~Junk-N-Stuff~

Schwoz and Gooch were making a beeline for the entrance of Junk-N-Stuff. The sooner they could get out, the fewer questions they would have to answer. However, they couldn't escape the eager confusion of Henry and (y/n).

"Wha--wait! Gooch, Schwoz, don't leave!" Henry called out, as he and (y/n) were carrying boxes from the back of the store.

"We need to cheer Ray up! Oh yeah, just run away!" The young woman yelled at them, but they ignored her and shot straight past Charlotte, who was reporting for work.

"Oh, come on, guys, you won't even look at us?" Henry shouted at the two fleeing men. He and his female boss angrily put down the boxes of junk as Charlotte came over to them.

"What are Gooch and Schwoz running from?" She asked, (y/n) putting her hands on her hips and sighing.

"Ray. He's in a really crap mood." She told the girl, scrubbing her face with her palm.

"'Cause, it's his super anniversary," Henery explained, Ray's crabby attitude had been rubbing off on him all morning.

"Super..." The dark-haired girl trailed off, needing a few more details to complete her mental picture.

"The anniversary of when he was eight years old, when he got densitised and became indestructible." The boy carried on, helping the woman sort out the various stuff that needed putting on the shelves.

Ooh, fun. We should celebrate." Charlotte smiled, thinking that a party for her boss would be fun. However, (y/n) paled at the idea, remembering how her own attempts at funning up Ray's super anniversary had fallen flat.

"No!" She shot down the notion.

"I mean 'no'." The girl quickly changed her answer, seeing how the woman freaked out at the word 'celebrating'.

"But, why not?" Charlotte was too curious to just leave it there.

"Ray hates his super anniversary," Henry said for (y/n), whose face was lacking her usual smile.

"Why?" The girl asked again.

"Because when Ray's dad realised he was indestructible, he took him out of school and started training him to, y'know, kick-ass and fight crime." (y/n) told her, Charlotte looking through her junk box and picking up an orange mask.

"Yeah." The girl said, indicating that she was still listening despite her newfound interest in the bizarre artefact.

"And now he feels like he missed out on all the fun of being a normal kid." Henry finished, a mannequin's head in his hand, which he went to put on sale.

"Aw, that's so sad." Charlotte sympathised with Ray, knowing that being taken from his childhood must have deeply affected the man.

"Yeah, he's never been camping, or been on a rollercoaster. He can't even ride a bike." (y/n) told them sadly, thinking about how misty-eyed Ray got when she spoke about all the awesome things she got up to as a kid and teen.

"Hmm. My uncle Rosco never learned how to ride a bike." The younger girl mentioned her infamous uncle.

"How come?" Her blond friend asked.

"Because when he was a kid, he already weighed 400 pounds. The bikes just couldn't take it." Charlotte told them, her head shaking as (y/n)'s and Henry's faces thought about all the squashed bikes the man must have destroyed.

"Poor bikes," Henry noted. (y/n) returned to her shelf-stacking, the gentle dingle of the door's bell drawing her attention as someone came in. It was a little girl, around the age of Henry's sister, so she left the boy to deal with her.

"Hey. Need some help?" The teen boy smiled at the girl, putting his excellent customer skills to use.

"I was just wondering if I could try out that piano over there." The small girl asked politely, so Henry and Charlotte looked at (y/n) for permission. She was the nearest source of authority in the shop when Gooch or Ray wasn't around.

"Sure, knock yourself out, sweetie." She said over her shoulder, so the girl skipped over to the instrument and began to play. Her musical talent was clear and a soft melody filled the shop.

"Oh, will you help me organise these bamboo--" Charlotte tried to ask Henry, but Ray came storming out of the back, shouting about the piano playing.

"Hey, hey, hey. What's all the racket out here?" He stomped into the room, his face twisted into a frown. (y/n) gulped; his bad moods tended to send her nervous nature into overdrive.

"Uh, oh it's just a customer checking out the piano," Henry explained calmly, but on that day, the superhero was anything but calm.

"Hey. Hey, you!" Ray yelled at the little girl, making his best friend flinch slightly and slowly turn around from the shelf. She watched as the child stopped her lovely tune and spun around sharply.

"Haven't you learned how to play that crummy song yet?" He snapped, making the girl's face crumple in sadness. She ran out of the store in tears, making the other three in the shop look at Ray in shock and anger.

