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Morning arrived in Beacontown. Repairs on the town were complete, and Champion City was almost done. Things were almost done, which meant that it was as if the Admin had never taken over Beacontown and caused mischief.Almost.It had been a months since the Admin situation, but almost a month since their last adventure. When they found out that a few people had respawned in other universes, and a search for them had occurred.And they were back in the Minecraft Universe. Vos and Sammy were back with Jack and Nurm, and Romeo was back with Stella. They were all found and were back home with their loved ones, in the universe where they truly belonged.The sun rose, beginning a new day. The Jesse twins were at the temple, and after having breakfast with Radar, Lukas, and Reuben, the twins were ready to take care of something. Jack and Sammy were coming back from their honeymoon, so M. Jesse wanted to check in on them, while F. Jesse wanted to check in on Romeo and see how he was doing with living with Stella.“I wonder how Petra’s doing since she likes living at the Emporium with Jack and his group,” said M. Jesse.“I’m sure she’s happy with Jack and the others. Besides, Sammy’s glad that she and Jack ‘adopted’ Petra,” said F. Jesse.M. Jesse snickered a bit. He remembered when Sammy first reacted to how Jack and Petra shared a father-daughter bond. Despite how Petra was a young adult, Sammy insisted that she and Jack adopted Petra.“I’m gonna go to Stella’s house. I’ll see you later?” asked F. Jesse.‘Yeah. I’ll see you later, sis,” said M. Jesse.The twins parted ways and headed in opposite directions of Beacontown. M. Jesse made his way down Badluck Alley and headed to the Emporium. As he walked up to the front doors, he heard some commotion from inside.“Rory! Stop chasing Archie!” an angry voice shouted.M. Jesse opened the door, not knocking before entering. He rushed inside when he heard Petra shout. And when he came into the emporium, he saw Petra trying to hold back a Rockruff, who was eyeing Vos. Or more specifically, the parrot on his shoulder. The parrot looked fine, but Vos gave the Rockruff a cross look on his face.“Rory, down boy!” Petra said.The Rockruff barked. The parrot flew up onto a beam and out of reach. Rory squirmed out of Petra’s arms and looked up at where the parrot was hiding.“Rory, bad dog!” said Petra.Vos sighed.“We need to train him not to chase after Archie… At least Roxy doesn’t chase after my parrot…” he said.Nurm sighed after Vos spoke. He put some stuff on some shelves, and another Rockruff, a shiny one, was following him. She watched him as the villager put some iron ingots on the shelves.“Uh… everything okay in here?” M. Jesse said.Everyone turned around. They were stunned at first, but once they saw who it was, they smiled.“Oh. Hey Jesse!” said Petra.“Jesse! Good morning!” said Vos.Nurm walked up to them and spoke, smiling as he did.“Morning guys. Are Jack and Sammy back yet? I wanted to see how they’re doing,” said M. Jesse.“Not yet. But they should be back pretty soon. It’ll be great for them to be back here at the Emporium,” said Vos.“The place empty without them?” asked M. Jesse.“Not really. If these two Pokémon hadn’t hatched from their egg right before Jack and Sammy left, then things wouldn’t be chaotic here,” said Petra.Archie suddenly flew back down to Vos’s shoulder. Rory barked at them again.“Rory, down boy!” Vos scolded him, as Rory tried to jump on him.“At least Jack and Sammy were here to see them when they hatched. Both of them were pretty happy to see the Pokémon egg hatch, but Sammy got really excited,” said Petra. She chuckled a bit as she spoke.Nurm laughed a bit to. Vos was the only one who didn’t laugh, since he was busy trying to get Rory down and constantly told Archie to get off his shoulder and fly away.Suddenly, the group heard the door open, and the sound of footsteps coming towards them. They all turned around, and it was Jack and Sammy. Rory and Roxy barked happily and ran over to the two. Sammy giggled and got down on her knees. She petted Rory, who licked her face like crazy, while Jack only smiled. He got down on one knees and gently petted Roxy on the head.“Aw. You two missed us so much,” Jack said, joking a bit.Roxy barked happily and licked Jack on the cheek.“You two had a good honeymoon?” Vos asked Jack and Sammy.“I waited a long time to finally marry Sammy. I was happy and had fun because I was with her,” Jack said. He smiled at his wife and even wrapped an arm around her.Sammy smiled back at him.“I agree. I’m glad we finally got married, Jack,” she said.“How have things been here at the shop while we were away?” asked Jack.“Business was good. Though we need to restock on some ore goodies. Rory had a bit of a snack…” said Petra.She looked over at the Rockruff twins, who were eyeing some iron ore that was on a shelf.“We better get to mining then,” said Sammy.“It’s alright. You two just got back. It must’ve been a long walk to get back here. You two can stay here and relax. Nurm, Petra, and I can take care of it,” said Vos.“You sure?” asked Jack.“Yeah. We’ll take these two because they can help us track some ore. And I need them to stay away from Archie…” said Vos.“Don’t worry. We’ll look after him while you’re gone, Vos. I’ve been looking after him for a long time after all,” said Jack.“Thanks Jack. And Jesse, you can join us if you want to,” said Vos.“I’m good. I would like to catch up with Jack and Sammy, if that’s alright,” said M. Jesse.“Fine by me. But you still going to do some archery practice with me and Radar later, right?” asked Petra.“Yeah. For sure,” said M. Jesse.“Alright. We’ll see you around,” said Petra.She, Vos, and Nurm told the group goodbye, then headed out. Once they were gone, Sammy let out a yawn.“You tired from the walk?” Jack asked her.“Yeah. I think I’ll take a nap,” said Sammy.Jack smirked at her. He picked her up bridal style and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.“Jack! We have a guest!” Sammy said, but she was laughing.M. Jesse wasn’t sure how to feel. He just looked away, and even covered his eyes with one of his arms, blushing a bit as he did.“Come on, you liked it,” said Jack, still smirking at his wife.He carried Sammy upstairs, leaving M. Jesse alone. M. Jesse looked at the shelves a bit, since he didn’t know if Jack was going to come back downstairs. He saw Archie fly over to a shelf that had some prismarine on it.“Heh. Bet you like having no Rockruffs chase you,” said M. Jesse.Archie chirped and flew over to another shelf. M. Jesse looked at the prismarine for a bit.“See something you like?” he heard a voice ask.M. Jesse turned around to see that Jack had come back downstairs.“Just looking,” said M. Jesse.Jack smiled sadly.“Before I met your sister and Petra, I would often act under this confident ego to customers. To mask how I truly felt when I started the shop,” he said.M. Jesse was quiet. He figured that Jack began the shop as a way to retire from adventuring. The Sea Temple incident must’ve really taken a toll on him, and he didn’t want anyone to know about what he was going through.That’s when he notice that Jack looked glum.“Jack, you okay?” M. Jesse asked.“I’m fine, Jesse,” said Jack.“Jack, come on. We’re friends. You can talk to me,” said M. Jesse.Jack looked back for a second, checking the stairs that he just walked down.“Let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll talk to you in there…” said Jack.Jack headed to the kitchen before M. Jesse could even say anything. M. Jesse wasn’t sure what was going on, but he followed Jack, wanting to know what was going on. Meanwhile, F. Jesse made it to Stella and Romeo’s house. She walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Lluna, who was now human, opened up the door.“Hi Lluna,” said F. Jesse.“Hey Jesse. Checking in on us?” asked Lluna.“Yeah. Are Stella and Romeo here?” asked F. Jesse.“Romeo is. Stella’s busy with some stuff. She went out to get some supplies for Romeo’s next crafting lesson. He’s not feeling well. Oh, that reminds me, I need to go to the market stands and get some stuff for stew,” said Lluna.“Is this a bad time? I can leave,” said F. Jesse.“No. You can stay,” said a voice.The girls turned around to see that Romeo was in the kitchen. He was in his pajamas and had a cup of coffee with him.“You sure? I don’t want to be a burden,” said F. Jesse.“No. It’s alright. I wouldn’t mind the company while Stella and now Lluna are out,” said Romeo.“Yeah. I better head out. I’ll be back in a bit, Romeo,” said Lluna.She grabbed some emeralds on a table right by the door and put them in her pocket. She headed out to the market without saying anything else to Romeo and F. Jesse.“Oh. Okay. Bye Lluna,” said F. Jesse.She turned to say goodbye to Romeo, but for some reason, he grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.“Romeo?” asked F. Jesse.“Sorry, but I need to talk to you, Jesse,” he said.He closed the door. F. Jesse formed a confused look.“Romeo? What’s going on?” she asked.“I’m feeling fine, Jesse. I just don’t want to go to town,” said Romeo.F. Jesse formed a confused look. She didn’t understand anything.“Last night, Stella told me that my next crafting lesson will include going to the mines. I don’t want to go to the mines. I’m still having a hard time adjusting,” said Romeo.“Crafting isn’t difficult, Romeo. And it’s okay if you’re scared to go into the mines. They are dark.”“It’s not the mines, Jesse! It’s the town!”Romeo let out a sad sigh.“I know the town still hates me. They still don’t trust me. And if everyone found out that I’m with Stella now… I don’t want them judging her to…” he said.F. Jesse was quiet. It had been a while, and Romeo was still struggling to adjust to living in Beacontown?“Romeo, why haven’t you told Stella?” she asked him.He sighed again.“I already hurt her a lot while I was the Admin, especially with what I did to Champion City... We’re together now, but I don’t want to hurt her again, even if it’s unintentional…” said Romeo.“Romeo, I don’t think she’s going to be mad at you if you tell her that you still need time to adjust to living in the town. She wants to help you. You have a fresh start here in Beacontown, especially as Romeo, not the Admin,” said F. Jesse.“I know, Jesse. I know…”Romeo sat down on the couch and sighed again. He had a very glum look on his face.“I still question if I deserve to be here…” he said.“Why?”“Fred is dead because of me, and Xara is gone because she sacrificed herself to let the lives I trapped in the Underneath escape… I hardly see why I deserve to be alive, considering what I did to my friends… I don’t even think I was meant to respawn… I did bad things, so why did I respawn? Fawful tried to curse me with my powers, but instead he cursed me with giving me a second chance…” he said.F. Jesse was quiet again. She didn’t think that Romeo had been bothered by his second chance, especially since Fawful was the one who respawned him. Maybe Romeo was meant to stay dead. He was respawned prematurely, remembering only the mistakes he made.But like before, back in the Terminal Zone, F. Jesse knew that Romeo could redeem himself.“Romeo, I know you’re going through this, but you do deserve to live. You have redeemed yourself, and you are loved,” she told him.“You still believe that, don’t you?” he said.“I don’t believe it. I know it. You helped me, Petra, and Jack escape the Terminal Zone. And what about back in the Dream Universe? You told Fawful that you didn’t want to join him to protect us. You kept your promise to Kate to have a second chance, and you saved us all when the castle was falling down. You have redeemed yourself, and you have friends who love you, Romeo,” said F. Jesse.Romeo remained quiet, but F. Jesse continued to talk.“You are loved, Romeo. We care about you. Stella, Lluna, Kate, me, and the others. We care about you, Romeo. You’re a part of our group. You’re our friend,” she said.Romeo still stayed quiet, but this time, he managed to smile a bit.“Thanks Jesse…” he said, almost in a whisper.The door opened up, and Stella had returned. She was confused to why F. Jesse was there.“Oh. Hi Jesse! I didn’t think you’d stop by,” she said.“I just wanted to see how you guys were doing,” said F. Jesse.“Well, I was going to show Romeo how it goes to mine, but he’s not feeling well, so we’ll just do some more crafting lessons,” said Stella.“No. I feel fine, Stella,” said Romeo.He sat up and faced her.“I… I lied about not feeling well, because I’m nervous about going out…” he said.“Why?” asked Stella.Romeo sighed again and said, “I’m still having a hard time adjusting to the town, and I know some people still hate me… I just don’t want them hating you if they see me out with you…”Stella formed a glum look, but she didn’t scold him.“Oh Romeo. I’m not mad at you if you’re still having trouble adjusting to your fresh start. You didn’t have to lie to me about not feeling well. You could’ve just told me that you didn’t want to go to the mines,” she said.“I know… and I’m sorry…” he said.“Well, I’m not mad at you. I forgive you, Romeo. If you don’t want to go to the mines, I understand.”“No. I need to get used to living here in town, and it’s not like we can hide our relationship forever. And besides… I need to know how to do basic mining. We should go.”Stella was quiet for a minute. After a while, she finally spoke.“Alright. We’ll go to the mines, but if it becomes too much for you, don’t hesitate to tell me. We can leave whenever you want to,” she said.Romeo nodded his head. “Thanks Stella,” he said.“You two want me to accompany you? That way, if any miners give you a hard time, I can be there to keep an eye on them?” said F. Jesse.“That would be nice, but only if you’re okay with it,” said Romeo.F. Jesse nodded and said, “Of course. You guys are my friends, and you’re a part of Beacontown now. I want you guys to enjoy living here in my town.”Romeo smiled a bit at her. Stella walked over to a chest and pulled out some pickaxes. She put them in her inventory, then grabbed a quill and a paper. She wrote a quick note for Lluna and set it down on the table by the door.“Here. We can go out if you guys are ready,” she said.“I’m ready,” said Romeo.The three of them exited the house. Stella locked the door to the house, and the three of them walked down the streets and headed to the mines. Back at the emporium, M. Jesse followed Jack into the kitchen. The adventurer got a couple cups out. He got himself some water and handed the empty cup to M. Jesse. M. Jesse kindly shook his head no to decline the offer for a drink. Jack merely shrugged his shoulders and put the empty cup away. He walked over to the table, and M. Jesse followed them. They both sat down.“Jack, what’s going on? Why are you glum? I thought you’d be happy now that you and Sammy are married,” said M. Jesse.“It’s not that, Jesse. It’s… something that Sammy brought up while we were walking back here earlier,” said Jack.M. Jesse was quiet for a minute. Jack didn’t tell him, so he had to take a guess.“Did she… she bring up having kids or something? You don’t want that?” asked M. Jesse.To his surprise, Jack stopped looking glum. He formed a surprised look.“Oh! No no no! N-nothing like that! E-even before the Sea T-Temple incident, we hadn’t planned to s-settle! Having k-kids would’ve meant we’d give up a-adventures! Besides, we’re fine with seeing P-Petra as our daughter!” he stuttered.“Okay! Okay! Just taking a guess. Sorry… for making you uncomfortable,” said M. Jesse.“It’s fine,” said Jack. He sighed again before he continued. “Sammy suggested that we go on an adventure next week. She and Petra were talking before we had the ceremony, and they both want to go somewhere. They even want to explore some place that’s near Boomtown, so that Petra can see Axel, especially since he wants to try to come with us. But…”Jack paused for a minute. He let out another sigh and said, “After losing Sammy and Vos to the Sea Temple, and that long amount of time between then and when we found them, I don’t think I’m ready to go on another adventure so soon. Believe me, I’d love to. Just like old times, and now with Petra and anyone else who wants to join, it’ll be much better. But… what if something happens again? What if someone dies again? And… what if they can’t respawn this time?”Jack started to sniffle a bit. M. Jesse saw that his friend was starting to cry a bit.“I want to tell Sammy how I feel about this, but I’m afraid of upsetting her… I don’t like arguing with her, Jesse. Back in the past, or arguments were pretty bad, and we even broke up one time… I just got Sammy and Vos back, and I don’t want to fail them again. But my wife wants to go on another adventure so soon. I don’t want to go just yet because I don’t want to be unprepared, but I also don’t want to tell her no because I don’t want to fight with her…”Jack looked away from M. Jesse. He didn’t want him to see that he was starting to cry. He tried to wipe away the tears, but he wasn’t doing a good job. M. Jesse got up from his seat. He walked over to Jack, and gave his friend a pat on the back.“Sorry… something in my eye…” said Jack.“It’s okay. I’m not going to judge you, Jack. I understand you’re worried,” said M. Jesse. “But I’m sure Sammy will understand. You just need to talk to her.”“I know, but I’m afraid that we’ll fight again…” said Jack.M. Jesse was quiet for a minute, thinking over his answer.“What if you had someone with you in the room with you? If you guys do start to argue, then you have someone there with you to stop it before it escalates? Will that help? I can even be the one to be there, if you want,” said M. Jesse.“You… you okay with that?”“Yeah. You know how Ivor acts like a father to me and my sister? Well, sometimes my sister and I argue, but Ivor, or even Harper, often stay in the room when we need to talk things over, and they tend to help us defuse an upcoming argument. I can help you out with that if you wanted me to,” said M. Jesse.Jack was quiet for a minute. He was feeling a bit uncomfortable with this idea, but he knew that it was most likely the right approach to his dilemma. He stood up from his seat and nodded his head.“Yeah. I’d appreciate it. But only if you’re up for it,” he said.“I’ll be fine, Jack. You just worry about talking to Sammy, and I’ll be there the whole time,” said M. Jesse.“Thanks Jesse,” said Jack. Stella, Romeo, and F. Jesse reached the mines. As they expected, some people stared at them as they entered. Or more specifically, they started at Romeo. Most of the miners didn’t look too happy when they saw Romeo, but a glare from F. Jesse made them look away and get back to work.Soon, the three of them headed to a part of the mines, but as they did, they heard some voices speaking from somewhere.“Rory! No! You can’t eat that! Diamonds are rare as it is!” they heard a familiar voice shout.“Is that Petra?” asked Stella.“Yeah. Let’s go check it out,” said F. Jesse.The girls ran on ahead, but Romeo stayed behind them. He didn’t run as fast as them, but it was intentional. He was nervous about seeing anyone in the mines, even if they were familiar faces.The three reached a spot where they saw Petra trying to hold back Rory, who was trying to jump on Nurm. The villager had some diamonds in his hands.“Rory, down!” said Petra.Rory barked a bit.“Rory, bad dog!” said Petra.Nurm put the diamonds in his inventory. Rory managed to calm down a bit, but he had a glum look.“Oh don’t give us puppy dog eyes. That’s not going to work,” said Petra.Rory whimpered a bit. Suddenly, he perked up, noticing that Stella, F. Jesse, and Romeo had arrived. The Rockruff barked excitedly and ran over to greet them. Stella giggled, and she got down to pet Rory. Romeo, however, looked nervous.“Oh, hey guys!” Vos greeted them.“Hi. You guys mining to?” asked Stella.“Yeah. Need to stock up on some ores. The Rockruff twins took a big bite out of some of the ores,” said Vos.“What are you guys doing down here?” asked Petra.“Well, Romeo needs to learn the basics of mining, so we thought we’d bring him down here. Right Romeo?” said Stella.Romeo didn’t respond, so Stella turned around to face him. He looked a bit nervous. Stella walked over to him.“You okay?” she asked him.“Yeah… just… just trying to get used to how there’s people around me…” he said nervously.“It’s okay. If anything, this won’t be too bad. You know these people, and you know they’re not mad at you,” she said.“I know. Still, I’m very nervous…” said Romeo.Stella gently grabbed his hand. Romeo looked at her in the eyes and blushed.“I’m right here, okay?” she said, smiling.Romeo didn’t respond. Instead, he nodded his head, not taking his gaze off of Stella.“Well, seems that those two are a thing as well…” said Vos, smirking a bit.Nurm made some villager noises, nodding his head in agreement.“Best not to make fun of them, though. Romeo’s really nervous,” said F. Jesse.The group got back to doing their mining. Stella pulled Romeo aside and away from the rest of the group, so he could feel more comfortable in his own space with just her. She handed him a pickaxe and showed him how to mine some ores, safely and properly.Romeo got to work and mined a bit of iron ore out of the wall.“Like this?” he asked her.“Yeah. Just like that. Just remember to listen for any lava bubbling around you. If you hear it, then you need to be careful when mining, so you don’t accidentally lose your goodies to lava. And what’s the most important thing to remember?” said Stella.“Never dig straight down,” said Romeo.“See? You got this,” said Stella.She smiled at him and gave him a pat on the back. Romeo smiled a bit. He got back to work on mining.As the couple was busy mining, F. Jesse was mining a bit of coal nearby her. She stopped to watch the couple, and she smiled as she saw them interacting together.‘Those two are going to be great together. Stella really will be a great influence for Romeo, especially during this fresh start,’ she thought. At the emporium, Sammy woke up from her nap. She walked downstairs to the shop and checked out the shelves. Just as she finished, Jack walked up to her.“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked her.Sammy grinned. “Oh. We need to talk somewhere private?” she ask.Jack blushed a bit. He felt rather embarrassed that M. Jesse might hear them talking, but he reminded himself that their friend was back in the kitchen.“No. Not that. Maybe we’ll get to it later. But I really need to talk to you. It’s important,” he said.Sammy stopped grinning.“Okay. Sorry about that,” she said.Jack led Sammy into the kitchen. Sammy was confused, especially since M. Jesse just casually sat at the table, and he was even watching them.“Jack, what’s going on?” asked Sammy.Jack took a deep breath and exhaled. He wasn’t sure if he was fully prepared, but he wanted to talk to his wife and get this over with.“Sammy, I know you want to go off on an adventure, but… this is what I wanted to talk about…” he said.“Uh… alright. But I don’t see why we need to talk about it. Don’t we always go on adventures?” asked Sammy.“Yeah, but… I’m not sure if I’m ready to get back out there on adventures…”“What? But Jack, we’ll be fine. Vos and I have been adventuring through the universes for a long time, and we’ll be careful when we get back out there and have a new adventure, even if we’ll be going on adventures here in our world from now on.”“I know. But I’m scared Sammy. I’m scared that I’ll lose you guys again. After the Sea Temple incident. I…”Jack paused for a minute. He didn’t like bringing up the incident, but he knew there was no dodging the bullet in this discussion.“It was hard for me… losing you and Vos… it took me a while to get back on my feet, but I couldn’t go another adventure. Even with opening up the emporium, I still had a hard time. I just didn’t show it to any customers…” he said.“So… you don’t want us to go on anymore adventures?” asked Sammy.“No! I-I… I know you want to keep going on adventures, because I know it makes you happy. If we stopped, it would make you very glum. I don’t want to lose you again, but I also don’t want to see you unhappy. I just… I’m afraid for you Sammy…”He paused again.“I understand… I thought you loved adventuring…” Sammy said, forming a sad look on her face.“I do. I really do! I love it, but… after all that happened… I’m worried. Worried for you… I know you don’t want to give up adventuring, but I’m worried for your safety. I don’t want to see you unhappy either. So… do you think that this adventure you brought up earlier, can it wait a bit? I just want to make sure that we’re prepared. Both geared up, and… me mentally…” said Jack.Sammy smiled sadly at her husband.“I understand, Jack. I know you’re worried about me. If you do need to prepare yourself for another adventure, I won’t force you to be ready. I understand you need time to be mentally prepared. An adventure can wait,” she told him.Jack smiled at his wife. He pulled her into a hug and whispered, “I love you Sammy.”“I love you to Jack,” Sammy whispered back.When they broke from the hug, Sammy leaned forward and kissed Jack. Jack blushed, since M. Jesse was in the room.“Sammy! Jesse’s here…” Jack said, looking flustered.To his relief, M. Jesse chuckled.“Don’t worry. I’ll step out to give you two some space,” he said, grinning a bit.He got up from his seat and headed out of the kitchen.“I’ll see you guys around,” he called out to them.“Bye Jesse!” Sammy called out to him. She faced Jack and smirked at him again. “There, now we’re alone. Happy?” she said.“Yeah,” said Jack, smirking back.The two shared another kiss, and M. Jesse headed out of the emporium. He closed the doors behind him and walked down Badluck Alley.‘Glad things were sorted out between them. I wonder how things are going with Romeo and Stella…’ he thought. A while later, and those at the mines were leaving. Petra and her group headed in one direction to go back to the emporium, while F. Jesse walked Stella and Romeo back to their house.“I’m glad you brought me to the mines, Stella. That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” said Romeo.Stella patted him on the back and said, “Hey, I’m glad you’re doing much better. And you’re learning so fast.”“I wouldn’t say that I’m fast. I think I’m a bit rusty on this mining business…” he said, smiling nervously.The group approached the house.“I better go back to the temple. I need to see how Radar’s doing with his work,” said F. Jesse.“We’ll see you around then,” said Stella.“Jesse, thank you for talking to me earlier. I needed the boost of confidence, and I’m I came to you. I probably wouldn’t have tried learning how to mine today. I know it’ll take me a while to get used to all this, but I needed the push. Thank you,” said Romeo.“You don’t have to thank me, Romeo. You’re our friend. I’m happy to help,” said F. Jesse.Romeo smiled sadly at her.“We’ll see you around?” he asked her.“Yeah. I’ll see you guys around,” said F. Jesse, smiling back.Romeo and Stella waved goodbye to F. Jesse, and she bid them farewell and walked back down the streets. After a few minutes of walking, F. Jesse ran into her brother, and the two headed back to the temple together.“So, how was your day?” M. Jesse jokingly asked his sister.“Oh, I just helped Romeo gain the confidence to start getting out of the house. What about you?” she said.“I talked to Jack. He was having a bit of a hard time talking to Sammy about something, but they sorted it out,” said M. Jesse.“That’s good. I’m glad they’re all okay. They all have a fresh start here in Beacontown,” said F. Jesse.“Yeah. Home is where a fresh start is, after all,” said M. Jesse.The twins smiled at each other. They reached the entrance to the temple and headed inside. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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It was morning in the Dream Universe. Over at the tree house, Kate was cooking some breakfast. As she was busy making some pancakes, she was on the phone, holding the phone with one hand and the spatula in her other hand.“When do you think the expedition will finish?” she asked.“Shouldn’t be much longer now. I just gotta turn in the things I found for my paycheck. Hopefully it’ll be enough to give me about a month off. I don’t want to have to leave so soon. After the mess with Fawful, I don’t like having to leave to do treasure hunting,” said Knuckles.“But you love treasure hunting. I know it scares me to have you away, but we have this compromise going, and it helps me relax while you’re away. Besides, I can take care of myself. And the gem with the Admin powers is locked away safely in the tree house,” said Kate.“I know. Anyway, you okay this morning?” said Knuckles.“Yeah, I’m good. I just fed the Pokémon, and after I eat something, Sonic and I are going to go check on Gordon and Tacey.”“How are they doing? They happy with the house that they built outside the Mushroom Kingdom?”“They seem to be happy where they are. I’m glad that they found a place to live at.”“Alright. I need to get to bed. I gotta get up early so that I don’t lose the first chance to turn in my stuff and get paid. Night Kate.”“Night Knux.”Kate hung up on the phone and put it down. She got back to cooking her pancakes, though she was almost done. As she was cooking, a knock came on the door.“It’s open!” she called out.The door opened, and Sonic came in.“Hey sis,” he said.“Morning Sonic,” said Kate.“Knuckles still not back yet?” asked Sonic.“No. But he should be back soon. I just talked with him on the phone. He had to go to bed because of the time zone difference.”“You sure you’re okay with him leaving to go treasure hunting?”“He’s happy with it, and hey, he makes money off of it. We made a compromise: he has to call me at least once a day so that I know he’s okay.”“Sounds like a compromise,” said Sonic, as he grabbed a cup from the cupboard.The blue hedgehog opened the fridge and grabbed the carton of orange juice. He poured himself a glass and put the carton back in the fridge.“You hungry?” asked Kate.“Nah. I’m good. Juice is enough. I’m ready when you are to go visit Gordon and Tacey,” said Sonic. “I still find it odd that Gordon didn’t want to go back to his universe, even after he made amends with Female Jesse and her group.”Kate fell silent as Sonic brought it up. She didn’t know the full details, but what she did know was that Gordon didn’t want to go back to his universe because of the choices he made. From what she was told, Gordon was a warden of some sort for a prison called the Sunshine Institute. But he didn’t fully enjoy his job, and he must’ve made some choices that not only hurt him, but hurt some people he knew who were pulled there to.Gordon ended up dying because someone called Prisoner X killed him, but he respawned in the Dream Universe. Tacey found him, and they ended up forming a father-daughter bond. Because of this, and the choices he made in his previous life, Gordon didn’t want to go back to the Minecraft Universe.It was a heavy story for Kate to think about. Even if Gordon wasn’t around to hear their conversation, she didn’t want to say something offensive about him to Sonic. So all she said was, “It was his choice, bro. He must feel more at home here in our world.”To her relief, Sonic decided to not keep the topic going.“I guess. I mean, Hadrian and Mevia sure found this world to be a home, so I guess it’s the same with Gordon,” he said.Kate only nodded her head. She didn’t want to discuss it anymore. After finishing breakfast, Kate fixed her hair, changed out of her pajamas and into casual attire, and she and Sonic headed out to go to Gordon and Tacey’s house. The two decided to have a race, so they zoomed and zipped right past everything.Because of their super speed, it only took them a few minutes to reach the forest where the house was.“Ha! I beat you!” said Kate.“I don’t think so!” Sonic said.The two shared a laugh and resumed to head over to the house, this time in a walk. They were almost there. The house was outside the Mushroom Kingdom, but it was in the forest that surrounded the kingdom.“I guess I see why they chose this area. Some tranquility,” said Sonic.“Yeah, and wild Pokémon live in this forest. Not only does Tacey like Pokémon, but the Pokémon are protective of the forest. They don’t like it when Bowser’s minions or Eggman’s robots come snooping around here, so it’s a bit of protection for Tacey and Gordon,” said Kate.“Well, I bet they do like the Pokémon out here,” said Sonic.He was looking up at the house, where Tacey and Gordon were outside. They were feeding some Pokémon some berries.“There you go. That should do the trick for your injury. You’ll get your strength back soon,” Tacey told the Pokémon.“Will it work?” asked Gordon.“Yeah. We gave them oran berries, which helps Pokémon regain their strength and health,” said Tacey.“You sure know a lot on Pokémon,” said Gordon.“She’s the smartest Pokémon person I know!” Kate called out to them.Tacey and Gordon looked over to them. They both smiled.“Sonic! Kate! So good to see you guys!” said Tacey.“Hi guys,” Gordon said, waving to them.Sonic and Kate walked over. Tacey ran over and gave Kate a quick hug, which Kate gladly returned. Sonic extended his hand out, and he and Gordon shook hands.“Glad to see you guys enjoying your life out here,” said Kate.“Yeah. I got a job at the Mushroom Kingdom. I work at the bookstore close to one of the restaurants,” said Gordon. “Vastly different from being a prison warden, but I like it. It’s more tranquil. It helps me feel more… relaxed, and safe.”“Peach even gave us some berries to grow, so we can help give back to the wild Pokémon here in the forest since they help keep Bowser’s minions away from our house. I know some medical stuff and how to take care of Pokémon, and I’ve been showing Gordon the ropes while we both have spare time,” said Tacey.“We’re happy you guys are enjoying your lives out here,” said Sonic.“You two want to come in for some tea?” said Gordon.“I could go for some tea. But, Kate here doesn’t like tea. Or coffee,” said Sonic. He nudged his friend on the shoulder and smirked at her.Kate frowned and playfully punched Sonic on the shoulder. “This coming from the guy who won’t drink milk to cool down any spiciness in his mouth after eating chili dogs,” she said.“Too shay…” said Sonic.The four of them laughed a bit and headed inside. However, as they did, they didn’t notice that one of Eggman’s bee bots was watching them.Over at his and Bowser’s base, Eggman saw the four interacting.“Well, well, well… another friend from another universe. I think I know how to mess with both him, and two of my old friends…” he said. “And besides, it’s time to make a bit of a comeback, and what better way than to start off small?” Inside the house, Gordon looked through the draws for matches while Tacey poured some water into a tea pot.“Can we help out?” asked Sonic.“Sure. The tea bags are on top of the fridge, if you want to grab them. And since Kate doesn’t like tea, there’s hot chocolate packets up there. You can get one down for her,” said Gordon.“I’m not thirsty, but thank you,” said Kate.Sonic grabbed a step stool and put it against the fridge. He climbed up and tried to reach for the box of tea bags, but he couldn’t reach.“You grew a bit in height, and you still can’t reach like me? I’ll forever be taller than you, dude,” Kate told him, smirking.Sonic got down and let Kate climb up. He frowned as Kate grabbed the tea bag box. “You’re not that much taller than me…” he said.Kate only smirked at him. “Yeah, but I’m still taller than you. Always have been for years dude,” she said.Sonic didn’t speak. He grabbed the box from her and put it down on the counter. He opened it up and looked at the different names of tea.“Wow. You sure have a lot of different tea brands,” he said.“I like tea a lot. Can’t have cake without it,” said Gordon. He smiled nervously.Tacey turned off the sink and put the tea pot on the stove. Gordon found the matches, so he lit one and used it to start the stove.“It’ll take a few minutes for the water to boil,” said Gordon.“Oh Gordon, I forgot to plant some of these berries in the backyard. I’ll be right back,” said Tacey. She picked up some berries off the counter as she spoke.“Here, I can help you sis,” said Kate.She followed Tacey out and into the backyard. The girls walked over to a garden that was set up and got to work on planting the berries.“You happy out here, sis?” asked Kate.“It’s nice out here, and I’m happy to live with Gordon. He’s been like a father-figure to me, and I like it. It’s just… safer out here. After what I’ve been through before, I’m glad to be somewhere else with Gordon,” said Tacey.Kate gave her a pat on the back and smiled.“I’m happy for you, sis. I’m happy that you are safe out here and you’re enjoying your life out here,” she said.Tacey smiled back.Suddenly, they heard a couple Bidoof let out panicked noises. The girls got up and rushed over to the scared Pokémon.“Whoa, what’s going on out here?!” said Tacey.A robotic arm stretched out and grabbed Tacey.“Tacey!” cried Kate.She tried to jump up and grab Tacey, but she wasn’t fast enough. The girls heard a familiar laugh, and both of them frowned.“Eggman!” shouted Tacey.“Did you miss me?” Eggman mockingly asked.He pressed some buttons in his Eggmobile Buggy, and he and the robot started to flee, with Tacey hostage.“Tacey! Let her go!” Kate shouted. She started to chase after them, but as she did, the bee bot that was spying on them from before rushed up to her.“Get out of my way!” she shouted at it.The bee bot fired a few fireballs at her. Kate jumped out of the way. She tried to keep her focus on Eggman, but the bee bot fired some more fireballs at her, hitting her on the back. Kate cried in pain and fell on the ground.Back in the house, Sonic and Gordon heard the commotion. They rushed outside, and witnessed Eggman starting to escape.“Tacey!” cried Gordon.“Hold it right there!” Sonic shouted.He dashed after Eggman. Sonic jumped up and grabbed onto the wings of the Eggmobile Buggy. Eggman turned around and saw Sonic trying to get on.“Get off you pesky hedgehog!” he snapped at him.Eggman moved the control stick of his buggy, shaking it around. Sonic tried to hold on, but he lost his grip and fell off. Sonic landed in a lake.“Sonic!” cried Gordon.Sonic didn’t resurface. Gordon was confused for a second. He didn’t understand why Sonic wasn’t coming up, but he senses that Sonic was in trouble. He quickly jumped in and dove down.After swimming down a bit, Gordon saw Sonic trying to run at the bottom of the lake, but to no avail on trying to get out. He grabbed Sonic’s hand and pulled the blue hedgehog up to the surface. The both of the coughed as they got some fresh air. Gordon pulled Sonic to land, and they both climbed out.“Thanks Gordon…” said Sonic.“You’re welcome…” said Gordon.Kate came rushing over to them. She managed to destroy the bee bot, but got injured a bit.“You guys okay?!” she asked them.“We’re fine, but I couldn’t stop Eggman,” said Sonic.“He took Tacey!” said Gordon.“I know, but don’t worry. We’ll get her back,” said Sonic.“I’m still worried, Sonic! Eggman isn’t threatening, but he still took Tacey!” said Kate.“Don’t worry. We’ll get her back,” said Sonic. Over at his and Bowser’s base, Eggman put Tacey in a cell. But instead of putting her in the dungeon, he kept Tacey with him in the computer room.“Hope you’re comfortable,” he said.Tacey only frowned at him.“I know you’re not a threat. And my friends are going to come and save me. They always defeat you,” said Tacey.“You think I’m not intimidating? I just kidnapped you, and I’ll be expecting your friends to come and save you. I’ll be ready for them,” said Eggman.He gave Tacey and devious grin, then turned his attention to this computer monitor. When Eggman had his back turned towards Tacey, the red-haired girl formed a sad look on her face. She didn’t want to show it, but she was scared. She was scared because she had been kidnapped, and she was worried about her friends for when they come to save her.‘Don’t let him see that you’re scared. The others are coming, so just hope that they’ll be okay…’ she thought. Meanwhile, Sonic, Kate, and Gordon were hurrying to Bowser and Eggman’s base. Sonic and Kate were able to run at super speed, but Gordon couldn’t. Sonic had to give him a piggy back ride so that he could keep up with them.“We’re almost there!” said Sonic.“Uh, random question: does stuff like this happen often in your world?” Gordon asked them.“Bowser and Eggman do like to mess with us, but they’re not threatening. It’s other rivals of ours that can be, but they don’t attack often,” said Sonic.“It’s like our job or something when we have to deal with baddies. But you do get used to it,” said Kate.Gordon was quiet. He wasn’t sure if he could get used to living in this world. Things were tranquil in the spot where he and Tacey built their house, but to deal with bad guys like Bowser and Eggman? He hoped that it would be easier than his time as the warden at the Sunshine Institute.“Up ahead! There’s the base!” said Kate.She and Sonic stopped running. Gordon got down and the three walked up cautiously. They hid behind some bushes, noticing some of Eggman’s robots and Bowser’s minions on patrol.“What are we going to do? How are we going to save Tacey?” asked Gordon.“Having one of us to distract the guards up front won’t work. Eggman will know that the other two will sneak in since he saw all three of us,” said Sonic.“Should we just try to bust in?” said Gordon.“Probably, but we don’t know just how outnumbered we’ll be,” said Kate.