Cold Ramen: S01E10

Julius' Big Mistake is the tenth episode of Cold Ramen. The episode's plot revolves around Julius' ego and lies causing Popple to fall into the arms of another man.

## The Episode

It was a regular night in Fowler City. Popple was storming off from the local bar, angrily rummaging through her purse for her phone. 7:00, Julius had said he’d be there. It was 8:10.

He finally showed up on the sidewalk in front of the bar. “Evening, Popple!” She kept walking right past him. “Wait, where are you going! The bar’s the other way! Did you get drunk without me?”

Suddenly, he was right in front of her. “Look, I can explain--”

“You know where to shove your stupid excuses, right?”

“Yeah, but--”

“Then shove them deeper!” She pushed past him and continued on her warpath home. An hour she had waited for that bum. Popple was stopped once again by his hand on her shoulder.

“Louie burned his hand making fries, so I had to do a double shift at the Golden Palace! I’m a hero!”

She turned around and shrugged off his hand. “There it is, the icing on the cake. Not only are you late, you’re also absolutely unapologetic about it!”

“You’re--”

“--Right, you’re absolutely right, Popple,” Popple imitated, almost as if she had heard it before.

Julius was stupefied. “Listen--”

“--Popple, I’m serious. I’m ready to make a change. Scout’s honor!”

“Alright, this is--”

“--Getting annoying!” She finished. “Know what else is annoying? Having you always stand me up!”

Julius took a deep inhale, then exhaled. A few moments of silence. “Popple, I’m sorry I stood you up today. I know, I know, shove them way up into my ass. But I wanna make things right. You of all people deserve that.”

Popple folded her arms and didn’t walk away. “Well? I’m listening.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the night sky. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Aha! So there’s this great French restaurant, Chez Fleur? I was thinking we could go there and have a nice dinner. You’re always talking about having more formal dates!”

Popple pondered his proposal. “Alright, Julius, it’s a date.”

He pumped his fist and laughed. “HAHA, score!”

She held up a finger to his face. “Not so fast. You have to be punctual. I won’t be kept waiting for you because you don’t know the concept of time. And if you stand me up again, I’m never speaking to you again. *Ever.* Do we have a deal?"

“Deal!”

2 Days Later...

"POOOOOPLEEE!"

Julius was standing outside her house in the afternoon, his arms outstretched. "I know I was a hour late again, but I can explain!"

Behind him, Zack and Cloud walked out of the house. "Julius, will you come inside? You're probably scaring the neighbors," Zack stated.

"Yeah, but what's even going on?" Cloud asked.

"I may have sort of...blown off Popple. But it was for a good reason!"

"Overtime at Golden Palace?" Cloud guessed.

"She just doesn't understand the Julius Vladmire grindset! They need me out there slinging burgers! If I'm not taking point, Burger Slop could top us! Think about it, Cloud! Sloppy Toppy!"

Cloud shuddered. "First of all, ew. Second, you're destined for greater things. Like being with Popple, who loves you, and whose been giving you a lot of chances."

"I know! And when she understands the importance of my work, things will go back to normal! If only she would answer the door..."

Cloud glanced at Popple's house and noticed a white sheet of paper in front of the door. "Hey, what's that?"

Julius walked to the door and picked up the sheet, beginning to read what was on it.

"*Hey, babe, it's you know who. I had a great time at Chez Fleur with you! I wanna take things further. How about you come with me to the beach for a nice relaxing day? Yours, Dennis.*"

Zack instinctively covered his ears for the inevitable. Julius took a deep breath and screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! ZAAAACK, CLOOOUD!"

Zack sighed. "So you really did prioritize extra burger flipping instead of your girlfriend."

"That's besides the point! What's important is that my girl is schmoozing up with some...some piece of human garbage named DENNIS!" Julius collapsed to his knees. "He's probably got her in his arms, taking her to places no man has taken her before...like the ice cream stand!"

Cloud put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, Julius. We're gonna go to the beach, we're gonna find Popple, and we're gonna--"

"Stomp a mudhole in his ass! We're gonna show him what happens when you try to steal another man's girl!" Julius looked to his friends. "We've been through a lot, but I'm hoping I can count on my best friends to help out in my time of need."

