DJ asked, "Wait. Now?"
They all quietly snuck up on the king.
Varuna said, "Oh, I'm so excited. Now, show us how it's done, honey."
Trollex said, "'Honey'? Told you they would love you. Now, go on. Before he wakes up."
DJ nervously started swimming towards the sleeping king with her cloth.
But...Branch then thought of something, "Wait a second."
Poppy asked, "What's wrong?"
Branch explained, "Lemon sharks are fish...And fish don't sleep!"
Branch was right; The Lemon Shark King wasn't sleeping.
It only looked like it was sleeping.
The King turned and saw DJ sneaking up on it.
It didn't look too happy.
Branch said, "I'm not an expert on wildlife, but I'm pretty sure the King isn't in a rubbing mood."
Poppy said, "I think you might be right."
Trollex swam out, "DJ, forget it! Let's just go!"
DJ was distracted, "Huh?"
She accidentally put the cloth on its nose.
That made it very, very angry.
Trollex shouted, "DJ, watch out!"
He pushed her out of harm's way.
But, it then growled at Trollex.
"Uh-oh."
Trollex was chased all over the ocean.
DJ and his parents shouted out, "Trollex!"
As the three went after them, Varuna said, "Rubbing the King is the only way to stop this. DJ, give us the cloth!"
However, DJ stopped.
Phyto asked, "DJ? What are you doing?"
DJ answered, "It didn't get rubbed that way."
She then leapt into action.
DJ saw they were making a U-turn and swam towards them.
She was able to push Trollex out of the way.
But, the King charged towards them.
But, before it got too close, DJ ran into a rock again.
She made funny noises of pain.
The King started laughing again.
Everyone watched with confusion.
The King then rubbed itself on the ground and released lemon treats.
It then calmly swam away.
DJ sighed, "I've got a confession. I never actually rubbed the Lemon Shark King. I made the whole thing up because I wanted you to like me, King Phyto, Queen Varuna."
Phyto asked, "You did all of this to get us to like you?"
Varuna said, "But, honey, our only concern is the way you treat our son."
Phyto continued, "And you've done so much to prove how much you care about our son."
DJ smiled, "Thanks, you guys."
Varun didn't stop there, "Besides, even if we didn't like you, he'd never listen. When it comes to things like this, he's very stubborn."
DJ agreed, "Right? It's like when he makes up his mind, there's no changing it."
Phyto said, "So true!"
Trollex said, "Wait. What's going on here?"
DJ just said, "You know, I can't believe I was so worked up over trying to impress you. Trollex is a great king, so it would make sense he had great parents."
Varuna said, "Yeah, but it wasn't all flying colors with raising him."
Trollex said, "Actually, parenting is never-"
Phyto then said, "I mean, there was this one time when he thought it would be a good idea to play catch with a puffer fish."
Trollex nervously said, "Ok, she didn't need to know-"
Varuna then said, "In fact, I have a picture of when we took him to the clinic after that for his hands. You can see it if you like."
DJ said, "That sounds good."
Trollex said, "I don't think we need to-"
It got worse.
Varuna asked, "Maybe while we look for it, would you also like to see his baby pictures?"
Trollex quietly shouted, "Mom!"
DJ said, "That sounds adorable! I'd love to!"
The three then swam off.
Trollex was clearly humiliated.
TBDB said, "On the bright side, you don't have to worry about DJ and your parents."
But, Trollex said, "Or maybe I do."
***
Trollex, DJ, and his parents laughed at the memory.
Trollex then said, "Well, at least I don't feel weird about showing you my baby pictures now."
DJ said, "Why would you? They're adorable!"
They laughed again.