“Well what are we going to do!? Tacey’s in there and needs our help!” said Gordon. He formed a panicked look on his face.“Dude, calm down. We’re getting her out,” said Sonic.“Eggman was the one who kidnapped Tacey, so knowing him, he’d rather keep his prisoner with him in his sights rather than the dungeon. So they’re in the computer room, so that Eggman can keep an eye on the outside of the base, and see us coming,” said Kate.“Is there a way we can sneak inside instead?” asked Gordon.“I know of a warp pipe tunnel that we can use. We’ll get into lower part of the castle, but we gotta be careful of lava and fire,” said Sonic.“We can break out after we get Tacey instead of sneak out. Let’s go for sneaking inside,” said Kate.Sonic led her and Gordon down a path and into the rocky area near the base. They spotted a warp pipe entrance. Sonic jumped in ahead of them, and Kate and Gordon followed him down. When they got inside the warp pipe tunnel, it was very hot and bright, because of the lava and fire traps in the area.“Stay close to us, Gordon. Gotta be careful not to get hit by any traps,” said Sonic.“No kidding…” Gordon sarcastically muttered.The three started to head down the tunnel, but they didn’t know that there cameras in the tunnel, and Eggman saw them coming.“Look. Your friends are coming. Happy that they’re taking a dangerous route?” he said, trying to mock Tacey.Tacey frowned at him.“They can handle it…” she said.“We’ll see about that,” said Eggman.He pressed a button on the control panel. An alarm sound went off. And on the monitors, Tacey saw some robots heading to the path where Sonic, Gordon, and Kate were going down.Back in the tunnel, the three heard the alarm, and they could see the shadows of the robots coming up to them.“Shoot! They saw us coming!” said Sonic. “I’ll clear you two a path! Get ready to run!”“Wait, what?” asked Gordon.Sonic broke into a run. He spin dashed and boosted forward, knocking some of the robots out of the way. A few robots even fell into the lava or got hit by some traps.Kate grabbed Gordon and carried him.“Okay, hold tight Gordon! We’re going to run for it!” she told him.Gordon closed his eyes, not wanting to see him and Kate run through everything.“Guys come on!” they hard Sonic call out to them.Kate broke into a run, carrying Gordon as she did. Gordon shrieked in panic, still keeping his eyes shut, as Kate dashed past the traps, and jumping over any robots that tried to get back up and grab them.In just a few minutes, they made it past the traps and into the main hallways of the base. The alarm system was still going off, but Sonic continued to dash into any enemies, with Kate and Gordon following him. Kate still carried Gordon, and he kept his eyes shut the whole time.Over at the computer room, Eggman saw the trio coming up to him quickly.“Well, they sure are getting here quick. I don’t want to be in their way, so I’ll put you between us,” said Eggman.He pressed another button on his control panel. The bars of Tacey’s cell lowered, freeing her. But Eggman ran over to a corner of the room.“Blinds!” he shouted.One of his robots, a bee bot, came over, and hung a set of blinds in the air.Eggman peeked through the blinds and said, “Now to watch from the shadows, like a total creep.”Tacey wasn’t amused. She had a stone sword on her (Gordon helped her craft one, so she could defend herself if she needed to), so she pulled it out and eyed Eggman.Eggman formed a nervous look.“You think I don’t know how to defend myself!? I was waiting for the right time to pull this out!” she said.She started to run over at Eggman, but before she could hit him, another robot snuck up from behind her. The robot grabbed Tacey’s sword, and tried to pull it away from her. Tacey grabbed the handle of her sword, and she and the robot struggled to try to get the sword.As they struggled, Sonic, Gordon, and Kate finally arrived. Gordon saw the robot trying to take Tacey’s sword from her. He pulled out his sword and dashed forward. He stabbed the robot in the back.Tacey pulled her sword back, and she and Gordon hit the robot a few times until it was broken to bits.“Eggman!” Sonic said angrily.He, Kate, Tacey, and Gordon all eyed Eggman angrily.Eggman was still backed up to the corner, but he had a remote with him.“Fine! You won! At least this was fun while it lasted!” he said.He pressed a button on the control panel. There was a shaking in the room, and suddenly, a trap door opened up, right underneath the four friends. Tacey, Kate, Gordon, and Sonic all cried in panic as they fell down. Once they were gone, the trap door closed up.The four friends continued to fall, but they soon found themselves thrown out into a cheep cheep lake.“Come on! We gotta get out of this lake! Cheep cheeps aren’t friendly!” said Kate.She grabbed Sonic’s arm and started to help pull him to the surface.“Wait, we can breathe under this water?!” said Gordon.“Not in all lakes, and this isn’t a good one!” said Tacey.Some cheep cheeps spotted them, and they were coming to charge at the group. Gordon and Tacey quickly swam after Sonic and Kate.The four friends made it to the surface, and they quickly got out of the lake before any cheep cheeps could jump out at them.“Ha! Can’t touch us!” said Sonic.The cheep cheeps vanished into the lake, but a rumbling came back. This time, a giant blooper came out. Sonic backed up nervously, and he jumped out of the way as it tried to grab him with one of its tentacles.“Let’s get out of here!” said Kate.She grabbed Tacey’s hand, and she and Sonic led Tacey and Gordon away. The blooper tried to grab one of them, but it missed. Now that the group was out of its reach, the blooper sank back into the lake, out of sight.After a few minutes of running, the group stopped running to catch their breath.“Is everyone okay?” asked Sonic.“Yeah… Tacey you alright?” said Gordon.“I’m fine, and I’m just glad you guys didn’t get hurt when you came to save me,” said Tacey. “Kinda anti-climactic though, with Eggman’s idea of kidnapping me to mess with us…”“This universe isn’t like my old one. Or… at least what I remember before the Sunshine Institute,’ said Gordon. He sighed a bit.“Do you not remember anything before your job in the Sunshine Institute?” asked Sonic.“No. I do remember some things. I was once a griefer, and I was with two friends of mine, Dustin and Carmine, in a group. We caused a lot of mischief, and even lived in Boomtown. We got pulled to the Sunshine Institute permanently before this… Witherstorm thing though,” said Gordon.He sighed again.“I didn’t think that it would be like this, living in your universe. This universe is so vastly different from my home universe, and I didn’t think that this is what we could face as problems,” he said.“Do you… do you not want to live here anymore?” asked Tacey.Gordon was quiet for a minute, but soon, he smiled at Tacey.“No. I want to stay here. I just need to get used to this as my home. It took me a while to get used to being the warden of the Sunshine Institute instead of a griefer. If I can adapt to a change like that, then I can adapt to a change that is living in a brand new universe,” he said.Tacey didn’t say anything, but she smiled back.“Come on, Tacey. Let’s go home,” said Gordon.“We’ll take you guys back. Besides, you probably don’t know the way back from here,” said Kate, smiling nervously.“Help would be appreciated,” said Gordon, giving her a nervous smile.Kate and Sonic chuckled. The two speedy friends knew how to get back. Sonic gave Gordon another piggy back ride, while Kate did the same with Tacey. Ready to go, Sonic and Kate took off, taking Gordon and Tacey with them, heading back home after a busy, eventful day. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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Lukas walked through the streets of Beacontown. Morning had arrived and some people were either running their shops or doing some builds. A few people greeted him as he made his way to the temple.As he headed to the temple, he heard some commotion going on. The blonde headed over, but to his relief, there was no trouble. It was just Nell and M. Jesse talking.“So Jesse dude, what are you up to today?” asked Nell.“I’m just going to help my sister run some stuff in town for a bit,” said M. Jesse.“If you need a break from town running business, we could always do something,” said Nell.“Like what?”“We could just hang out, or… even grab a bite to eat or something, dude.”M. Jesse blushed nervously.“If you’re asking me out, sorry Nell, but I have a girlfriend. I’m with Olivia,” said M. Jesse.“I-I know, dude! Sorry if I’m making you like totally uncomfortable,” said Nell.“It’s fine. Anyway, I gotta go,” said M. Jesse.“Bye dude,” said Nell.M. Jesse quickly walked away, blushing as he did. When he was away from Nell, he was stunned that Lukas had overheard the whole thing.“Seems like someone flirted with you…” Lukas said, smirking a bit.M. Jesse sighed. He and Lukas began walking to the temple.“Nell’s nice, but I have a girlfriend. And she knows it. I hope she finds someone else honestly,” said M. Jesse.“Anyway, I came to see if I can help you guys out with anything.”“I’m not sure. I’ll see what my sister says.” Over at the temple, F. Jesse was working on some stuff by herself. She had told Radar to take a break because she didn’t want him overworking himself. However, as she was busy, she didn’t know that Radar had been helping out as much as he could. In fact, he came back to the dining room as F. Jesse was trying to work on some papers.“Hi Jesse!” he said.F. Jesse looked up.“Oh, hey Radar. If you’re ready to help again, I got some stuff you could help with,” said F. Jesse.“Oh. I’m sorry Jesse, but I was actually working on some stuff during my break…” said Radar.“It’s okay, Radar. I know you just want to help out, and I appreciate it. Just don’t overwork yourself.”“I would say the same thing to you.”F. Jesse chuckled a bit.“I’ll be fine. Anyway, do you need something?” she said.“Well, I uh… I finished things up already, so is there anything I can help with?” asked Radar.“I think I got this, buddy. After that, it’s just my brother’s share of work, but that’s for him to work on,” said F. Jesse.“Good. Well… I was uh… I was wondering…”“Wondering what, Radar?”Radar was blushing like crazy on his face. He wasn’t even looking at F. Jesse in the eyes. F. Jesse could sense what was going on, but she didn’t want to say anything to make her intern feel uncomfortable.“Well… I uh… I’ve been hiding this for a long time, Jesse but… I like you a lot… and… would you… like to do something?” said Radar.“Oh Radar. I’m flattered, but you know that I’m with Lukas, right?” asked F. Jesse.“Yeah… I know…” said Radar. He sighed sadly, but was still blushing.F. Jesse walked up to her intern and gave him a pat on the back.“Hey, don’t beat yourself up. You’ll meet someone. You will someday. There’s someone special out there for you,” she said.“You really think so?” asked Radar.“Yeah. You’re sweet, helpful, and from what I’ve seen on our adventure, you’re brave to. I know you’ll meet someone who likes that about you,” said F. Jesse.Radar managed to stop blushing. He managed to smile a bit.“Thanks Jesse. I feel a lot better,” he said.“You’re welcome, Radar,” said F. Jesse.The whole time the two had their conversation, they weren’t aware that M. Jesse and Lukas were listening to everything. Once the conversation was over, M. Jesse pulled Lukas aside and into another room so they could talk alone.“Jesse?” asked Lukas.“You want to do something today, Lukas?” asked M. Jesse.“Yes. Where are you going with this though?” asked Lukas.“Well, after I finish up my tasks for today, what do you say that you and I play a bit of matchmaker?” said M. Jesse, grinning a bit. A couple hours later, M. Jesse was leading Radar the mines.“Uh boss, why are we going to the mines?” asked Radar.“Just a bit of a task I think you can help with,” said M. Jesse.The two arrived at the entrance, where they saw Nell. She had some gear on and had a couple iron pickaxes with her.“Hey dudes! Thanks for getting my help request. I don’t know why, but I’m short on supplies. I was gonna craft some stuff, but my supplies are gone…” she said.“Well, I can’t help you out Nell, because I’m busy, but Radar can help you out,” said M. Jesse.“M-Me?” asked Radar.“Yeah. I think you can handle mining, buddy,” said M. Jesse.“I-I… I don’t think… No. I can’t doubt myself. I’ll do my best to assist you Nell,” said Radar.“Thanks brah,” said Nell.She handed him a pickaxe and an iron chest plate.“Gear yourself up first, brah. These mines might get crazy,” said Nell.Radar nodded his head. He put the iron chest plate on, and with the pickaxe in hand, he followed Nell.“I’ll come back for you a little later, Radar,” M. Jesse called out to them.Radar didn’t respond, probably because he couldn’t hear M. Jesse. Once Radar and Nell were gone, M. Jesse smirked. Lukas came out from behind a hiding spot.“They headed out?” he asked.“Yep. Good job on swiping Nell’s supplies,” said M. Jesse.“You owe me one now, Jesse. You owe me big time…” Lukas said, looking unamused.M. Jesse sighed. “I know, I know…” he said. Radar and Nell had no clue what was going on. Instead, they ventured forward and into the mines. Some miners stopped what they were doing for a second to say hello to the two as they ventured into the mines. Radar and Nell greeted them in return, and they eventually reached a spot to start mining.“So, what do you need to gather, Nell?” asked Radar.“Dude, I need some lapis. I need lapis to dye some stuff, brah,” said Nell.“Really? Not to enchant some things?” asked Radar.“I wanna dye some stuff for an awesome build. To replace that statue that Romeo dude made me build while he pretended to be Jesse. Jesse dude didn’t let me tear down the statue when I ran into her during the whole Admin business,” said Nell.“Sounds interesting. Would I be of any help when you need to build?” asked Radar.“Sure dude! You can help me build a totally rad statue!” said Nell.The two started to do some mining. For a while, they weren’t finding any lapis, and only gathered some more cobblestone.“Dude, I don’t know where there is gonna be some lapis…” Nell said, sighing a bit.“Why don’t we take a bit of a break? We’ve been mining for a while, and… my arms are a little tired…” Radar said, smiling nervously.He was sweating a bit, since he had a bit of a workout with mining, and it was a little humid in the mines.The two sat down on some blocks. Radar had some apples with him, so he handed one to Nell, and the two had a snack break.“Thanks brah,” said Nell.A few minutes later, they were going to get up and get back to work on mining, but suddenly, they heard the mines shake a bit.“Whoa!” said Radar.The place rumbled a bit more, and Radar noticed some gravel coming down.“Nell, look out!” he cried.He quickly pulled her back, just in time before the gravel could cover them. However, now they were trapped in the area that they just dug up.“Nell, are you alright?” asked Radar.“Yeah brah. Thanks for the save,” said Nell.“No problem. But… we may have a different problem…” said Radar.“It’s no problem, brah. Let’s just dig our way out,” said Nell.She pulled out her pickaxe. Radar got his pickaxe, and the two started to mine a tunnel around the gravel. But after mining a few blocks, their pickaxes broke.“Uh oh… I don’t have any spares!” said Nell.“So, are we stuck in here?” Radar asked nervously.“Yeah… we’re stuck brah…” said Nell.“J-Jesse said that he’ll come for us! He’ll save us!” said Radar.“You’re right brah. He wouldn’t let us down since we’re his friends,” said Nell.She smiled slightly and chuckled nervously. Radar gave her a confused look.“Nell?” he asked.“Nah, it’s fine, dude. It’s something stupid…” said Nell.“You can tell me. I won’t judge,” said Radar. Meanwhile, Lukas and M. Jesse were hanging out at the temple. They were playing a card game, since they had time to kill before M. Jesse would go and see how Radar and Nell were doing.“Uno!” said Lukas, as he put a card down.M. Jesse looked at his deck, he soon put down another card. Lukas smirked and put down his last card. He continued to smirk, as his friend frowned at him.“I hate this game…” M. Jesse muttered.“Guys!” said a voice.They turned around to see that F. Jesse came in with a panicked look.“Sis, what’s wrong?” asked M. Jesse.“We need to go to the mines and help out! Some miners set off too many explosives, and some miners may be trapped in some closed off tunnels!” said F. Jesse.“Wait, there’s cave-ins in the mines right now?!” said M. Jesse.“Yes! Grab some shovels and pickaxes and let’s go!” said F. Jesse.Lukas and M. Jesse got up from their seats.“Radar and Nell might be in trouble!” said Lukas.“Radar? Nell? Why would they be in the mines?!” said F. Jesse.“I set them up on a little expedition down there! To uh… play matchmaker on them…” said M. Jesse. He looked nervous as he spoke.“Did you hear Radar talk to me this morning?!” said F. Jesse.“Uh… maybe… and Nell somewhat hit on me this morning…” said M. Jesse.F. Jesse sighed in frustration. She dug through some chests and pulled out some shovels and pickaxes, and tossed some to her brother and Lukas.“You better hope that Radar and Nell are unharmed!” she snapped at her brother.She dashed out, leaving her brother and Lukas behind.“Thanks for not including me in the blame,” said Lukas.“Yeah. Well, now we’re even,” said M. Jesse.Not wanting to argue with his friend, Lukas ran after F. Jesse. M. Jesse shook his head, then followed them. Back in the mines, Nell and Radar were still stuck in the tunnel. They had some torches with them, so at least they were able to make it bright and prevent mobs from spawning in.“You really tried to as Male Jesse out?” asked Radar.“Yeah brah. I know he has a girlfriend, but… I guess I kinda needed to try just to get it off my chest,” said Nell. She smiled nervously.Radar smiled nervously.“You’re not the only one who did something like that. Earlier today, I did the same thing with Female Jesse. I have really liked her, but after I told her how I felt, it felt like a weight was lifted,” said Radar.His smile soon faded.“She let me down easy. She said that I’ll meet someone else someday,” he said.“Cheer up, dude. You’ll meet someone as fascinating as Jesse,” said Nell.Radar smiled nervously again and said, “Fascinating… heh… that’s what I said about you when I first met you. When Jesse built that statute for you. The old one.”“Oh yeah! I heard you say that about me. And so did Stampy and Stacy. They even asked me if you were my boyfriend after you left,” said Nell.“R-really?” said Radar. He smiled nervously and blushed.“Yeah, brah…” said Nell.The two were silent for a minute, but then they couldn’t help but laugh. After a good laugh, they fell silent again. Their smiles faded.“I wonder if anyone’s coming for us, brah…” said Nell.“Jesse will come for us! He will! He said he’s coming!” said Radar.“Yeah, but that explosion was random… I wonder why it happened. I hope the miners tell them that we didn’t get out…” said Nell.She sighed sadly.“Radar dude… I’m sorry I got you stuck in this… if I hadn’t asked for help, we wouldn’t be stuck in this situation,” she said.“Oh no! Don’t apologize, Nell! If I hadn’t come with you, then you’d probably be stuck here by yourself! At least with me here, I’m able to make sure that you’re alive,” said Radar.Nell managed to smile a bit.“You… you got a point brah… and I am glad that you’re with me, dude…” she said.“I’m glad to. And honestly… I like your company. You’re an interesting person to talk to,” said Radar.Radar and Nell managed to laugh a bit, but their laughter got cut off when they heard some voices on the other side of the gravel pile.“Over here! I heard laughter on the other side!” said a voice.“Did someone find us?” said Nell.“Hello? Anyone in there?” said the voice.“Hello? Hey! We’re trapped in here! Help us! We can’t dig our way out!” said Radar.“Hang on! We’ll get you out!” said a voice.The two stood up, as they heard the sound of some people digging. A few seconds later, they saw a shine of light through a small hole. The hole became bigger, and they saw that a few miners had dug up the gravel.“Are you two alright?” said one of the miners.“We’re fine. Thank you for saving us!” said Radar.“You two should get out of here,” said a second miner.“Zombies, incoming!” said a third one.“I don’t have a weapon…” said Nell.Radar grabbed Nell’s hand. “Neither do I! Let’s go!” he said.Radar ran, leading Nell away from the spot where they got caved in. As they ran past their saviors, they saw that a bunch of zombies were coming from some tunnels. A few miners fought some zombies, but some spotted Radar and Nell.“Run!” said Radar.Still holding Nell’s hand, Radar ran away from the zombies. The two kept on running for a bit, but at one point, they got cornered.“Dude, it’s a dead end!” said Nell.Radar and Nell turned around. The zombies were closing in on them. Radar was beginning to panic, but he spotted a shield lying on the ground near him.“Nell, stand back! I got this!” he said.The intern ran over and grabbed the shield. As he grabbed it, a couple zombies were about to reach him. Radar swung the shield, hitting the zombies in the heads. He knocked them down, and kicked them in their heads. One of the zombies despawned, but the other didn’t. It tried to get up, but Radar killed it by smashing his foot on it.Radar looked up. A few more zombies were closing in.“Eat this!” he said.He charged at the zombies, swinging his shield a few more times as if it were a sword. A couple zombies got knocked back, but a couple didn’t. They tried to get Radar, but the intern pushed them back with his shield.Radar tried to keep them back, but he soon got overpowered. The zombies knocked him back.“Radar dude!’ said Nell.She didn’t have anything she could use as a weapon, but she did have lots of cobblestone blocks. Nell threw some cobblestone blocks at the zombies, making them back up a bit. It gave Radar the chance to grab his shield and get back on his feet.“Hang on, guys!” said a voice.Radar and Nell saw the Jesse twins and Lukas come rushing in. The three had weapons with them, so they were able to slice and slash the zombies quickly. In a matter of seconds, all the zombies were killed.“Radar! Nell! Are you both alright!?” said F. Jesse.“I’m alright, Jesse,” said Radar. “Thanks for the save.”“Thanks brahs!” said Nell.She walked up to Radar and gave him a pat on the back. “Radar dude! You were so awesome with how you fought those zombies with your shield!” she said.Radar smiled nervously and blushed. “I was just trying to protect you…” he said.“Thanks for the help, dude,” said Nell.“And thanks for the backup…” said Radar.“Alright you two, let’s get you two out of here since you have no weapons,” said F. Jesse.She started to walk them out, while Lukas and M. Jesse went to help out the miners with the remaining zombies. Once F. Jesse, Radar, and Nell made it outside, they saw that it was almost sunset.“Whoa, I wonder how long we were stuck underground…” said Nell.“I’m not sure, but at least we’re out,” said Radar. “Here, I’ll walk you home.”“Thanks dude,” said Nell. “I’ll see you around Jesse.”“Bye Nell,” said F. Jesse.“I’ll be right back, Jesse!” said Radar.The intern began to walk with Nell through the streets of Beacontown. F. Jesse was about to head back to the temple, but she suddenly stopped. A few seconds later, she turned around and followed Radar and Nell. The raven-haired girl watched as they headed to Nell’s house, chatting along the way.Eventually, Radar and Nell reached Nell’s house, but they didn’t part ways right away.“Well, I didn’t get some lapis, but I’m glad I got to hang out with you, Radar dude,” said Nell.“Yeah. I got to know just how fascinating you really are, Nell,” said Radar.The two shared another laugh, but it was a short one.“Well, I gotta go inside. I’m tired and I need a bite to eat. I’ll see you around brah,” said Nell.“Yeah. I-I’ll see you later, Nell,” said Radar.Radar turned around, but he didn’t walk away. He turned back around, just as Nell was about to walk back into her house.“Wait Nell!” he said.Nell turned around.“Yeah, brah?” asked Nell.Radar was quiet for a bit. His cheeks were pink, and he even rubbed his right arm a bit nervously. He took a deep breath and exhaled.“D-Do you… do you w-want to hang out again sometime?” asked Radar.“Of course, dude!” said Nell.“I-I know, b-but I mean… like… like go… go o-out on…”Radar paused. He wasn’t able to finish.“You mean… you mean a date, dude?” asked Nell.“U-Uh… yes! Y-yes… a date. I-If you want t-to…” said Radar.Nell smiled at him. She walked up to him and gave him a pat on the back.“Name a time and a place when you think of both, and I’ll be there,” she said.“R-Really?!” said Radar excitedly.“Yes,” said Nell.Radar couldn’t help but squeal in excitement. Nell held back a laugh, but she was still smiling. F. Jesse snickered a bit, but not loudly enough for Radar and Nell to hear her.The intern managed to calm down. Radar faced Nell and said, “Alright, Nell. I’ll get back to you when I think of a place for our date.”“Take your time, dude. And I’ll see you around,” said Nell.“B-Bye Nell!” said Radar.“Bye Radar.”Nell walked up to her front door and opened it. This time, she walked inside and locked the door behind her. Radar watched her leave, still smiling as Nell went inside her house. He finally turned around and headed back to the temple.F. Jesse saw Radar returning. She quickly rushed back to the temple, returning a few minutes before her intern did. When Radar returned, she pretended like she didn’t see anything.“Nell home safe and sound?” she asked the intern.“Yes. She’s at home. Uh… Jesse? If you don’t mind. I-I need to go sort something out,” said Radar.“Need any help?” asked F. Jesse.“N-No! But… I’ll tell you if I d-do need help,” said Radar.“Don’t be afraid to ask me for help,” said F. Jesse, smiling at him.Radar smiled back, nodding his head a bit. He walked out of the room, leaving F. Jesse alone. Once she was alone, the raven-haired girl smiled.“Those two are quite a match…” she said. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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“Jesse, are you sure that this is a good idea?” asked Radar.“I’m sure, Radar. I already sent the letter to Binta, and she agreed to make sure her people are nice to Romeo. Besides, Stella and Kate are coming with me and Romeo to make sure that he feels more comfortable when we go,” said F. Jesse.“Alright. I trust your word, Jesse. I know that you can look after Romeo when you take him to meet Binta and her people again,” said Radar. He did a salute and said, “And until you return, I will do my best to help your brother run Beacontown!”F. Jesse smiled at him. She gave the intern a pat on the back and said, “I trust you, buddy. I know you can do it.”“Thank you, Jesse. I will do my best!”F. Jesse bid goodbye to her intern then left the temple. When she arrived outside, she was greeted by Stella, Romeo, and Kate. The three were ready to go, and they had some horses with them. The four got on their horses, and took off, leaving Beacontown. A couple hours past, and the four were approaching a jungle.“Is this were the village is?” asked Kate.“Yeah. Binta told me that they built their town in the trees of the jungle, so that monsters can’t reach them,” said F. Jesse.“A village in the tree tops of the jungle? It sounds… interesting,” said Romeo.He looked down as he spoke. The others noticed his glum look, and they knew that he was nervous to see Binta and her people. They hadn’t seen him in a long time, and he knew that they either feared him or hated him, or both.The four trekked into the jungle. A few minutes later, they spotted a stable for horses, along with a ladder that led up placed against a tree. The four took their horses to the stable and got off their horses. Once they were sure that the horses were safe inside, they climbed up.Reaching the top, the found themselves at the entrance of a settlement. And waiting for them were two beings. One was an iron golem, and the other was someone that F. Jesse and Romeo knew, but not Stella and Kate.“Jesse!” said the person.It was a woman with dark skin and black hair. She wore a white shirt and light blue jeans. She smiled and walked up to F. Jesse, shaking hands with her.“So good to see you again!” she said.“Good to see you to, Binta,” said F. Jesse.Binta and F. Jesse let go of their hands. Binta turned around, focusing her attention to Romeo.“Romeo? So… it’s true. You don’t have your powers anymore,” she said.“Hi Binta…” Romeo said, quietly and nervously. “You uh… your hair is longer since the last time I saw you…”“Yeah. I thought I’d let it grow,” said Binta.Romeo gulped nervously. He beckoned for Stella and Kate to come up and say hello to Binta. The two girls walked up.“Uh Binta… this is Stella, my girlfriend, and Kate, a good friend of mine,” Romeo said, not looking Binta in the eye.“Hello,” said Stella.“Hi,” said Kate.Binta smiled at the two. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Binta. I was Fred’s intern. Now, I am the leader of Fred’s New Keep,” she said.“Fred’s New Keep. So that’s the name of your town here in the jungle?” asked F. Jesse.“Temporary name. We do want to change our town’s name, if we can think of one,” said Binta. “Anyway, why don’t I show you around? Introduce you to the town and my people?”“I think that would be a great thing. A town in the trees. It’s so cool and interesting,” said Kate.Binta smiled again. “This way, please,” she said.The group started to follow Binta. Romeo walked behind the group, remaining quiet as he did. He was surprised that Binta was welcoming him to the town. He wasn’t expecting that, but even if Binta was being kind to him, chances were that the rest of the townsfolk were not going to be happy to see him.The five began to walk around the village. A few people were minding their own business. Some running a shop or doing some farm work, others were doing something to enjoy time off.“When we left the Underneath, we were joined with some other surviving members of the Underneath. Soon, we set up our town here, and some other people even moved here after they helped us set up,” said Binta.“Quite a settlement, Binta. I think you guys are set for a good while,” said F. Jesse.Romeo took a look around. He was happy to see that the people who escaped from the Underneath were living safely on the surface, but the guilt of trapping them below the bedrock was starting to come back. He sighed sadly.Romeo suddenly heard the sound of clucking at his feet. He looked down, seeing a chicken. The chicken looked up at him, and clucked happily. Romeo chuckled and got down on a knee.“Hey buddy. Still as happy as always. Just like you were when I last saw you, Waffles,” he said.Romeo gently pet the chicken. Waffles clucked happily.“Hey!” an angry voice shouted.Romeo looked up. He was shocked to see Willy coming up to him angrily. Willy grabbed Waffles and pulled him away from Romeo.“Stay away from Fred’s chicken, you monster!” he shouted.Romeo got up. He took a few steps back, staying quiet as he did.“Willy!” Binta said angrily. “Romeo is a guest to our town today! He is not a threat!”“He killed your boss, for crying out loud! How do you know that he won’t do the same thing to you?!” Willy said angrily.“Because he’s not the Admin anymore! He’s Romeo!” said F. Jesse.“Romeo is our guest, and he is a friend of Fred,” said Binta.“Was a friend, until he betrayed him…” Willy sneered.Binta shook her head. “He still is Fred’s friend. Fred would’ve given him a second chance, which is why I’m doing so, for him,” she said.Willy frowned at her.“You may be making a big mistake, Binta…” he said.Willy turned around and stormed away. Waffles struggled in his arms, wanting to get free, but Willy didn’t let the chicken go.“Stop squirming, Waffles!” he hissed.Binta sighed as she watched Willy walk away. She turned to face Romeo. “I’m sorry about him, Romeo. He just gets a little salty easily,” she said.“No… it’s alright, Binta… I expected him to be like that with me, considering… what I’ve done…” said Romeo.He had no tone when he spoke, and he looked down at the ground when he did. Stella, Kate, and F. Jesse gave Romeo concerned looks, but he didn’t notice them since he wasn’t looking up.“Romeo-,” F. Jesse started to say.“I’m alright. I’m alright…” said Romeo. “Let’s just keep looking around.”The girls were quiet. They knew that Romeo wasn’t feeling comfortable coming already, and to be treated badly from Willy must’ve been making it harder for him. Romeo knew that they were worried about him, but he pushed that aside. He started to walk ahead, showing them that he didn’t care if he was going to receive some bad treatment.“Romeo, wait up,” said F. Jesse.The girls followed him. As Romeo started to walk down the paths of the town, some more people stared at him. A couple people even gasped when they saw him, which meant that they knew he was the Admin. Some were even whispering a bit.“Is that the Admin?!”“That’s him! That’s Romeo! The one who killed Fred and trapped us below the bedrock!”“He’s human again! Where did his powers go? Or is he faking that he’s normal!?”Romeo looked down. He couldn’t hear everyone’s exact words, but he knew that everyone was whispering about him, and it wasn’t nice things that they had to say about him.Binta saw the crowd staring. She glared at her people, and those who were whispering stopped doing so. Some even stopped staring at Romeo.Romeo stopped walking when he heard the whispering stop. He knew that Binta was trying to help, but a part of him wished that she hadn’t stopped the whispering. He was about to turn around and ask Binta to stop glaring at her people, when he heard a puppy bark at him.Romeo looked down again. Sitting by his feet was Bloco, and to his surprise, the dog was wagging his tail. Bloco had a bone in his mouth, but the puppy put it down on the ground and looked back at Romeo.Romeo managed to smile. He got down and held his hand out. Bloco sniffed his hand, then barked happily and nuzzled his head against Romeo’s hand.“You’re pretty adorable, little guy,” said Romeo. He gently patted the dog on the head as he spoke.Bloco barked happily. Romeo picked up the bone and started to play tug-of-war with the dog. Bloco held a good grip on the bone and playfully growled. Romeo couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as he played with Bloco.“Tough little guy, aren’t you?” he said, smiling.Binta smiled. “Bloco doesn’t really have an owner, but he likes to hang around me the most. I guess he adopted me,” she said.“Bloco is his name? I like that,” said Romeo.Some people saw Romeo playing with Bloco. They were surprised to see that Romeo was being nice, and a couple were even managing to smile as they watched Romeo play with the dog. F. Jesse saw that the townsfolk were watching with smiles now. She managed to smile a bit.‘I hope some people will see that Romeo really is a good guy,’ she thought.Romeo stated to laugh as he played some more with Bloco. He got the bone out of Bloco’s grasp, but the dog jumped up and licked him on the cheek. Stella, Binta, F. Jesse, and Kate started to giggle at the sight.“So it’s true. You’re back, Romeo,” said a voice.The group turned around to see Kent. F. Jesse remembered how Kent was a little rude to her before the quiz that she beat him in, and even after she beat him in the quiz and was nice to him, Kent was still a little rude. She knew that trouble was coming.“Hello Kent…” Romeo said quietly. He looked down, not looking Kent in the eye.Despite how Romeo had a guilty look on his face, Kent still frowned at the former admin.“I’m surprised that Binta let you in, considering you killed one of your own friends…” he sneered.“Kent, watch your words. Romeo is our guest, and he is still a friend. He is not the Admin anymore, and he’s not bad,” said Binta.“I find that very unlikely. How can you call him a friend of yours, Binta, when he killed your boss?” said Kent. “I on the other hand, am a true, faithful friend of Fred! I never betrayed him!”Kate frowned at Kent. She stepped forward.“Excuse me, but talking about my friend like that is pretty rude yourself! You claim that Romeo’s a heartless monster, but the way you’re acting shows that you’re no better. So I suggest you stop insulting him,” she sneered at him.Kent frowned at her.“And who are you? You new to town or something?” he asked.“She’s a friend. She… she looked after me when I was in a time of need…” said Romeo. He managed to smile slightly and looked at Kate. “She… she and her husband saved me… if it weren’t for them, I would’ve had a nasty fate…”“Oh really?” said another voice.It was Willy, and he walked over to stand next to Kent.“I’m surprised that this girl helped you. I’m sure that nasty fate that you were going to go through would’ve been pleasant for us all. You probably saved his life, giving him another chance to hurt more people!” said Willy.Now Kate lost her cool. She pulled out her sword and pointed it at them. The crowd gasped.“Kate, no! Don’t do anything crazy!” said Stella.“You don’t know what hell he went through… you don’t know what could’ve happened to Romeo if my friends and I hadn’t helped him! He would’ve gone through something much worse than death!” she sneered at Willy and Kent.Romeo and F. Jesse grabbed Kate’s arms and pulled her back.“Kate, please don’t! I know you’re trying to stand up for me, but I don’t want you getting yourself into trouble!” said Romeo.“Like hell I care about myself! They’re being rude to you!” she said.“Kate, please stop this!” said F. Jesse.Kate sighed in frustration. She put her sword away and glared at Willy and Kent.“Don’t tick me off again…” she said in a cold tone.Willy and Kent backed up and turned around, running away. Once they were gone, Binta sighed sadly.“I do apologize for their behavior, but Kate, please don’t point your weapons at my people,” she said.“I know. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry,” said Kate. She stopped frowning and faced Binta while she spoke.Binta took a deep breath and exhaled. “Let’s… let’s just keep looking around,” she said. About an hour later, it was lunch time. Binta brought the group over to the food court area of the market place. The group checked out the different stands, examining their options for food.As the others were ordering lunch, Binta noticed one of the stands closing up. She walked over.“Hey, Cam,” she said the person.“Oh, hi Binta,” Cam said.“Why are you closing up your stand?” asked Binta“Oh, I hope this doesn’t upset you or something, but a lot of my supplies are gone…” said Cam. She looked a little upset as she spoke.“Your supplies are gone?”“Yeah. I was in the middle of running some orders, when I noticed that my supply chest was empty. I was sure that I was stocked up on more supplies to craft some stew, but I think someone stole my supplies…” Cam said. “Anyway, I can’t run the stand. Alright if I close up? Try to restock?”“It’s alright. I understand. Though I’m glad you told me. If someone did steal from you, we best to keep an eye out. You can take the rest of the day off, but warn the other stand owners that there might be a thief,” said Binta.“Thank you, Binta,” said Cam.Binta nodded her head. She walked away from the stand and started to head over to rejoin her guests. But as she started to head over, someone else walked up to her.“Binta!” they said.“Wanda, is something wrong?” asked Binta.“I think there’s a thief in town! Some of my paintings are missing!” she said.“Wait, someone stole some of your paintings?”“Yes! I was going to open up my shop for the day, but I found my paintings gone! Someone stole them!”“Oh dear… First Cam had supplies stolen from her, and now you with your paintings? I’ll have to investigate this when I get the chance. Thank you for informing me, Wanda,” said Binta.“Thank you. Please figure out who did this. I need to paint more paintings now, but I’m sure the thief will take them as well once I have my back turned…” said Wanda.Wanda turned around and walked away. Binta watched her leave.‘How strange. I wonder if there are more robbery’s going on here…’ she thought.Binta looked over at her guests, but she didn’t walk over to them.‘And it happened right after they arrived… No! It can’t be them! I know Jesse’s not a thief, and if Stella, Kate, and even Romeo are her friends, then I know that they wouldn’t do such a thing! They aren’t stealing from my people!’ she thought.She snapped out of her train of thoughts and walked back over to F. Jesse, Stella, Romeo, and Kate. Binta sat down, and joined them for lunch. A little while later, and they were finished eating up lunch. The five exited the food court and started to head out through the rest of town. But as they left the food court, a crowd of people started to surround them.“Uh… can we help you?” asked Stella.“I’ve been robbed! I mined a lot of iron, and it’s all gone!” one person shouted.“Someone stole all my bread!” another shouted.“I had some leather armor crafted, and when I went back home to get them, they were all gone!” a third shouted.Someone pointed at the group and shouted, “And it happened after you lot came to town! I wouldn’t be surprised if the Admin was the one who stole our stuff!”More people began to shout. As they did. Romeo formed a nervous look.“I-I didn’t take anything! I’m not a th-thief!” he stuttered.“He’s been with us the whole time! He hasn’t taken anything!” said Stella.“I bet you outsiders have been helping him then!” someone else shouted.The crowd continued to shout. Their voices getting louder the more they shouted. Binta sighed in frustration.