Zack crossed his arms. "Julius, you know how much I care about you, but I don't want to be an accessory to assault."

Cloud walked to Julius' side and put his arm around him. "Zack, our best friend is in pain! We gotta be there for him!"

"I'll be there, posting bail."

"Well I'm going with him! You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!"

Julius and Cloud bro hugged. "Thanks, Cloud. You're a true friend."

"Psh, of course! Now let's get to the beach and get back Popple!"

As Julius and Cloud began running in the direction of the beach, Zack put his hands in his pockets and turned back to the house. "Great, got the house to myself."

...

The Fowler City beach was packed. The beach itself was covered in umbrellas of various colors, groups of people relaxing under them. The water was also filled with people, who swam about or tossed beach balls around. Popple and Dennis were sitting under a black and red umbrella. Dennis had a head of long brown hair that went to his shoulders. On his face were a pair of circle framed glasses. He was wearing a white long sleeve shirt that exposed his chest and green shorts. A guitar was in his hands, which he was playing.

"Popple, Popple, your eyes are so bright. I want to hold you and kiss you all night..."

The purple haired girl smiled and coyly looked away.

As he continued his serenade, Julius and Cloud eavesdropped on the couple from behind a boulder. Julius shook his head in disgust. "So this is the corny chump who stole Popple from me. Can you believe this, Cloud?"

"I don't believe it, Julius. Look at that smug look on his face. Cheesy clown."

"Popple, Popple, you are my love. Popple, Popple, our fate is written above!" Dennis finished, giving the guitar some finishing strums. Popple applauded his performance. "Wow, that was great, Dennis!"

Dennis grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah, the song came from the heart. It's called...'Popple, Popple', after a special girl I know."

As Dennis reached forward and moved some hairs out of Popple's face, Julius struggled to contain his emotions. "Hoo wee, if some jerkoff named a song like that after me, I'd break the guitar over his head! We need to get in there and beat his head like a drum!"

Popple's smile grew wider. "It's been a great two days, Dennis. The dinner, all those nice presents you sent, and now a day at the beach! You know how to treat a girl right!"

"I can treat her right...right, Cloud?" Julius asked with a hint of insecurity.

Cloud nodded without hesitation. "'Course you can, Julius! Just look at you, man! You're the best cook at the Golden Palace! Your burger game is next to none!"

"You're right! I'm real good with the spices!"

"Not only that, but you're also..." Cloud paused, his mind going blank on another of Julius' strengths. "...Able to get people's change?"

Julius pondered the compliment. "...Hell yeah! I'm the numbers guy!"

As Cloud breathed a sigh of relief, Dennis moved his hand to Popple's waist. "And if you let me, I can treat you right in other ways..."

Popple's face brightened and she fanned herself. "Oh, Dennis!"

Julius pounded the rock with his palm. "Alright, Cloud, here's the plan. We walk on in there, show Popple how much better of a catch I am, then we go find a locker to shove that nerd in!"

As Dennis leaned forward as to make his move. Julius charged from behind his cover. "DENNIS!"

Upon hearing his name being called, Dennis looked up and saw Julius and Cloud marching towards them. Julius looked furious. "What's your damage?" Dennis asked, confused.

"You've got a lot to answer for, you guitar playing nerd!"

Popple glared at Julius. "What are you two doing here?"

"I came to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life! You're leaving me for *this*?" He gestured to Dennis.

Popple was unrepentant. "I did. Because unlike you, Dennis actually values people!"

Dennis rose to his feet, facing Julius. "Yeah! I don't ditch my lover at a restaurant!"

"I was putting in overtime at Golden Palace! You understand, right, Popple?"

Popple's expression hardened even more. "You WHAT?"

Dennis started laughing."Golden Palace? As in the burger joint at the mall?"

"Yeah, that's right! I'm the number 1 frycook! I'm feeding the whole city with those burgers!"

Popple was struggling to make sense of things. "You left me standing around at Chez Fleur...SO YOU COULD GRILL BURGERS?!"