"Raymond!" (y/n) scolded him, but she could see how he had instantly regretted his words.

"Must you torture the children?" Charlotte asked him frostily. The kids hadn't seen the remorse cross his features.

"Ah, just forget everything." The man shrugged off their comments, feeling too upset to take any criticism.

"Stupid super anniversary. This nob is still loose!" He trudged towards the elevator and put his hand on an ornament on a side table, but to his surprise, it wasn't nailed down and he picked it up as he walked past. He slammed it back down, and marched back down to the Man Cave, muttering furiously as he left.

"Well, I see why Gooch and Schwoz got out of here," Charlotte stated, her eyes wide at Ray's outburst.

"I know, right? (y/n), how come you stay?" Henry questioned, even though he already had an idea why she stayed.

"He's upset. And if I go, he'll be all alone." She said in a small voice. She had contemplated giving him some space in the second year she had worked for him. One morning, she left to go to a friend's apartment in downtown Swellview, but on her return, she found him in a depressed state. Ray had clung to her like never before, realising that he craved her presence like a soothing balm for his wounds.

"You mean, you're the only one he likes to have around?" Charlotte smirked at her, causing the older woman to blush. However, before she could say something back, the door's bell rang again, and this time, the customer was an elderly gentleman.

"Excuse me kids, ma'am, I left eight thousand dollars in a rolled-up newspaper. Have you seen it!?" The old man asked them urgently. (y/n) looked at him with a stunned expression.

'Who the hell leaves eight thousand dollars lying around?' She wondered.

"No."

"Sorry." Henry and Charlotte said to him, knowing that they'd have definitely remembered picking up eight thousand bucks somewhere in the store.

"Oh no!" The man cried and bumbled back out of the shock. The kids and (y/n) looked at each other with puzzled faces. There was never a normal day at Junk-N-Stuff.

"Can you believe that?" Charlotte exclaimed.

"No," Henry replied, making the older woman next to him nod in agreement.

"I know right, who would be that stupid to leave eight grand in a newspaper?" She giggled, but Henry's face implied that they weren't on the same page.

"No, I mean, who still reads newspapers?" The boy asked rhetorically. (y/n) raised an eyebrow at him, since he had made her feel really old.

"All right, whippersnapper, back to work." She prodded him with a weird old flute, which made the teens laugh at each other and carry on working.

~

~The Man Cave~

Henry and Charlotte had come up with a wonderful idea and using their excellent persuasion skills, they had finally gotten (y/n) on board. They figured that since Ray had missed out on all the fun parts of being a kid, they would cram them all into one exhilarating weekend. Of course, (y/n) had financed it, but the teens had come up with most of it by themselves. The older woman couldn't help but grow teary-eyed at how much effort they had put into setting up the Man Cave, and all they had to do now was get Ray in there.

(y/n) had cunningly sent him out of their hideout to give the kids the opportunity to get everything ready, and even though he threw tantrum at the idea of leaving his cosy headquarters, the old puppy-dog eyes still held their charm. The three of them were now helping their boss into the elevator, a blindfold tied securely around his head.

"What is all this?" Ray asked in an annoyed tone, but (y/n) squeezed his hand and he cheered up slightly.

"Stop being so grumpy." She told him, and she braced herself for the dropdown. Henry and Charlotte screamed until they hit the bottom but quickly got back on their feet so they could help (y/n) guide Ray into the Man Cave.

"Can I take the blindfold off now?" He asked, clutching his best friends hand since he couldn't see anything.

"No," Charlotte told him firmly from his right side. The last thing she wanted was for the surprise to be ruined.

"But I can't see anything," Ray whined, Henry guiding his shoulders into the right place.

"That's the whole point of a blindfold, doofus." (y/n) bantered, letting go of him so the two teens go put them where they wanted. His hand immediately missed her own warm fingers, so it waved around madly, looking to find where she had gone.

"Be careful." The woman warned Henry and Charlotte, thinking about how Ray was putting all his trust into them to shepherd him.

"Don't worry." The young girl reassured her, knowing how protective she got over him.

"We're not going to fall," Henry added too, but they hadn't noticed that in their rush to get ready, they had left a skateboard lying around on the floor.

"Can't I just--Aah!" Ray screamed as he stepped onto the board, and ended up slipping backwards. He landed on the hard, cold floor with a thump and a groan, making his best friend rush over to him in worry.