“Everyone please calm down!” she shouted firmly.The crowd quieted down.“Romeo is not the thief! I have been with his group the entire time, and if they were taking some of your belongings, then I would’ve noticed!” she said firmly.The crowd wasn’t convinced, because they began to shout again.“He could be playing you as a fool!” one shouted.“He killed Fred! He could be robbing us!” a second shouted.“Romeo can’t be trusted!” another shouted.“He is NOT the thief!” F. Jesse shouted. “And my friends and I will prove it!”After she shouted, F. Jesse stood in between the crowd and Romeo. Stella and Kate stood next to her, frowning at the crowd as they did.The crowd managed to calm down. Finally, Kent stepped up.“Fine! We’ll let you try to prove that he did it, on the condition that you keep Romeo locked up until you prove that it wasn’t him!” he said.“Let me stay with him then. He’s my boyfriend, and I know he’ll feel more comfortable if I’m with him,” said Stella.“Pfft! You?! How could you date the-”Willy would’ve continued, but Kate gave him an angry glare. He immediately cut himself off, not wanting to keep talking and anger her.“Uh… N-never mind!” he said nervously.Binta sighed and faced Stella and Romeo.“You both alright with this?” she asked them.“I’ll be fine, but I feel bad for dragging you all into this…” said Romeo.“Romeo, it wasn’t your doing. Kate and I will prove that you’re not the thief, and Stella will make sure you’re okay until we get back!” said F. Jesse.“Yeah dude. We got this,” said Kate.Romeo managed to smile at his friends.“Thank you…” he said, almost in a whisper.“Alright. I think I should take you two somewhere away from the crowd,” said Binta.With that said, she led Romeo and Stella away from the crowd. The crowd turned their attention to Kate and F. Jesse.“What are you all staring at?’ Kate asked.“It was Romeo! He did bad stuff before, so he’s going to keep doing more bad stuff!” said Kent.Kate glared at him again.“Don’t you dare threaten my friend like that…” she sneered.Kent nervously backed up and away from her and F. Jesse. The crowd was also pretty spooked by Kate, so they all backed up. Some of them walked away, but a few ran off in panic. Once they were alone, Kate and F. Jesse let out sighs of relief.“I can’t believe someone would rob this town, and they’d do so while Romeo’s here,” said F. Jesse.“Yeah. I wonder… could there be anyone else who’s not staying in town permanently, but they waited until now to steal because of how we conveniently came here?” said Kate.“You could have a point. Let’s go around town and ask if anyone else has been a traveler,” said F. Jesse.“Psst!” the girls heard a voice say.The two looked around, and they noticed that someone was poking out behind a pillar. Kate didn’t recognize them, but F. Jesse did.“Wait, aren’t you one of the girls who guarded Romeoberg?” she asked.“Yes! My name’s Val, but not so loud! I heard what’s going on! Come! I think I can help you!” she whispered loudly.F. Jesse looked at Kate. Kate shrugged her shoulders. The girls followed Val, who led them into a house. When they entered, they saw that there was another person and a brown llama with them.“So, who are you again?” asked Kate.Val closed the door behind her.“My name’s Val, and this is Soup, my partner. We were once the only two inhabitants of Romeoberg, but we left the Underneath with Binta and her town. They were nice enough to let us live in town,” said Val.“Yeah. And it’s been so weird, but so fun to live with more people again!” said Soup.“So, what did you want to tell us?” asked F. Jesse.“Soup and I are running an inn right next door, and a group of travelers came in last week. They’ve been staying here ever since your week began, but just after you bunch came to town, they suddenly vanished,” said Val.“Have they checked out?” asked Kate.“Nope. They haven’t checked out yet. And we have a way to keep them from leaving without checking out. The rule was established by Binta, but when travelers come to stay overnight at the inn, they have to turn in their weapons, to ensure that they can’t hurt anyone. Only townsfolk who lived with the group long enough are permitted to carry a weapon all the time,” said Val.She opened a door, and beckoned the group to come with her. F. Jesse and Kate followed her, and Val led them to the front desk of the in. She moved aside a bookcase, revealing a hidden room. Val walked inside and opened a chest. She pulled out some weapons to show the group, who saw from the doorway.“These are their weapons, so they can’t leave until they take these,” said Val.“And this group, they just went off into hiding somewhere in the town after we arrived?” asked F. Jesse.“Yeah. They couldn’t have snuck off either. We have golems at each entrance to climb up and down to the town,” said Val.“That explains that golem that was at the entrance when we came to town,” said F. Jesse.“I overheard what you two said, and judging by how these folks went off into hiding, I thought I’d let you two know, so you can help prove Romeo is innocent,” said Val.“Wait, you don’t think it was Romeo either?” asked Kate.“Soup and I know him. Before he covered the Underneath, he was our friend. He liked to hang around us, but the mess with Fred caused him to stray from us. He even said he didn’t want us to be near him because he was afraid he’d hurt us to. And even when most of our town died to his challenge, we knew that he wasn’t a bad guy. We just wanted to make sure no one else died to the challenge he built,” said Val.“Well, we appreciate all this information, Val. Thank you,” said Kate.“Do you know where this group of travelers last were? And what do they look like?” asked F. Jesse.“Last I heard from them, they said they were going to go down to the shops, maybe check out Wanda’s painting shop,” said Val.“I saw her talking to Binta. Maybe she got robbed to, so that should be a good place to start,” said F. Jesse.Kate nodded her head.“Alright. We know where to start,” she said.“And they’re all a group of guys. Five of them. They all wore some similar clothing. Black pants and dark grey shirts. Only thing distinguishing them is their hair colors, eye colors, and skin tones,” said Val.“Black pants and dark grey shirts… why do I feel like I heard that description somewhere?” F. Jesse whispered to herself.“When we find them, we’ll see if they ring a bell. Come on, we better go track down this group,” said Kate.With that said, the two girls headed out of the inn and started to walk down the street to the shops.‘Don’t worry, Romeo. We’re going to prove it wasn’t you!’ thought Kate. To be continued…
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F. Jesse and Kate walked through the streets of Binta’s new town, heading to the shops. Because of the robberies that had been taking place, there was little to no activity going on in the streets. Most people were either hiding in their shops or hiding in their houses. Almost no one was walking in the streets.“Guess with the robberies, no one wants to be out…” said Kate.“They still think it’s Romeo’s fault, but we’ve been with him the whole time. He couldn’t have been stealing anything,” said F. Jesse.The girls reached the shops. There weren’t many other people in the streets, but there were a couple people.“See them over there? Do you recognize them from the Underneath?” asked Kate.“Hmm… yeah I do. They were a couple of scavengers who screwed me and Jack over. They told us they could help me and him if we surrendered our weapons. I took Jack’s word and said no, but it almost got him killed. Thank notch he didn’t die from falling off that cliff where we encountered the scavengers…” said F. Jesse.“Geez… you think they could’ve done it?”“I don’t know. If they’ve been living in town, then they can’t be the travelers Val talked about.”The girls decided to go into one of the shops and ask if they saw any of the travelers. They entered what appeared to be an art shop. When they entered, they saw Wanda busy trying to make some paintings.“Hey, it’s Jesse! And a traveler!” said Wanda.“Hello Wanda,” said F. Jesse.“I’m not a traveler, but I am a friend of Jesse’s. Name’s Kate,” said Kate.“Wanda, we were wondering if you saw any of these other travelers that we heard are in town. Did they come by your shop?” asked F. Jesse.“One of the other travelers? Oh! The ones that came into town last week before you guys came for your visit! One of them came in yesterday. He asked me about one of my paintings, but he didn’t buy it because he said he can’t afford it,” said Wanda.“By any chance is this painting missing?” asked Kate. She frowned a bit.“Actually, no. It’s right here on the wall,” said Wanda.She pointed to a blue painting that was up on the wall right behind her.“Oh. I see…” said Kate. She slowly stopped frowning.“But you’re right about some of my merchandise missing. I made some other paintings yesterday, and they were missing shortly after you guys showed up in time,” said Wanda.“Did any of the other travelers come into the shop earlier?” asked F. Jesse.“I didn’t see anyone. Sorry. I was in the back stocking up on some canvases, and when I came back here, some of my paintings were stolen,” said Wanda.“Well, thanks for the help Wanda,” said F. Jesse.“No problem,” said Wanda.The girls exited the shop and looked around. They wasn’t anyone else hanging around in the streets, but Kate noticed someone walking quickly away.“Hey, I see someone trying to walk out of here rather fast…” said Kate.F. Jesse turned around. The girls saw that the person looked back at them for a split second, then broke into a run.“Let’s follow them!” said F. Jesse.The girls broke into a run. Meanwhile, somewhere else in the town, Romeo and Stella were sitting in a cell. Because of how the town didn’t trust Romeo when he tried to convince him that he wasn’t the thief, the townsfolk agreed to give Kate and F. Jesse a chance to prove Romeo’s innocence. However, the catch was that Romeo had to stay locked up until proven that he wasn’t the thief. He reluctantly agreed, but Stella offered to stay with him.The two were sitting in the cell. An iron golem was the one watching them and making sure that they didn’t try to break out. Romeo sat in a corner of the cell, staying away from Stella. Stella gave her boyfriend a worried look.“Romeo?” she said.Romeo didn’t respond. He didn’t look up at her. He just sat there on the floor, keeping his face buried in his hands.“Romeo, please talk to me,” said Stella.Romeo still ignored her.Stella sighed sadly. The two heard a door open. Binta came into the cell block. She was carrying some bread.“You two hungry?” she asked them.“We’re fine. Thank you…” said Romeo, almost in a whisper.Stella sighed. She stood up and walked up to the bars. Binta handed her the bread.“Thanks Binta,” she said.“You’re welcome,” said Binta.Binta left the cell block, leaving the two alone again. Stella turned to face Romeo, who was still looking glum.“Romeo, you hungry?” she asked him.Romeo didn’t answer her. He just sighed sadly and looked down at the floor.‘I hope Jesse and Kate fine evidence soon to prove that Romeo’s innocent. I know he doesn’t want to stay here much longer, nor can he handle being blamed for more bad things. He’s been through more than enough for that…’ she thought. Back with F. Jesse and Kate, the two were following the person that they spotted running away. The person ran pretty quickly, and they were losing sight of them.“He’s getting away!” said F. Jesse.“I’ve got this!” said Kate.She pulled out a Pokeball and let out a Staravia. “Staravia, follow that guy and don’t lose sight of him!” she said.Staravia flew high up and out of sight, that way the person the girls were pursuing wouldn’t see the flying Pokémon follow him.“Uh, you think it’s wise to bring a Pokémon out like that?” said F. Jesse.“Oh everyone’s hiding because they’re too afraid of Romeo right now. I think a big flying bird is the least of their worries,” said Kate. She tried not to sound sarcastic as she spoke.The girls spotted the person cut through a corner, but when they reached it, the person was gone. They lost sight of him.“I don’t see him. Oh slimeblocks!” said F. Jesse.“Star!” the girls heard Staravia.He flew down to them, circling a bit, and then headed in a direction. The girls followed the bird Pokémon as he led them to an alleyway at a further end of town. They saw the person, along with four other people. They were just like how Val described them: dark outfits with their hair color, eyes, and skin tones distinguishing them.When she saw the five, F. Jesse tried her best not to gasp. She pulled Kate back for a second.“Kate, I know them!” she said.“Who are they?” asked Kate.“They’re a group of bandits! Gabriel stopped by a couple weeks ago and showed me a wanted poster of those bandits! He said that they’ve been spotted near a few towns up north from Champion City, and they’ve been stealing stuff!” said F. Jesse. “Gabriel told me because he tried to help one of those towns deal with them, but they fled before he got there, so he warned me and Radar to make sure they don’t do the same to Beacontown!”“This town is still fairly new, so they must’ve come here to lay low, and if they are bandits, then they waited for Romeo to come so that he could take the blame for their little scheme,” said Kate.“We know who’s doing the stealing, but we have to prove that it’s them and not Romeo!” said F. Jesse.“You said that Gabriel showed you wanted posters. You have them?”“No. There should be some in Beacontown, but it’ll take forever to get back!”“Not with me and my speed. You keep an eye on the bandits and make sure they don’t leave town. Have Staravia with you in case they split up. I’ll run back and get posters to show them to Binta.”“Okay. Hurry!”Kate quickly broke into a run and started to sped her way out of the village and back to Beacontown. F. Jesse and Staravia watched her leave.However, just seconds after Kate left and was out of sight, F. Jesse felt someone grab her.“Hey!” she shouted.She turned around, seeing that two of the bandits snuck up behind her.“Think you can rat us out, don’t you?!” said one of them.Staravia let out an angry cry. It jumped on one of the bandits and began pecking at it angrily.“AH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” the bandit cried in panic.F. Jesse took advantage of the chance Staravia gave her. She pulled one of her arms free from the bandit that Staravia was attacking, and she punched the other in the face.“HEY!” an angry voice shouted.The other three bandits were coming charging. Outnumbered and with only Staravia, F. Jesse broke into a run, not wanting to risk getting hurt in the fight. Staravia jumped off of the bandit that he attacked and flew after them.“Come back here!” one of them shouted. Based on how his clothing was slightly different, he must’ve been the leader of the bandits.“Crap! Our cover’s blown! Might as well break back in the inn and get our weapons back so we can get out of here!” said the leader. Kate rushed all the way back to Beacontown. She zipped right through the gates and rushed through the streets, dashing past anyone who was around her. Nobody noticed her run right past them, since she moved too fast for anyone to see them. So it didn’t take her long until she made it to the temple.“Radar!” she called out.There wasn’t a response. She started to run through the hallways, calling out the intern’s name. A couple minutes later, she finally found him in the treasure room with a clip board and a quill.“Kate? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Binta’s town?” he asked with a confused look.“I’ll explain later! Quick, Jesse told me about some wanted poster for a group of bandits! Dark clothing, group of five! I need some of those posters!” said Kate.“Why?! What’s going on?!” said Radar.“I don’t have time to explain! Just help me find those posters, please!” said Kate.“O-Okay! I’ll find some r-really quick!” Radar stammered.The intern rushed out of the treasure room. Kate followed him, and Radar led her to a room that looked like an office of some sort. A few piles of papers were on a desk, but some were put up on the wall. And sure enough, there were a few wanted posters for the group of bandits that Kate and F. Jesse found.Kate quickly grabbed down enough of the posters to make sure she got a picture of each of the five bandits.“Thanks Radar!” she said.“N-No problem!” said Radar.“I’ll explain later! I promise! Gotta go!” said Kate.With that done, she quickly dashed out of the temple, back through the streets of Beacontown, and turned back to return to Binta’s town.‘Don’t worry, Romeo! I’ve got proof of your innocence! Just hang in there, Jesse!’ she thought. Minutes later, she made it back to Binta’s town. Once Kate climbed up the ladders and reached the treetop village, she started to hurriedly look for Binta.“Binta! Binta!” she called out.Kate finally found Binta heading back to where the jail cell block was. She had water bottles with her, so chances were she was going to give them to Romeo and Stella. Hearing her name called out, Binta turned around.“Kate? Where’s Jesse?” she asked her.“Binta, I know who’s stealing the stuff!” said Kate.She pulled out the wanted posters and showed them to Binta.“Jesse and I were informed about some other travelers who have been here for a bit. We found them, and she told me that they’re actually wanted bandits! I grabbed these posters as proof that it’s them and not Romeo!” said Kate.Binta took a look at the posters. She gasped when she saw the people on them.“Those travelers… I welcomed them to my town, and they’re bandits!? Oh Fred wouldn’t be happy with this if he were here…” she said.“They must’ve figured you wouldn’t know since your town’s new!” said Kate.Suddenly, the two could hear some shouting coming from down the street. There were even some screams of panic.“Staravia!”Staravia came flying over to Kate quickly. He had a panicked look on his face, and began making some worried cries.“Jesse’s in trouble! The bandits are after her!” said Kate.“I’ll let Romeo and Stella out! Go and help Jesse!” said Binta.Binta rushed back into the jail cell block, while Kate followed Staravia. The bird Pokémon led her to the inn, where F. Jesse, Val, and Soup were in trouble regarding the bandits. The bandits were trying to take back their weapons so that they could fight their way out. One of them managed to grab their sword, and they had Val as a hostage.“Give us back our weapons or we’ll kill her!” the leader shouted. He pointed his sword close to Val’s neck.“Let her go!” Soup shouted with a worried look.“We’ll let her live if you give us back our damn weapons!” one of the other bandits shouted.Soup sighed sadly.“On it…”she said.She rushed back into the inn.“Soup no! Don’t give them what they want!” Val cried.But Soup ignored her. She was already back inside and was grabbing the weapons. F. Jesse had her sword out, but she couldn’t risk charging at the bandits because they were going to hurt Val if she tried to.“Drop it!” the leader told F. Jesse.F. Jesse was frowning, but she noticed that Kate was trying to sneak up behind the bandits. Playing along, she sighed and dropped her weapon.“Good girl,” said the leader. He turned to face one of his crew members. “Billy, grab it!” he told him.The bandit rushed over and picked up F. Jesse’s sword. As he grabbed it, Soup came back out, carrying the weapons that belonged to the bandits.“Here… just please don’t hurt Val!” she said.The bandits, except for the one that was holding onto Val, rushed over and grabbed their weapons. The bandit gave an evil chuckle.“Thanks a lot you stupid girl!” he mocked her. “Let’s go boys!” he said to his crew.“No! Val!” said Soup.Since none of the bandits had their weapons pointed at Val, Kate took the chance. She snuck up behind the one that had grabbed Val. Kate grabbed his head and pulled his hair. The bandit let out a shriek of pain, and let go of Val.“OWWWW!” he shouted.“Get a haircut, hippie!” Val shouted, as she kicked him in the gut.“Hey!” a bandit shouted.He tried to stab Val, but Kate pulled out her sword and blocked his attack.One of the bandits tried to rush up to Val and stab her, but to stop him from doing that, Val grabbed the bandit that grabbed her, and moved him. The bandit that rushed up skidded to a stop.“Yeah! Don’t want to fight me unless you wanna kill your buddy!” she snapped at him.“Get them!” the leader of the bandits shouted.The bandits charged at F. Jesse and Soup, but both of them quickly pulled out some other weapons and began to fight back.Val and the bandit that grabbed her struggled, but the bandit suddenly kicked Val back. He pulled out a sword.The bandit tried to slash Val, but before he could, someone stopped him with their weapon. To everyone’s surprise, Val’s rescuer was Romeo.“What the?!” said the bandit.“Leave my friends alone!” he shouted.He pushed back the bandit. Stella and Binta rushed over to. Binta helped Val stand up, and handed her a sword.“You think you guys have a chance!?” the leader taunted.“Well, I got some help just in case the odds aren’t in our favor…” Binta said, smirking a bit.Some of the other townsfolk came out, and they had weapons out. And if that wasn’t enough, some of the iron golems walked out and gave the bandits menacing glares.“Now, we can do this the easy way where you surrender and no one gets hurt, or we can do this the hard way where you guys have no chance of getting out of this alive, because you’re outnumbered. Your choice…” Binta said.The bandit leader frowned. He and his crew looked around. They were surrounded by the angry townsfolk and iron golems. With only five of them in their group, they knew that there was no chance in winning any fight.The leader let out a sigh. He kept his sour look as he threw his sword on the ground and put his hands up in surrender.“Fine… we’ll surrender…” he said.The other four bandits did the same as he did with their weapons. A couple townsfolk came over with some cuffs, and they cuffed up the bandits.“Take them away,” Binta told them.The people led the bandits through the streets, taking them to the jail cell block.“Is everyone alright?” Binta asked the group.“We’re fine,” said Val. She let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks guys.”“Val!” Soup said. She rushed over to her and gave her a hug. “I was so worried that they’d kill you!”Val smiled nervously at her and returned the hug. “I’m alright, Soup,” she said calmly.Binta walked up to Romeo and Stella.“Thank goodness there was proof that it wasn’t you, Romeo,” said Binta. “I feel ashamed that I let bandits into my town and frame you…”“It’s not your fault, Binta. You’re still new to the surface, so you didn’t know. The important thing is that no one got hurt and they got caught,” said Romeo.He gave her a small smile to help reassure her. Binta couldn’t help but smile back, since it was the first time Romeo gave her a smile since he came to visit.“Hey…” they heard a voice say.The group turned around to see that it was Willy who spoke. But he wasn’t by himself. Kent was with him.“We uh… we want to apologize… for…” said Willy.“You know… for being jerks to you…” said Kent.Romeo smiled sadly at them.“It’s alright. I forgive you,” he said.His smile faded.“I know it doesn’t make up for… For what I did… to Fred… but I forgive you both,” he said.Willy and Kent didn’t smile back, but they didn’t frown at Romeo either.“It’s… it’s alright,” said Kent.“We know that Fred would want us to at least try and start over… for his sake,” said Willy.The group heard the sound of a chicken cluck coming from behind Willy. Willy stepped aside, and Waffles started to walk up to Romeo again.“Heh… I guess he wants to say ‘hi’ to you again…” Willy said, smiling slightly.Romeo smiled. He got down again and started to pet the chicken again. Waffles clucked happily and pecked Romeo’s hand gently in affection.“He’s still as perky as I last saw him. It’s no wonder Fred said he’s a special chicken,” said Romeo.The group couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. A couple hours later, and things finally settled down. The bandits were locked up, and they were forced to empty their inventories of the items that they stole. Everyone who was robbed by the bandits got their stole items back, and the townsfolk apologized to Romeo for accusing him while he was innocent.Now that things were calmer and things were resolved, the group resumed their visit in Binta’s town. They finished their tour of the town and headed back to the exit.“Thank you for visiting our town,” said Binta.“Thank you for inviting us,” said F. Jesse.“I’ll want to come back, and see how the town has continued to thrive. I’m glad to see everyone living happily up here on the surface,” said Romeo.Binta smiled at him.“I’ll be ready when you all come back to visit. Take care of yourselves,” she said.“Thank you Binta. We’ll see you around,” said F. Jesse.One by one, the group climbed down the ladders and reached the ground. They got their horses back and headed back to Beacontown together.Just as sunset was arriving, the group made it back through the gates and into the safety of Beacontown. When they made it back, Radar was there to greet them.“Thank goodness you’re all back! Kate said something about bandits?!” he said.“Oh uh… it’s uh…” said Kate.“It’s a long story, Radar…” F. Jesse said, smiling nervously.“What happened?!” said Radar.Romeo let out a sigh and smiled nervously.“We might as well explain to him…” he said.“Yeah,” said Stella.“Come on. Let’s go back to the temple and we’ll tell you everything, Radar,” said F. Jesse.Now with Radar, the group headed back to the temple. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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Radar was doing some work with sorting the mail for the Jesse twins as a part of his normal daily work.“Alright. Let’s see what we have in the mail today,” he said.He looked through the papers, sorting them into different piles. The last letter he found, surprisingly, had his name.“Huh? One with my name?” he said.He looked at the sender’s address, and once he saw where it was from, Radar felt nervous.“Oh no…” he said.With shaking hands a bit, Radar opened up the letter and began reading it. He was quiet as he did so.“Hi Radar,” a voice said.It was M. Jesse. He headed into the room and spotted the intern looking nervous.“Radar, you alright?” he asked.Radar didn’t look up at him. He was staring at the letter.“Radar? Radar!” said M. Jesse.Now the intern finally stopped staring at the letter. He yelped a bit and jumped out of his seat.“Ah!” he said.“Sorry buddy!” said M. Jesse.He walked over to Radar slowly. “I didn’t mean to spook you,” he said.“I-It’s fine, boss. I was spooked by this…” said Radar.He pulled out the letter.“What’s going on, Radar?” asked M. Jesse.Radar let out a sad sigh.“My parents want to know how I’m doing. They asked if they can come and visit, along with my sister…” he said.“Why are you nervous, Radar? Don’t you love your parents and your sister?” asked M. Jesse.“I do love them. But… you remember how I used to work in Champion City, for Stella?” said Radar. He let out a sad sigh. “Well, they made me work there because they thought I haven’t matured enough… I hated my job in Champion City, so they told me that I could quit if I get another job… but I got my internship here instead…”“So why are they coming? Do they not approve of you being our intern?” said M. Jesse.“They know what you and your sister have done. They feel that this internship is too dangerous, and they wrote to me because they heard about the admin mess. Now they want to make sure that this internship is safe! If I can’t convince them that I’m okay and safe here, they’ll make me leave Beacontown!” said Radar.“Wait, what?!” said M. Jesse. “Radar, we don’t want you to leave! You’re not just our intern. You’re our friend and part of our team!”“I know, boss. But my parents…’Radar sighed again. He rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, showing his tattoos.“I remember getting these because I wanted to look tough. I got bullied a lot back in my old hometown, for being smart. I got these tattoos to try to look tough, but all it did was get me into trouble. It’s why my parents made me get a job in the first place, to prove that I am mature enough to look after myself. They thought that I would become some sort of delinquent after I got these tattoos. So if I can’t prove to them that I’ve matured and am professional thanks to this internship, they’ll make me leave Beacontown…” he said.Radar rolled his sleeve back down. M. Jesse was quiet for a minute.“Don’t worry, Radar. We’ll let the others know that your parents are coming, so that way, we can make sure that they know that you’re mature and professional enough to stay here in Beacontown as our intern,” he said.He gave Radar a small smile. Radar managed to smile back.“Thanks boss…” Radar said. A few days passed by, and everyone at the temple was nervous. Radar’s parents and younger sister were coming over, and they were going to judge if Radar would stay or go.At least Radar wasn’t by himself through this. The Jesse twins, Reuben, Ivor, Harper, and Lukas were there to be with him at the temple. They group waited with anticipation for the doorbell to ring and to meet Radar’s family.“Oh! This is nerve-wrecking!” said Radar.“Calm down, Radar. Panicking won’t help you out through this. We’re right here to help you through this,” said F. Jesse.“I-I know. Thanks Jesse,” said Radar.The doorbell rang.“I’ll get it!” said Radar.Before anyone could object, Radar quickly rushed to the front doors. He threw them open.“H-Hi! Long time no-”Radar cut himself off. It wasn’t his parents. It was Stella.“Oh! Stella! H-Hi!” he said.“Hi Radar. Is Ivor here? I need to ask him for a healing potion. Romeo accidentally hurt himself while we were in the middle of his crafting lesson. Honestly, I don’t get how one can hurt themselves when they craft a stone hoe…” said Stella.“Oh! Y-yes! Ivor is in the temple! We were just busy waiting for-”“Radar?” said a voice.Radar yelped in panic.Standing a few feet behind Stella were three people. One them was a man with black hair, tan skin, and green eyes. He was dressed like a businessman. The second was a woman with darker skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. She was also dressed professionally, like a secretary. The third person was a girl, possibly around the age of ten, and she had darker skin and brown hair like the woman, but her eyes were green. She was dressed in a school uniform.“M-Mom! Dad! A-Abby!” said Radar.“We are here to see your internship here, son,” said Radar’s father.“Oh, Stella. It’s been a while. We heard about what happened to Champion City. Such a shame, and we were planning to move there sometime,” said Radar’s mother.“It’s alright. No one got hurt, the city is almost done being repaired, and Romeo has made amends with the citizens,” said Stella.“Romeo? I’m surprised that this… Admin fellow hasn’t apologized, and sent this Romeo instead to do so for him,” said Radar’s father.“Uh dad… Romeo is the Admin… but he’s nice…” said Radar.“Huh? I’m not sure about that being likely. He has caused a lot of damage. Bad business for anyone who lose their homes or businesses because of him,” said Radar’s father.Stella clenched her fists, but it was the most she could do to hold back her anger. Radar let out a nervous sigh.“Uh… p-please come on in!” he stuttered.Radar led his family and Stella into the temple, shutting the door behind them. As they walked into the treasure room, the little girl, Abby, smiled at Radar.“I missed you, Radar,” she said.“I missed you to, Abby. It’s weird not being around my little sister,” he said.“Have you gone on lots of adventures with the new order?” asked Abby.“Uh… a few…” Radar said.“Really?! That sounds so exciting!” Abby said happily.Radar smiled at his little sister, but his smile faded when he saw that his parents weren’t smiling. He should’ve known that they wouldn’t approve of him going on adventures, since they found it dangerous, and, at least to his father, unprofessional.They all arrived in the treasure room, where everyone else was.“Mom. Dad. Abby. I’d like you to meet my bosses and their friends. These are the Jesse twins, their little brother Reuben, their friend Lukas, and Ivor and his fiancé Harper,” said Radar. “Everyone, these are my parents and my little sister, Abby.”“Greetings. My name is Anthony, and this is my wife, Irene,” said Radar’s father.He extended his hand out. F. Jesse shook his hand.“It’s nice to meet you,” F. Jesse said politely.“So, you and your brother are the managers of my son Radar,” said Anthony.“Yes, but we don’t mind if he doesn’t call us ‘Boss’ or ‘Manager’. He’s more than our intern. He’s our friend,” said F. Jesse.“Hmm… not very professional,” said Anthony.M. Jesse bit his lip. He was starting to see just how worried Radar was the other day.“So what do you have my son do as a part of his internship?” asked Anthony.“Radar helps us with some things we run here in Beacontown. As ‘Heroes in Residence’, my sister and I not only protect our town, but also make sure that it’s safe and fun for everyone who lives here. Radar helps us with the things we have to run around here, but he also fills in for us if we have to go off somewhere,” said M. Jesse.“Yeah. I left him in charge of Beacontown while I went to the Sea Temple and while my brother had to go take care of a zombie infestation in another town,” said F. Jesse.“Temple expeditions, and fighting zombies? Doesn’t sound like it’s something safe, so thank goodness Radar was here instead of with either of you,” said Irene.“But we heard about the… Admin mess, and how our son got put through a lot. We need to make sure that this internship is safe for him. Already, it’s no good that my son isn’t earning any money, so how can he pay for a place to stay?” said Anthony.“He stays here in the temple. We have a room for him. Besides, people can go to the mines if they are short on ingots,” said F. Jesse.“Not like how business should run, but we don’t live here in Beacontown, so if that’s how things run here, then that’s fine. I guess…” said Anthony.Radar formed a nervous look. He knew that his father already was trying to make up reasons for why he should quit living in Beacontown and come back with his parents.‘Dad’s just making up excuses now. I know mom likes to baby me because she worries about my safety, but dad’s the one that I’m worried about… I really hope that they like my bosses!’ he thought.Radar walked up to them and said, “M-Mom! Dad! W-We prepared some dinner for you!”“Dinner? Well, that is nice,” said Irene, giving a smile.“Yes! Right this way to the kitchen!” said F. Jesse.The group began to walk to the kitchen, but Radar tailed behind. He suddenly pulled Ivor and Harper aside.“What?” asked Ivor.“Do not tell them that you’re a ninja!” Radar said, with panic in his eyes.“Why not? I am an awesome ninja!” said Ivor.“My parents don’t want to hear about adventures of other dangerous stuff! Especially my dad! They’re just going to try to make up excuses for why I should leave Beacontown! I don’t want to leave any of you guys! You guys are my friends and the only friends I have!” said Radar.“Oh. Right! Don’t worry, kid. I won’t boast about how I’m a ninja. I think I may tell them about my days back in the old order instead,” said Ivor.“Just don’t list anything that they might consider dangerous!” said Radar.“I guess I’ll do the same if they ask me about my career in redstone or as an Old Builder. I certainly won’t bring up PAMA…” said Harper.“Thank you!” said RadarThe group walked over to the kitchen. F. Jesse and M. Jesse were starting to set the table, but Radar, despite how the twins told him that they got it, insisted that he help. Radar’s parents and Abby sat at the table, while Lukas prepared the silverware and plates. Stella quickly walked up to Ivor.“I can’t stay long. I was wondering if you have a potion I can give to Romeo. Healing. He accidentally hurt himself while we were doing a crafting lesson,” said Stella.“Oh sure. No problem. Here,” said Ivor.He dug into his inventory a bit, before pulling out a splash potion of healing. “I always keep some extra potions on me. He can have this potion of healing,” he said.“Thanks Ivor,” said Stella.She turned to face the group again.“I must go. Romeo might be worried about me. It was nice seeing you and Irene again, Anthony, and the same for Abby,” said Stella.“Bye Stella,” said everyone.Stella turned and left the room, heading out of the temple and back to her house.“I’m surprised that you decided to quit working for Stella, son. Champion City didn’t have any dangerous jobs as being an intern for adventurers…” said Anthony. He gave Radar a stern look.“I-I didn’t like working for her… i-it was before she was nice, and our f-friend…” said Radar.Anthony only frowned. He wasn’t going to repeat that he found it unprofessional to be friends with someone who was in charge of what you do at work. The Jesse twins knew that Anthony was most likely disapproving what was going on, but they didn’t dare speak. They just pulled out the dishes and set the table.“We hope everyone’s hungry. Since Radar’s family has come for a visit, we thought we’d make a special recipe,” said F. Jesse.“We made some enchiladas. A friend of ours showed us how to make them,” said M. Jesse.Anthony and Irene didn’t make a comment, which Radar couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. However, Abby was the one to make a comment. After dishing out her food and trying out a bite, she looked like she just ate some ice cream.“Mmmmmm! This is so good! I love it!” she said.“Thank you. Glad you like it,” said F. Jesse, giving the little girl a smile. For a little while, everyone sat down at the table enjoying dinner. Anthony and Irene asked everyone about what they did, and how Radar did with helping out. The whole time, it made the group feel nervous. The Jesse twins, Lukas, Ivor, and Harper had to carefully word their responses to Anthony and Irene’s questions. They didn’t want to risk saying something that would hurt Radar’s chances of staying in Beacontown.It wasn’t easy, but what made it especially difficult was when Anthony and Irene brought up the Admin situation.“So let me get this straight: you pulled our son into a deadly adventure because you got a cursed gauntlet on your hand?” asked Anthony.“I didn’t know it was cursed. Besides, I’m an adventurer. It’s okay to be curious, and we play it safe,” said F. Jesse.“Yeah. We’ve gone on lots of adventures, and we know how to defend ourselves,” said M. Jesse.“But you still brought my son in on that adventure…” said Anthony.“I-I offered to go! I wanted to help because I am the intern!” said Radar.“I don’t see why you didn’t stay and look after Beacontown. You would’ve been safe. Well, except when the Admin came here disguised as Jesse,” said Irene.“They told me that I didn’t have to come, but I insisted that I could help, and I did! Besides, I’m still alive, right?” said Radar.“What was your adventure like? Did you see all kinds of amazing things? Did you find any treasures?” Abby asked excitedly.Radar smiled a bit at his sister. He wanted to answer her question, but a stern look from his parents convinced him not to.“Anyway. I think that’s enough about Radar’s internship. Anthony. Irene. What do you two do?” Lukas said, hoping to change the subject.“I am the manager of a business back in our town. My lovely wife here is the secretary,” said Anthony.“We live in Summerlin Heights,” said Irene.“Summerlin Heights? That’s a wealthier town…” said Lukas.“It sure is, and we live in one of the richest communities because of how well the business runs,” said Anthony.“No wonder they seem indoorsy and find adventure dangerous…” Ivor muttered under his breath.Harper was the only one who heard him, so she slightly elbowed him and gave him a glare to not let it get to him.“Radar, you never said that you were from there. Now I see why you went to work in Champion City. Champion City and Summerlin Heights are trade partners,” said F. Jesse.“Y-yes…” said Radar.“Stella is the niece of an old friend of mine. He told her to consider giving Radar the position back in Champion City, which was why he got the interview, and then the job,” said Anthony.“But I didn’t like working there! It wasn’t fun, and back then, Stella was mean! I may not work there anymore, but at least Stella’s nice now and my friend!” said Radar.“Work isn’t about fun, son. It’s about business,” said Anthony.“I don’t mean to argue with you, sir, but it’s not always the case. Beacontown is a place where we’re free to not only build what we want, but also do what our hearts desire as a career. Before I slayed the Witherstorm, I participated in building competitions, so I learned how you can combine function and fun together. It’s how I came to run Beacontown,” said F. Jesse.“Yeah. And besides, if work wasn’t fun, then no one would enjoy it. Our friend Petra, she and her friend Jack, they run an emporium in town. They are also adventurers, so they know how to combine work and fun together,” said M. Jesse.“Jack? As in Jack the Stab Walker? That famous treasure hunter? But he quit,” said Anthony.“He’s still an adventurer. When we first met him, he joined us on our adventure where we battled the Admin,” said Lukas.Anthony frowned a bit. Lukas fell silent, almost regretting that he brought up the Admin adventure.Suddenly, there was a knock in the doorway. Everyone turned around, surprised to see Nell had come in.“Nell?!” said Radar.