"I'm just trying to put food on the table, Popple! Literally! Meanwhile, Dennis here is probably a deadbeat who goes wherever the wind takes him and his awful guitar skills!"

Dennis snapped his fingers and the guitar disappeared in a flash of light. In its place was a brown wand. He pointed at Julius. "I'm more than just a guitar player, burger flipper."

Concern appeared on Cloud's face. "Yeah, Julius, better be careful man. It looks like Dennis has the power...to turn things into sticks!"

The friends laughed at Cloud's joke. "Oooh, so intimidating! What'll he do next, turn an umbrella into a stick?"

Dennis pointed his 'stick' at Cloud and muttered an incantation. A red orb of light appeared at the tip of the object. Suddenly, the energy shot forward and hit Cloud square in the chest. He went flying backwards, crashing through three other umbrellas. Julius turned back, surprised. Dennis blew on the tip of his wand.

"You're a wizard?! Popple, you really missed the ball on this one! Talk about a downgrade!"

Popple was still furious. "All this time, I've been playing second fiddle to your stupid cooking job?!"

"Popple..." Julius started. "Can you really call it second fiddle? There's no way anything can take the place of my job, so you can't even count it!"

Without another words, Popple pointed her palm at Julius. A black ball of energy shot out and hit him as well, knocking him towards Cloud. The two friends laid on the ground, nursing their injuries. All around them, the beach goers were beginning to panic.

Cloud got to his feet. He offered a hand to Julius. "That guy should've just started singing, would've done more damage!"

Julius chuckled and took the hand. Popple and Dennis approached them, Dennis' wand already creating more red orbs. Julius and Cloud got into their fighting stances.

"Alright, I'm gonna talk some sense into Popple. You mind dealing with Dennis?"

Cloud cracked his knuckles. "With pleasure!"

Dennis fired two of the red orbs, both of which Cloud avoided by running out of the way. Dennis took chase.

Julius put both his hands up. "Popple, you're not thinking straight here. Let's take some deep brea-OOF!"

Another shadow ball cut Julius off mid-sentence. Popple watched him get knocked back and walked towards him. "I'm just so SICK of you, Julius!"

Julius got on one knee, wiping sand off his face. "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!"

Popple picked up her pace, black energy surrounding her arms. "You're just so...selfish!" She punctuated the sentence by raising her right arm and striking Julius, who blocked the attack by raising both his arms, ice surrounding them to form a shield. Popple raised her other arm and punched the shield again. She kept on punching and punching, faster and faster. "You're vapid, crude, and ignorant!"

"Now you're just making stuff up!" Julius commented, blocking Popple's next strike and pushing forward, sending her off balance. He then fired an ice beam at her leg, freezing it solid.

"There you are, proving my point!" Popple exclaimed, struggling to free her leg. Julius approached her, his palms glowing a turquoise color.

"Look, why don't we talk about this at home? Over leftover fast food?"

Popple's body began to produce a black aura and her frozen leg began to melt. When Julius reached her, she ducked under his grab and swept low, knocking him onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Cloud and Dennis were locked in combat. Cloud was on the defensive as Dennis fired some more red orbs from his wand.

"Hold still, you!" He commanded, clearly frustrated.

As Cloud slid on the sand to avoid the attack, he noticed a frisbee left lying around from another family. Picking it up, he tossed it at Dennis, who fired another red ball to blow it up. As he was preoccupied with that, Cloud took the chance to cover some distance and lunge forward, landing a solid punch on Dennis' face. He then went for a gut punch, then finished off with a roundhouse kick. Dennis stumbled back, putting a finger to his lip to feel for blood.

"First and last time that'll happen!" He promised, raising his wand to the sky. All of a sudden, the umbrellas that surrounded them began to levitate off the ground. They turned towards Cloud pointed side first and flew at him. Cloud summoned his sword and methodically sliced the first one that approached in half. Two more soared towards him and he easily cut them down.

"Come on, Dennis, are you even trying?" Cloud taunted. "Not too late to try singing again!"

Dennis roared in anger, red energy surrounded his wand in the shape of a blade. As Cloud cut down yet another umbrella, he was forced to quickly recover and raise his sword to block an overhead swing from Dennis' wand-sword hybrid.