"Oh my god, Ray." She helped him up, as Henry and Charlotte were angrily whispering at each other in regards to who was to blame.

"So this is the surprise? You guys blindfold me and try to kill me?" The man snapped, gradually getting up with the help from the pretty girl beside him. His cross tone made her stomach twist in guilt and reminded her of how a teacher sounds when they're furious with a student.

"Sorry, our bad." The kids apologised, also wearing shamed faces as (y/n) steadied the man.

"I should've helped them, it was my fault." She spoke quietly and patted his arm gently. He sensed her uncertainty and sadness and knew that he had been the one to bring it out, so he took her hand in his again, a silent reminder that he never meant to make her upset.

"All right, Ray," Henry called out to him, signalling to (y/n) that it was her cue to show what they'd put together.

"Whip off that blindfold, (y/n)!" The woman did as she was told, and yanked the red bandanna from his eyes.

"Happy Super Anniversary!!" The three shouted together, watching with happiness as Ray took in everything they had arranged. Only, his face wasn't as happy as they had imagined it would be. They looked at him expectantly but still found no reaction. (y/n)'s nerves were starting to whiz around in her stomach, making her question whether they had done the right thing.

"I don't get it," Ray stated in a dull tone and (y/n) was really glad he was still holding her hand since she was sure it would still be shaking like the other one.

"You are going to have the ultimate kid's weekend of fun." Charlotte filled in the gaps for him, but the superhero still wasn't understanding what they were saying. No one had ever done something for his densitisation day, so this was all pretty new to him.

"What? What are you guys talking about?" The man asked.

"Since you missed out on being a real kid..." Henry started.

"This weekend we're going to do all the fun kid stuff you missed out on." Charlotte finished, her explanation causing Ray to look back and forth between the kids and (y/n) with growing excitement in his eyes.

"What? Really?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah!" Charlotte smiled at his enthusiasm.

"We've got camping equipment, tickets to Six Poles Over Swellview, this cool new bike." (y/n) pointed out the stuff around the room, and Ray wandered over to the red bicycle in a puzzled, but touched mood.

"Whoa. Hold up. I don't know how to ride a bike." He said to his friends in a sad voice, thinking that he must be the only person in the world who never got to ride a bike as a kid.

"We know. (y/n) told us." Henry said to him, making her swallow as he studied her nervous behaviour.

"So, we're gonna teach you." Charlotte continued and Ray felt like crying at how much they cared about him.

"Honest?" He grinned, his smile instantly dissolving his friend's worries like usual. His smile was her antidote, and it settled all those anxious butterflies that lived in her tummy.

"Yeah." Henry laughed at his sudden mood changed, glad that the normal Ray was coming back to them.

"Hey, you even got us matching t-shirts!" The smiley man pointed at several colourful shirts hung up on a rack, each one printed with the phrase, 'Ray's weekend of fum!'

Henry showed him a red shirt, and (y/n)'s eyes widened slightly at the typo.

"Fum?" She gave the teens a pointed look, remembering that it was their job to get them.

"Sorry, the t-shirt store messed up," Charlotte said sheepishly, but Ray was too grateful to let a small detail ruin what they'd done for him.

"Oh, okay. But why are there six t-shirts?" He asked, wondering who the extra two people were. There was himself, (y/n), Henry, Charlotte...it couldn't be Gooch or Schwoz since they had scarpered the minute he became moody.

"Tell Ray who's coming." Henry passed the responsibility of giving him the bad news to Charlotte, who also didn't want to tell him, so (y/n) jumped in for them.

"It's the bucket kid and Henry's little sister, Piper." She looked up at him and cringed a little as his face screwed up in annoyance.

"Aw, no, why?" He asked, the idea of having a day out with the strange kid and bratty child didn't appeal to him.

"Well, Piper sprained her ankle," Henry explained, but it didn't sink in with Ray since he had no ideas about how theme parks work since he had never been to one.

"So?" He looked to his helper for answers, and like usual, she had them.

"She's on crutches, which means when we get to Six Poles, we can jump the queues because we have a crippled person with us." She smirked at him, and he put an arm around her shoulders as they revelled in her deviance.

"Ah, and why are we bringing your bucket-loving friend with the sweaty hands?" This time, he asked Henry, who rolled his eyes at how charming he was being about Jasper.