“Hey Radar, dude. Sorry to intrude, but I almost forgot that you let me borrow your shield since it has the amulet design on it,” said Nell.She pulled out the shield.“Anyway, I thought I’d bring it back to you. I would’ve knocked, but you told me it’s alright to walk in since you’re my boyfriend,” said Nell.“What?!” said Irene.“Radar, you are dating this girl!?” said Anthony.Radar formed a nervous look.“Y-yes… M-mom… dad… this is N-Nell…” said Radar.“Dude… these are your parents?” asked Nell.“Radar, you are too young for dating!” said Anthony.“I’m almost an adult!” said Radar.“The Admin mess, no pay, things unorganized, and a girlfriend? That’s it! You’re coming back to Summerlin Heights!” said Anthony“What?!” said Radar.“We can decide if he can’t work for us anymore because we’re his bosses!” said M. Jesse.“Bro, calm down!” said F. Jesse.“I am Radar’s father! He has to listen to what I say!” said Anthony.“No I don’t! I’m not a child! I can make my own decisions, dad!” said Radar.“Being an intern for an adventurer is dangerous! And you’re not mature enough to have a girlfriend!” said Anthony.“Dad! I can be a man! I am mature enough to make adult decisions!” said Radar.The argument lasted a little bit longer, but it got interrupted when someone rushed in.“Guys!” a voice shouted.It was Petra.“Guys, problem in town! A few creepers blew up at the same time, and it damaged the gates to the town! Some monsters are getting in!” she said.“No time to lose!” said F. Jesse.She, M. Jesse, Lukas, and Reuben quickly got up. They rushed to the treasure room and grabbed their weapons. Radar started to follow his friends, but his father grabbed his arm.“Dad!” said Radar.“Leave it to the heroes! It’s too dangerous to go out there!” said Anthony.Radar felt anger bubbling inside of him when he hears his father say that.“I am a hero to, dad! I saved Jesse a few times while we battled the Admin, and I know how to fight monsters and defend myself!” said Radar.“Are you becoming more like a delinquent!? First the tattoos, and now walking headfirst into danger?!” said Anthony.“I’m not a delinquent! There are monsters in this world, so you have to know how to defend yourself! I am not a kid! I’ve gone through so much!” said Radar.The others rushed out to go and help with the monsters, leaving Radar with his parents and sister. The only one who stayed behind was Nell, who was watching the argument with a concerned look.“I learned how to be my own man! I know how to fight monsters, how to use weapons properly, and how to take things cautiously when it’s time to do that! I’m not weak!” said Radar.“I knew that you working as an intern for the killer of the Witherstorm was bad!” said Anthony.“No it’s not, dad! Jesse and her friends showed me so much! I’ve grown thanks to my friends and the adventures I’ve gone on!” said Radar.He pushed his father away from him. Radar grabbed his shield.“And I don’t care what you say! I’m going out there to help them defend my home!” said Radar.Radar turned around, rushing out with Nell.“Radar!” shouted Anthony.“Son, come back!” cried Irene.“You can do it, Radar!” Abby cheered for him.“Abby, don’t encourage him!” said Anthony.Radar ignored his parents and made it outside with Nell. Nell pulled out a sword, and the two of them rushed into the fight. They noticed that at the entrance to Beacontown, Lukas and Reuben were working on closing off the broken gate. A few monsters were trying to sneak up on the duo.Radar and Nell ran over. Using his shield and her sword, they quickly killed the spiders that snuck up on Lukas and Reuben.“Thanks guys!” said Reuben.“We got the gate closed! Just help the others kill the monsters so that the town is safe again!” said Lukas.“We got it, man!” said Nell.She and Radar rushed into the fight. The Jesse, Ivor, Harper, and Petra were helping the townspeople kill off the monsters. Radar charged with his shield, smacking a zombie across the head. The zombie collapsed on the ground, but it wasn’t dead. Radar smashed his foot on the zombie’s head, and this time, the zombie died and despawned.“Gah! Get off!” Petra shouted, as a spider jumped on her.Radar ran over. He swung his shield to know the spider off of Petra. Petra quickly got up, grabbing her sword as she did. The spider tried to jump on her, but she slashed it, killing it with one hit.“Thanks Ray!” said Petra.“Don’t mention it, Petra!” said Radar.He saw a few zombies trying to get to the temple, and no one was going for them. Radar noticed that his parents were cowering in fear from inside through the windows. Knowing that the zombies were going for them, the intern quickly rushed over to the zombies.“Eat this!” he shouted.She smacked a couple zombies with his shield. One of them despawned, but the other got up. The other zombies turned around, but Radar didn’t run in fear. He frowned, ready to fight.Taking a couple steps back, Radar waited for the zombie closed to him to step a bit forward. Once it was a bit forward, Radar swung his shield, knocking the zombie back and into the others. They all stumbled on the ground, but the intern started to finish some of them off.“Radar!” said a voice.Radar heard the sound of something slashing behind him. M. Jesse rushed up and helped him finish off the rest of the zombies.“Nice one Radar! I saw one trying to sneak up on you!” said M. Jesse.“Thanks for the help! I saw them going for the temple and no one was after them!” said Radar.“Good thing you stopped them! Come on! We’re almost done!” said M. Jesse.The two of them rushed back to the fight, while, from inside, Radar’s parents watched as they saw their son rush back into the fight. About fifteen minutes later, and all was calm once more. All of the monsters have been finished off, and the gate was fully fixed. The new order didn’t head back to the temple, for they were busy making sure that no one’s houses got destroyed, and if there was any damage, then repairs could be done quickly so that everyone could turn in for the night.“Thank goodness my house wasn’t blown up by any creepers. Though I did catch a skeleton trying to get in,” said Nell.“You checked the inside?” asked Radar.“I did. I triple checked, dude. My place is totally safe now,” said Nell.Radar let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I’m just glad that you’ll be safe in your house tonight,” he said.“It’s no, biggie, dude. And hey, you got some nice moves while you were fighting back there.”“I’ve been practicing whenever. I think I’ll getting strong enough to lift a sword now! I want to know how to use one of those!” said Radar.“And you probably will soon…” said a voice.Radar and Nell turned around.“Dad!” Radar said.Anthony wasn’t alone. Irene and Abby were with him.“You were so cool! You fought those monsters and saved the town! You’re a hero, Radar!” Abby said excitedly.“Calm down, Abby,” said Irene.Radar was silent as his father walked up to him.“Son-”“I don’t want to leave! I’m an adult now! I’m not a kid! I can look after myself! If what happened isn’t enough to prove to you, then what will?!” said Radar.“I know, son. It’s clear that I can’t change your mind…” said Anthony.“Huh?” said Radar.“Radar, your mother and I have been worried about you taking this internship, especially since you hadn’t written to us often since you started. And when we found out about the Admin thing, we figured… it would be safer for you to come home,” said Anthony.“But it’s clear that you do know how to take care of yourself. And you’re right. You’re not a kid. You are almost an adult now, and it’s clear that you can make adult decisions,” said Irene.“We just ask for a compromise: you can stay here as long as you want, but if you could please write back to us more often, that would be reassuring,” said Anthony.“I… I guess I haven’t written to you often… I would get busy with my work, and if it wasn’t that, I get sidetracked with other things in my spare time. Alright. I promise I’ll try to write to you and mom more often,” said Radar.Anthony smiled at his son, then hugged Radar. Radar smiled as he returned the hug. Irene and Abby rushed over, joining in on the family hug.“We love you, Radar,” said Irene.“I love you guys, to,” said Radar.As the family embraced, Nell smiled. She wasn’t the only one watching though. The twins were also watching, and they overheard everything. All was good now that the town was safe again, but there was even better news after all that happened in the span of the day.Radar was allowed to stay in Beacontown. He was allowed to stay with his friends, in his home. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Over at the treehouse, Kate was alone in her brewing room. She was busy working on a potion of some sort. Whatever the brew was, it was making a lot of smoke, which was clouding the room. Because of how heavy the smoke was becoming, and to protect herself from the chemical effects of the potion, Kate was wearing a gas mask and a radiation suit.Kate was quiet as she focused on making the brew. She carefully added some stuff, but at one point, she twitched her nose. She tried her best not to sneeze, but she ended up sneezing, spilling an incorrect dosage of an ingredient.“Uh oh…” she said.The potion fizzed like a soda shaken too much, and the cauldron shook like crazy. A few seconds later, the potion exploded. As the potion hit the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and even a few books, a sizzling sound came out. The potion ended up burning through the materials, including the floor and walls.Kate let out a frustrated sigh. She quickly opened up the window, allowing the smoke to leave.“Someday, I’ll master this potion…” she muttered.When most of the smoke was gone, the door to the brewing room suddenly opened. Knuckles came rushing in. he coughed a bit, but made his way to Kate.“Kate, you okay?” he asked.“I’m fine Knux,” said Kate. Her voice was muffled because she had the gas mask on, but after she finished talking, she removed the mask.“Messed up on the potion again?” he asked her.“I was so close to finishing it, but then I just had to sneeze!” she muttered.“I told you it would happen. Even with that gas mask on, the fact that you have to add a lot of pepper into the potion makes it hard to not sneeze,” said Knuckles.“Point taken.”“What is the potion for again?”“We haven’t heard any word from Fawful, and knowing that he’s after the stone that I sealed Romeo’s powers into, I think we need to track him down and catch him before he tries anything.”“But Kate, we’re keeping the stone here in the treehouse. He can’t get in because of the enchantments. I think we’re safe as long as the stone doesn’t get taken from here, and because no one evil can get in here, then no one can steal it.”“I know, Knux. But you know how mischievous Fawful can be. He could be planning something right now.” As the couple were talking, someone was watching them. But it wasn’t like anyone was watching from outside the window or from the hallway. Instead, the person was watching them from an unknown location, viewing the couple and listening to their conversation through a crystal ball via magic.It was Fawful, and when Knuckles and Kate brought up the stone with the Admin powers sealed inside, the magician frowned, gritting his teeth as he did so. His teeth were finally completely fixed, for after the mess he caused by reviving Romeo and trying to force him to be the Admin again, the magician got quite the beating from the group when they had to fight him.That was a while ago, and while Fawful did try to make a mess of things between now and then, the magician wasn’t satisfied. There was still something that he desired, and his schemes failed to give him that one thing he wanted.The stone with Romeo’s powers.Because the heroes snapped Romeo out of the mind control spell. Because they convinced him not to make the same mistakes again. And because they found a way to remove his powers and seal it inside a gem.The power was sealed away, and it was tucked away inside the treehouse, hidden out of sight, and protected by the barriers that surrounded the treehouse.“Mark my words, you two. You may have your enchantments surrounding your house, preventing me from entering, but I have a plan for getting that stone. The Admin’s powers will be in my control once more, and this time, I’m not going to fail on defeating you heroes…” Fawful hissed to himself. Later that day, Kate headed to the Mushroom Kingdom. Since her attempt to brew the potion was a failure, she had to restock on some supplies for brews and spells. As she made her way through the streets of the Mushroom Kingdom, a few Toads greeted her. She smiled and said “Hello” back at them.Kate was alone. Knuckles wasn’t with her, for he went to Angel Island to check on the Master Emerald and make sure that the security measures were working to keep the Master Emerald safe while he wasn’t at the island. Kate didn’t mind, since it was still Knuckles’s job to keep the emerald safe.Kate entered one of the stores to start making her purchases. As she entered the store, she wasn’t aware that someone was watching her. Merlon watched her enter the store, and he suddenly called out to her.“Lady Katelyn!” he called out.Kate didn’t hear him. She was already in the store and was minding her own business.Merlon let out a sigh. “I might as well wait for her to come out…” he said.Inside the store, Kate looked through the shelves, holding a list in one hand and a shopping basket in the other.“Pepper… Dang it! They’re out here on the shelf. I need to ask a worker if they have some in the back,” she said to herself.Kate started to look around the store, searching for a Toad. However, as she was making her way through the aisle, she almost bumped into another person. A Koopa Troopa.“Oh. Pardon me, sir,” she said.The Koopa Troopa looked up at her. He glared at her. There was a strange glow in his eyes, and an eerie green came from them.Kate suddenly lost all focus on what she was doing and what was going on around her. Her mind went blank, and unbeknownst to her, her eyes suddenly glowed a faint green, much like the Koopa Troopa’s eyes.“Follow me…” said the Koopa Troopa.Kate didn’t respond, but she obediently followed the Koopa Troopa. They walked past anyone else in the store, and after making it outside, they started to head outside the Mushroom Kingdom. No one found it out, or watched them leave, except for one. Merlon, who was waiting for Kate, spotted her following the Koopa Troopa.“Oh no. I must warn Mister Mario and Mister Sonic!” he said.He rushed off, hurrying to the castle.Back with Kate and the Koopa Troopa, the two exited the Mushroom Kingdom. They walked a good few feet away from the entrance to the Kingdom, and stepped to a spot to stay out of sight and behind a tree.The Koopa Troopa pulled out a staff, and he waved it. A bright, green glow came from around him, and when it was gone, he shifted into someone else.Fawful.“Good. You followed me out, which means that the spell works. Now, I have a favor for you. There’s something that I left behind at your treehouse. A specific gem…” he said, grinning at Kate.Kate didn’t respond. She stared at Fawful blankly, enchanted by the spell. Over at the castle, Mario and Sonic were hanging out together. The two were in the dining hall by themselves, eating some lunch.“Come on, Mario, why haven’t you asked her yet?!” Sonic asked him. “You finally got the ring you wanted for the occasion, and you haven’t asked her?”“I’m working on my plan to propose to Peach, Sonic! I don’t have a good idea on how to propose and how to make it special,” said Mario.The plumber let out a sigh. He pulled out a black box and opened it up. A gold ring with a pink diamond on it was inside.“It’s you, Mario. Anything you plan for Peach will be special to her, because she loves you,” said Sonic.“I know…” said Mario.“Come on, dude. Remember how long it took Knuckles to propose to Kate? And them announcing their engagement took even longer. And if that wasn’t enough, then the fact that they had to redo their wedding made it even worse for them. No offense to Knuckles or Kate, but don’t take too long like they did with their stuff. And if you’re worried that Bowser or Pauline will come to ruin your wedding with Peach, don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out to make sure that no one ruins your wedding.”“You said the same thing to Knuckles and Kate when they announced their fears of their wedding being ruined. We had GUN agents guarding the wedding, and even the Gladiators from the games that Otto runs and the guards from Ground City helping out to. All that, and Kate and Knuckles’s wedding still got ruined.”Mario let out a sigh.“Now I’m over thinking it and thinking that it’ll all be a repeat for me and Peach if she says yes…” he said.“Dude, you can’t worry about it. Just focus on one thing at a time, starting with proposing to your girlfriend,” said Sonic.The blue hedgehog gave the plumber a pat on the back and smiled at him. Mario managed to smile faintly at Sonic.“Thanks…” he said.“No problem, Mario,” said Sonic.“Mister Mario! Mister Sonic!” they heard a Toad call out.The two turned around and saw blue Toad rushing up to them. “Merlon is in the entrance hall, and he wants to speak with you both!” said the Toad.Mario and Sonic quickly got up from their seats.“Merlon must’ve had a vision or something,” said Mario.“Wonder what he has to warn us about now,” said Sonic.The two quickly rushed out of the dining hall and through the hallways of the castle. In a couple minutes, they made it to the entrance hall, where Merlon waited for them. He had a worried expression on his face.“Mister Mario! Mister Sonic! You must find your friend Kate! I had a vision of Fawful coming back for trouble, but it’s already begun!” said Merlon.“Fawful again?! And what does this have to do with Kate?!” said Mario.“I saw a vision of Fawful using your friend for something. Something that he wants to retrieve, but he cannot get because it is locked away in the treehouse!” said Merlon.“The gem… Romeo’s Admin powers!” said Sonic.“There isn’t anything else! We have to warn Kate!” said Mario.“You must hurry to the treehouse! He’s already close to grabbing what he needs!” said Merlon.“What do you mean?!” asked Mario.“My vision: I saw him enchanting your friend! I tried to warn her, but it’s already happened!” said Merlon.Rather than ask Merlon if he was telling the truth, Mario and Sonic quickly zipped right past him. A few Toads, who were unaware of the situation, shrieked when Sonic and Mario ran right past them, leaving the castle.“Hurry!” Merlon called out to them.Mario and Sonic didn’t hear him, but they knew that’s what he wanted them to do.They had to stop Kate, before she could hand Fawful the gem. Fawful followed Kate as close as he could to the treehouse. It wasn’t long before he couldn’t get close because of the enchantments. He stopped, and Kate stopped.“I’m afraid I cannot proceed. But you can. Please retrieve what I’m looking for,” he told Kate.Kate didn’t respond once more. The trance of the spell made her unable to respond, but she heard what she was told to do. She continued onward, approaching the treehouse.When she entered, Knuckles was inside the kitchen. He was back from Angel Island. The echidna was busy preparing something, so he didn’t see Kate come inside the house. He was oblivious to the fact that his wife was under a spell.Kate began to walk upstairs, but while Knuckles didn’t know that she came in, their Pokémon were the ones who noticed. Pikachu twitched her ears a bit. She turned around, seeing her trainer walk upstairs.“Pika?” she said.She started to rush upstairs, following Kate. The other three Pokemon, Piplup, Oshawott, and Pansage, saw Pikachu going upstairs. They followed her.Kate entered her brewing room. She still didn’t say anything or show any expression in her face. The blank expression, and the green glow in her eyes remained. She made her way to the bookcase and started to move it.It took a few seconds, but she moved it, revealing a spot where a chest was hidden in a hole in the floor, underneath where the bookcase was. Kate opened up the chest, and took out what was inside.The red gem containing the Admin powers.Kate closed the chest and got back up. She started to head out. After she turned and started to leave the room, her Pokemon saw her face. They were shocked to see the green glow in her eyes, and they knew something was wrong.“Pika! Pika pika!” Pikachu said.Kate ignored her and walked past her.“Pan pan sage?” Pansage asked.Kate didn’t respond. She continued to walk down the hallway.“Pip lup?” asked Piplup.“Osha…” said Oshawott.Like the previous two times, Kate didn’t respond to the Pokémon. She finished walking down the stairs, but Knuckles started to come over. Because he heard the Pokémon shouting for a bit, the echidna became concerned. He came over, seeing that Kate was in a trance of some sort.“Kate? Are you alright?” he asked her.Kate still didn’t respond. She headed out of the treehouse, but just as she was about to get past the barriers surrounding the area, someone came rushing over.“Kate!” they shouted.It was Sonic. He quickly tackled Kate, causing her to drop the gem. When it landed on the ground, it cracked a bit.“Kate no! Don’t bring the gem to Fawful!” said Sonic.Kate tried to rush back over and pick up the gem, but Mario kicked it aside. The gem cracked a bit more. The plumber didn’t notice, because he rushed over to help Sonic hold Kate back.“Kate! Kate, can you hear us!?” he shouted.“What the heck is going on here?!” shouted Knuckles.“Fawful used a spell on her to brainwash her and make her give the gem with Romeo’s powers in it to him!” said Sonic.“What?! Oh no! Wait… is it the same spell he’s used before?!” said Knuckles.“We don’t know! Her eyes are glowing, but she’s not attacking us!” said Mario.“Oshawott, use water gun on Kate!” said Knuckles.Oshawott came rushing out. He took in a deep breath, and shot out a blast of water. The blast hit Kate right in the face. Kate coughed a bit, and she struggled to get out of Mario and Sonic’s grasp.She knocked them back, but took a few seconds to cough. As she coughed, Kate looked down.Soon, she stopped coughing, and she looked back up at the guys.Her eyes were back to normal.“Guys! I am so sorry! I almost screwed us all over!” she said with a worried expression.“Wait, you knew what you were doing?!” said Mario.“Yes! I knew that Fawful was controlling me and making me bring the gem to him! I was aware of everything, and I couldn’t do anything to stop myself!” said Kate.She looked down again, trying to fight the tears. Guilt was consuming her rapidly. “I almost gave Fawful the gem with the very powers we don’t want him to have. I almost screwed us all over…” she said sadly.“Kate, it’s okay. We stopped you, and the gem’s still in the barrier,” said Mario.“NO!” they heard a furious voice shout.The four turned around, seeing Fawful glare at them angrily. He was far from them, and the gem, but he couldn’t come in closer because of the enchantments surrounding the treehouse.“I was this close to getting the power that would allow me to defeat you lot!” he shouted.“Well too bad! You’re never getting Romeo’s powers!” Mario shouted back.“You don’t seem to understand what it was like for Romeo when he had those Admin powers, Fawful! He lost himself, and it got to the point where he felt that he couldn’t control himself! Power like that can’t be controlled!” said Kate.“I’ve read the story of the Admin! I know what the power can do! It would’ve enabled me to do anything that I wanted, starting with defeating you once and for all!” Fawful shouted furiously.“And you don’t seem to know the story from the Admin himself! Romeo thought of himself as a monster because of his powers! Even now, without his powers, he’s STILL in trauma for the mistakes he made because of his powers!” Knuckles shouted.“Just you wait, heroes! I WILL get those powers, even if it means I have to control whoever wields them instead of use them myself!” shouted Fawful.The heroes frowned at Fawful. He still couldn’t get close enough to get to them or the gem. The barrier still kept him out.Kate looked at her Pokemon.“You guys ready to attack him?” she asked them.Her Pokémon all nodded their heads. They face Fawful angrily.However, the order of attack didn’t happen. It never did. What happened next was not what anyone, not even Fawful, expected to happen.With the gem still lying on the ground, the group couldn’t leave it there. One of them went over to pick it up, but the gem gave out an ominous glow.A horrible, shriek like noise came from the gem, and it glowed brighter, showing how damaged it was.But before anyone could say anything about how the gem was damaged, the gem suddenly burst open.And the one who tried to pick it up got attacked by the burst of Admin powers that escaped the destroyed gem.Fawful formed his devious grin, which no one saw. Everyone was in shock as the group watched their friend get consumed by the Admin powers.‘I never thought I’d use this one as a puppet, and with the Admin powers…’ he thought. To be continued…
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The situation escalated rather rapidly.Fawful had been desperate for the stone with the Admin powers sealed inside it. Ever since they stopped his attempt to control Romeo and force him to be the Admin once more, Fawful had made it his ambition to get the gem back.And he was so close to getting the gem. He used a spell to hypnotize Kate into bringing it to him, but Mario and Sonic managed to stop her, and with Knuckles’s help, snap her out of it.It was over, or so they thought it was.It would’ve been over, if the gem hadn’t broken and unleash the Admin powers onto the person who was the closest to the gem.“MARIO!” cried Sonic.“NO!” cried Kate.Mario heard them, but he couldn’t call back into them. He felt pain all over his body, as the Admin powers became a part of him.“MARIO, HANG IN THERE!” Kate cried.She, Sonic, and Knuckles tried to rush over and grab Mario, but something suddenly hit them. Fawful had pulled out his staff. He couldn’t get past the barriers, but he could shoot some attacks past the enchantments.“I will NOT lose the Admin powers again!” Fawful shouted.The three hit the wall of the treehouse, and they fell unconscious. Mario saw them all pass out, but he couldn’t call out to them. He felt pain everywhere as the Admin powers got absorbed into himself.Suddenly, he felt himself being levitated. Fawful was using another spell to bring him over to him, past the barrier.“Fawful…! You… leave them…!” Mario said, trying to fight the pain as best as he could. He frowned at the magician as he spoke.“Don’t worry, I will leave them. But you… you’re coming with me…” Fawful said, grinning.Mario stopped frowning. He knew what was going to happen. Fawful was going to brainwash him and force him to work for him.Fawful waved his staff. He teleported away, with Mario as his hostage. Sonic finally regained consciousness. He felt dizzy as he started to wake up, but his vision soon became clear. He expected to find himself outside the treehouse, but instead, he found himself inside a room at Peach’s castle.The blue hedgehog groaned as he sat up. Lying down in a full size bed was Knuckles and Kate. Both of them were still unconscious.“Knuckles?! Kate?!” said Sonic.“Sonic?” said a voice.Sonic turned around, seeing that it was Princess Peach.“Peach! How did we get here?!” said Sonic.“After you and Mario ran off, Merlon told me what he informed you both on. I called Shadow and Rouge to assist you both, but they used Chaos Control to teleport you guys here because they found you unconscious,” said Peach.“Peach… Mario! Fawful has him! The gem, the admin powers!” said Sonic.“Wait, what?! Where’s Mario?!” said Peach.“The gem cracked, and the admin powers escaped from it, and went into Mario! Fawful took him!” said Sonic.“Oh no! No!” said Peach.“Most likely he will try to brainwash Mario with his magic,” said a voice.Sonic and Peach turned around, seeing that Shadow and Rouge had listened to their conversation.“We gotta get to Fawful’s fortress and save Mario before Fawful brainwashes him!” said Sonic. “The longer we stay here, then the lower our chances are of saving Mario!”“We’ll head out as soon as Knuckles and Kate wake up,” said Shadow.“Then they better hurry up and wake up!” said Sonic.He looked over at his friends as he spoke. Knuckles stirred a bit, but Kate was still knocked out. The blue hedgehog sighed in frustration.‘Hang in there, Mario!’ he thought. Over at Fawful’s fortress, the magician had locked up Mario in a cell in his basement. Mario wasn’t focused on trying to get out. He was frightened by how the admin powers went into his body. The plumber still felt numb in his legs, for he found it hard to stand up. The pain of turning into an admin was still affecting him, though it had gone away a bit.Fawful wasn’t in sight. Mario was by himself, and he looked down at his hands. He had a frightened look in his eyes, but the reason why he teared up slightly was because of the pain he went through.Now that he had admin powers, Mario’s appearance had changed up a bit. His red shirt and hat were now in a darker shade of red, with the ‘M’ on his hat glowing. His gloves were now light grey, but the rim was glowing. Mario’s overalls were black instead of blue now, and the yellow buttons were the color red now, glowing as well. And finally, Mario’s shoes were black instead of brown. The glowing lights that were a part of his attire were the color dark orange.Even Mario’s eyes and skin color changed. Mario’s skin was grey now. Mario’s eye color was dark orange, and his pupils were glowing in a yellow light. The only aspects of Mario that remained the same was his hair and mustache. Both remained the same colors, and his mustache hadn’t grown nor shrunk.‘Mamma mia! I got the admin powers! I’m an admin now! I can’t let Fawful control me!’ he thought. ‘He’ll make me hurt everyone!’ The sound of a door echoed the basement. Mario looked up, and he gasped when he saw that Fawful was coming to him. The magician was carrying something with him.“Hello Mario,” Fawful said, giving him his mischievous grin.Mario backed up a bit. He was ready for any of Fawful’s attempts to control him.“Relax Mario,” said Fawful. He pulled out a plate with some food on it. “I’m only giving you some food.”The magician put the plate down on the floor, then gently slid it underneath the space between the floor and the gate. Mario glared at the plate, then back at Fawful. He wasn’t stupid. Knowing Fawful, the magician must’ve put something in the food.“You’re pretty smart for a plumber, Mario. I’m impressed that you won’t eat any of the food. I did indeed taint it with a spell,” said Fawful.“I’m not letting you brainwash me, Fawful! I know your scams! I’m not letting you force me to hurt my friends!” said Mario.“You seem so sure that you don’t want to use your admin powers,” said Fawful.“I’m not going to risk doing anything bad…”“And I know you wouldn’t, Mario. It’s how the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom would be.”Mario angrily kicked the plate of food away from himself. The food fell off and scattered around the floor, while the plate slid to the other side of the cell bars.“Forget it, Fawful! I refuse to be your puppet!” Mario sneered at him.Fawful picked up the plate. He walked away from Mario, frowning as he did. The plumber didn’t see the magician frowning since Fawful had his back turned to Mario.‘He has a point. He won’t fall for anything like food, but I think I know what can convince him to do the dirty work, and I don’t even have to brainwash him…’ thought Fawful.Fawful formed his malicious grin. Back at the Mushroom Kingdom, Knuckles and Kate finally woke up. Sonic waited impatiently for them to get back on their feet, trying to push them out the door. Or at least push Knuckles out the door. The echidna was still a bit dizzy, but when Kate remembered that Mario got taken, she was the one to rush out.“Come on! We don’t have time to waste! Fawful could be brainwashing him right now! And fighting a friend of ours that’s been brainwashed and corrupted by admin powers is the last thing I want to do right now!” said Sonic.“Geez Sonic! I’m trying to move…” Knuckles snapped at him, though he started to groan again. The echidna still felt dizzy.Kate stumbled a bit, for she felt dizzy herself. Rouge handed her a water bottle. Kate drank it as quickly as she could, and she felt a bit better.“Thanks Rouge,” she said.The group left the guest room. Waiting in the entrance hall of the castle was Silver, Blaze, Yoshi, and Luigi.“He took my brother!? Oh mama mia!” said Luigi.“Don’t worry. We’ll get him back!” said Silver.“I called for theme to come and help us out,” said Shadow.“Then lets get going already!” said Sonic.“Sonic’s right! Mario’s in trouble!” said Yoshi.“We have to save my brother before something bad happens to Mario!” said Luigi.The group quickly left the castle. Sonic, Blaze, Shadow, Kate, and Yoshi rushed out on foot. Silver used his powers to levitate himself, while Rouge flied. Luigi got in his kart, with Knuckles as his passenger.“And just why did Fawful kidnap Mario, if I may ask?” asked Blaze.“It’s my fault! He tried to hypnotize me into giving him the gem with Romeo’s powers sealed away! Mario and Sonic stopped me, and Knuckles got me to snap out of it. But the gem must’ve cracked or something, because it broke, and Mario got the admin powers stuck inside him!” said Kate.“That’s why Fawful took him?! Crap! If he hypnotizes Mario, then we’re screwed!” said Silver.“The first time with Romeo, Stella snapped him out of it. If she can bring Romeo back to his senses, then we can do the same with Mario!” said Rouge.“I hope you’re right!” said Luigi.“Let’s just focus on getting there first!” said Shadow angrily.The group dropped their conversation right there. Shadow was right. They had to focus on getting to Fawful’s fortress first. Mario was still alone in the cell. Even though he had the admin powers, he didn’t want to risk using them. He remembered how Romeo felt about his powers, and practically begged the group to kill him when he thought that he couldn’t be turned back to normal.The plumber didn’t want to wish for him to suffer such a fate, but he still doesn’t want to risk hurting his own friends with the admin powers.‘I hope everyone’s okay…’ he thought.Mario heard footsteps. Fawful had returned to the basement. The magician was carrying his staff. Mario got back on his feet. He had to be ready to dodge any attacks that Fawful would throw at him, especially if it was a brainwash spell.For some strange reason, Fawful wasn’t grinning, which made Mario feel both confused and concerned. Normally the magician would show off his malicious grin when he was ready to cause mischief.“It’s a shame that you don’t want to use something in your favor, Mario,” said Fawful.Mario frowned. He didn’t want to show any sign that he was confused by Fawful’s words.“You question me, Mario. You are one of the three heroes, yet, you possess no powers of your own,” said Fawful.“I don’t need powers!” said Mario.“You think you do, but just take a look back,” said Fawful.He waved his staff. Mario quickly jumped back, expecting a blast of magic to come at him. But instead, a smoke cloud of some sort approached him, and it stopped. It started to show some images.Mario was surprised to see that it showed some of the previous times that he, Sonic, and Kate had to battle bad guys, including Fawful.“Just look at how powerless you’ve been, compared to Sonic and Kate,” said Fawful.Mario would’ve protested, but he saw that in the images, Fawful had a point. Sonic had his super speed, which enabled him to use moves like spin dash or homing attack. And as for Kate, she had her sword and her dream power to help her battle any enemies.Compared to that, Mario was indeed powerless. And in those images that Fawful showed Mario, the plumber saw himself having to rely on power ups like the fire flower or a red mushroom to give him an upper hand, but one hit from an enemy’s attack would remove that power up ability. Unlike Sonic and Kate, Mario didn’t really have any powers of abilities. He always relied on power ups to enable him to do things like his friends could.“You… you’re right…” Mario said sadly.Fawful waved his staff again. The smoke cloud vanished, and Mario saw that the magician was giving Mario a concerned look.“I’m afraid so, Mario… It seems that compared to Sonic and Kate, you aren’t as great as them…” said Fawful.“B-but I am a hero to! I-I’ve saved Peach! I’ve battled B-Bowser! I fought the D-Dark King and his Nightmares!” said Mario.“You still used power ups those times, and in the last case you mentioned, you were only used as a pawn to help them do the work of saving the universe,” said Fawful.Mario started to tear up a bit. He looked down and sniffled. He didn’t want to accept it, but Fawful was indeed right.All the times that Mario had been a hero, fought bad guys, or helped his friends save the day, it was all because he used power ups. He had no powers like his friends, which meant that he must not be a real hero like them. He was weak compared to them.“No… they… they always told me…”Mario couldn’t continue speaking. He started to sob a bit. Fawful opened up the door to the cell, but Mario turned away. The plumber walked over to the wall, in the back of his cell. He sobbed a bit as he did.However, Mario’s sobs started to die down. The plumber suddenly clenched his fists. He began to growl for some reason.Mario looked up at a mirror that was in the cell. He saw his reflection. He still looked like an admin, but whether he looked like an admin or a human, there was no denying how he was feeling. Based on the look on his face, there was fury in his eyes.Mario angrily punched the mirror, shattering it to pieces.Fawful grinned.‘All according to plan…’ he thought. Sonic, Kate, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, Luigi, and Yoshi finally spotted Fawful’s fortress in the distance. They all regrouped outside, thinking of a plan on how to get in and rescue Mario.“We need to act fast! Who knows what awful things Fawful is doing to Mario?!” said Luigi.“Calm down, Luigi. We will save him,” said Yoshi.“We’ll go and distract Fawful and his guards. Sonic and Kate, since Fawful attacked you guys before, you should sneak in. chances are, Fawful will think that you two are both recovering from the attack he threw at you earlier,” said Shadow.“Let me come with them! Mario’s my brother!” said Luigi.“Luigi, you sure you want to come with us?” said Sonic. “Fawful might expect you to sneak in, so if he doesn’t see you with the distraction, then we might have more trouble getting to Mario.”“Sonic has a point. You should come and help us distract the guards,” said Blaze.Luigi sighed in frustration, but he didn’t look angry. He still looked distressed.“You keep my brother safe and get him out once you find him, please!” said Luigi.“Don’t worry, Luigi. We will do so. You know that he’s our friend, and we care about him as much as you care for your brother,” said Kate.“Alright everyone! Just be careful when you go into action!” said Silver.Everyone nodded their heads. Shadow, Silver, Blaze, Luigi, Yoshi, Rouge, and Knuckles headed out. They all went in different directions to distract different groups of Fawful’s guards, and just as they hoped, Fawful himself appeared. Flying on a Kamek broomstick, the magician tried to attack everyone else.“I don’t think he copied the admin powers from Mario. He hasn’t summoned any of those monsters from last time,” said Sonic.“He may still have brainwashed Mario though! We better be careful inside!” said Kate.“Lead the way! You know the way to sneak in from when you rescued Romeo and found him!” said Sonic.Kate nodded her head. She started to rush ahead, with Sonic following her. Fawful never joined the fight. He figured that the others would come to rescue Mario, so he disguised a Kamek to look like him with a spell. He hoped that it would help pull off the ruse, because he was busy executing what he had planned for Mario.“They always lied to me… they think it’s funny that I have no abilities like them!” Mario sneered at his reflection.Fawful wiped his malicious grin off of his face. He returned to showing fake concern in his face and walked over to Mario. The magician gently patted Mario on the back. Mario stopped frowning for a second and looked at Fawful.“I’m sorry that your friends deceived you, Mario. They shouldn’t have done that to someone like you,” said Fawful.Mario looked down. He started to look angry again.“But Mario… power is in your hands at long last. You could do anything you want with it, especially since it’s the admin powers that you now have control of,” said Fawful.Mario looked back up at Fawful.“I’m not going to control you, Mario. I assure you I won’t. But just take my words to consideration,” said Fawful.Mario frowned, but he wasn’t angry at Fawful. He stepped away from the magician. He lifted up one of his hands, and using his new admin powers, Mario started to hover in the air. The plumber suddenly grinned.“Power is in your hands, Mario. Think of what you can do now as an admin,” said Fawful.Mario was still grinning, but this time, it wasn’t like his normal, friendly grin. He had a furious look in his eyes.“I think I should show them that they’re wrong for making me feel so weak… for letting them become superior and use me like that…” said Mario.Mario clapped his hands, and he teleported away. Once Mario was gone, Fawful formed his malicious grin once more.‘Finally! He took the bait! That worked better than expected!’ he thought. To be continued…
