Homer Simpson In: Kamp Krusty Katastrope!
Letting out a deep breath as he parked his ass in the driver's seat of the family car, Homer Simpson did his best to smile soothingly at the woman who was his passenger, both in the sedan and in life. "Well that didn't go as badly as we thought it might," he told his wife as he turned the key in the ignition, "That lawyer seemed optimistic about our chances if we want to move forward."
Said lawyer might not have been a native Springfielder, being one of a number of new residents that had moved to town after the dome had fallen, but he certainly seemed better than their next best option to hire (that being Lionel Hutz). He'd even said that the family seemed to have a good chance at getting the contract voided as long as they didn't do anything crazy, like storming the Kamp and demanding their kids back.
Marge made a humming noise of vague agreement as she strapped herself in, Maggie babbling happily in her car seat as they made their way back home. Not for the first time Homer envied the toddler, happy and carefree despite all the craziness going on around them.
The ride home continued in that vein, Homer doing his best to keep Marge's spirits up while she distractedly looked back and forth between the window and Maggie. This whole mess had been especially rough on her, Homer knew, not to mention that she'd thought the Kamp sounded like a great way to get their minds off the last year and change. Before long they were pulling into their driveway and Homer managed to smile despite himself. For all that things were rough in trying to get Bart and Lisa back, the Simpson family had never been closer!
…For the most part anyways.
As the two adults stepped out of their car they were brought out of their musings by a voice from the side. "Hey neighbors!" Bob Duncan called out from where he'd been seated on his lawn, a cool drink in his hand.
In truth, Homer didn't mind his newest neighbor; while new enough that they hadn't interacted much the man and his family seemed agreeable enough, and if Bart and Lisa hadn't been at the Kamp they probably would have been willing to hang out with.
"Thought I should let you know that you had a visitor stop by while you were gone, banging on your door pretty strongly," Bob continued, "Said he was your father and that he needed to talk to you as soon as possible. Seemed pretty upset, the way he was calling out for you to open the door and apologizing for something."
At that Homer couldn't help but grimace a bit. Maybe it was a little harsh to give his old man such a cold shoulder, but after that crazy mob with him in it he'd wanted to let Abe know that he was seriously upset. Marge had been too, which was probably why she hadn't protested against the planned silent treatment particularly hard.
Talking with Mona once or twice had softened Marge a bit to the point that she was willing to hear Abe out if he came with a heartfelt apology, but Homer was still firm about not letting him off too easy. That said, if Bob was right about what Abe had been like maybe that time was closer than he'd expected.
"Thanks for the message," Homer replied, giving his new neighbor a nod, "He say anything else, maybe if he wanted to meet somewhere?"
"Nah, nothing like that," Bob replied before snapping his fingers as something seemed to occur to him. "Oh! But one of his buddies shouted that he needed to hurry up so they could get to the camp before dark if that helps!"
Homer froze in place at that. No, surely Abe wasn't about to do the stupidest thing imaginable was he? "Did he say anything about why he was going to the camp?" He asked, hoping desperately that camp was just some kind of rich old jerk euphemism for something less legally bad for his family.
Bob shook his head, "No, but that big Italian guy he was with said something about a raid? I wasn't paying that much attention, I was too distracted by the, erm, sickly looking guy on the horse."
Homer could feel his legs getting shaky as he realized what his old man was trying to do, his heart beating like a drum as he let out a yelp that shocked Bob, Marge, and even Maggie as they all looked at him in alarm. Whirling around he looked to his wife, panic clear on his face.
"Marge, take Maggie inside, I need to stop my crazy old man and his friends from doing something stupid and drastic!" Giving his wife and daughter a kiss goodbye, Homer
leapt back into the car, turned the key and practically
roared out of the driveway as he barrelled down the road.
"What's that geezer doing, meddling with things he doesn't know anything about?" Homer grumbled as he broke several traffic laws in rapid succession in his desperation to get to Kamp Krusty before anything too bad happened, his fingers almost bone white as he clenched the wheel, "Doing something reckless to try and protect the kids, doesn't he know that's my job!" He cut off another car, getting an angry honk from the driver as he drove like a maniac. "Okay, don't panic Homer, they have a head start but with Abe's weak bladder I can probably make up most of the time they spend at rest stops! And I can probably shave at least a half hour off the trip as long as I show the speed limit more disrespect than usual! Then I just have to stop them before they do anything too stupid and give Abe the chewing out I should've done years ago!"
It was a long ride to Kamp Krusty, but with the way Homer was driving he'd probably get there a bit faster than normal. But would he arrive in time to hinder, or even help, his old man? The answer to that, only the eternal beings who play dice with the universe could answer…
I don't particularly expect this one to be canon, but I was suddenly struck by the mental image of Homer discovering Abe's plan and rushing to put a stop to it before he does something that lets Kamp Krusty sue him and Marge for everything they have. Between the time Abe and crew took to let Finale set up a sniper nest, and the time sneaking in, not to mention Homer's wild disregard for the traffic laws of men and god, I figure he might be able to arrive just in the nick of time to save the day, thus bringing the family even closer together and finally making up.
Alternatively, he arrives and causes enough trouble at the front that he distracts whoever's in charge here and lets the Abeventurers get away with even more than they ever dreamed of when they started this raid!
Either way, very amusing to think about!