You aren't a cat." Marvin said.

"Oh come on Marvin, he's just being creative." Rose said, smiling at the playful young boy.

"Yeah, Marvin, I'm just being creative." Jeffy copied, taking his fathers mustache and putting it on his own face.

"Jeffy give me my mustache back!" Marvin demanded, starting to get angry. The three of them then heard a phone ringing in another room. It was Junior's phone that he'd left at home before leaving. At full volume. "God I hate that stupid phone, I'm about to smash it!"

"Don't do that Marvin, people are just worried about the kid. The phone will die eventually." Rose reassured the red-clad man. Marvin sighed.

"I'm gonna go see if I can turn it off. It's annoying the shirt out of me, which is saying something." Jeffy said, throwing his stolen facial hair back at its original owner and walking to Junior's room. Marvin put his mustache back on and sighed.

Jeffy walked into the empty room, and grabbed the now silent phone. He guessed Juniors passcode first try, which is 1234, and decided to post on his snapchat story. He took a close-up of the pencil in his nose, and put the caption as "Yall Junior left his phone at home his ass aint ansering 💀 Idk where he went but hopefuly hes gucci. Anyways how yall like my pensil?" He posted it, and put the phone down. He went to walk out but then the phone got another call. He groaned, and answered it. It was from Junior's friend, Cody.

"Junior?! Is that you?!" Cody asked, seeming surprised.

"Nah, it's Jeffy. Did you not see the baller snapchat I just posted on his account?" Jeffy said blandly.

"Oh... no, I didn't. Did they find him yet? I'm really worried. Did Chef PeePee actually kidnap him? Is he okay? Is he even alive?" Cody rambled, not even giving Jeffy a second to answer one of his many questions.

"Chill, I can only answer one question at a time. I stole a chrommie from my homie, remember?" Jeffy said. "But no, they didn't find him yet. Daddy says it's because the police force is really shitty, then he told me not to say the word shitty so I said shirty instead and he got mad."

"Dang... well, can you tell me when they do? I might not see it in time." Cody asked.

"Yeah, but I'll do it on my phone. This dude left his ringer volume on max, I'm pretty sure mars can hear his calls." Jeffy said. He hung up the phone, and went back to the couch.

Cody closed out of the phone app and re-watched the most recent news segment again. Dark skinned boy... that had to be Joseph right? But Joseph wasn't answering his calls... did that mean something? Was he kidnapped too? Cody wanted answers now. He called Joseph again, but it went straight to voicemail. "Damn, he must've turned his service off." Cody groaned.

The pimpley-boy then heard a knock at his door. "Codykins, they're Interviewing your missing friend's dad on the TV." Cody's mother told him.