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There was no time to waste.Sonic and Kate snuck into Fawful’s fortress. Mario not only got possessed by the admin powers, but Fawful captured him. And knowing the evil magician, Fawful was going to hypnotize Mario into doing his bidding. The first thing Fawful would do would obviously make Mario fight Sonic and Kate.So the blue hedgehog and human snuck into the fortress, while their friends kept Fawful and his minions busy by attacking the fortress from the front. The two used a warp pipe tunnel to enter into the fortress by sneaking into the sewer.The two managed to finally get in. Once they were in, they found no sign of any of Fawful’s minions.“We’re all clear. I guess we can get to Mario easily, though let’s keep it as quiet as possible just in case,” said Sonic.“I agree. Fawful’s bound to have a trap or something set up for us. He’d expect us to come and save Mario,” said Kate.Kate drew out her sword, while Sonic pulled out a ring to give himself a boost in power. The two made their way through Fawful’s fortress carefully and quietly, though they didn’t run into anyone or anything.“It’s quiet. Too quiet…” said Sonic. “I don’t like this. It just seems too easy…”“I agree. We better stay close together. Don’t want to get separated like the last time Fawful screwed with us,” said Kate.Taking point, Kate led Sonic to the basement. The two made it to the jail cell block, but when they got there, thee duo noticed that a cell was empty. Not only was it empty, but the door was wide open.“Empty. You think Mario was in here?” asked Kate.“Probably. Maybe he broke his way out,” said Sonic. “Though, it doesn’t look like there are signs of a struggle, save for that broken mirror.”Kate walked over to the cell. She inspected the mirror that Sonic pointed at. The mirror was cracked, and it looked like something hit it in the center, where the cracks were the smallest. No shards of glass were on the floor.“Something or someone hit that mirror,” said Kate.She ran her fingers along the mirror, careful not to cut herself along where the cracks were.“It must be recent to,” said Kate.“How can you tell?” asked Sonic.“I’m just guessing,” said Kate.“Maybe Mario used it to hit Fawful and break out?”“Can’t be. If he did, then the mirror would’ve been lying on the floor, and there would’ve been shards of glass on the floor.”“But all the other cells are locked up, and this mirror shows that this cell was recently used to lock someone up. It has to be Mario! He must’ve broken out!”“Or maybe he was let go…” an angry voice sneered at the two.Sonic and Kate turned around. Mario had appeared from somewhere. He looked frightening. The admin powers had finished sinking into his body, so now he looked like an admin version of himself. And because he got Romeo’s powers, Mario looked menacing as an admin.“Mario! Are you okay?! Did Fawful hurt you?!” said Sonic.“Fawful didn’t do a damn thing to me, but he did make some interesting points…” said Mario.“Points? Wait… what did he tell you?” asked Kate.“Oh nothing, except that you two seem to enjoy using a weak, powerless individual like me…” said Mario.“Weak? Powerless? Dude, you’re not either of those things! What makes you think that!?” said Sonic.Mario looked up at them angrily. The glare of his admin eyes was menacing. He lifted his hand, and suddenly, Sonic and Kate were levitated into the air. The two of them shrieked in panic as they were levitated in the air. Mario started to hover up to them.“Mario? What the heck, man!?” said Sonic.“Mario, Fawful brainwashed you! We’ll snap you out of it!” said Kate.Mario clenched his fists when Kate said that. He used his new admin powers to toss the two aside. Sonic and Kate hit the wall hard, and fell down and hit the floor.“Fawful isn’t controlling me! I am under my own control! And I won’t be a pawn for you two anymore!” Mario shouted.“Mario… what do you mean?” Sonic said, groaning a bit.“Just admit it! You only keep me around because I can take the bullet! I’m weak compared to you both because I have no powers! Sonic, you have your speed, and Kate, you have your dream abilities! I can’t do anything compared to that, and power ups are nothing compared to what you can do!” said Mario.“Mario… that isn’t true… you’re our friend… we’re a team…” said Kate, sadly.Mario growled. He used his powers to levitate her and Sonic again.“I’m not falling for that lie anymore! I have power now, so I’ll show you just how much I can out power you!” he shouted.The plumber clapped his hands. The place began to shake. The floor split into parts, and Mario snapped his fingers.The three of them were teleported outside, along with the broken platforms from the floor of the basement. When they were teleported outside, Knuckles, Luigi, Yoshi, Shadow, Rouge, Silver, and Blaze all got a look at what was going on.“Mario?!” cried Luigi. “No! No! What has Fawful done to you?!”Mario used his powers to levitate everyone up. He also brought the broken parts of the floor over. The plumber clapped his hands, bringing together the parts of the floor.“You both think you’re tougher than me because of your powers?! Well, why not see which one of you is stronger than the other?” Mario snapped at Sonic and Kate.He threw them down at opposite ends of floating platform.“Fight! And if you two don’t fight…” said Mario.He snapped his fingers, shocking Knuckles and Yoshi.“Knux!” cried Kate.“Mario, stop!” cried Sonic.“Mario, please! Fawful’s controlling you!” said Luigi.“I am doing this on my own terms! I’m sick of having no powers compared to Sonic and Kate! Compared to pretty much everyone!” Mario shouted angrily.‘Fawful probably hasn’t brainwashed him. Not with a spell though. He must’ve said stuff to make Mario feel this way,’ thought Kate.“It’s time that I show you how strong I am without power ups! I have this power now!” Mario shouted.He turned his attention back to Sonic and Kate. Mario snapped his fingers, handing them each a sword.“Fight already!” he shouted at them.Sonic and Kate were quiet. They couldn’t believe that Mario was forcing them to fight. The two gave each other worried looks, and neither dared to move.“Fight already!” he repeated.He clapped his hands harder than before, shocking Knuckles and Yoshi once more. The two shouted out in pain.“Knux!” cried Kate.She turned to face Sonic. Kate readied her sword.“Kate?” asked Sonic.“Sonic… I’m so sorry…” she said.Mario stopped shocking Knuckles and Yoshi. He formed a malicious grin. Kate trembled a bit, but she took a deep breath, and charged at Sonic.“Kate!” cried Sonic.Kate tried to hit Sonic, but the blue hedgehog used his sword to block her attack.“Kate what are you doing?!” said Sonic.“I’m sorry, but I can’t let him hurt Knuckles!” said Kate.She kicked Sonic in the chest. Sonic groaned. Kate tried to stab him, but the blue hedgehog quickly dodged the attack. He jumped back.“No! I’m not fighting you!” he shouted.“Fight her already!” Mario snapped at him.Kate charged again. Their swords clashed again.“Kate, really?!” Sonic shouted.“Relax Sonic! We have to fake it, at least for now!” Kate whispered at him.Sonic blinked a bit. He couldn’t believe that Kate was really trying to fake it. But he was relieved that Kate really wasn’t trying to kill him.“Okay!” he whispered back.Sonic pushed Kate back. He frowned.“Fine then! If it’s a fight you want, you’ll get one!” he shouted.Kate frowned at him. The two charged at each other again. They clashed their swords again, enough to satisfy Mario and fake it. The two pushed each other away from the other once more. Sonic slashed his sword, but Kate dodged it, by jumping around. She backed up slowly, getting closer to Mario and further from Sonic.From afar, Fawful was watching. He grinned evilly.“Finally! What I hopped for! The heroes are turning against each other! Destroy each other, you stupid idiots!” he whispered to himself.No one saw that Fawful was watching. Everyone focused on the fight, except for Luigi. He stared at his brother with tearful eyes.“Mario… why? This isn’t you…” he said sadly.Mario looked at his brother. He was frowning, but when he saw Luigi’s sad look, the plumber started to feel regretful.‘He… he’s right, this isn’t-’ thought Mario.“Mario!” shouted Kate.Mario’s train of thought was interrupted when he looked up. Kate was in front of him, and she was running up to him. But she tossed her sword aside, and she suddenly hugged Mario.“Mario, please snap out of it! This isn’t you!” she cried.Sonic dropped his sword. He rushed over and joined the hug.“Mario… please stop this now… we don’t want to fight you…” whispered Sonic.Mario started to tear up. He was beginning to realize what was going on.He was making the very mistake that Fawful expected him to make. And he let Fawful manipulate him with words and conflicting thoughts. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t affected by magic. Mario ended up making this mistake on his own.“Guys… I…” he whispered.He slowly returned the hug and teared up.“I’m so sorry!” he sobbed.“WHAT!?” an angry voice shouted.Fawful appeared at the group. He frowned at them.“Of course! How could I forget how that girl snapped the Admin out of it!?” he sneered.He eyed the Three Heroes angrily.“Why can’t you three ever just die?!” he shouted.Fawful started to charge for them on his Kamek broomstick. Mario pushed Sonic and Kate aside. He held his hand up in front of Fawful, managing to stop the magician with his new admin powers.“You bastard! I can’t believe I listened to you! You made me hurt my friends!” Mario shouted.And with a hard toss, Mario used the admin powers to send Fawful flying off. The magician let out an angry cry as he went flying off, but it quickly became faint as he disappeared from everyone’s sights.Mario let out a sad sigh. Carefully, he used the admin powers to lower everyone back to the ground without hurting them.“Guys… I’m so sorry…” he said.“You should be…” Knuckles muttered.Kate frowned at her husband, but when she faced Mario again, she gave him a concerned look.“Mario, it’s not your fault. Fawful figured out a way to manipulate you without using his magic. But you came back to your senses, and you controlled yourself as well as your power,” she said.“I did stop myself, but I still can’t keep these powers… chances are I’m going to end up like how Romeo did… and, what if you and Sonic end up like Fred and Xara?” he said.“It’s not going to come to that. I’ll remove the admin powers again. Knuckles and I have thee emeralds, so I can get another gem or stone to remove them from you and put them in it,” said Kate.“That won’t be enough,” said Sonic.The group turned to face him.“We seal the powers away in another gem, then the same mess will happen again. We need to get rid of these admin powers once and for all!” he said.“We’ll worry about it after we get Mario back to normal,” said Kate.“Kate’s right. We should get back to the castle, and get Mario free from those powers before Fawful comes back,” said Silver. A few hours passed, and the group was back at the castle. Kate was resting, for she had managed to remove the admin powers from Mario and transfer them into another gem. She was drained from her work, and needed to rest for a while.Kate wasn’t the only one unconscious. Mario himself was tired and in a bit of pain after he got the admin powers removed from him. The plumber was resting in another guest room, where Peach, Luigi, and Yoshi were keeping an eye on him.Sonic watched as the three were watching over Mario. He sighed and closed the door. He walked down the hallway, checking in on Kate. She was fast asleep in her bed, and Knuckles was lying down next to her. He had dozed off himself and was asleep to.“It hasn’t been an easy day for any of us,” said a voice behind him.Sonic turned around, seeing that it was Shadow who spoke to him. The blue hedgehog sighed again.“Fawful manipulated Mario, and me and Kate had to fight each other to protect you guys…” he said.“That magician is getting more malicious. He’s certainly more dangerous than Bowser or Eggman at this point,” said Shadow.Sonic pulled out a glowing stone. It was the new stone with the admin powers sealed away. After Kate finished doing her work on removing the powers from Mario, she had passed out, dropping the stone right by Sonic’s feet. The blue hedgehog had picked it up, knowing that they had to hurry and do something with it.“We better do something about this gem before Fawful comes back. I don’t want one of us getting the powers and letting it get to our heads again…” said Sonic.“I agree,” said Shadow.“Have you thought of something to do with the stone? I haven’t thought of something…”“No, but Silver thinks he has something. He asked me to inform you.”Sonic nodded his head. “Where is he?” he asked Shadow.“In the dining hall with Blaze,” said Shadow. “Go talk to him. Rouge and I are making sure that Fawful’s not around.”Sonic rushed downstairs to the dining hall, leaving Shadow to himself. The blue hedgehog made his way to the ground floor, and he entered the dining hall. Silver and Blaze were standing at the end of the room, looking out the window. Sonic walked over to them.“Silver!” he called out.Silver and Blaze turned around. Sonic finished walking up to them.“Sonic. Do you have the gem?” asked Silver.Sonic pulled out the gem.“Good. I think I have an idea, but I’ll let you know when Rosalina gets here,” said Silver.“Rosalina? How can she help us?” asked Sonic.“Best I explain it in a little while. I don’t want to risk saying anything until it’s safe to say,” said Silver. A short while later, and the Comet Observatory appeared above the Mushroom Kingdom. Using his powers, Silver levitated himself, Blaze, and Sonic up onto the observatory. Silver quickly asked Rosalina to take off and bring them to a galaxy, which she agreed that they could do. The Lumas got to work, and started to steer the observatory away from the planet and up to space.“Silver, where are you going with this?” asked Sonic.“Well, earlier, Yoshi told me about how he once helped Mario travel through galaxies to help Rosalina. He said how black holes were an annoyance because they had to be careful not to fall in them. Knowing black holes, there’s one way in and no way out. So I thought…” said Silver.“We could throw the gem into a black hole,” Sonic said, finishing for Silver.Silver nodded his head. “Exactly,” he said.“I called Rosalina, and explained Silver’s plan. She said it was possible, so we’ll head out to throw the gem into a black hole right now,” said Blaze.Rosalina came walking over to the group.“We can only get close enough to a black hole without the risk of the observatory getting sucked in. And the observatory’s engines can’t withstand the gravity pull of a black hole for long,” said Rosalina.“I can use my powers to levitate the stone into the black hole without us getting too close,” said Silver.Sonic handed Silver the gem.“I know you can do it, man,” said Sonic.“Alright. I’ll let you know when we get close,” said Rosalina.Rosalina and Silver walked away, leaving Sonic and Blaze alone. Blaze heard Sonic sigh sadly. She turned to talk to the blue hedgehog, but Sonic walked away.“Sonic?” asked Blaze.Sonic ignored her. He walked over to a field where some Lumas were playing with some of the flowers. Sonic sad down in a chair nearby, and he watched the Lumas gleefully play with a glum look on his face.Blaze followed Sonic. She walked over and sat down on the ground next to Sonic.“Sonic, what’s the matter?” she asked him.Sonic sighed again.“This whole mess happened because of some things Fawful said to Mario. He must’ve made Mario feel like he’s nothing compared to me and Kate, just because we have powers… Blaze… have I been a bad friend to Mario?” he said.Blaze was quiet. She didn’t know how to respond.“I mean… Mario and I were rivals before we met Kate. Are we really still going to be in each other’s throats like this, even after we made amends?” said Sonic.Blaze was quiet for a bit. She had to think through how to respond, since she wasn’t one to socialize often or offer advice.“Sonic, don’t think like that. This is what Fawful would want from us: to have these thoughts. He wants to divide us. Mario had those kind of thoughts, which almost made us turn against each other. You can’t think like that,” said Blaze.Sonic was quiet, but he knew that Blaze was right. If there was one thing that they couldn’t do, it was split the group up. They split up, then they don’t have a fighting chance against Fawful. The reason why they’ve been able to beat Fawful all those times was because of their friendship. It was their true power, and their true strength.Without their friendship, then Fawful has the upper hand.“You’re right Blaze… I’m sorry…” he said.“It’s fine, Sonic,” said Blaze.Blaze felt relieved. She hoped that he words would be enough for the blue hedgehog.“Guys?” said a voice.Silver and Rosalina walked over to them.“You alright?” asked Silver.“Yeah. We’re okay. I just needed a moment to think,” said Sonic.He stood up, and Sonic wiped away any tears he had to prove that he was doing better. Silver, Blaze, and Rosalina smiled at the blue hedgehog. After that, everything went by quickly. Rosalina brought the group over to the black hole, and Silver used his powers to toss the stone into the black hole. With that done, the group turned around and returned back to their planet. Rosalina bid goodbye to the Mobians, and Sonic, Silver, and Blaze headed back into the castle.When they returned, Mario and Kate were awake and fully recovered. Once more, Mario apologized for his actions. His friends reassured him that they forgave him by pulling him in for a group hug.While all ended well for the group, Fawful had watched the entire time. Using his crystal ball, he watched everything. Kate removing the admin powers from Mario. The Comet Observatory going into space. Silver tossing the gem into the black hole. And the group making amends.The magician was furious.“It’s gone… the admin powers are gone… and now I can never get them…” he sneered angrily. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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Somewhere near Apotos, Kate was tugging Romeo by the arm, leading him somewhere.“Come on, Romeo!” she told him excitedly.“Kate, please slow down! I can’t run as fast as you!” Romeo said.“Just raise your head and run!” said Kate.Romeo panted a bit as he tried to keep up with Kate’s pace. He was getting tired quickly, but he did his best to keep up with Kate for his friend’s sake.After a little bit more running, the duo finally reached a spot. It was outside the Gaia temple, but Romeo was confused to see that Hadrian, Mevia, and their Luxio Kari were there. In addition, the Blaze Rods were there to, and Romeo was confused since he hadn’t met them yet.“What is going on?” asked Romeo.“I’ll explain when the others arrive,” said Kate.“Sorry! Sorry if we’re late!” a voice called out.Kate and Romeo turned around. It was Tacey, and she arrived with Gordon. Gordon was carrying his Litten, Chi Chi, who was fast asleep in his arms.“Right on time,” said Kate, giving them a smile.“Hello Kate. I’m… confused. What is going on here?” asked Gordon.“I was asking her the same thing,” said Romeo.Hadrian, Mevia, and the Blaze Rods came over. They were all smiling.“Romeo, Gordon, you already know Hadrian and Mevia,” said Kate.“We’d like to also introduce you to the Blaze Rods: Aiden, Maya, and Gill,” said Tacey.“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Aiden greeted Romeo and Gordon.“Kate and Tacey told us a lot about you guys. We’ve been excited to meet you,” said Maya.“Hi!” said Gill.Romeo and Gordon smiled nervously. Gordon waved a bit, while Romeo managed to say a small, quiet, “Hello.”“Kate, Tacey, did you bring us to meet your friends?” asked Gordon.“That’s a part of it. But we thought you all could hang out together, because you all have something in common,” said Tacey.“We… we do?” asked Romeo, sounding a bit nervous.“You all chose to pursue redemption, and got it,” said Kate.Romeo and Gordon were confused. They knew about Hadrian and Mevia’s story, but they didn’t know about the Blaze Rods’ story.“We caused some trouble with a town called Sky City,” said Gill.“It was mainly me… I let jealousy corrupt my focus, and I caused so much destruction…” said Aiden. He let out a sigh, but he smiled sadly. “It’s okay though. I’ve made amends with the townspeople, and the leaders, Milo and Isa, even consider me as a citizen and a friend.”“We’ve come a long way since then, and we heard about what you guys went through. We thought it would be good for you to meet some other people who know what it’s like in a sense,” said Maya.“Yeah. We can even call ourselves a ‘redemption group’,” said Hadrian.Gordon smiled nervously. “It… it would be nice to try to meet new people. I am living in this world now, and since you guys are good friends with Tacey, I would like to get along with you for her sake,” he said.Romeo didn’t smile. He looked down. “I… I’m not sure… I’m still trying to convince myself that I don’t always cause trouble, even without my admin powers…” he said.“It’s okay, Romeo. I’m right here for you, but if you want to go home, I’ll take you home,” said Kate.Romeo was quiet, thinking over. He looked at everyone, seeing the small smiles they were giving him. It felt reassuring, just knowing that they wanted to give him a chance, but respected if he wasn’t ready. He took a deep breath and exhaled.“I’ll give it a try, but if it becomes too much, I’ll let you know,” Romeo told Kate.“As long as you’re comfortable, that’s what matters,” Kate said, smiling at him.“Since we’ve got this all settled out, how about we get down to hanging out? I got some targets set up so we can do a little bit of archery,” said Mevia. She pulled out a few bows and some arrows out of her inventory.“I’m game. I need to practice anyway,” said Maya.“I haven’t tried using a bow yet. I’m still getting used to a sword,” said Romeo, smiling nervously a bit.“Here, we can show you,” said Aiden.Mevia handed Romeo one of the bows. Aiden and Maya showed Romeo how to properly load an arrow, and helped him form the correct stance so that he could aim. Romeo fired his fired arrow and hit the target. It wasn’t a bullseye, but he hit the target.“Hey, not bad for a first shot with a bow,” said Maya.“Thanks. This is… actually kind of fun,” said Romeo.Gordon took a bow and he started to load an arrow. Though he struggled a bit, mainly because of how one of his eyes was covered by his eye piece.“Having trouble?” asked Tacey.“Heh… not easy with only one eye…” said Gordon. He smiled nervously and blushed in embarrassment.“Here, wanna try something else?” asked Hadrian. He had a football in his hands. “Why not try catching and tossing this?”“How do you play?” asked Gordon.“It’s simple. Here, I can help Hadrian show you,” said Kate.She ran a bit, putting distance between herself and Hadrian. When she stopped running and turned around, Hadrian tossed the ball. He got a good spiral, and Kate caught the ball.“See? It’s easy!” Kate called out to Gordon.“Guess I could try it out,” said Gordon.“Me to,” said Tacey.She and Gordon ran out into the field, and they started to play some football with Hadrian and Kate. A little while later, and the group was tired out from doing archery practice or playing some football. As an idea to relax, Hadrian and Mevia suggested that they rent a boat and go out to the ocean. So the group went down to the board walk and rented a boat and some fishing poles. They drove the boat out a little far out from the shore, and got their fishing poles ready.Though about an hour passed, and no one was getting a bite.“This is boring! We’ve been out here for an hour and don’t have even one fish…” Gill complained.He pulled out a pack of cards.“Anyone wanna play go fish with me?” he asked.“Fine by me,” said Gordon.He, Tacey, and Aiden sat down at a table on the deck with Gill. The four began their game of go fish, while Romeo, Kate, Aiden, Hadrian, and Mevia remained by the fishing poles.“Gill was right. I am getting a little bored…” said Aiden.Mevia groaned a bit, and she looked down in boredom as she did.Kate scratched her chin a bit, as she thought of something that they could do. After a few seconds, she came up with an idea.“Hey, how about some would you rather?” she suggested.“How do you play that?” asked Romeo.“Oh. It’s easy. I’ve played with Kate and Sonic before. You just ask something if they’d do one thing or the other. Here, we can show you a demonstration,” said Aiden. He faced Hadrian and said, “Hadrian, would you rather lose your glasses, or lose your diary?”“I prefer you call it a journal…” Hadrian said, frowning a bit. “But, I’d rather lose my glasses than that. I can always get a new pair of glasses,” he said, answering the question to the game.“Sounds kind of easy,” said Romeo.“Oh that was too simple!” said Mevia. She faced Kate and said, “Alright Kate, would you rather be forced to listen to Justin Bieber, or be forced to watch one of the Twilight saga movies?”Kate cringed a bit. She facedpalmed and said, “Oh why two evils that annoy me so easily?” She let out a sigh and said, “Well… I’d go with the Twilight movie option…”“You serious?” asked Mevia.“I tried reading the books for a friend’s sake. I hated it. At least I know I could handle it a tad bit easier than listening to Justin Bieber,” she said.Romeo formed a confused look, but Hadrian gave him a pat on the back.“Your turn now, Romeo. So… would you rather have the ability to fly, or… control things with your mind?” he asked the former admin.Romeo fell silent. He knew what both of those things because it was a part of being the admin. Hadrian noticed that Romeo was quiet, and he suddenly realized what was bothering the former admin.“Oh! I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-”To the group’s surprise, Romeo smiled a bit. “It was nice to fly. If I could have one of my old powers back, it would be to fly. I wouldn’t be controlling anyone, which is why I’d feel better with flying,” he said.Kate smiled when she heard Romeo’s response and saw him smile. It had been a while since she first met him and she learned about who he was before. Even after things were sorted with the mess with Fawful reviving Romeo, Romeo still struggled to let go and accept his second chance.But seeing him smile now, and even word his response the way he did, it showed that he had been making progress. Romeo was starting to feel much better now.Romeo suddenly gasped. He had his eyes on one of the fishing poles, which was shaking a bit.“Oh! I think we got one!” he said.He quickly grabbed the fishing pole and tried to reel in the fish. It was running smoothly, but Romeo soon found himself struggling to pull the fish up.“Hold on! I think… I got it!” he said.He pulled hard, and got the fish out of the water.Over at the table with the go fish game, the others were still playing their game.“Got any sevens?” asked Gordon.“Nope. Go fish,” said Gill.Gordon was about to reach into the pile and grab a card, but as he was doing that, Romeo pulled the fish on board. Unfortunately, he tugged a little too hard, and the fish ended up landing right on the table. Maya yelped when the fish landed on the table. It thrashed a bit since it was out of water.“Well, guess I won’t be fishing in this ocean. Romeo did a good job already,” Gordon joked.The group couldn’t help but laugh. Only for a second though. Mevia grabbed the fish and put it in a cooler with some sea water.“Leave it to me to gut it later. I’ve had some practice for a while,” she said.“Gut it?” asked Romeo.“The fish in this world, if you’re gonna eat it, you gotta clean out the stuff you don’t want to eat or can’t eat first. It’s not as simple as in our universe,” said Mevia.“It’s actually simple. And cooking it is more fun, since you can do all sorts of things with cooking,” said Hadrian.“Could you show me?” asked Romeo.“Sure. We can give you some cooking lessons,” said Hadrian.Kate smiled as she saw Romeo interacting with Hadrian and Mevia. Gordon and Tacey helped Gill clean up the card game. Once they were done, they walked up to Kate.“Seems like he’s having fun,” said Tacey.“I’m glad he is. It’s good for him,” said Kate.“It’s good for all of us. I appreciate you girls inviting me to. I’m having a lot of fun, and I feel like I’m a part of the group even more now,” said Gordon.As the group was talking, they didn’t notice that one of Bowser’s airships was flying nearby. And the Koopa King himself was onboard, accompanied by a few of his minions. They spotted the boat and everyone on it.“I think we should turn back and return the boat. How about we go back to our house and have some dinner and a movie night?” suggested Hadrian.“Sounds like fun,” said Gordon.“Just one request: no romantic comedies,” said Aiden.“Heh! I agree with you dude!” said Gill.Bowser’s airship got closer. One of the minions fired the canon. A cannonball fired, and it landed in the water right next to the boat. It didn’t damage the boat, but it did shake the boat quite a bit since it landed in the water right next to it. Everyone felt the shaking, and they all stumped a bit.“Whoa!” cried Hadrian.“What the hell?!” cried Gordon.A Kamek flew over on a broomstick. He pulled out his wand and zapped Tacey. Tacey cried in panic as she got lifted off the boat and over to Bowser’s airship.“No! Tacey!” said Gordon. “Let my daughter go!”The Kamek only laughed and set Tacey down. Tacey frowned, but she felt Bowser grab her and pin her arms behind her back.“Finally! Got you, you little troublemaker!” he shouted.“Let go!” Tacey snapped at him.“Bowser you butt!” Kate shouted.She made a big leap, jumping up for the airship. She managed to get on, but the Kamek zapped her with a spell, and lifted her off the ship.“Let her go!” she shouted at Bowser.“Not today! Your sister and I are going to have a little ‘talk’, about respecting a villain’s plans!” said Bowser.“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” said Tacey.Kate felt herself thrown off the ship. She didn’t land back on the boat, and splashed in the ocean water.“Sorry, but we must be on our way!” said Bowser.The airship started to pull up. Romeo spotted some rope, and he quickly used his crafting skills to attach it to an arrow. He quickly pulled out a bow and fired the arrow at the ship. As it shot up, he grabbed onto the rope. The arrow pierced into the wall of the ship, and Romeo got pulled up.“Whoa, Romeo!” said Aiden. He quickly reached out and grabbed Romeo’s ankles, getting pulled out as well.“Aiden!” cried Maya.Romeo and Aiden felt themselves getting pulled up to the airship. Romeo started to pull himself and Aiden up onto the ship. They managed to reach the ship, and grabbed onto the ledge before the arrow gave away and broke. Aiden peered over the edge. None of Bowser’s minions were paying attention.“Now’s our chance!” he whispered to Romeo.The two quickly pulled themselves up and got onto the ship’s deck. Bowser’s minions still didn’t notice the two, as they had their attention focused on Bowser, who had Tacey hostage. She was struggling to get out of the Koopa King’s grasp.“Let go of me!” Tacey snapped at him.“No! You did a lot of damage to my ships when I was going to go kidnap Princess Peach!” said Bowser.“I wasn’t going to let you kidnap a friend!” said Tacey.Aiden drew out his sword. He snuck up behind the Kamek, and once he got up to him, he slashed his sword. The Kamek let out a cry as he collapsed onto the ground and passed out.“What the?!” said Bowser.Tacey took the chance to try to escape. She bit Bowser’s hand hard. The Koopa King let out a cry of pain, and he let go of Tacey. Tacey quickly dashed away from Bowser, but a couple Koopa Troopas grabbed her.“Where do you think you’re going?!” said one of them.“Let our friend go!” said Romeo. He pulled out his bow and loaded it with an arrow, and stood next to Aiden.“Or what? You don’t have the guts to kill us!” said Bowser.“Tacey’s not a threat! Just leave her alone!” said Aiden.Bowser pointed at Tacey and said, “That girl has some strange magic in her! She destroyed a few of my airships when I was planning on kidnapping Princess Peach!”While Romeo formed a confused look, Aiden frowned and said, “I don’t believe it! You’re just making up excuses!”Bowser clenched his fists and growled. “You think I’m lying?!” he sneered.Romeo aimed the bow at Bowser.“Just let her go! Don’t make me fire!” he said.Bowser laughed at him. “Ha! Ha! I know you wouldn’t dare kill me! Don’t want to mess up, do you?!” he taunted him.Romeo stopped frowning. He slowly lowered his bow. Aiden noticed this.“You’re just like anyone else in their group! You messed things up so badly at one point, it haunts you forever!” said Bowser.Romeo looked down. Aiden saw that some of Bowser’s minions were slowly approaching them now that Romeo wasn’t focused on the fight.“Shut up, Bowser! Romeo has been through some rough stuff! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” he shouted angrily.“Oh pffft! How sorry of me!” Bowser said sarcastically. “Oh he just made another little mistake like anyone else has!”Aiden was quickly losing his temper, but he didn’t want Romeo to lose his guard. He pointed his sword at Bowser.“Just shut up, alright! Romeo’s been through worse than you, probably worse than me! And I hate it when you think it’s a joke!” he shouted.Aiden quickly charged at Bowser, screaming angrily. Bowser formed a stunned look, but he didn’t run. Aiden slashed Bowser with his sword. It didn’t do a lot to injure Bowser gravely, but it did knock him back. Romeo heard Aiden screaming angrily and snapped out of his train of thought. He noticed one of the Koopa Troopas ready to pounce on him, but he quickly fired an arrow, knocking the Koopa Troopa back.Tacey took the chance to try to struggle. The two Koopa Troopas that grabbed her kept their grip on her. But she didn’t give up. She stepped on one of their feet, making one of them let go of her. With her free arm, she punched the other one, and he let her go. Tacey quickly ran away from them. Aiden jumped back from Bowser, who was taking a deep breath and was going to shoot fire out of his mouth.“Let’s go!” said Aiden.He, Romeo, and Tacey ran to the edge. The airship was still hovering over water, so they jumped off. The three of them landed in the ocean and surfaced for fresh air.“Guys!” Gill called out.Hadrian drove the boat over to pick them up. The airship was coming, but Mevia pulled out a Pokeball and let out Kari.“Kari, use discharge on the airship!” she said.Kari jumped up on the air. She shot a blast of discharge, and it hit the airship. The airship sparked for a bit, and the sound of everyone getting shocked on board could be heard. Few seconds later, the airship exploded, creating a big cloud of black smock. Blasting off from the ship was Bowser and his minions, and they went flying off to who knows where.“Grab on!” said Gordon.He lowered a rope ladder down into the water, and Romeo, Aiden, and Tacey grabbed onto it. One by one, they climbed back on the boat.“You guys okay!?” asked Kate.“We’re fine, Kate. No need to panic,” said Tacey.Kate didn’t feel reassured. She suddenly hugged Tacey, Aiden, and Romeo. As she did, she felt a bit better.“I’m just glad you’re safe,” she said.Aiden let out a sigh of relief. Once Kate let go of their group hug, he hugged Maya, who returned the hgu. They only stayed in their embrace for a few seconds, and let go.“Why was Bowser after you?” Gill asked Tacey.“Oh… he uh… thinks that I caused some trouble with a scheme of his,” said Tacey.She formed a confused look and scratched her head. No one noticed, but Gordon gave her a concerned look.“Well, he was probably mad at me and wanted to kidnap you to mess with me. Though… I haven’t done anything to him lately… oh well, maybe Mario did and he couldn’t find him to blame him. What matters is that you’re safe, all of you,” said Kate.“Yeah. That’s what matters,” said Hadrian.“Let’s head back to the house. We should return the boat before the rental becomes a purchase…” said Mevia.Hadrian nodded his head. He headed back to the controls deck and started to run the ship so that they can head back to the shore. Kate saw that Romeo walked off on his own, and found a spot on the deck to be by himself. She walked over to him.“Romeo? You alright?” she asked him.Romeo turned around. He wasn’t smiling, but after seeing Kate, he smiled sadly.“Yeah. Yeah… I’m okay. I’m just… thinking…” he said.“About what?” she asked him.“How grateful I am to have my chance of redemption, and friends by my side,” he said.Kate smiled back at him. She stood next to him as they watched the waves.“So, what would you rather do: have dinner with Bowser, or have dinner with Fawful?” Romeo asked her, giving her a smug look.Kate smirked back at him. “We continuing our game?” she asked him.“Yes! Answer the question!” said Romeo, trying not to laugh.Kate laughed, but she proceeded to resume the game with him. As the two continued the game, Gordon and Tacey watched them. They smiled as they saw the two laughing and talking.“Guess today helped him a lot,” said Gordon.“It helped you out a lot to. You needed a break from work, and I was happy to see you interacting with everyone,” said Tacey.Gordon smiled back at her, but it soon faded.“You do know you have to tell her eventually…” he whispered to her.“Dad, you know how she’ll react…” Tacey whispered back.“I know, but I don’t know how long until she finds out,” whispered Gordon.“I know…” whispered Tacey.‘I’ll tell her soon. But not today. Let’s just enjoy the rest of today for now. We have a victory, both from defeating Bowser, and for the progress dad and Romeo have made,’ she thought. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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Another day was beginning in the Dream Universe. Over at the tree house, Knuckles and Kate were having breakfast. Since it was a chilly day outside, Knuckles decided to make some hot chocolate for them to start the day, while Kate decided to make some pancakes for them as a little treat to go with their hot chocolate.Knuckles finished the hot chocolate before Kate finished cooking, so he sat down at the dining room table. He had a cup of hot coco with him and was sipping it as he read the morning newspaper.“Huh… ‘Mysterious person doing good deeds. Last spotted to be stopping one of Bowser’s airships from doing a scope around Sarasaland…’ Interesting…” said Knuckles, as he read the paper.“What’s in the news today?” asked Kate. She came walking over with two plates, with their finished pancakes.“Really? You’re interested in the news? Doesn’t the news scare you?” asked Knuckles.“The news does scare me, but it can still interest me. So what’s the scoop?” said Kate.Knuckles showed her the paper. Kate did a quick skim along the article. The article talked about how a human with some sort of powers was seen doing some good deeds and even helping fight some bad guys in a few places.There was even a photo of the said person who was going around helping out. The photos showed a human girl dressed in red fighting a criminal. She appeared to be fighting with some knives that she summoned. She had her hood over her head, so her face wasn’t seen.“Strange. I don’t think I’ve seen this human going around. But then again, we would’ve known if they were spotted in the Mushroom Kingdom or Mobotropolis,” said Kate.“But they have been helping in Sarasaland. Maybe we can ask Daisy if she knows anything about them,” said Knuckles.“I do want to find this person. If they have been fighting Bowser and his goons, then they’re bound to be an ally that we can trust. Maybe they can even help us when we have to face Fawful or any other more threatening villains.”“You sure about it? What if they aren’t entirely good and don’t want to be on our side?”“The paper said that they’re doing good deeds. They can’t be bad. But if they don’t want to be our ally, then I’ll respect that. At the very least, I want to meet this person and see who they are.”Kate finished drinking her hot chocolate. She put her mug down and walked over to the coat rack by the front door. She picked up her hoodie and put it on.“Welp, I know what I’m doing today. I’m going out to see if I can find this mystery hero,” said Kate.“Hold on. I’m coming with. Just in case this person isn’t really good,” said Knuckles.He put down his mug and came rushing over to join her. The echidna and the human headed out of the tree house together. A short while later, and the couple arrived outside of Sarasaland. The newspaper stated that the mystery hero has been active near Daisy’s kingdom, so they figured that would be the best place to find this person and meet them. When Knuckles and Kate arrived in Sarasaland, they could hear some commotion coming from somewhere down the streets.“This way!” said Kate.She ran ahead of Knuckles.“Wait up for me, Kate!” Knuckles called out, trying to catch up to her.The two ran down the street, expecting to see some trouble, but instead, that was not what they saw. They saw that a bandit of some sort was being escorted away from the police, and the citizens of Sarasaland were thanking someone. The person was dressed in red, and they had a hood over their head. They looked very much like the person in the photo in the newspaper.“That must be them!” said Kate.She started to walk up to the person. Knuckles followed Kate, but he formed a confused look and eyed the hooded figure.“Thanks again for stopping that bandit!” a woman told the hooded figure.