"You're not the only one who knows how to use a sword!"

Back with the other combatants, Popple had climbed on top of Julius, to the latter's excitement.

"So, I'm guessing we kiss and make up now?" Julius inquired, giving her a smile. Popple answered his question with a punch that drilled his stomach and took the air out of him.

"Inconsiderate!" Another punch to the stomach. "And irresponsible!" Popple aimed for his face. "I love you, and you always make me feel like I'm just another thing in your life to manage!"

Julius coughed and wheezed from the attacks, turning his head to Cloud. "Cloud...could I get an assist here?"

Cloud was engaged in a sword fight with Dennis. He blocked two side to side strikes before countering with his own chopping attack, which was blocked. "How about apologizing to her?"

"No...I mean like with fighting! I think she broke a rib..." Julius took a second to get what he meant. "Ohhhh!" He turned back to Popple. "Popple, I'm sorry...for...uh..."

Popple paused her next punch. "...Sorry for what?"

"For...not bringing you leftovers after I stood you up at the bar!"

Popple hit him hard in the face. "Wrong answer."

"Sorry for...not starting off with my own song for you!" He cleared his throat. "Me me me me m--"

Popple got him in the stomach.

Cloud and Dennis were locking blades, with Cloud getting the upper hand. However, Dennis muttered a spell and his energy blade grew larger, allowing him to rise up and force Cloud onto one knee. Cloud turned to Julius. "Think hard, Julius! Remember why we're here!"

Julius closed his eyes and thought hard. *Being with Popple, who loves you, and whose been giving you a lot of chances...So you prioritized extra burger flipping instead of your girlfriend..I wanna make things right. You of all people deserve that.*

"Popple..." He began, opening his eyes. "I know that you're tired of hearing me out, but you gotta search deep in your heart and find the compassion to not tenderize my spleen...for one minute..."

"...Go on."

"I know, I keep screwing up. You keep giving me chances to change and I leave you high and dry. I'm a self centered jerk and I don't deserve you. But I don't wanna be that guy anymore! I wanna be a man of action! So...if you give me one last shot, I'm gonna be the best boyfriend *ever!* And...we'll go straight to the jewelry store and you can pick out one of whatever you like!"

Dennis looked up from Cloud and watched Popple and Julius. "Popple, you can't seriously be considering the frycook's proposal?! He's let you down so many times over!"

Popple studied his face again. She took a deep breath, then got off of him. "*Two* of whatever I want. Time to use some of that Golden Palace money."

"Two?! Man, I don't have that kind of mon...deal!"

Julius extended his hand and Popple shook it before getting him up. The couple looked at each other. Julius spread his arms out for a hug. "So we're back together?"

Popple poked where she had struck him in the stomach and Julius nearly doubled over. "Let's get the jeweler, then we'll talk."

Julius nodded and scratched the back of his head. Popple took his head in her hands and brought it to hers. A smile grew on her face. "You better not be lying to me, you big jerk."

Julius smiled back and Dennis' jaw dropped. "Popple? POPPLE! NOOOOOOO!!"

Cloud took the chance to get back up, push Dennis off him, and smash him in the head with the butt of his sword. The wizard crumpled to the ground, holding his head in pain. Cloud looked at his two friends reconcile and he couldn't help but smile as well. He walked over to them and together, they began walking out of the beach and back into the city.

"So, Julius, you gonna buy me something as well? Since I helped you get your girl back and all..."

"Cloud, I already have to get Popple 2 different pieces of jewelry. If I buy anymore, I'm not eating for the next month."

All three of them laughed. Julius looked to Popple. "So...you and Dennis. Did anything happen that I should know about?"

Popple looked back. "No way. He approached me when you stood me up at Chez Fleur and bought me some free stuff. I was only using him to get your attention."

"Wait WHAT?!"

Now Cloud and Popple chuckled as Julius groaned.

"Never figured you as a gold digger, Popple!"

"Shut up, Cloud."

As they walked, Dennis slowly crawled after them. "Popple come back...Popple come back...this is all whack, POPPLE COME BAAAACK!!"