"Oh yeah, they said they'd do that. I'll be out there in a sec, mom." He said. He stood up from his bed, got Ken off of his nightstand, and went to his living room.

~~~

It was 12 pm, one hour before the runaway trio was going to start walking once again. Junior was making a small teepee with sticks in the dirt, Chef PeePee was relaxing while watching Junior, and Joseph was on his phone. He had brought along some sort of power bank, so he was able to keep it charged.

"Come on, stay up!" Junior grunted at his falling sticks.

"Dudes, you have to look at this! Come here!" Joseph suddenly exclaimed, waving his phone in the air. Junior and the chef walked over to him, and Joseph held his phone out so they could all see it. "They're interviewing your dad, dude!"

"What?!" The chef and ginger boy said in unison. They looked at the video that was playing on Joseph's phone. It was the interview.

"So, you are Justin Reynolds Sr, correct?" The news reporter asked the man next to him. The two seemed to be in Junior's dining room.

"Yes, but just call me Bowser." Bowser responded with a confident smile. He looked weirdly proper, something Junior and Chef PeePee had only seen when they had fancy company over, or if Bowser was going to an event.

"Alright, Bowser. So, Justin Reynolds Jr is your son, and Fernando PeePee Strongbottom was your...?" The news anchor started, before trailing off and waiting for Bowsers confirmation.

"He was my Chef, he called himself Chef PeePee." Bowser said.

"And how did you meet this chef?"

"I met him back in 2011. He was basically on the streets back then. I saw his chef uniform, and told him if he was able to cook for me I'd let him live with me and my baby, aka Junior who was 2 or 3 at the time." Bowser explained. "He looked so poor back then, so innocent. If only I knew how horrible he really was inside..."

"How was this chef before he allegedly kidnapped your son?"

"He was awful! He was mean, and nasty, and cooked bad food! He would always be lazy, and not listen, and basically be a deadbeat!" Bowser ranted. The chef knew this was bullshit, obviously. He cooked amazing food! Or at least he thought. Chef PeePee also always worked hard, heavily pressured to meet Bowser's high standards and even Junior sometimes.

"Why would you keep him around then? If my butler Chives did that I'd fire his ass!" Goodman exclaimed

"Every time I'd get close to snapping and firing him, he'd pick up his slack and actually do something. I was about to be done with his antics and actually fire him, until he kidnapped my poor baby and ran away!" Bowser reasoned. Junior groaned at the last part.

"Do you have any theories on where they might have gone?"

"Well, they're definitely far away. Somewhere in the far side of Titoville, I know that because of the camera footage. I know my Junior isn't very athletic, so that man must be forcing him to walk!" Bowser 'theorized' while throwing a hidden jab at his son. "He's got to be brought to justice!" Bowser grabbed The microphone from the news anchor and continued to talk. "Who knows what that asshole is doing to my poor son?! Please, if you see anything, call the police! Please!!!"

The news anchor calmed Bowser, who was fake hyperventilating. Junior knew it was an act, no way his dad cared about him that much from the way he treated him.

"Calm down, sir! Do you know who the dark skinned boy who was seen with Junior is?"

"I do... His name is... Joey or something. Jose, Josephine... Joseph! That's his first name, i don't know his last name though..." Bowser told the man. "He's one of my sons friends, that chef must've got him too!"

"Oh great, now they'll think I kidnapped Joseph too..." The chef mumbled.

The video interview continued. "How was your relationship with your son? Were you close?"

"Pretty much, yes. During the weekdays I'll watch TV while he plays in his room, but on weekends we spend the most time together. I check on him every day too, and make sure he's okay." Bowser replied.

"And, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to the boy's mother?"

"She left us when Junior was a baby. I've taken care of him ever since." Bowser responded. Junior didn't know if that was the full truth or not. He couldn't even remember what his mom looked like, let alone what happened to her. Not even Chef PeePee knew, though he never met her either.

"Ah, that sucks. Does anyone else live with you besides your son and the chef?"

"Well, there's my friend Marvin, his wife and son, a rapper named Lil T, some ogre named Shrek, some yoshi named Duggie, a redneck named Woody, a tiger named Tony, and a pig named Mr pig." Bowser listed. The news anchor's expression looked more bewildered by each name said.

"Damn! All these people and no one helps Marvin pay his house payment?!" The news anchor exclaimed. "And no one heard or saw the chef kidnapping your child?"

"Well, Marvin and his family are normally upstairs, I was sleeping, Duggie stays upstairs, Shrek lives in the bathroom, Lil T is on tour, Woody lives outside the house or on the porch, and I haven't seen Tony or Mr Pig in a long time."

"Marvin's house is fucking weird. Anyways, is there anything else you'd like to say to the public before this interview ends?"

Bowser nodded, then turned to face the camera. "Please, if you see my son And that evil chef, turn him in. He's an evil kidnapper, and deserves to rot in jail! Oh, and also I'm Charleyy from Charleyyy and friend's biggest fan!"

"M'kay, we'll there you have it folks. If you spot any of the missing people and have any info on where or how to find them, please let us know." The new anchor said. The screen faded away, and went to commercial.

"Well, that's great. This is all so great!" The chef exclaimed sarcastically, throwing his arms in the air. The three then heard Joseph's phone ringing. The boy frantically declined the call, only for it to ring not even 2 seconds later.

"Shut your phone off Joseph!" Junior exclaimed.

"I'm trying dude!" Joseph said, declining yet another call. After his phone stopped ringing for a few seconds, he used that window to shut it down. He sighed as he saw the phone finally turning off.

The three took a break to think, the weight of the situation finally dawning on them heavier than before. Chef PeePee was angry about the lies, Joseph was anxious about being added into the search, and Junior was both of those emotions at once.

"God, I hate him so much." Junior said, putting his knees up to his chest and putting his head down on them. He was starting to get really stressed, and he never did well with stress.

The group decided to stay put for a few more hours, just to be safe since the interview had just happened and their descriptions would be fresh in people's minds. Chef PeePee hoped they wouldn't be spotted, but only time would tell.

"Wow, that was crazy." Marvin said once the interview had ended. "And goodman commenting on my house was definitely not expected."

"Daddy, why is that guy calling Junior a baby?" Jeffy asked.

"I don't know, Jeffy. He's going through some stuff right now, just leave him be." Marvin said.

"Marvin, do you feel like some of the stuff he was saying was... A lie?" Rose questioned timidly. "I mean, Chef PeePee normally did a lot, at least when I was there. And he wasn't that mean..."

"Why would he lie on the news?" Marvin responded.

"I don't know... It just seemed really exaggerated." Rose said.

"I'm sure he's telling the truth, baby. What would he have to hide? He's an... okay guy, and I don't think he'd lie. There'd be nothing for him to lie for anyways." Marvin told her.

"Alright Marvin, I trust you." Rose said, giving the red man a small smile.