“No problem, ma’am. I’m happy to help,” said the hooded figure.The figure’s voice was a girl, and Kate and Knuckles formed a shocked look when they heard the voice. They recognized the person’s voice.The hooded figure turned around, and even though they had their hood on, because Kate and Knuckles were close enough, they could see who it was.“Tacey?!” said Kate.Tacey formed a stunned look.“Kate! Knuckles! I-I didn’t expect to see you guys here!” she said.“You’re the mystery hero that the newspaper has been talking about?!” asked Knuckles.Tacey took a deep breath and exhaled. “Yes. Yes I am,” she said calmly.“Care to explain why, and uh… not to be rude, but more importantly how?!” said Kate.“Kate, calm down. We can talk about this with her, right Tacey?” said Knuckles.“We should. Besides, Gordon has been telling me that I should tell you, so now that the cat’s out of the bag, I should tell you,” said Tacey. “But let’s get back to my place first. Best that we talk about this in private.”Kate only nodded her head. Her hands were slightly shaking.‘What is going on here? How and why is Tacey doing all this?’ thought Kate. A short while later, and the three made it to Tacey’s house. Gordon wasn’t home, so he must’ve been in the Mushroom Kingdom at his job. Tacey walked Knuckles and Kate into her house and escorted them to the living room.“You guys thirsty? I can make tea if you want some,” said Tacey.“No. We’re good,” said Knuckles.He turned his attention to his wife. The whole time they made their way to Tacey’s house, Kate was shaking a bit. She was silent and didn’t say anything, and that concerned Knuckles and Tacey.“Kate?” asked Knuckles.“I-I’m fine. S-sorry…” Kate stuttered.She took a seat at the couch. As Knuckles sat down next to her, Kate fiddled with her wedding ring a bit, calming herself down. Tacey sat down in a chair across from the couple.“So… you’re the mystery hero… Why did you choose to do all those good things and continue this up?” asked Knuckles.“I want to help you guys out with fighting bad guys and keeping this world safe. I know that you all don’t want me to join you, and I understand. But I’m old enough to make my own decisions, and I can take care of myself now,” said Tacey.“S-so you just decided to s-start being a hero? I-I don’t understand how you can… I-I understand why, but h-how?” asked Kate.“Yeah. You don’t have abilities or powers like us,” said Knuckles.“Now I do,” said Tacey.To demonstrate, she stood up from her seat. The couple watched as Tacey suddenly created some knives right in her hands, right out of thin air.“What kind of power is this?” asked Knuckles.“I’m a magical girl now. Well, it’s a power from another universe,” said Tacey.“Another universe…” said Kate, quietly.“Yes. This little creature, his name is Kyubey, he said that he could grant me a wish, in exchange for becoming a magical girl and fighting witches in that universe. It took me a bit of time to decide, especially when I was informed by another magical girl, I think her name was Madoka, she said that if I become a magical girl, then my soul has to be placed in a Soul Gem for me to have my powers,” said Tacey.“A Soul Gem? Wait… your soul is put in some sort of gem?” asked Knuckles.Tacey nodded her head. She showed them here Soul Gem, which was attached to her chest right by her neck, and said, “I have to keep it close to me. I lose it, then I will just pass out. I need it with me to ensure that I can still keep myself conscious.”“Strange… but sounds like it’s out there. I think this is strange but cool at the same time,” said Knuckles.Tacey put her Soul Gem away and continued to talk.“So I made my contract, and I got my powers. Grant it, I can use my powers here, but I still have to go back to this other universe and fight witches to keep myself stable, and cleanse my Soul Gem every now and then,” said Tacey.“Stable? You mean… you might lose control of yourself or something?” asked Knuckles.Tacey bit her lip and let out a sigh. She had to tell the truth, and what worried her was how Kate was going to react.“Yes… if I become too consumed with grief, then I myself… can turn into a witch…” said Tacey.“Can you snap out of it? Like… we can help you come back to your senses?” asked Knuckles.Tacey fell silent for a minute. She didn’t respond, but even if she didn’t, Kate knew what the answer was. Knuckles though, formed a confused look.“Can you, or can you not?” he asked.Tacey sighed and said, “No… if I turn… I stay turned…”There was a short moment of silence.“Well, I guess that clears up a couple things. If I recall, Kate told me that Bowser came after you and said that you caused some mischief. Now I understand,” said Knuckles.He chuckled nervously.“Well, at least that clears it up. And now that you have these powers, we don’t have to worry about you that much. You can defend yourself,” he continued.“I’m sorry I haven’t told you guys. I’ve been meaning to tell y-”“How long? How long have you had these powers? How long since you made this deal with this… Kyubey guy?” Kate asked, rather quietly.“A… a while… I’m sorry I haven’t told you when it happened, but I couldn’t think of when to tell you,” said Tacey.“A while… you’ve been hiding this for a while? Hiding the fact that you can turn into a witch permanently?! The fact that I can lose my friend just like that?!” Kate said, starting to raise her voice.Tacey and Knuckles were a bit concerned when they heard Kate raising her voice.“Kate, calm dow-”“I will NOT calm down!” Kate shouted at Knuckles. “How can I be calm when Tacey did something dangerous like that?! It’s dangerous enough that she’s fighting bad guys, but putting herself at a risk of turning into something evil and she can’t come back?!”“Excuse me, but I’m right here,” Tacey said, trying to sound firm rather than angry.Kate turned her attention to her friend. “Why would you do that to yourself?! Do you have any idea what kind of pain you’ll put me through if I lose you?! You’re my best friend and a sister to me! I can’t lose you!” she shouted at Tacey.“I did it because I wanted to help you guys out. I’m tired of being someone on the sidelines! I know what I’ve gotten myself into and I can handle myself! I know how worried you will about my safety, which is why I will make sure I don’t endanger myself!” Tacey said.“I’ve been protecting you! You know how dangerous it can be after what Fawful did when he tried to turn Romeo back into an admin! I don’t want you going through anything like that again!”“And that’s why I figured I should know how to fight back! How to defend myself! How to help you guys! I took this risk for all of you!”“Calm down! Both of you!” Knuckles shouted.He came over and tried to pull his wife and his friend away from each other. The argument was escalating rapidly, and he didn’t want it shifting into a physical fight.Kate angrily stepped away from Knuckles and began to storm out of the house.“I’ve been trying to protect you after all this time, and even after what you saw what Fawful can do, you decide you want to be thrown to the wolf!” Kate muttered, rather loudly.“You don’t have to protect me anymore! I’m not afraid to fight anything evil, and I’m certainly capable of not only keeping myself safe, but also keeping myself stable!” shouted Tacey.“I HAVE to protect you! But now I can’t do anything about this!” Kate shouted.She stormed out of the house and broke into a run, probably going back to the tree house.“Kate, wait!” Knuckles shouted.Kate didn’t return. Knuckles turned his focus to Tacey, who was starting to cry. He didn’t know how things worked in this… magical girl universe where Tacey got her powers, but seeing her cry, he didn’t want to take a risk. As much as he wanted to go after his wife, he knew that if Tacey turned, there was no bringing her back.Tacey got down on her knees and began to cry. Knuckles sat down on the floor next to her.“Just give her some space. You know she won’t be mad at you forever…” he said to Tacey, quietly.“I know Knuckles! I just… I knew that she wouldn’t accept my choice… She never wants me to help you guys out…” said Tacey.“She worries about your safety. And you mean a lot to her, and the group as well. I know we don’t show it because we don’t let you fight bad guys with us, but it’s because we care about you. This all came to Kate rather quickly. You know that while she may not agree with your choice, she’ll still respect you and your choice.”Tacey sighed sadly, sniffling a bit. She nodded her head at Knuckles.“I know… I should’ve told her sooner, but I made my choice as soon as I could. I did give it thought, but I didn’t tell anyone because I knew that they’d stop me… I did tell Gordon, because he is my guardian now,” she said.“Did he try to persuade you out of it? Like how Kate, or any of else would’ve?” asked Knuckles.There was a short moment of silence, before Tacey said, “He did, but he knew that there was no chance in changing my mind. When he accepted that and my choice, he told me that he believed in me. That I’d ensure that I don’t turn into a witch for the sake of everyone. And I will make sure of that, Knuckles… for everyone, including Kate…”Knuckles gave her a sad smile.“She knows you would do that for her, Tacey. I know she sounded angry when you guys argued, but she just needs a moment to calm down, okay? You guys can work it out. I know you can,” he told her.Tacey sniffled again, but she managed to give the echidna a smile.“Go to her. Check on her and make sure she’s okay,” she said.“You sure? I don’t want to leave you alone…” said Knuckles.“Dad will be home soon, and I won’t be alone…” said Tacey.Knuckles was about to ask her what she meant, but he heard a meow cut him off. A Litten came running from upstairs and came up to Tacey. Tacey smiled at the Pokémon and gently petted it on the head.“Chi Chi can keep me company. Reggie and Paul gave her to Gordon, but she likes to comfort me when dad’s not around,” said Tacey.Knuckles smiled at here and the Litten.“Alright. I trust you. I’ll bring Kate back over when she’s ready to talk,” he said.“I’ll see you guys later when it’s time to finish talking about this,” said Tacey.Knuckles stood up, nodding his head at Tacey. He quickly rushed out of the house and began to head back down the path to return to the tree house. It took a bit of time, but Knuckles finally returned to the tree house. When he arrived, he could hear some sobbing coming from the living room. He rushed inside, finding his wife lying down on the couch. She was sobbing loudly, despite how she had her face buried in a pillow. Kate’s Pokémon, Pikachu, Pansage, Piplup, and Oshawott all eyed their trainer with worried looks.“Kate?” asked Knuckles. He slowly approached her.Kate stopped sobbing, but she kept her face buried in the pillow. She refused to look up at Knuckles. Knuckles sat down on the couch next to her. He sat there silent, waiting patiently for Kate to calm down and talk to him.It took a while, but Kate finally moved the pillow away from her face. She sat up, looking at her husband. Her eyes were glassy and her cheeks were red from crying.“Since when were you patient? Patient enough to wait for someone to be ready to talk to you about feelings?” she muttered.“Since we got married,” Knuckles said, giving his wife a smile.Kate sniffled. She put the pillow down.“Why did she take the risk? I’ve been trying to protect her from everything, after all she’s been through, and I failed to do that…” she said.“You’re not her mom, Kate. I know you act like a big sister to her, but Tacey’s an adult like you. She made the choice to help you out with handling bad guys,” said Knuckles.“I know! But why a magical girl who can turn into a witch if they lose hope!? Tacey’s been through so much hell, and all of it wasn’t here in Mobius! It was back on Earth, where I’m from, where she’s from! What if she loses hope and let’s her grief consume her and turn her?!” said Kate.She covered her face and started to cry again.“I can’t lose her like that. I just can’t! What if something happens that triggers her to turn?!” she said, almost shouting.Kate began to break down into tears, sobbing a bit.“I-I don’t want to see her turn! Wh-what if she can’t control herself?! What if she can’t stop Dark Rage?”Kate suddenly paused, realizing what she said out loud. Knuckles gave his wife a concerned look. Kate looked up at her husband, seeing his expression.“I-I mean! I…” Kate let out a frustrated sigh. “Yeah… I’m worried that she’ll lose herself and can’t come back, like how I worry you guys when I’m at a risk of becoming Dark Rage… Chaos… now I understand how everyone feels when I start to lose control of my anger…”Knuckles pulled Kate into a hug. Kate slowly returned it.“You know she wouldn’t do that. She’d make sure she’d stay in control of herself and her emotions. She took the risk, but she’s always strong enough to stop herself from turning. And she did it for you. You inspired her to be a hero to, and she’ll be brave for you,” Knuckles whispered to her.“It’s my fault…”“Don’t say that. There’s no one to blame because this isn’t a problem. I know you’re upset, but you have to respect that this is Tacey’s choice. It’s her life.”“I know…” said Kate. Hours passed, and even though Kate had calmed down, she wasn’t ready to go back to Tacey and talk to her friend. She wanted to, but Knuckles told her not to speak to her until she was ready. He didn’t want to see them argue again, put Tacey at the risk of turning, or worse, ruin her friendship with Kate.Kate couldn’t get her mind off of what she learned. She tried reading a book, training the Pokémon, writing a bit, and even cleaning up the house to get her focus shifted towards something else. But despite her efforts, all she could think about was what she learned about her friend.She was in the kitchen, scrubbing the sink even though she had already done so a couple times. She wanted to keep on cleaning, but she slowly stopped, and let out a heavy sigh.‘Why did she take such a risk? There’s nothing that can be done to undo this, and I don’t agree with this choice…’ she thought.Knuckles was standing in the doorway, watching his wife sulk back into sadness. He was ready to try to talk to her, when both he and Kate heard a phone buzz. Kate looked over at the counter and saw that it was her phone. Someone was calling her. She put the phone to her ear.“Hello?” she asked.“Kate! I think there’s something going on!” said Tails.“What is it, Tails?” asked Kate.“I was over at my workshop fixing my telescope, and I spotted Eggman coming over on his Eggmobile Buggy with another robot! I think he was coming to cause some trouble, but I saw a hooded figure in red start attacking it! I think it’s that mystery hero I heard about from the papers! Have you heard about it?” said Tails.Kate gasped when Tails told her what was going on.“Oh no… Tacey!” she whispered, quietly enough so Tails couldn’t hear her.“Kate?” asked Knuckles.“Kate? Kate!?” Tails cried from the phone.Kate didn’t respond. She immediately hung up and started to rush out of the tree house. Knuckles and their Pokémon formed confused looks as they saw her dash past them and leave.“Kate, wait up!” said Knuckles.Kate ignored him and continued to make her way to Tails’s workshop. When she got there, she looked up at the roof to see Tails with his telescope. He spotted her and pointed in the direction where he saw the commotion. Kate quickly broke into a speedy run and ran over to where Tails was pointing.In a matter of seconds, she got close enough to see the brawl going on. Eggman’s robot was shooting some bullets at Tacey. Tacey jumped out of the way, dodging the attack.“Stupid girl! How did you get so powerful!? You decided to take up potions and stuff so you can finally be evenly powered to everyone else?!” Eggman snapped at her.“I have my own abilities, I’ll have you know!” said Tacey.She formed some knives in her hands and tossed them at the robot. The knives didn’t destroy the robot, but they pierced in the metal. The robot’s eyes blinked red, probably in anger. It shot out an arm and grabbed Tacey.“Urgh! You stupid rust bucket!” said Tacey.Kate gasped. She drew out her sword and began to rush over, but before she could even lunge at the robot, Tacey shot a blast of magic at the robot’s head. The robot let go of her, and Tacey jumped back. Despite the height that she was held off the ground, Tacey landed firmly on the grass on two feet.Tacey frowned at the robot. She shot another blast of magic at it, this time piercing it right in the body portion. The blast did a lot of damage. The robot made some horrible noises, and then broke down into pieces. It was destroyed.Eggman let out a frustrated yell.“You’re going to pay for that!” he shouted at her.Tacey formed some more knives. She threw them, but missed with each hit. Eggman moved the steering wheel and made his buggy avoid each hit.“You were going to attack my friends! I won’t have that!” Tacey shouted.She jumped up at Eggman, and with a mighty kick, she knocked back the Eggmobile Buggy, with Eggman still in it. The buggy went hurling into a tree, and exploded. The explosion sent Eggman blasting off. The scientist let out panicked screams, which quickly died down as he disappeared from sight.Tacey landed back on the ground, standing firm like the first time. She let out a relieved sigh, and when she turned around, she saw Kate.“Kate?” she said.Kate was stunned. Her arms were trembling a bit, and she just stared. She had come to help, and she witnessed Tacey handle Eggman all by herself.For a long moment, all there was was silent. The two friends stared at each other, waiting for one or the other to speak. They heard someone come rushing over, but it was just Knuckles, who saw them staring at each other in silence. He wanted to come over and ask what was going on, but Knuckles stayed back. He knew that they had to sort it out themselves.After what felt like forever, someone finally spoke.“Tacey… I’m sorry for how I behaved…” said Kate.“I know… I expected you to react in a manner like that, so I don’t blame you for freaking out…” said Tacey.“I know, Tacey. I know…” said Kate.She paused, taking a deep breath and exhaling.“I… I don’t exactly… agree with your choice, Tacey… but I respect your decision. Not because there’s nothing you can do to undo this… I know you had your reasons, and I understand. I respect your decision to become a magical girl…” said Kate.“Thank you, Kate. And… I’m sorry I haven’t told you ahead of time. I know that I’ll worry you, which… was why I put off telling you…” said Tacey.“I don’t want to lose you, sis. If you turn, you can’t come back… and… that’s what got to me. Not that you’ve kept this a secret, not that you haven’t told us for a long time, but that…”There was another short moment of silence. Kate put her sword away. She began to tear up, but she didn’t break down into sobs. She finally looked up at Tacey, who was giving her friend a worried look.“Knowing that you can turn into a witch, it panics me. It… reminds me of how Dark Rage is a part of me. The last thing I’d want is for my sister to have a similar dilemma to me, and… I don’t want that to be a part of you. I don’t want to see you lose yourself…” said Kate.“It’s not the same, Kate… you have a chance of coming back if you turn. I don’t… It’s one of the consequences I have to live with…” said Tacey.Kate looked down again. She started to sniffle a tiny bit.“I can’t get out of this contract, but… I can still do something about this condition that I’m at a risk of turning. I can fight the risk of turning, because I have a purpose. A reason to fight that part of me. And that’s you, Kate. You inspired me to take this choice, and I’ll do what I can to ensure I don’t turn for your sake,” said Tacey.Kate looked back up at her friend. Her eyes were glassy and watery now.“Y-you promise? Th-that you will not turn?” she asked, almost in a whisper.Tacey nodded her head and said, “I promise. I promise Kate. For you.”Kate tried to muster something to say, but she was starting to sob. Since she couldn’t speak, she nodded her head to show that she understood and accepted Tacey’s word.Tacey walked over to Kate. Knowing that her friend needed comfort, she pulled Kate into a hug, which Kate almost immediately returned.“I love you sis…” Kate whispered.“I love you to, Kate,” Tacey whispered back.Knuckles smiled as he witnessed the two friends embrace and make up. This was resolved, and all would be good regarding Tacey being a magical girl.For now at least. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was a cool day in Mobius. Kate was driving her car, with Mario, Sonic, and the Jesse twins as her passengers. They got a tip from the Babylon Rogues that they may have spotted Cassie Rose in Westopolis. Knowing that Cassie was probably still going to go after Hadrian and Mevia, the Three Heroes called up the Jesse twins so they could catch Cassie, hopefully once and for all.Kate was wide awake as she was driving. She had the stereo playing some music to keep her awake. It annoyed the others, who were just as tired as her, but they wished that they could sleep while she was driving.“Everyone doing okay?” she asked the others.She got a few yawns as her answer, but F. Jesse rubbed her eyes and said, “Yeah. We’re okay. Just tired.”Kate bit her lip. She figured this would happen, but she brought a backup just in case.“Sonic, there’s some thermosets with coffee in my backpack. Go ahead and give one to everyone,” she told her friend.Sonic was sitting in the front passenger seat. He reached down and opened up the backpack. He pulled out four thermosets and handed one to everyone expect Kate.“What about you? Where’s your coffee?” M. Jesse asked Kate.“Right here,” Kate said, pointing to the stereo.The Jesse twins formed confused looks on their faces.“Music is her coffee in the morning,” said Mario.A short while later, and the group made it to Westopolis. With it still being early in the morning, there wasn’t a whole lot of activity going on. Most people were still in their homes, just barely getting ready for the day. The streets were almost empty, save for the group.“Jet told me that he and his group may have spotted Cassie at the warehouses near the train station. It’s a ten minute drive away from here,” said Kate.“It’d be ten seconds of a run if I could run solo,” said Sonic.Kate ignored him and continue to drive.Just minutes later, and they made it to the outskirts of the warehouses. Kate parked the car and the group got out.“Alright Cassie. Let’s see if we can catch you once and for all…” said Kate.She pulled out her sword, the Jesse twins pulled out their swords, and Mario powered himself with an ice flower. Sonic didn’t have any gear, but he cracked his knuckles. He was going to try to catch Cassie by using his speed as an advantage.The group started to make their way through the warehouse areas. But as they were looking to see if any warehouses may be open, they weren’t aware that Cassie was watching them. From a high point above them, she saw them coming. She expected them to come, and she was hoping that they would.“Alright. Let’s see if my skills with witchcraft in this world are getting better!” she said.Cassie pulled out five potions bottles, just enough for the five heroes who were searching for her.“What do those do again?” asked Winslow, who was with Cassie.“Don’t worry. This will… claw your eyes out, Winslow,” said Cassie.She smiled at her friend and winked at him. Winslow giggled at Cassie’s pun.Turning her attention back to the people searching for her, Cassie formed a dark grin. She saw that the heroes were right by her. She raised her arm, and threw the potion bottles down.The group had no clue what was going on. They continued to look around, and saw that the warehouse that Cassie was standing on top of had the front door open.“Maybe in here,” said Kate.“Yeah. Let’s check it OW!” cried Mario.One of the potion bottles hit him right on the head. Before anyone could react, everyone else got hit by a potion bottle. A light green mist suddenly surrounded all five of them. Cassie laughed as she saw them get hit by her potions.The green mist finally faded away. Sonic was coughing a bit. He heard Cassie laughing, and that made him look up at her. He frowned at her.“What the heck, Rose?!” he shouted at her angrily.Cassie stopped laughing. She formed a stunned look.“Hey you! How come you weren’t affected by my potions!?” she snapped at him.“Potions?” Sonic asked himself.He gasped when he realized that no one else in his group spoke. He looked down at the group, hoping to find his friends with him. But what he saw wasn’t what he expected.Instead of seeing his friends with him, there were four cats with him. One cat was purple and black, and it had brown eyes. The second one was a red cat, and it had light blue eyes. The third one was black and white, and it had light green eyes. The last one was brown and white, and it had light green eyes as well.“Well, at least it worked on the rest of them,” said Winslow.“’The rest of them’?! Wait…” said SonicHe looked down at the four felines and gasped. “You turned my friends into cats!?” he cried.“I sure did,” Cassie said, giving him a smirk. “Though I don’t know how come you didn’t turn… oh well…” she muttered.Sonic frowned at her. “I hate this chick so much now…” he muttered to himself.One of the cats, the red one, meowed. Sonic nervously looked down. The red cat was looking at him.“M-Mario?” Sonic asked nervously.Sonic reached down, going to try to pick up Mario. But Mario suddenly hissed at him, and tried to swipe at him.“Mario, what the heck?! It’s me, Sonic!” shouted Sonic.“Oh, I forgot to mention. They don’t have their personalities as cats,” said Cassie.Sonic looked back up at her and growled. Cassie chuckled and pulled out an ender pearl.“So what’s it going to be: you’re feline friends with no memories, or catching me?” she taunted him.Cassie took Winslow and grabbed him by the arm. She threw her ender pearl, and the two of them teleported away.Sonic sighed in frustration. He wanted to go after Cassie. This was his chance. He wasn’t affected by Cassie’s potion, which meant it was up to him to catch her. But the others were affected, and they didn’t have any memories that they were all really humans. Going after Cassie meant leaving his friends by themselves, and they might wander off.“Good thing we brought the car here. First time I’m glad to drive…” Sonic muttered.He let out a sigh and looked at the four cats. Mario was still growling at him, the purple cat (Kate) was taking a cat nap, and the black and white cat (F. Jesse) was play fighting with the brown and white cat (M. Jesse).“Chaos help me…” Sonic muttered.He quickly scooped up all four cats. Mario hissed, while the other three shrieked in panic and tried to squirm out of Sonic’s arms. Sonic dashed back to the car. He quickly opened the door and tossed the cats inside, before jumping inside in the driver’s seat.The Jesse twins hid underneath the front passenger seat, Kate sat down on the front passenger seat with a confused look, while Mario sat with her and hissed at Sonic.“If only Kate didn’t turn. She could’ve made a potion to cure them… maybe Tails can help me with science, or Rosalina with magic. They might know what to do,” Sonic muttered to himself.He put the keys in the ignition. As he started up the car, he heard Mario angrily meow at him.“I really hope they can help me…” said Sonic.Sonic put his foot down on the gas pedal and started to drive back to the tree house. At the tree house, Knuckles was reading a book and relaxing in the living room. However, he heard the sound of the car coming up. He put his bookmark on the page he was on, and got up from the couch. The echidna headed to the front door.“Wow. That was quick guys,” he said.He opened up the front door, and what he saw wasn’t what he expected. Sonic was by himself, and he had four cats in his arms, and some scratch marks on his arms and cheeks.“Hold the door open!” he shouted.Sonic bolted right past Knuckles and rushed into the living room. He put the cats down and let out a heavy sigh of relief. The Mario cat growled angrily at him, the Jesse twin cats quickly hid underneath the couch, and the Kate cat ran over to the bookshelf, which she climbed up so that no one could get her down.“Sonic, what the heck is going on?! Why do you have four cats with you?! Where are the others?! Where’s my wife?!” asked Knuckles.“Sorry man! Cassie ambushed us with a potion! It turned the others into these cats!” said Sonic.“WHAT!?” cried Knuckles.“I know! I’m just lucky that I didn’t effected by it either, or else I couldn’t get them back here! They don’t seem to recognize me, and they might have no memories of who they are!” said Sonic.“Oh Chaos! We gotta do something to change them back! I’ll call Rosalina!” said Knuckles.He pulled out his phone and began to dial Rosalina’s number. Sonic pulled out his phone and said, “I’ll call Tails to help to!”Sonic quickly dialed Tails’s number. He paced the room in impatience as he waited for his friend to pick up the phone and answer him.Finally, Tails answered.“Hello?” asked Tails.“Tails! I need your help!” said Sonic.“Uh… can it wait? I’m uh… I’m kinda busy…” said Tails.“How busy are you?!” asked Sonic.Over at the Hedgehog residence, Tails fell silent. He was in the middle of a bath.“Uh… pretty busy…” Tails said, not wanting to give him full details.“Well wrap it up! It’s urgent! I need your help! Just get to the tree house ASAP!” said Sonic.“Okay! Okay! I’ll be there as soon as I can! Just calm down!” said Tails.Sonic didn’t answer. He had already hung up. Tails sighed in frustration and put his phone down on the sink counter.“Man! What could be so important that Sonic had to call me in the middle of a bath?” he muttered to himself.Back at the tree house, Sonic had hung up. He heard Knuckles sigh in frustration.“Answering machine?! Are you kidding me?!” he shouted. He paused, waiting for the moment he could leave a message. “Rosalina? It’s Knuckles! I need you here at the treehouse as soon as possible! We have a huge problem regarding magic, and we can’t rely on Kate! Please get over here quickly!”Knuckles ended the call, ensuring that the message was left. He looked over at Sonic, who was trying to get the Jesse twins to crawl out from the couch.“Get out of there!” he hissed at them.F. Jesse meowed nervously, while M. Jesse backed up as far as he could. Mario was still sitting on the couch, and he growled at Sonic.“Sonic, get away from the couch! I think Mario wants to claw your eyes out!” said Knuckles.“No kidding!” Sonic said sarcastically. “On the ride back here, he actually tried to attack me! Lucky break it was while I was at a stop light…”A few minutes passed, and Tails finally arrived. When he arrived, Sonic and Knuckles quickly explained what happened. The fox was confused, but he knew he had to help.“I’m not sure how much help I can be. It was a potion that turned them, so it’ll have to be magic to turn them back.“You can’t make some sort of device or machine that’ll turn them back?!” said Sonic.“I don’t know if I can, but if I can, it’ll take a while to make the device,” said Tails.“But you’re so smart! You might be able to read the potion notes in Kate’s books! Remember when you figured out how to turn her back when Mario and I accidentally turned her into a werewolf?” said Sonic.“Wait, when did that happen?” Knuckles asked Sonic, frowning at his friend a bit.“Not now!” Tails snapped at him, stopping a possible fight. He sighed and said, “I’ll try reading the notes and see if I can do something. In the meantime, keep the cats occupied. If they truly forgot their memories, then don’t try to let them out. We can’t let them run around freely.”“Hurry if you can!” said Knuckles.Tails nodded his head. He rushed upstairs so he could enter the brewing room. He made it outside the door on the second floor. There were ‘Do Not Enter’ signs all across the door. The twin-tailed fox let out a sigh.“Sorry Kate, but I’m gonna have to let myself inside,” he said.He opened the door and headed inside.Back downstairs, Sonic got back to trying to get the Jesse twins to come out from under the couch, while Knuckles was trying to get Kate down from the bookshelf.“Kate, please get down! I don’t want you falling and getting hurt!” said Knuckles, sounding worried.Kate nervously meowed.“Jesse and… Jesse. Come here kitties!” Sonic said. He tried to whistle and snap his fingers to call the twins at them.“They aren’t dogs!” said Knuckles.Sonic frowned and ignored him. He continued to try to call out to the twins. As he did so, Mario was still up on the couch. The red cat was growling.“Hey! I think I almost go-”Mario suddenly jumped on Sonic’s back, letting out another angry meow. Sonic let out a panicked yell when he felt Mario sink his claws in his back.“AHHHHHHH!” he cried.“Sonic!?” said Knuckles.He turned around for a second. As he did, Kate suddenly jumped down, using him as a ladder. Knuckles shouted in pain as Kate climbed down him, since her claws were sharp.“OW! OW! OW!” he cried.Kate ran under the table, trying to hide from Knuckles.Suddenly, the door opened. Rosalina and Pola came rushing in.“I’m here! What’s the emergency?” asked Rosalina.She stepped away from the front door, leaving it wide open. The cats noticed this, and took the chance to make a run for it. They bolted past Rosalina and Pola, who were confused and didn’t know who they were, and the cats made it outside.“Rosalina!” said Knuckles. “It’s a catastrophe! Cassie Rose turned Mario, the Jesse twins, and my wife into cats!”“Oh no! Wait… was that just them who rushed out?” asked Rosalina.“You let them get out!?” cried Sonic. “They don’t know that they’re actually humans!”“I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” said Rosalina.“Just go help Tails with making a potion to turn them back! He’s upstairs! Sonic and I will get them back!” said Knuckles.The two of them rushed outside while Rosalina and Pola ran upstairs.“Let’s split up! We’ll cover more ground before they get out of the village!” said Knuckles.“Got it!” said Sonic.Sonic and Knuckles ran in different directions. Knuckles rushed over to Shade’s house, where he found her trying to call out to something that was hiding in the bushes in front of her house.“Come over here!” she hissed.“Shade! Do you see a cat?” Sonic called out.“Huh? Oh yes! A red one! So strange…” said Shade.“Ah crap… Mario’s gonna claw me to death…” Sonic muttered.He quickly approached Shade’s house. Mario was hiding in the bushes, and he was angrily growling at both him and Shade.“Shade… I’m gonna need your help on getting that cat… I need to get him back to the tree house…” said Sonic.Shade didn’t question why. Instead, she nodded her head.“We have to calmly wait for him to come to us, and th-”“I don’t have all day! Just make sure he doesn’t book it! I’m gonna grab him!” said Sonic, cutting her off.“Uh Sonic-” Shade started to say.Sonic ignored her. He jumped forward to try to grab Mario. Mario jumped out of the way and tried to run off, but Shade grabbed him. Mario let out an angry meow and numerous growls, and he tried to scratch Shade.“Geez!” cried Shade.Sonic quickly grabbed the angry cat from Shade and started to dash back to the treehouse.“Thanks Shade!” he called out to her as he ran back.Shade just watched him leave with a stunned look, not saying anything.“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!” Sonic said, as he ran back. Mario was clawing him constantly, and it hurt with each blow.Sonic made it back to the treehouse. He rushed back into the house and put Mario back down on the couch.“Stay!” he said loudly, and then ran back outside.Meanwhile, Knuckles was looking around outside for any of the other cats. He made his way to Yoshi’s hut, where he could hear some commotion coming from Yoshi’s backyard.“Oh no! My garden!” he heard Yoshi cry.Knuckles rushed over and bolted into Yoshi’s hut. He made it to the backyard, and he saw what Yoshi was panicking about. One of the Jesse twins, M. Jesse, was playing with some of the crops.“Please, go away! I’m trying to grow some yummy melons!” said Yoshi.“Yoshi, help me get that cat! It’s Male Jesse! Cassie turned him into a cat!” said Knuckles.“Oh! I’m on it Knuckles!” said Yoshi.The two of them had no choice but to go into the garden. M. Jesse stopped playing with the leaves of the crops and looked up at them. He didn’t try to run, but he backed up a bit.“Don’t let him run away!” said Knuckles.“I got him! I’m sorry Mister Jesse…” said Yoshi.The dino shot his tongue out and used it to grab M. Jesse. He quickly pulled him back, but instead of trapping M. Jesse in his mouth, Yoshi grabbed him and put him in his arms. M. Jesse scrambled a bit, but Yoshi held him tightly to not let him escape, and he even pet him a bit to calm him down.“What should I do now?” asked Yoshi.“Can you get him back to the tree house? I have to look for Female Jesse, Kate, or Mario if Sonic didn’t get them!” said Knuckles.“They got turned to?! Oh dear! Alright, I’ll take him back!” said Yoshi.“Don’t let him run off again!” Knuckles called out to Yoshi, who was already starting to run back.Knuckles continued his search for any of the other cats. As he searched through the village, he could hear from frantic meowing near Vector and Vanilla’s house.“Is it coming from the backyard?” he asked himself.The echidna quickly ran to the backyard, and he saw that F. Jesse fell in the pool and was panicking. She was trying to swim out. Knuckles quickly jumped in and grabbed the cat. The cat freaked out even more, but she only meowed nervously. Knuckles climbed out, and he felt relieved that the shivering cat didn’t try to run from him.“Phew!” he said, sighing in relief.“Knuckles?!” said a voice from inside the house.Vector opened up a window and stuck his head out.“What the hell, man?!” he asked with a confused look.“Sorry! Long story! I’ll tell you later!” Knuckles said. He quickly bolted into a run, so he could get F. Jesse back to the tree house.Sonic rushed over to search his front yard and near Tails’s workshop, looking for Kate.“Kate! Here kitty, kitty!” he called out.He could hear a nervous meowing coming from up above him. Sonic looked up, and Kate was up on the potted plants Tails had hanging right outside the second story window. The window was shut, so that meant she was stuck up there.“How the heck did you even get up there?” Sonic muttered to himself.He headed into the workshop and walked upstairs to Tails’s bedroom. He spotted the window and opened it up. Kate turned around and looked at him nervously.“It’s okay, Kate. I’m just gonna grab you really quick and take you back to the tree house,” Sonic said in a whispering voice.He slowly reached for Kate, but she nervously backed up, and ended up falling off the potted plants. Sonic shrieked and tried to grab her, but he missed.“AHHHH!” he cried in panic.He quickly dashed downstairs, hoping he could catch Kate before she hit the ground, but to his relief, Amy had Kate in her arms.“Oh thank Chaos!” Sonic said, sighing in relief.“Sonic? What’s going on? I just caught this cat,” said Amy.“I’ll explain later! I’ll see you around, Ames! Thanks for catching her!” said Sonic.He quickly took Kate from Amy and dashed back to the tree house. When he made it back inside, he saw that Knuckles and Yoshi were there, and all the other cats were gathered together.“Alright! We got them all back! Phew!” said Sonic. A little bit later, and Tails and Rosalina came back downstairs from the brewing room. They were carrying four potion bottles with them, and all four potion bottles had a bright pink potion inside them.“It took us a while, but we managed to get four potions for them,” said Tails.“Just toss the bottles at them, and they’ll turn back to normal,” said Rosalina.Sonic and Knuckles took the potion bottles. The cats were sitting on the couch. The Jesse twins and Kate looked scared, while Mario looked mad like always. The two threw the four potion bottles at the cats, and a bright pink light formed.Once the light was gone, Mario, Kate, and the Jesse twins were back to their human forms.“Huh? What happened?” said Mario.“How did we get back to the tree house?” asked Kate.“It’s a long story…” said Knuckles.“What happened? Just tell us,” said M. Jesse.“Did we catch Cassie?” asked F. Jesse.“No. Cassie got away again. She-”Sonic cut himself off. He started to feel dizzy and fell on his knees.“Sonic?” asked Kate.Before Sonic could say anything, a bright green light formed around the blue hedgehog. Once the light was gone, in Sonic’s place was a blue and white cat with emerald eyes.“Meow?” said the cat.“Sonic!?” said M. Jesse.“Meow? Meow meow meow!?” said the Sonic cat.“Dawwww! He looks so cute as a cat!” said F. Jesse. She smiled brightly and her eyes dazzled with stars in them as she stared at Sonic.“He’s so cute I’m gonna die!” said Kate. She had the same reaction as F. Jesse.“Uh… I think the potion effects finally kicked in and turned Sonic!” said Knuckles.“We’ll get to work on another potion!” said Tails.He and Rosalina dashed upstairs. Kate and F. Jesse couldn’t help but start smothering Sonic, who meowed with an annoyed tone.“He probably still has his personality in him to. Another thing the potion probably didn’t do to him…” said Knuckles.“What potion? I’m so confused,” said M. Jesse, sighing a bit. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Outside the tree house, all was calm for a little bit. However, a bright light shined somewhere in the front yard. It was a portal from whenever someone traveled between universes, and out came Romeo, Stella, and Lluna. The three landed with a thud on the ground.“Ow…” Stella groaned.