"Because that's Jasper's camping stuff," Charlotte answered first, glancing at how the two adults had instinctively drifted towards each other until they were practically joined at the hip.

"And when you get to know him, he's a lot of fum." His jokes made Ray chuckle, which in turn, brightened (y/n)'s mood too.

"Come on, put on your t-shirt and let the fum begin!" She smiled up at him, and he brought her even closer to his chest, whilst also putting a hand on Henry's shoulder.

"You know, you guys are really sweet to do this for me." He said softly. He felt like he had found his own little family amongst them, and it made his heart soar.

"Well, I just paid for the stuff, those two were the masterminds behind it." (y/n) told him, smiling at the kids, who blushed under her proud smile. Ray got the feeling that she was being too modest, so he kissed the top of her head to let her know she was appreciated just as much as Henry and Charlotte.

"Is it really time to put on my special t-shirt?" He squealed impatiently at the kids, as the woman next to him tried to hide her reaction.

"Sure, get in there." They nodded at him, and he ran to grab a t-shirt and go change. A buzzer sounded throughout the Man Cave as he ran off, making the kids look around in confusion.

"Someone's ringing the bell upstairs," Charlotte commented, recognising the noise.

"I'll check it." (y/n) nodded at her, jogging over to the supercomputer to see who had just walked into Junk-N-Stuff. Pressing the button, the outside camera showed the front door to the store. Jasper was stood looking at the camera happily, as a touchy Piper balanced on her crutches next to him.

"Oh, it's your bucket friend and Piper, I'll let them." She mumbled to Henry, who had walked over with her. She pressed the door release button on the control panel, unlocking the store for the kids.

Seeing them both enter Junk-N-Stuff, (y/n), Henry and Charlotte turned around to see Ray struggling to fit his red 'weekend of fum!' shirt over his large torso. He tugged the material further down his chest, but it was simply too small and wouldn't stretch. (y/n) gulped at the sight of his chiselled Adonis belt and took a moment to appreciate how all his working out gave him a great body. 'Stop it, filthy girl.' She scolded herself, slapping herself mentally at how she was openly thinking about him like that.

"This one might be Piper's." He said slowly, realising that he'd picked up a child's t-shirt.

"Doofus, this one's yours." (y/n) shook off her aneurysm and threw the man a yellow t-shirt, that she had ordered in a large. That should definitely fit his beefy arms and muscled chest.

"Thanks, helper." He smiled at her sweetly, trying to get on her good side.

"Stop crawling and go change." She rolled her eyes as he gave her a salute and marched off to a back room.

~Meanwhile, up in Junk-N-Stuff~

Jasper and Piper entered the store and looked around for their fellow teens, or at least the adults who owned the place. However, there was no sign of anyone.

"Move, I'm injured." Piper shoved him out of her way so she could hobble past.

"Pushy," Jasper said back, before taking a look around the wacky junk on sale.

"Hey, Henry, where are ya?" He called out, but he got no answer.

"Hurry up!" The little girl yelled too, her sore ankle putting her in an even tetchier mood.

"You know, one day I would love to have my own store." The curly-haired boy said from behind the counter, but Piper wasn't one for listening to Jasper's pondering.

"Yawn." She rolled her eyes, thinking that the sooner Henry and his friends came, the better. Jasper looked around the cash register and noticed a series of controls on the side of the counter.

"Hey, there's a bunch of switches back here. This one says 'Dinosaur flames'." He said to Piper, his curiosity getting the better of him. He flicked the switch and marvelled at how the fire came out of the dinosaur's mouth and smoke came out of its nostrils.

"Yeah, I did that!" He smiled in excitement, even though he knew he shouldn't be messing with stuff like that.

"Yeah, you're a big boy now." Piper mocked him, stumbling over to him a bit on her crutches.

"Ooh, this one says 'release drum set'. I wonder what that does." Jasper pressed the next button, and this time, a drum kit fell from the ceiling and almost squashed Henry's sister. She quickly dashed out of the way, and narrowly escaped serious injury.

"You almost dropped an entire drum set on my head!" The little girl screamed at the paling boy, who gulped at her anger.

"Not an entire drum set. I didn't see any cymbals." The teen boy pointed out, but then as soon as he said that, a pair of symbols came