“Universe traveling is always rough… though it’s better than the portal to leave the Underneath…” said Lluna.Romeo stood up. He reached out and helped Stella, then Lluna stand up. The three of them started to approach the tree house. As they did, Romeo pulled out a key from his inventory.“I still can’t believe that Kate asked you to look after her and Knuckles’s Pokémon and house while they’re out of town,” said Lluna.“Well, she told me that she trusts me more than Mario and Sonic. I don’t want to let her down, so I want to make sure I do a great job with this,” said Romeo.“Why did she come to you instead of Mario and Sonic again? Aren’t they like her brothers?” asked Lluna.“She told me that the last time they watched over the tree house for her, while they did take care of the Pokémon, they did the stupid thing of playing baseball in the house. They broke three windows, and they did that much damage because they argued over what counted as a home run,” said Romeo.They walked up to the front door. Romeo unlocked the door and the three entered the tree house. Romeo flipped on the light switch and closed the door behind them. The group heard the pitter patter of something coming, and it was coming from upstairs. A few seconds later, and all the Pokémon came downstairs.“Hey, good to see you guys again,” Romeo greeted them.Pikachu ran up to him, and Romeo gently petted her on the head. Pikachu smiled at him.“They sure are cute,” Stella said. Piplup walked up to her, so she gently pet Piplup on the head.“So we just gotta feed these guys and take care of them?” asked Lluna.“They also need attention. Kate and Knuckles told me that their Pokémon don’t really like going in their Poke-balls unless it’s absolutely necessary. So they are free to roam the tree house,” said Romeo.Pansage suddenly tugged on Romeo’s jacket sleeve, and was pointing at the kitchen.“My guess is you guys are hungry?” he asked the Pokémon.“Pan sage…” said Pansage, nodding his head.“Alright. Let’s get you guys some food,” said Romeo.He stood up and headed into the kitchen. All of the Pokémon followed him. Stella did a head count of how many Pokémon they had to look after.“Five? Geez, that may be a lot,” said Stella.“At least they aren’t dogs. Based on seeing that Stacy person try to keep her dog Wink under control, dogs can be a bit hyper pretty often,” said Lluna.“Yeah. Five Pokémon shouldn’t be too much trouble, right?” asked Stella.The girls headed into the kitchen, where they saw Romeo dishing out Pokemon food and placing the food bowls on the floor. All five Pokemon, Pikachu, Pansage, Piplup, Oshawott, and Riolu began to eat.“All five of them are Kate’s Pokemon?” asked Stella.“Four of them are. Riolu belongs to Knuckles,” said Romeo.“Who cares who belongs to who? They may outnumber us five to three, but we got this,” said Lluna.The three humans watched as the Pokémon continued to eat their breakfast. Oshawott had finished his breakfast quickly. He swallowed the rest of his food and stared at Pansage’s food bowl. Pansage was taking his time eating his breakfast, and he even smiled as he looked at Pikachu. Pikachu saw him smiling at her, so she smiled back.Oshawott smirked. He reached over and stole a little bit of Pansage’s food. Pansage saw Oshawott take some of his food and gave the sea otter an annoyed look.“Pan sage…” he said.Oshawott stuck his tongue out at Pansage. Pansage growled and slapped Oshawott on the cheek. The two Pokémon started to get into a cat fight.“Hey! Hey! Break it up!” said Romeo.He quickly came over and pulled Oshawott away from Pansage. Stella and Lluna just watched with surprised looks.“I uh… I think this might be harder than it sounds…” said Lluna. A few days passed by, and so far so good. Romeo had been keeping up with feeding the Pokémon three times a day, while Stella and Lluna helped him play with the Pokémon. It would get a little rough whenever the Pokémon would try to start a little fight, but nothing bad happened so far. Whenever the Pokémon would start a little fight, it was easy to defuse.The week was going by quickly for Romeo, Stella, and Lluna. They were staying at the tree house until Knuckles and Kate return from visiting Kate’s family, and they were feeling relaxed and were able to keep the house clean for their friends.The last day of looking after the Pokémon and the tree house came up rather quickly. Another calm, casual day. Romeo finished feeding the Pokémon that morning. Lluna was sitting on the couch watching some TV. Pansage and Pikachu were sitting on the couch with her, but both were taking a nap. Outside in the backyard, Stella was playing with the other Pokémon. Meanwhile, Romeo was in the kitchen cleaning up. He and Stella had cooked some breakfast that morning rather than help themselves to some cereal, so he was trying to clean up.As Romeo was busy scrubbing some plates so that they could go in the dishwasher, he looked up from the sink for a second. He saw Stella tossing a ball lightly for Oshawott, Piplup, and Riolu to chase after and play with. Romeo smiled as he saw his girlfriend having fun with the Pokémon.‘This has been a successful job to do. Stella is enjoying being with the Pokémon, Lluna’s been able to relax for a while, and I’ve achieved this without messing up. Kate asked me to look after everything because she trusts me. I’m glad she does. It’s nice… to have a friend trust you…’ he thought.His smile suddenly faded. He looked down at the soapy water in the sink, seeing his reflection for a split second. Romeo let out a sad sigh.‘Fred and Xara trusted me… they were my friends, and I hurt them so much… they’re gone now…’ he thought.Romeo looked back up at the window. He could hear Stella laughing as she was watching the Pokémon play. It took a few seconds, but Romeo began to smile sadly again.‘But it’s okay. Fred and Xara are together again, wherever they are now in heaven. And I have what I have now, including a great girlfriend like Stella, and special friends like Jesse and Kate,’ he thought.Romeo shifted his focus back onto cleaning the dishes. He finished scrubbing the plates and getting any food pieces off of them, and placed them in the dishwasher. He put some soap in the soap dispenser, shut the dishwasher door, and hit the button to start running the machine to wash everything.Romeo washed his hands and dried them. He headed out to the living room, where Lluna was busy watching the TV and Pikachu and Pansage were still snoozing on the couch. Romeo walked up to a closet and opened it up, pulling out the vacuum cleaner. He plugged it in and began to vacuum by the front door. Lluna heard the noise and she turned around.“Hey, why are you so loud?” she called out to him.“I’m just trying to clean up the house a little bit more,” Romeo said, trying not to sound annoyed.“Well, can you please keep it down? I’m watching a show, and there’s two napping Pokémon right next to me,” said Lluna. She turned her head around and went back to watching TV. “Oh come on! A commercial break?” she said.“Maybe you should turn down the Food Network channel if you want the Pokémon to continue their nap…” Romeo muttered.He continued to vacuum.Outside in the backyard, Stella was still playing with the Pokémon. However, Piplup was getting tired, and even let out a yawn.“Aw, are you tired?” asked Stella.“Pip… lup…’ Piplup said, pausing to yawn in between her words.Stella giggled. She gently picked up the Pokémon and cradled her in her arms. She headed back inside the house holding Piplup, with Oshawott and Riolu following her.Back inside, Stella walked over to the couch and set Piplup down next to Pikachu and Pansage. The penguin Pokémon stirred a bit in her sleep, but remained in her slumber and continued her nap.Stella left the living room and walked over to Romeo, who had finished vacuuming. He unplugged the vacuum and headed over to the closet to put it away.“Need any help?” she asked him.“Nah, I got it, Stella. Besides, Kate asked me to look after the place and feed the Pokémon. I’m just glad that you and Lluna came here to keep me company. But if I need help, I’ll let you know, okay?” said Romeo.Stella smiled and said, “Sure. Okay.” A little bit later, and Romeo was upstairs. He was making sure that Knuckles and Kate’s bedroom was neat and in order. He, Stella, and Lluna hadn’t been going in there for they had been sleeping in some of the guest rooms. However, the Pokémon liked to often nap on the bed in the master bedroom, so Romeo left the door open for them to go in freely. Since it was the last day before his friends were supposed to come home, Romeo just wanted to make sure that the room was neat and looked as if no one had been in there as much as possible.The former admin sighed as he saw some books lying on the floor right by Kate’s nightstand. He started to pick them up. Riolu was watching him as he worked. She was sitting on the middle of the bed.“Do you guys like to knock over things?” Romeo asked the Pokemon.Riolu shook her head. She began to make noises and pointed at Oshawott, who was staring at something else in the room. It was a glass case, and it had Kate’s sword, Starlight, inside it. The sea otter heard Riolu talking, and he turned his focus over to Riolu.“Osha osha wott…” he said, looking unamused.Riolu ignored him and kept on talking, despite how Romeo couldn’t understand what the Pokemon were saying. As Riolu continued to speak, Oshawott got more annoyed. He suddenly shot a water gun attack at Riolu. It didn’t hurt Riolu that much, but it did annoy her. She turned around and growled.Riolu suddenly jumped up. She formed a bright light in her hands, and shot an aura sphere attack at Oshawott. Oshawott quickly jumped out of the way, but the attack ended up hitting the glass case that he was standing in front of.The aura sphere hit the glass, and a smoke cloud formed. Romeo and the Pokémon gasped as the smoke cloud formed.“Oh slimeblocks!” cried Romeo.He quickly rushed over to the glass case. He coughed as he waved his hands and tried to get the smoke cloud to clear away.“Romeo, what happened?!” a voice cried from downstairs.The sound of someone running up the staircase grew louder quickly, and in just seconds, Stella, Lluna, and the rest of the Pokémon came up stairs. When they arrived, the smoke cloud vanished, enabling everyone to see the damage done.The glass case was shattered into a million bits, and Kate’s sword was lying on the floor.“No! No! No! No! Kate’s going to kill me!” cried Romeo.“What the hell happened here?!” said Stella.“These two broke got into a fight and broke the glass case!” said Romeo, as he looked at Oshawott and Riolu.Oshawott began to make panicked noises and pointed at Riolu. Riolu growled and gave an angry glare at Oshawott, but she didn’t try to spat back at him.“She may have hit the glass case, but you started it by shooting her with water gun!” said Romeo. He let out a frustrated sigh and looked at the damage done. “What am I going to do?!” he said.“First we need to clean this up. Shards of glass is dangerous to have on the floor,” said Stella.She reached down to pick up the sword and move it out of the way. However, she was able to grab the handle for just a few seconds, because when Stella touched the handle, she felt a hot, burning pain in her fingers and the palm of her hand. She shrieked and dropped the blade.“Stella?!” said Lluna.“What the heck?! The handle’s burning hot!” cried Stella.“Go get some ice!” Romeo told Lluna.“On it!” Lluna said, dashing downstairs as she spoke.Stella sat down on the bed and put a pillow on her hand to try to keep her burn covered. Romeo quickly grabbed a broom and dust pan that he already had with him and began to sweep up the broken glass. Since Stella couldn’t move the sword, Romeo had to nudge the blade out of the way with the broom. He was able to clean up every shard of glass.Lluna came rushing back in and handed Stella a big ice pack. Stella let out a sigh of relief as she put the ice back over her burn mark.“Thanks Lluna,” she said.“You’re welcome, and…” said Lluna. She turned her head and looked at the sword and said, “What do we do about this?!”Riolu was making more noises. The humans turned around, even though they couldn’t understand her. However, to their surprise, she had a little white board in her hands. She picked up a marker off of Knuckles’s nightstand, and began to write something. When the Pokémon was done, she turned it around so that the humans could read what she wrote:YOU CAN’T TOUCH THE BLADE’S HANDLE. UNLESS YOU’RE KATE, YOU’LL BURN YOUR HAND.“Wait, so none of us can pick up the sword?” said Lluna. “That’s stupid!”“Kate can, but we can’t just leave a sword, a freaking sword, on the floor!” said Romeo. “And when she and Knuckles get home and see this, I’m so dead!”“Calm down, Romeo! We’ll figure something out,” said Stella.“What are we going to do?! She’ll know that I screwed up when she sees that the case is gone, and that her freaking sword is lying on the floor!” cried Romeo.“Romeo, you need to calm down first!” Stella shouted, raising her voice slightly.Oshawott shot a blast of water at Romeo with his water gun attack. Once he stopped, Romeo stood there, coughing a bit. He managed to calm down a bit.“Sorry…” he said.“Obviously we need to get a new case. Maybe we can call one of our friends in this world for help,” said Stella.“Yeah… yeah, I think someone can help. But who?!” said Romeo. “I-I’m going to check the emergency list that Kate left on the fridge!”Romeo dashed downstairs quickly. He ran back to the kitchen and up to the fridge. A piece of paper was tapped to the door, with a list of contacts. Romeo ran his fingers down the list as he read the numbers, and he tapped one that he figured might help.“They might help!” he said.He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number. As he waited for someone to answer, Romeo impatiently paced the kitchen. Finally, the person on the other end picked up.“Hello?” said Peach.“Queen Peach!” said Romeo. “It’s me, Romeo!”“Romeo? Are you alright, my friend? Why are you so distressed?” asked Peach.“Your majesty, I need some help! I broke a glass case that Kate had for her sword and I need a new one! You think you can help me, or direct me to someone who can help me!?” asked Romeo.“Oh my. Well, she did place an order for that case at the furniture store in my kingdom. I can go over and ask them if they have another one and leave it aside for you,” said Peach.“Please do it, ma’am! I don’t want to upset Kate!” said Romeo.“Okay. Okay. Just calm down. I’ll head over to the store. Meet me there,” said Peach. “Here, I’ll give you the address. You got a pen and paper?”Romeo quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. Once he was ready, he asked for the address, and Peach gave it to him.“I’ll be right over, princess!” said Romeo.Before Peach could speak once more, Romeo quickly hung up. He grabbed his jacket and began to head out. Just as he was about to dash out, Stella came back downstairs.“Romeo?” she asked him.“I’ll be back as soon as I can! Just make sure this place is clean everywhere else, and please keep the Pokémon under control!” said Romeo.He quickly dashed out before Stella could ask him another question. Romeo ran for the warp pipe outside the tree house and quickly jumped in. A little bit later, and Romeo finally made it to the Mushroom Kingdom. Once he made it, he rushed through the streets. He was almost out of breath, but that didn’t stop him from walking as quickly as he could. Romeo panted a bit, and was sweating all over his forehead. He walked through the streets as fast as he could, and finally reached the address.Romeo didn’t stop to catch his breath. He quickly walked inside and found Peach waiting by the front desk.“Your majesty!” he gasped, before breathing heavily.“Easy, Romeo. You need to catch your breath,” said Peach.Romeo panted a bit more. Peach walked him over to a chair and made him sit down. A Toad came up and handed him a water bottle.“Thanks…” Romeo said, before drinking some water.“You’re welcome sir. Were you running a marathon before you came?” asked the Toad.“No. He’s here for that order for the glass case that I came for,” said Peach.“The one big enough for a sword? Well, you’re in luck sir. We have one more left,” said the Toad.“Thank you,” said Romeo.“That will be one-hundred and fifty gold coins,” said the Toad.“Coins?” asked Romeo. He slapped his forehead and let out a frustrated sigh. “Aw crap! I forgot to bring currency for this world!”“This world?” the Toad asked, forming a confused look.Peach didn’t want the Toad asking any further questions about the universes. She pulled out her wallet and said, “I’ll pay for it.”“What?! But how can I pay you back for it!?” said Romeo.“Calm yourself, Romeo. You can worry about paying me back later. For now, let’s get this case over to the tree house, alright?” said Peach.Romeo stuttered a bit. Peach spoke to him calmly, instructing him to take a few breaths and exhale. Romeo listened to her, and as he was done, he felt calmer.“Feel better?” asked Peach.“Yeah. I’m okay, ma’am,” said Romeo.“Let’s head back,” said Peach.“Alright…” said Romeo. A short while later, and they returned to the tree house. Romeo and Stella carried the glass case upstairs as carefully as they could. It wasn’t an easy task, but the managed to get the case upstairs without breaking it. They placed in the spot where the old case was.“There! New case!” said Romeo.“But what about the sword?” said Lluna.She poked the broom at the sword, since they still couldn’t touch the handle. The group circled around the sword and looked down at it.“We can’t pick it up without burning our hands!” said Stella.“I don’t see any way you can pick it up unless you want to burn your hand,” said Peach.“But what about Silver?! Does he have psychic powers?!” said Romeo.“He’s already tried to use his powers to lift Kate’s sword. This blade is infused with demon’s blood. Not only does it enable the wielder to hurt instead of kill, but it also prevents anyone except the worthy wielder from using it in any way,” said Peach.“This thing’s got demon’s blood in it? How the hell is that possible, and why does it work that way?” asked Lluna.“That is all I know,” said Peach.“Well, at least you helped us get the case. Thank you for your help, Queen Peach,” said Stella.“You’re welcome. Oh, and you don’t have to address me formally. I am queen now, but I still prefer to be called just ‘Peach’,” said Peach, giving them a smile.Stella walked Peach downstairs, to escort her and walk her out of the tree house. Romeo stood where he was, staring at the blade. Lluna looked over at him with a concerned look.“Romeo?” she asked him.Romeo let out a heavy sigh. He quickly grabbed the handle of the sword. A sharp, burning pain hit his hands almost instantly. He ran over to the case and put the sword in. once it was inside, he shut the case. He looked down at his hands, tearing up in his eyes. His hands were a dark shade of pink.“Romeo! Quick, let’s get you some ice!” said Lluna.She grabbed his arm and led him downstairs so they could quickly treat Romeo’s burn before it could get worse. The next day finally arrived. After eating breakfast and feeding the Pokémon, everyone waiting with anticipation for Knuckles and Kate to return home. Now that the sword and the case were sorted out, it was as if nothing happened in the first place.However, Romeo’s hands had not recovered fully from the burn. Because he held onto the handle of the blade for a longer amount of time than Stella did when she picked it up for only a split second, Romeo’s burns were very noticeable. He had to wrap his hands up in a lot of bandages. And even after applying ice, his hands still stung whenever he touched something.After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the group heard the sound of a car pulling up by the tree house. The Pokémon made excited noises and ran for the front door. A few minutes later, and the door opened. Knuckles and Kate came in. The couple petted their Pokémon and tried their best to walk inside.“Heh heh. Did you guys miss us so much?” Knuckles joked, as he picked up his Riolu and hugged her.Kate smiled and walked over to Romeo, Stella, and Lluna.“Thanks for looking after the house and our Pokemon,” she said.“It was no problem,” said Lluna.Kate suddenly noticed Romeo’s hands. Her smile faded.“Romeo, what happened?” she asked him.Romeo blushed a bit in embarrassment. He was quiet. Stella and Lluna were quiet to, wondering if Romeo would tell Kate what happened, or try to lie about it.Finally, Romeo let out a heavy sigh.“I’m sorry Kate. But yesterday, a mishap with the Pokémon upstairs led to the glass case in your room getting broken to shards. I asked Peach to help me order a new one, and I had to pick up the sword and put it back in the case,” said Romeo.Kate gasped. She quickly walked over to Romeo and started to undo the bandages on his hands. Romeo flinched a bit, and he looked down shamefully when Kate saw how bad his burn marks were.“I’m sorry for messing up…” he said.“Romeo, it’s okay,” said Kate.She started to use her healing powers on Romeo’s hands, so that she could help tend to his burns.“You… I thought you would be mad at me… and not trust me anymore…” said Romeo.“I’m not mad, Romeo. If anything, I appreciate that you were honest with me instead of tried to come up with a lie about what happened,” said Kate.She finished healing his burn marks. Romeo looked at his hands. The burn was completely gone, and he no longer felt any pain.“Thanks again for looking over the tree house and feeding the Pokémon,” said Kate.She gave him a smile, which led Romeo to smile back at her.“You’re welcome, Kate,” he said, almost quietly. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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Knuckles and Kate were out at Westopolois. They were meeting with the Babylon Rouges for some lunch at a café. The couple wasn’t accompanied by the Rouges, since Jet, Wave, and Storm hadn’t arrived yet. They ordered some beverages and sat at a table to save seats for their friends.Knuckles took a sip from his coffee. He noticed that Kate was reading a manuscript of some sort, and wasn’t focused on drinking her smoothie.“Babe, why don’t you put the papers away? The Rogues may be here any minute,” said Knuckles.Kate looked up. She put a bookmark on one of the pages and closed the packet.“Sorry. I’m just going over a manuscript for a novel Aiden’s writing. He asked me to read it and get him some feedback before he publishes it in Ground City. He’s trying to earn some extra cash to set aside for wedding planning,” said Kate.“Oh yeah. I forgot Aiden proposed to Maya and she said yes. Let me know when you’re turning that back in to him, so I can write him a little congrats note,” said Knuckles.“He’s coming by tomorrow, so you can tell him tomorrow in person,” said Kate.“Hey guys!” a voice called out.The couple looked up and saw that the Babylon Rogues finally arrived. They smiled at their friends as they joined them at the table.“Hey. We didn’t order lunch yet. But we were a bit thirsty,” said Knuckles.“No worries. Thanks for saving a table,” said Jet.“You brought some work with you, Kate?” asked Storm, as he looked at the manuscript.“Aiden asked me to read over one of his writing projects and give him feedback,” said Kate.“Oh the Blaze Rod leader kid, right? I forgot he’s a writer to,” said Wave.A waiter came by and handed the group some menus. They proceeded to enjoy their day out together, changing the topic of their conversation. The next day, Knuckles was in the kitchen starting the coffee maker. Once he hit the start button, he got to work on feeding the Pokemon that were living with him and Kate at the tree house. Just as he finished putting out all the food bowls, there was a knock at the door.“Coming!” Knuckles called out.He exited the kitchen and made his way to the door. Knuckles opened it, and Aiden was there.“Good morning Aiden,” he greeted him. “Come on in.”“Morning Knuckles,” said Aiden. He entered the tree house.“How’s the wedding planning?” asked Knuckles.“A little slow. Maya’s trying to work extra hours so we can have some more cash. Once I know what to fix up from that manuscript I asked Kate to look at, I’ll finish editing my novel and publish it. I’ll ask my boss if there’s some extra work she needs me to do. The paper’s been a little slow lately anyway,” said Aiden.“You guys need help planning your wedding?” asked Knuckles.“Oh no, it’s fine. Maya and I are working hard on it, and we’ll manage. Milo and Isa offered to help us, but we told them unless they have work for us to actually earn money, we aren’t taking any money for free. It’s our wedding, so Maya and I want to earn that money and make our wedding our way,” said Aiden.“Heh. I hear ya. I was the same when I was busy with wedding planning. Though, the only help I accepted was the offer for the guards at Ground City and the gladiators at Otto’s games to help guard my wedding,” said Knuckles.The two heard some commotion upstairs, followed by the sound of Kate shouting frantically. They hurried upstairs, and as they did, they could hear what Kate was saying to herself.“Oh Chaos! Where is it? Where is it!?” they heard her say.They entered Knuckles and Kate’s bedroom, to find Kate rummaging through her book bag for something. Kate threw the book bag on the bed in frustration, and began to check some drawers on her desk.“Kate? What’s the matter?” asked Aiden.Kate yelped when she heard Aiden speak. She quickly spun around and gasped when she saw that Aiden was here.“Aiden!” she said.“Whoa, calm down! What the heck is going on here?” asked Knuckles.“Oh Chaos. Aiden, I’m so sorry! I can’t find the manuscript!” said Kate.“You lost the copy I gave you?!” asked Aiden.“I can’t find it! I don’t know where I put it!” said Kate.“Babe, calm down. Didn’t you bring it with us to the café yesterday?” asked Knuckles.“I did, but I was sure that I put it back in my book bag!” said Kate.“Calm down. Let’s head back to the café and see if they still have it there,” said Knuckles. The three headed to the café. The place had just opened up, so luckily they could go in and ask the person at the entrance who would seat people in the café.“Hello. How can I help you today? Table for three?” she asked them.“No thank you. You see, I came here yesterday with a group, and I think I left something behind,” said Kate.“Where were you sitting? What did you leave behind?” asked the woman.“Over there, on the patio. I think I lost a packet of papers stapled together. A manuscript,” said Kate. She pointed to the patio area.“Ah. Alright. Richie handles the patio orders on Tuesdays, so he was your waiter yesterday. I’ll go ask him to come over and you can ask him if he saw what you lost,” said the woman.She turned around and headed to the kitchen. A few minutes later, she returned, accompanied by the waiter that served Knuckles and Kate.“Oh, I remember you both! You were here yesterday. Can I help you with something?” asked the waiter.“I think I left behind a manuscript at my table yesterday. Did someone turn it in?” asked Kate.“A manuscript. Now that I recall, I think I saw one left behind at your table, but before I could pick it up, a Mobian picked it up and put it in her backpack. She said it was hers,” said thee waiter.“But that wasn’t hers! Who was she?” asked Aiden.“Some chipmunk girl. I feel like I’ve seen her face somewhere,” said the waiter.“You seriously didn’t know her? That was Princess Sally Acorn, from Knothole,” said the woman behind the counter.“Sally stole the manuscript?” Kate said, forming a horrified look.“Oh notch… my novel! She might sell it for her own! If she took it, she knows that you had it with you!” Aiden told her.“She must’ve taken it because she thought it was my story idea. Aiden, I am so so sorry!” said Kate.“We gotta get my manuscript back! I don’t want her publishing my novel! Even if I’m publishing it in my world, I don’t want to get possibly criticized for being the thief when I wasn’t!” said Aiden.“We’re gonna figure this out, Aiden. I promise. It’s my fault, so I’m gonna fix it,” said Kate.“You can’t do it on your own though! Sally hates you, and it’s my novel she stole! I’m helping!” said Aiden. A while later, the three were waiting outside of Sonic’s house. Kate asked Sonic to help them with sneaking into Sally’s castle and stealing the manuscript back, since Sonic knew the layout of Sally’s castle. He knew the place since he used to date Sally. Sonic wasn’t happy about being asked to help his friends break into his ex’s house, but when Aiden told him how upset he was, the hedgehog couldn’t back out. He had to help his friends.The three were waiting for Sonic. He told them he was busy with something and had to wrap it up.“What’s taking him so long?!” Knuckles said, sounding impatient.Finally, the door opened, and Sonic came out.“Why were you taking so long?!” asked Kate.“I was having a snack!” said Sonic.“It took you twenty minutes to finish your snack!?” Knuckles asked him sarcastically.“I also had a drink!” said Sonic.“Guys, can we please stop wasting our time arguing?!” asked Aiden.The three nodded their heads in agreement. No time to waste. Kate helped Aiden climb up on her shoulders so she could give him a piggy back ride. She, Sonic, and Knuckles broke into a fast run. Within minutes, the four made it to the outside of Knothole.“It’s the middle of the day. We gotta be careful making our way through the streets of Knothole. People will easily recognize us,” said Sonic.“No kidding. Everyone knows how obsessed Sally is with you and how she despises us…” Kate muttered.“We better take this cautiously then. Don’t want to draw attention, or Sally will know we’re coming,” said Aiden.“Here,” said Kate.She handed everyone a hoodie. “Let’s try to keep ourselves as hidden as possible, but blend in with the crowd,” she said.Everyone took a hoodie and put it on. They zipped up their hoodies and pulled the hood over their heads. Now that they looked more casual and could keep their heads down, the group headed into Knothole.No one seemed to pay attention to the group, much to their relief. The group worked their way through the streets, making it closer to Sally’s castle. When they arrived, they saw that there were some guards standing outside.“No way we can just walk inside. And the guards will not let any of us in,” said Aiden.“Maybe you guys, but me? Sally might’ve told them that I have a clear just because she wants me in her castle…” Sonic said, forming an unamused look.Aiden looked around. He was trying to figure out a way to distract the guards so that they could slip right in. That’s when he spotted a young lady pushing a cart with some flowers on it.‘Hmm… guys do like to help a damsel in distress…’ he thought.Aiden tapped Knuckles on the shoulder, getting the echidna’s attention. Knuckles turned around, and Aiden whispered to him about what he had in mind. Knuckles sighed, forming a disappointed look on his face, but he nodded his head.“You owe me one if this doesn’t work!” he whispered to Aiden.Knuckles walked over to the cart to talk to the lady. While he did, Aiden pulled Sonic and Kate aside, to hide out of sight from the guards.“Hello, can I help you?” the lady asked Knuckles.Instead of answering her, Knuckles took a big bunch of flowers off the kart. He turned around and left.“Hey! Thief! I’m being robbed!” the lady shouted.The guards heard her shout, and they saw Knuckles running away. They chased after Knuckles. Now with the entrance cleared, Aiden, Sonic, and Kate bolted right in.No one was in the entrance hall, so they took the chance to hide behind cover and take a look at their surroundings.They heard footsteps, so they quickly ducked behind their cover. They couldn’t see anything going on, but they could hear a few people talking.“Sally, I highly doubt that you wrote this story. You always said that you hate stories unless they’re romance stories. This isn’t a romance story, and it’s a mystery story,” said a man’s voice.“Well I did write it, dad! I’ll show you what I am capable of doing! Maybe it’ll be so great, you’ll make me queen!” said Sally’s voice.“Even if this novel that supposedly belongs to you turns into a huge success, it still won’t change anything. Your brother is more mature and more prepared for the position of being the next leader. He is still going to become king when he’s ready,” said her father.“Why can’t I get what I want for once?!” Sally shouted angrily.The three heard Sally’s father let out a loud, frustrated sigh. “You ALWAYS get what you want!” he shouted at her.“No I don’t! I want to be queen for Chaos’s sake, and you won’t let me have that!”“Because you don’t see the responsibilities of being queen!”“I don’t care about taking care of people! I just want the position! It’s the only power I have against someone like that Staples girl!”“You’re still obsessing your unnecessary hatred for this human. And you wonder why I won’t let you take the crown…”“I’ll show you all that you’re wrong!”There was the sound of someone storming away, which meant that Sally left. The three heard the king sigh in frustration and leave.“Why did you even date her in the first place?” Aiden sarcastically whispered to Sonic.“I was younger, and stupider back then. I didn’t see who she was until she hurt my best friend…” Sonic muttered.“I think she took the manuscript to her room,” Kate whispered.The three made their way quickly but quietly through the hallways of the castle. They came up to the door where Sally’s room was, and they knew it was her room because they could hear her talking to someone. Since there was a couple pauses in the conversation, Sally must’ve been on the phone.“We need her out of there! My manuscript’s in there!” said Aiden.“I’ve got this!” whispered Sonic.He quickly dashed down to the end of the hallway. The blue hedgehog ducked behind a curtain and took a deep breath.“Sally! Can you come here, please?” he called out, doing his best impression of Sally’s father.“Not the best impression…” Kate muttered.“Shhh!” Aiden hissed at her. They hid behind a curtain nearby them.Sally stepped out of the doorway. She was holding onto her cell phone in her left hand, and she had an angry look on her face.“What now dad?” she called out.When she got no response, she walked down the hallway, calling out for her father. Aiden and Kate quickly snuck inside when they had the chance.“My manuscript!” Aiden said. He spotted it on the desk and picked it up. Aiden flipped through the pages, making sure it was what he was looking for.“Yep. This is mine. I recognize the edits you made on here, with a red pen,” said Aiden.“You sure it’s your story?” Kate asked.Aiden showed her the front page. It had the title of his novel, and where his name was written, it was angrily scribbled over with black in and had Sally’s name on it.“Well, that’s enough proof,” said Kate.The two turned to leave, but just was they were about to sneak out, Sally returned. She was standing in the doorway.“You!” she sneered.“We only came for what was rightfully ours!” Aiden said. He put the manuscript away in his inventory.“Give that back! I’m publishing it so that I can steal Staples’s dream of being a writer!” she snapped at him.“No! It’s my idea and you stole it from me! I’m not letting you take credit you jerk!” said Aiden.“I don’t care! It’s that damn good, it’ll beat whatever she could possibly write!” Sally shouted, pointing angrily at Kate.“Hey, even if Aiden was a better writer than me, I’m not letting you steal something that he wrote!” Kate shouted back at her.“This isn’t your story! You can’t just steal other people’s work and pass it off on your own!” shouted Aiden.“I’m the princess for Chaos’s sake, and I don’t get the recognition I deserve! If I can’t get that, then you idiots won’t get your rewards!” said Sally.“You are no princess to us, Sally Acorn…” Kate sneered at her.Strangely, Sally smirked. “GUARDS!” she shouted.“Time to go!” Kate said.She rushed over and grabbed Aiden’s arm. She picked him up and jumped out of the window. Aiden shrieked, but he held onto Kate tightly as Kate carried him down and broke into a run once they landed on the ground.Sonic was still hiding in the castle. He heard the guards rush past his hiding spot, so he peeked out. He started to slip away, but someone snuck up behind him and grabbed his arm.“Let go!” he said.“Not a chance!” said the guard.Sally walked over. She had a smile that made Sonic feel uncomfortable, especially since she was looking at him.“Hello Sonic,” she greeted him, speaking casually.Sonic frowned at her.“Long time no see…” she said.Sonic didn’t respond.“Your stupid human sister wins this round, but tell her that if she doesn’t want me doing anything to her, then she better uncurse Pauline…” Sally sneered at her.“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sonic said, trying to lie as best as he can.Sally slapped him across the face.“Don’t lie to me! I know she did something to Pauline to make her forget me! She’s going to pay for it!” said Sally.She snapped her fingers and looked at the guard. “Let him go. He can go free, for now…”The guard let go of Sonic. The blue hedgehog wasn’t going to ask Sally what she meant by her threat. He booked it out of the castle as quick as he could. He bolted right past the guards who were standing guard before. They were by themselves, so that meant that they didn’t catch Knuckles. Sonic rushed out of Knothole, finding his friends waiting for him on the outskirts.“Thank goodness you’re okay! We were thinking we had to run back in to save you,” said Kate.“Well, I’m fine. Let’s get home,” said Sonic.The four finally headed to the safety of the tree house. While the others were satisfied that they made it out and got Aiden’s manuscript back, Sonic formed a worried look on his face, which his friends didn’t notice.‘Man… Sally was pretty mad… I hope this isn’t a bad sign…’ he thought.The group made it back to the treehouse. They were tired out from their mission to get Aiden’s manuscript back, but at least it was a success. The four entered the treehouse.“Man, that was quite a day…” said Knuckles, smiling nervously.“Yeah. I’m just glad I got this back,” said Aiden. He pulled out his manuscript and looked at it.“It would’ve been bad if Sally got that published, but she never will. We’re all good here,” said Kate.The group heard someone’s stomach growl. All eyes were on Kate. She smiled nervously and said, “Yeah… I haven’t eaten today… Have you guys eaten?”“Nope…” said Aiden, giving her a nervous smile.“Starving,” said Knuckles.“I’m hungry again myself,” said Sonic.“How about I whip up some chili dogs, and we could even watch a movie or something?” said Kate.“Oh! I’ve been wanting to watch the new Jurassic World movie now that we got it! We could do that if you guys wanna watch it,” said Knuckles.“I’m game, but only if we have popcorn to,” said Aiden.“I’ll stick around for the chili dogs,” said Sonic.The group couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright,” said Kate, when she stopped laughing. “I’ll go start cooking. You guys make yourselves comfortable while you wait.”Kate headed into the kitchen so she could get to work on cooking. The guys headed to the living room, where Knuckles turned on the TV and one of the game systems.“Let’s do some Smash Bros while we wait,” he suggested.“Sounds cool. But what should the winner get out of this?” asked Aiden, smirking a bit.“How about… the losers have to treat the winner to lunch next weekend?” Sonic suggested, smirking as well.“It’s on!” said Knuckles.“I’m in!” said Aiden.Knuckles handed Aiden and Sonic controllers. The three started up the game, ready to play. And as they started the game, Sonic decided to ease his worries.For now, he was home with his friends, and all was well. He would worry about the bad things when it would come up, rather than let it get to him now. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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Over in Beacontown, another busy day had begun, and it was certainly busy over at the temple. There was a lot to get done, but unfortunately, both of the Jesse twins were sick, so they couldn’t get anything done. They did insist that they were fine and wanted to get to work on taking care of the town, but after Lukas saw just how sick they were, he made them go back to their rooms and get some rest.With both of the twins sick in bed, that left Radar to take care of everything by himself. Lukas and Reuben offered to help him out, but the intern insisted that he could take care of things by himself. Lukas and Reuben weren’t sure, but they figured that they should hang around the temple just in case Radar needed their help.It was almost lunch time. Lukas had made some soup for the twins and he asked Reuben to bring them up to the Jesse twins. Radar was at the table, trying to sort out a lot of paperwork. He looked very stressed out, and was even drinking some coffee to keep himself focused and awake. Lukas formed a concerned look when he saw Radar shaking a little bit after he put his mug down.“Radar, are you sure you don’t need any help?” asked Lukas.“I-I’m fine, Lukas! I’m almost d-done with about half of these p-papers!” Radar stuttered.“Only halfway done?” said Lukas.The blonde let out a sigh. He walked over and after Radar put down a paper, he pulled Radar away from the table.“W-wait! I’m not finished yet!” said Radar.“You need to take a break. You’ve been working on this stuff for the Jesse twins since seven am. Let me and Reuben take it from here for a bit, alright?” said Lukas.“I-I can’t just stop right now! I can f-finish it all!” said Radar.Lukas shook his head and walked Radar to the front door. He opened the door and gave Radar a gentle shove, making Radar go outside.“Now go out, get some fresh air, maybe go for a walk or grab some lunch. Take a break for a bit, alright? And don’t come back and get back to work until it’s been a couple hours. I better not see you sitting outside the front steps either. Got it?” said Lukas.Radar let out a sigh.“Alright…” he said.“Good. Now enjoy your break,” said Lukas.Lukas went back into the temple and closed the door behind him. Radar let out another sigh and started to make his way through the streets of Beacontown.A few people greeted Radar as he walked down the street. He decided to head over to Nell’s house and see if she wanted to grab some lunch with him. Radar pulled out his wallet as he made his way. He opened it up and counted how much money he had, still walking as he did so.‘Good. Enough to go to that new café that opened up,’ he thought.Radar was about to put his wallet back in his inventory, but as he did so, someone ran into him. Radar yelped, dropping his wallet, and his glasses fell off his face.“Whoops! Excuse me!” said the person.The person didn’t stop running, and darted away.“Oh dear,” said Radar.He grabbed his wallet and put it away, since it was right in front of him on the ground. However, Radar’s vision was very blurry, and he couldn’t see anything.“Where are my-”Before Radar could finish, he heard the sound of a snapping sound from below his feet. Radar took a step back, got down on his knees, and felt around. He found his glasses, snapped into two pieces.“Oh no…” he said sadly.“Radar dude?” said a familiar voice.Radar yelped once more and spun around.“Ah! Nell!” he said.“Dude, what happened? And where are your glasses?” she asked him.Radar held out his hands, showing her his broke glasses, as a way to answer her. He let out another sad sigh and looked down.“Oh man! Dude, do you have a spare? I can get them for you!” said Nell.“I don’t have a spare. Can you guide me to the eye doctor? I can’t see anything more than five feet away from me…” said Radar.“Of course, Radar dude,” said Nell.She gently took Radar’s hand and led him through the streets. Radar blushed a bit, but he followed his girlfriend and let her guide him. A short while later, and the optometrist was done checking on Radar. He gave the intern an eye examination, and made notes on the lenses.“Alright. All done. I’ll fill out an order, and in a few days, you’ll get a new pair of glasses,” said the optometrist.“Wait, how many days!?” asked Radar.“Five to seven at the earliest,” said the optometrist.“Five to seven days!? I can’t work on things for that long! I can’t read without my glasses!” said Radar.“Radar dude, calm down,” said Nell. “I’m sure that the Jesse dudes won’t mind if you need time off.”“They’re both sick right now! I have to be helping!” said Radar.He pulled out his wallet again. Radar had to squint his eyes a bit so he could try to count how much currency he had.“How much will you take for me to speed up the process and get my new glasses today?!” he asked.“Sir, I can’t force them to speed up the process. Rushing it could lead you to getting an incorrect set of lenses,” said the optometrist.“Thank you for your help, mister,” said Nell.She took Radar by the arm and said, “I’ll take you back to the temple. The others should know what happened to you, dude.”Radar didn’t want to argue with her. He signed and let her walk him out of the office.About ten minutes later, and they returned to the temple. Lukas was surprised that Radar was out a little bit longer than he expected the intern to be, but it took explaining what happened for the blonde to understand.“I’m sorry that happened to you, Radar,” he said.“Oh, it’s alright. Lukas. Besides, I should get back to work,” said Radar.He started to walk back into the kitchen.“But Radar dude, you just said that you can’t even read without your glasses. I don’t think you should be working until you get your new glasses,” said Nell.“I’ll be fine,” said Radar.Just as he finished speaking, Radar walked right into the table. He didn’t stop, and he ended up stumbling a bit.Lukas shook his head and walked over to Radar.“Nope. You’re done working until you get your new glasses. Reuben and I will take care of things at least until the twins feel better,” he said. He pulled Radar away from the table.“But what am I supposed to do until I can see again?! How am I supposed to be any help!?” asked Radar.“You can help me and Reuben have one less thing to worry about by taking time off until you get your new glasses,” said Lukas.Radar sighed. “Alright Lukas…” he said sadly.“Good. Now go do something to relax until then,” said Lukas.Radar only nodded his head. He walked away from the table, this time a bit slower and taking his time, and started to head to the living room. His vision was still very blurry, but that didn’t stop the intern from trying to make his way to the bookshelf. Radar leaned really close to the bookshelf so he could read the spines of the books, and he picked one.Careful not to trip, Radar stumbled as he made his way to the couch. He sat down and opened up his book. He squinted his eyes again and tried to read. The words were difficult to read, so he brought the book closer to his face.“Radar?” asked Nell. She followed him.“I can read just fine, Nell,” he lied.Nell sighed. She gently took the book from him.“Want me to read it to you?” she asked him.Radar tried to muster the words “No thank you”, but he blushed and stuttered instead. Nell giggled, but she took a seat down next to him and started to read the book. As he listened to Nell read the book out loud, Radar blushed. The next day, Radar sat alone in his room. Because he couldn’t see very well, he saw no point in going out and trying to do anything. He didn’t even think he could do anything at the temple. After Nell had to read to him so that he wouldn’t be bored with nothing to do, Radar felt ashamed over the fact that he was practically blind now.Radar was sitting on his bed, doing nothing. A knock came from the door, and Reuben walked in. He was carrying a bowl of cereal that was already ready to eat.“Morning Radar. I made you breakfast. Poured you your favorite and added soy milk. Just how you normally have it,” he said.“Thanks Reuben,” said Radar.Reuben handed him the bowl .Radar took it and stared down at the inside.“The Jesse twins are feeling better, so hopefully by tomorrow, they can get back to working on stuff. Lukas and I don’t mind helping out, but we are a bit drained,” said Reuben.“I want to help though!” said Radar.“I know you want to, but we’re sorry. You can’t really help us while you can’t see anything. Just… try to take it easy, okay?” said Reuben.“Yeah… I will…” said Radar, sighing a bit after he finished talking.Reuben started to leave. He opened the door and took a second to look back at Radar.“If you need anything, just call for me,” said Reuben. “I’ll see you later.”Reuben exited the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Radar alone once more. Radar let out another sigh and he began to eat his food.Just as he finished eating, there was another knock on the door.“Come in,” said Radar.The door opened, and Radar expected it to be Lukas or Reuben checking on him again, but it wasn’t either of them. It was Nell.“Hey Radar, dude,” said Nell.“Oh. Hi Nell,” said Radar.“Lukas man said that you’re still taking time off. I was happy to spend time with you yesterday, so you wanna do something with me again?” asked Nell.Radar blushed a bit. Although he enjoyed Nell’s company the previous day, he felt a tad bit embarrassed that his girlfriend read a book to him like he was a little kid.“Nell, I… I don’t know. I can’t see anything,” said Radar.“That’s not gonna stop you now, right?” said Nell.She took his hand and pulled him up to his feet. “Come on! Let’s go out!” she said.“Nell! Ah! Hey wait!” said Radar, as Nell tugged his arm. Nell brought Radar out of the temple and walked him through the streets of Beacontown. Radar’s vision was blurry, so he could only allow Nell to guide him. He was curious to where she was going to take him to though.Nell knew that Radar was under pressure to try to work, but he felt useless because he couldn’t see, so she had something in mind for him to help him get away from all that. She guided him to the stables right by the entrance gates of Beacontown and to a horse.“Hope you know how to ride a horse,” she said.“Ride a horse? I know how to, but Nell, where are we going?” asked Radar.“Just get on, and trust me,” said Nell.Radar climbed onto the horse. Nell got on, and she immediately made the horse book it into a fast run. Radar almost fell off, but he wrapped his arms around Nell to stop himself from falling off. He held on as the horse ran off to where Nell wanted to go. He couldn’t see what was going on, but he could feel the breeze of the wind against his face. It felt relaxing for some reason.A short while later, and the horse finally stopped running.“Alright, we’re here,” said Nell.Radar let go of Nell and got off the horse. He stumbled a bit, but Nell got off and helped him stand up.“Where are we, Nell?” asked Radar.“I brought you to the beach. You can’t see very well, but you can hear things. I figured that bringing you somewhere calm and collective would help you,” said Nell.She pulled out a picnic blanket out of her inventory and laid it down across the sand. She helped Radar sit down and she sat down next to him.“Can you hear the waves?” asked Nell.Radar paused for a second. He was quiet, and took a minute to see if he could hear the waves rushing over to the coast.“Yeah… Yeah, I do hear them!” he said.Nell smiled and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. “I came to like the beach so much because I found how calming the waves can be. And you don’t need to see them to see how peaceful it came be. You just need to hear them. I thought that this would be helpful for you. So what do you say, you up for coming here every day until you get your glasses?” she said.Radar looked in the direction he could feel her holding his hand from. He was able to give her a smiled and said, “I’d like that. Thank you.”Nell smiled back and said, “Happy to help you out, dude.” For the next few days, Nell would bring Radar to the beach so he could take some relaxing time off as he waited for his new pair of glasses. The two would lie down on their picnic blanket and relax, share lunch together, and would go for a walk along the sand or in the water for a little bit.As each day passed by, Radar felt more and more at ease. He was able to forget his anxiety about being unable to see and being unable to be a big help at the temple. All in all, he was happy to spend time with Nell.Their fifth trip to the beach was coming to an end. The sun was setting, which meant that it was time to turn back and return to Beacontown. Radar didn’t want to leave, but he knew that it wasn’t worth the risk to stay out at night. Mobs weren’t peaceful anywhere, so chances were that zombies would see him and Nell like sitting ducks if they stayed any longer at the beach.Just as the sun vanished from the sky completely, the two made it back to Beacontown. They returned the horse to the stable, and Nell walked Radar back to the temple. When they arrived, the Jesse twins (who were all better now), Lukas, and Reuben were waiting for them.“Hey guys! Had a nice day out?” asked F. Jesse.“We sure did,” said Radar.“While you were out, the optometrist stopped by. Your new pair of glasses are ready. He even dropped off the spare set with a case,” said M. Jesse.He handed Radar his glasses. Radar put them on, and for a second, his head was a bit dizzy, as he had to readjust to having a clear vision. He blinked a few times, and he felt better.“I can see again!” he said happily.“Glad you can see again, dude,” said Nell.“Thanks Nell,” said Radar.He smiled at her, but it quickly faded. Now that he could see again, that meant that he couldn’t take time off like he had been for the past few days. Trips to the beach had to be suspended for the time being.Nell didn’t notice the glum look on his face, because she let out a yawn. “You’re welcome, Radar dude. Now… I think I’m gonna go home. I’m pretty tired,” she said.“Thanks for helping him find something to do while he had to take time off, Nell,” said F. Jesse.“It’s no biggie. Anyway, I’m heading home. Night dudes,” said Nell.Everyone told Nell goodbye. Once she was gone, Radar headed upstairs to his room. He was a bit sad now that he couldn’t spend time with Nell every day like how he had been lately. The intern made it to his room and closed the door behind him. He spotted something on his nightstand. It was a seashell, which Nell gave him before their first trip to the beach ended. She had taken him for a walk along the water, and they spotted the shell together. Nell insisted that he keep it though.Radar picked up the shell and stared at it. He blushed a bit again.‘Nell was so helpful to me lately. I should do something to thank her,’ he thought. The next day, Nell was over at her house cleaning some stuff up. Some of her furniture pieces in the living room got a blanket of dust on them, since she had been going out often and hadn’t been interacting with anything in her house.As she dusted some things, Nell whistled a tune to keep herself focused and calm. At one point, she heard a knock on the door. Nell walked over and opened it up.“Radar? What are you doing here, dude?” she asked him.“Hi Nell. I just wanted to thank you for what you’ve done for me for the past few days. And I wanted to give you this,” said Radar.He pulled out a little gift box out from his inventory and handed it to Nell.“Radar, you didn’t have to g-”“I know, but you’ve been so sweet to me lately. I wanted to thank you for how much you’ve done for me,” said Radar, kindly cutting her off. “Go ahead. Open it.”Nell smiled at him and opened up the gift box. She gasped when she saw what was inside. It was the shell that she and Radar found, but it had a thin rope string attached to it, making it look like a necklace.“I know you said that I should keep it, but I thought you’d like it as a necklace,” said Radar.“Like it? Dude! I love it!” said Nell.She suddenly tackled Radar with a hug. Radar smiled and returned it.“I’m glad you like it, Nell,” he said.“I love it! I love it, Radar! I love you!” said Nell.Her smile suddenly faded. Nell let go of the hug, and she saw that Radar was blushing in a dark shade of red on his cheeks. But he wasn’t the only one, because Nell was blushing to.“What… what did you say?” he asked her.“I… I uh…” Nell stuttered.“You… you said you l-love me!” said Radar.“N-no I… I… I uh…” said Nell.“Y-you love me! You!” said Radar, pointing at her. “Love. Me!” he said, now pointing at himself.“I…”Nell managed to smile a tad bit. “Yes Radar… I love you,” she said, still blushing.Radar stuttered a bit more, but he was smiling. Then he suddenly fell on the ground and fainted.Nell giggled a little bit, but she was still blushing. She helped her boyfriend up and laid him down on the couch. She figured that he needed a minute to regain consciousness.“I love you, Radar,” she said, almost in a whisper. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
In the Minecraft Universe, somewhere outside Beacontown, F. Jesse and Reuben were giving Benedict and Lluna a lesson about how to do things on their own. The teens knew a lot about mining since they loved going to the mines for their own expeditions, but they didn’t know much on things outside of mining.So today, F. Jesse was showing Benedict and Lluna how to tame wild animals. For a while, she was afraid to suggest it, considering that the teens were all once animals before they got turned into humans. To her relief, Benedict and Lluna wanted to know how to do so. Benedict couldn’t remember being “tamed”, for most of her early memories of being the Eversource were forgotten. As for Lluna, how she met Stella was a different story, and she can’t recall if she was properly “tamed” while she was still a llama.The four were outside of Beacontown, somewhere outside the forest. There was a huge field filled with pigs, cows, and chickens. Benedict was holding a carrot in her hand, waiting patiently and quietly for one of the pigs to walk up to her. One of them suddenly turned around, and spotted the carrot that Benedict was holding out.“That’s a good piggy,” she said quietly.The pig slowly approached her. When it was a few feet away from her, Benedict brought the carrot closer to his head. The pig happily punched it, making joyful oinks. Benedict giggled as the pig ate the carrot out of her hand.“Where you this sweet and adorable as a pig?” she asked Reuben.“I was, but also smarter,” Reuben said, smirking.“Smarter huh? I wonder if you were as smart as me while I was a llama. After all, I was Stella’s ‘treasure sniffing llama’,” said Lluna, giving him a smirk.Reuben smiled at her and said, “I’m sure you were the smartest llama around. And you’re still one of the smartest people I know, Lluna.”Lluna smiled back, flattered by Reuben’s compliment.“So Jesse, was it this easy when you tamed Reuben?” she asked F. Jesse.To her surprise, Jesse started to laugh. The pig got startled, and backed up a little bit away from Benedict.“What’s so funny?” Benedict asked her, ignoring the pig that was moving away from her.“Sorry. It’s just that, when I met Reuben, it was nothing like this. It took more than a carrot and patience to get even near him,” said F. Jesse.“Really? How did you tame him?” asked Lluna.F. Jesse managed to stop laughing. She looked over at Reuben, who was giving her a bright smile.“Why don’t you tell them about how you met me and how you wanted to make me a part of your team? A part of your family,” he suggested.F. Jesse looked over at Benedict and Lluna, smiling at them.“Guess it’s time for a story for you two. The story about how I met Reuben, and how he became my best friend and my family,” she said.
When I first left the orphanage that I was raised at, I was on my own. The other girls at the orphanage either wanted to get adopted instead of go off on an adventure, or they thought it was a joke that I was going off on my own. I didn’t mind though, because I didn’t need them.
After a few days, I was able to build a treehouse and get a daily schedule going. I knew to search for food or other resources, and I knew how to defend myself should I ever run into trouble. I remembered that kind of struggle when I had a temporary house on the ground. Thus, why I build my treehouse. It was safer to have the comforts of home high out of the reach of monsters.
I enjoyed my solo lifestyle at first, but soon, it got lonely. I did not regret leaving the orphanage without anyone else from there, but I still hadn’t seen any other people around these woods for a bit of time. I was beginning to think that I had gone off somewhere that was untouched by anyone.
One day, I decided that I shouldn’t be on my own anymore. If I couldn’t find any people, then I decided that maybe the best move would be to find an animal companion. Though, my options were pretty limited, and some animals I don’t feel comfortable around.
There’s no jungle biome nearby, so I can’t get an ocelot or a cat. A cat would be nice against creepers, though too many of them give me the creeps. I hadn’t seen any wolves in the forest either, so that’s not an option, but that didn’t really bother me. I’m so and so with wolves right now. I know that there were tons of chickens, cows, and sheep nearby. I had been making plans to make a home for some of them to breed them. Not for food, of course, because I’m a vegetarian. But to be able to get other resources from them.
Maybe one of them would be good for taming as a companion as well. So that settled my decision.
I packed up a few things in my inventory, ate some breakfast, and I was ready to head out. I climbed down the ladder to my treehouse, and once I reached the ground, I headed off towards the plains.
It didn’t take me too long to reach the plains. But when I arrived, I didn’t see many animals. That was odd. Where the heck did they all go?
I figured that they may have wandered off to a different part of the plains. So I walked for a little bit more. Still no sign of any of them though. I wandered for a bit more, unsure of how much time had passed since I began my trek. I wasn’t paying any attention to the time of the day, and I was still a bit of noob of telling what time it was just by looking up at the position of the sun.
It felt like forever, aimlessly searching for something, and before I knew it, the sun was setting.
“Dang it!” I hissed at myself. “I’ll have to come back tomorrow…”
I turned around to head back to my treehouse. However, when I made it out of the plains, I realized that I was in a different part of the forest. I was in an area filled with birch trees. My treehouse was perched in an oak tree and wasn’t in an area with any birch trees.
“Where the hell did I come from?” I muttered nervously.
I turned back and headed in a different direction. Just as I reached the edge of the forest, it was getting really dark now. Sunset had already come and was almost gone by the time I got out of the plains. I was starting to panic. I could hear the sounds of some zombies growling, and since I was armed with only a wooden sword, I didn’t want to resort to fighting unless I was cornered.
I spotted a cave nearby, so I quickly ran over to it. I pulled out a stick and a piece of coal. Once I entered the cave, I crafted a torch. I had some blocks with me, so I quickly pulled them out and covered up the entrance. That way, monsters wouldn’t come after me.
Now that I was safely barricaded inside the cave, I turned around to look at my surroundings. I noticed that the cave went a bit deeper. It looked like it could go on forever, and since curiosity got the best of me, I decided to venture deeper into the cave.
I don’t know how much time passed, but soon, I found a room in the cave. And it was quite a beautiful sight!
I had found a spring in the cave. But the way that the spring was formed, it looked like a water fountain. I hadn’t seen a more beautiful sight in any other place. I felt like I was in a trance by the sight, because I started to approach the spring.
Soon, I found myself at the edge of the spring. I put the torch down on a nearby rock and looked down at the water. I could see my reflection sparkling in the water, and it made me smile at myself.
Suddenly, I noticed that next to my reflection, there was a pig. For a few seconds, I looked at the pig, and then my reflection. I was confused, but I realized that it was a reflection of a pig in the water that I saw. I finally looked up, and sure enough, a wild pig had walked up to me.
I was confused. Why was this pig in the cave? But something seemed different about him. His body and head were shaped different from a typical pig in the plains, and he had a big pink birthmark on his body, along his back and his left side.
The pig oinked in panic and jumped away from me. None of the pigs I’ve seen would react like this. Only times that they’d panic and back away from me was if I drew an axe to chop down wood, and they’d think that I was going to kill them. (Not that I would kill them. I’m a vegetarian.) But this pig… he certainly seemed different. He had more personality than the other wild pigs I’ve seen around here.
“Hey. It’s alright, buddy. I won’t hurt you,” I said calmly.
I gave the pig a smile, but he didn’t feel reassured. Instead, he backed up a bit more.
I could tell that he was scared, but I wanted him to know that he can trust me. I still had some food in my inventory, and I got an idea.
I sat down, leaning against the rock that I put my torch down. As I sat down and got comfortable, I reached into my inventory and pulled out a carrot. When I pulled it out, the pig blinked a couple times. He didn’t approach me, but I knew I got his attention.
“You hungry, buddy?” I asked him.
I held out the carrot to show him. He eyed the carrot, twitching his nose a bit. I was really getting his attention now. But to reassure him that I did mean good, I took a tiny bite out of the carrot, to show him that it wasn’t poisonous, and then held it back out towards him.
The pig was finally starting to approach me. He came to me rather slowly, but I remained patient. I had come out today to tame an animal and find a companion, and I knew that being patient was a part of achieving that goal. So I stood my ground and waited quietly and calmly, letting the pig approach me at a pace he was comfortable with.
The pig was now a few feet away from me. He sniffed the carrot, and finally took a small bite out of it. He munched on the carrot, and when he finished, he looked up at me and gave me a little smile.
I found it odd to see a pig smile, but I smiled back. I appreciated his kind gesture.
“You’re welcome, buddy,” I told him.
The pig oinked happily. But suddenly, he formed a worried look. He jumped back, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking to my left.
I spun around and saw what had spooked him. A few zombies were coming.
“Oh great!” I muttered angrily.
I drew out my wooden sword and began to fight the zombies. I smacked them a few times in the heads, knocking them out. I managed to kill two zombies, but just like that, my wooden sword broke into two. The durability was already gone.
“Stupid wooden swords!” I said angrily.
The pig oinked nervously. I turned around to face him. He was standing behind me. He hadn’t run away. That meant that he trusted me, and knew that I was trying to protect him.
I looked back at the zombies. They were starting to get bigger in numbers. I checked my inventory, but I didn’t have much left. I had a pickaxe, but I didn’t want to use it. I suddenly remembered that I barricaded the cave entrance, so if I lose my pickaxe, then it’ll take forever to get through the blocks I used to close the entrance.
So I did the next best thing. I turned back to the pig, I picked him up, and I broke into a run.
The pig shrieked in panic as I picked him up. He even tried to squirm out of my arms as I ran away from the zombies.
“I’m sorry, buddy! But we’re gonna have to run, and I can’t leave you behind!” I told him.
The pig suddenly started to stop squirming. He calmed down a bit. He sure was pretty smart to understand what I was saying.
In a matter of minutes, I brought us both to the cave entrance. It was still closed off, so I put the pig down and pulled out my pickaxe. The pig looked scared, but he calmed down when he saw that I was opening up the cave entrance and not going to attack him with my pickaxe.
I managed to get the cave entrance open again. When I turned around to pick up the pig again, I saw him bolt away. And he had a good reason. The zombies caught up to us. I quickly followed him and ran out of the cave.
For a pig, he certainly was quick. He ran far ahead of me, and I lost track of the pig. I was worried about him, but I could only pray to Notch that no monsters would catch him. I had to worry about myself at the moment.
After running for a bit, I quickly got tired. I had to stop and catch my breath. Luckily, the area sounded calm. I didn’t hear any zombies growling, no creepers hissing, or spiders making creepy noises. I was safe for the moment, so now was the time to rest up.
I found a spot under a tree, so I sat down on the grass and leaned against it. Taking a few deep breaths, I searched my inventory and found my water bottle. I pulled it out and took a big gulp of water. Once I was done drinking every last drop of water, I felt refreshed.
I let out a sigh of relief, but I probably let my guard down. Because I heard the sound of growling once more. I looked in the direction where I heard the growling, and a few more zombies were coming.
“Not again!” I said.
I scrambled to get back up on my feet, almost falling back down on the ground, until I finally stood up. I broke into a run again and got back on the move.
But soon, I regretted the direction that I took. I ended up running into a corner.
“Dead end!” I said nervously.
I looked back. The zombies were starting to close in on me. I had no other options but to fight with my pickaxe. I pulled out my pickaxe and waited for the zombies to get closer.
Once they were closer, I took a few steps forward with caution. One of them was a few feet away from me, so I swung the pickaxe and hit it in the head. The zombie groaned as it fell on the ground, before despawning into a piece of rotten flesh.
Another one tried to punch me, but I managed to pull my pickaxe back and smack this one in the chest. I didn’t kill it, but I did knock it back. I quickly kicked it in the leg, making it stumble, and I hit in the head with my pickaxe.
There were two more zombies left. One of them pushed me, and it knocked me to the ground. It got on top of me, but I managed to push it back with my arms before it could try to bite me.e
“Get off me!” I shouted.
I could hear the other zombie approaching. Now I was screwed. If it was just one, I wouldn’t have a problem, but the other one could reach me and bite me. And it would take this one to injure me enough for the other one to finish the job.
But as I was struggling to keep the first one off of me, I saw something dash out and head butt the other zombie in the chest. I couldn’t see what it was, because I was too busy holding the zombie back with one hand, and trying to grab my pickaxe, which I dropped, with the other hand.
“Come on! Come on!” I muttered angrily as I tried to reach the pickaxe.
It was just out of my reach, but I couldn’t risk moving or else the zombie on top of me could fall on me and bite me. However, I saw the pig from before approaching me. He ran towards me with a worried look, and when he got up to my pickaxe, he nudged it closer to my grasp, allowing me to grab it with my fingers.
I grabbed the handle of the pickaxe, and I swung it, smacking the zombie in the head. It groaned in pain and stumbled, allowing me to push it off of me. I quickly stabbed it in the head to kill it. The other zombie was approaching me, but I saw the pig run up to him and head butt him in the chest, knocking him back.
“Thanks buddy!” I told him.
I ran over and picked up the pig again. This time, he didn’t try to squirm out of my grasp at all. Instead, he stayed calm, as I ran away to get us both to safety.
After a lot more running, I finally spotted some lights up ahead. It was the base of my treehouse, and as I ran through the bright area, I spotted the ladder. The pig, still in my arms, oinked in confusion.
“Don’t worry. We’re safe. This is where my home is,” I said.
I put him down and pointed to the ladder. He looked in the direction of the ladder, and I saw him move his head to look up. He stared in awe as my treehouse, which was resting in the trees above our heads.
“My treehouse is right here. It’s my home. Where is your home?” I asked him.
The pig looked at me. He formed a sad look.
“Oh… do you not have a home?” I asked him.
He shook his head no, still keeping his sad expression.
Poor little guy. I understood the feeling. I gently pet him on the head, forming a smile on my face.
“Don’t worry. If you want, you can stay with me,” I offered to him.
The pig perked up and smiled sadly at me.
“If you really want to. My home will be your home. And we can be best friends,” I said.
The pig oinked happily. He tackled me playfully. I laughed and hugged him.
“Very well then, buddy. From here on out, we’ll be best friends and family,” I said.
The pig nuzzled me gently before I let go of our hug. Once I stopped hugging him, I picked him up with one arm. I walked us up to the ladder, and with my other arm, I climbed up the ladder and got us both upstairs to my treehouse.
It was hard, using one arm to climb up the ladder, and then it was pretty scary when I had to open the trap door with just one hand and not be holding onto the ladder. But I leaned my body towards the ladder and the bark of the tree, to keep myself steady. With that kind of strategy, I didn’t stumble or lean back with the risk of falling. I was able to get the trap door open, so I finished climbing up and got both myself and the pig safely in my treehouse.
I put the pig down gently on the floor, and I let him wander around as I closed the trap door. It was a little dark, but luckily, I still had a torch with me. I pulled it out and put it down on the floor to slightly light up the area. I walked over to a chest and opened it. After looking around, I pulled out some carrots. The pig oinked happily and ran over to me.
I smiled at him and handed him a carrot. He almost immediately grabbed it with his teeth and began to eat it.
“Slow down a little there, buddy. I need to get a garden going for carrots now that you’re staying with me,” I said, giggling a bit.
The pig looked up and me and nodded his head, showing that he understood.
“Now that I think about it… you need a name. You are my friend and teammate now, so I should give you a name,” I said.
The pig titled his head in confusion. Maybe he didn’t have any ideas for names, so that meant I had to think of one on my own.
“Hmm… what to call you… maybe… Tony?” I suggested.
The pig shook his head no. He didn’t like that.
“No? Okay… uh… Henry?” I suggested.
He shook his head again.
“Not that one either? Hmm… Hamm?” I suggested.
He shook no again, this time forming a disgusted look on his face.
“Not even a Toy Story reference huh…” I muttered.
I started to pace the room for a bit. It was hard, thinking of a good name for my new friend. I didn’t want to suggest anything too weird, but also not too normal either. The pig just watched me as I paced around the room in silence.
“It’s so hard to give you a name! What would you like? Something like Reuben?” I asked him.
The pig perked up a little when I finished talking. I noticed that he may have been interested.
“Reuben? Do you like that name? Reuben?” I asked him.
He smiled a bit, and nodded his head yes this time. I smiled back.
“Well then, Reuben it is! I promise Reuben, you’ll love it here, and we’ll be best of friends!” I told him.
Reuben oinked happily. He ran up to me, tackling me playfully again. I laughed and pulled him into a hug.
“That day, I didn’t achieve my goal of getting a companion. Instead, I had made my very first friend. And Reuben and I lived happily ever after,” said F. Jesse, finishing her story.Benedict smiled at her and Reuben as the story ended.“Almost happily. I mean, after the Witherstorm and Fawful, almost happily,” said Lluna, smirking at them.F. Jesse and Reuben laughed a bit.“Yeah. Almost happily. But it’s all okay in the end,” said Reuben.“That was such a lovely story!” said Benedict.“I agree. Thanks for sharing it with us,” said Lluna.“You’re very welcome,” F. Jesse said.The four heard a cow snort. They all turned around to face the animal, who was staring at them with a blank expression.“How could you not be amused? I for one think it was a wonderful story!” Lluna snapped at the cow.The cow just turned around and walked away. Lluna sighed.“So much for trying to talk sense into a cow…” she said.“Calm down. Don’t want you having one yourself,” said F. Jesse, smiling nervously.Reuben smiled nervously and said, “I agree.”“I don’t get it. You don’t want me to tame a cow, but we came out here to tame some animals!” said Lluna, forming a confused look.“No uh… it’s just an expression. Here, just let me explain really quick,” said Reuben.And after a quick explanation on the saying, the three teens and F. Jesse got back to their lesson on how to tame some wild animals. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
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A brand new day was beginning in the Dream Universe. Everyone in anywhere, from the Dream Village, to the Mushroom Kingdom or Mobotropolis, was getting up to begin the new day. Even villains were getting up to start the day, and over in their newest base, Bowser and Dr. Eggman were doing just that. Though, the start to their morning could be considered different, if you could consider how the villains were rather bitter about things that concerned their nemeses themselves: Mario, Sonic, and Kate.In the dining hall, Bowser was sitting at the table. He was reading the newspaper, trying to enjoy a cup of coffee as he was doing so. But he couldn’t, or rather wouldn’t, so much as touch his cup of Joe and enjoy it. And that was because he was so focused on what the newspaper was talking about. The main headline was announcing the engagement of Mario and Queen Peach.Although he looked angry in his face, Bowser wasn’t showing any signs of bitterness in other forms of body language. He didn’t clench the newspaper with his hands, and he didn’t look like he was ready to rip the newspaper to shreds.He wasn’t the only one who was mad about something. In his laboratory, Dr. Eggman was also angry. The doctor was trying to fix his Eggmobile Buggy. Just a few days ago, he decided to try to mess with Sonic and Manic, trying to trick them into fighting each other. That resulted in a failure, for when Amy figured out that it was one of Eggman’s tricks, the doctor tried to kidnap her to stop her from getting the brothers to sort things out. That backfired, because Sonic and Manic teamed up to save Amy, and send Eggman blasting off when they destroyed the battlebot he brought with him.Eggman was lucky to not be injured when he crash-landed back at his and Bowser’s base. Unfortunately, the buggy was what got smashed to bits when the doctor landed back at the base. Only a few days passed by since his last scheme to mess with the heroes had failed, and Eggman still hadn’t fully repaired his buggy. The doctor could usually get it back up and running two days tops, but the damage done on the buggy this time was going to take a lot more work.The doctor was getting frustrated with every passing minute. He tried to tighten a bolt to keep one of the wings attached to his buggy, but just as it seemed that he was done, the bolt suddenly sprung up, hitting him in the face.“Ow!” he said angrily.The wing on the buggy fell off. Eggman was lucky that the wing didn’t drop right on his foot and smash it, or else he would’ve felt more pain than a small item hitting him on the forehead.Eggman let out a loud, frustrated sigh. He even threw his wrench across the lab to relieve his anger. The wrench hit the wall hard, making a tiny dent on it, and hit the floor with a loud clang noise.Eggman clenched his fists and stormed out of his laboratory. He had been up all night trying to fix the buggy to no avail. Hungry and angry, he walked to the dining hall to get some breakfast and hopefully calm down while taking a breather.When the doctor arrived in the dining hall, he saw that Orbot and Cubot had already set his seat at the table. They already had a plate with bacon, scrambled eggs, and waffles. Sitting right next to his plate was a big cup of chocolate milk on one side, and a butter knife, a fork, and a napkin on the other side.Eggman let out a sigh, now feeling a bit calmer, as he sat down and began to cut his waffles.Over at his seat, Bowser slammed his fist down on the table, making it shake a bit. Eggman frowned. He was about to snap at his teammate for shaking the table, but he didn’t. And that was because, when Bowser slammed his fist on the table, the Koopa King ended up knocking over his coffee cup. The coffee spilled out, and hit Bowser right on his hand.“Ow! Damn it!” Bowser said.A Goomba quickly rushed over to Bowser. He was carrying a hand towel and handed it to the Koopa King. Bowser sighed, but he didn’t snap at nor thank the Goomba for bringing him the towel. Instead, he merely dried his hand, then proceeded to cleaning up his coffee.“You’re frustrated to, huh? You know why I’m mad, so what’s gotten you so angry?” Eggman asked him.“Urgh! It’s just the front page headline I got in the newspaper. Apparently Mario proposed to Peach, and she said yes. He won…” said Bowser.Eggman ended up sighing a bit.“We’re both losing our games. You’ve officially lost the queen to Mario, and I so much as can’t succeed in even turning Sonic and his friends against each other…” he said.Bowser sighed sadly.“We are… guess we aren’t good at being the bad guys anymore…” he said.The two villains shared a sad sigh together. While Bowser and Eggman were having a rather rough start to their day, it was another story over at the Dream Village. In the Dream Village, the day was starting on a brighter, cheerier note.Over at the treehouse, Kate was already up for the day. She looked really tired, for she had just woken up, and she didn’t like waking up early in the morning. However, after going to the bathroom to wash her face and brushed her teeth, she felt wide awake, and was ready to start the day.Kate got dressed and fixed her hair. Knuckles was downstairs making breakfast, for Kate could smell something cooking in the kitchen. She fixed up the bed and headed downstairs. When she arrived, she saw that Knuckles was making pancakes. Their Pokémon were waiting patiently for food, so Kate dished out their food and served the Pokémon.“Good morning, Knuckles,” Kate greeted him.“Morning Kate. Anything you’re going to work on today? You still have that editing job for the magazine?” asked Knuckles.“Nah. It’s all done. I don’t have another assignment for now, so I might take today off. Maybe check on Hadrian and Mevia,” said Kate.“Good for you, Kate. I have to go out to town for a bit and trade in the last spare things I found during my last treasure hunt. Hoping to get a little extra from this. Still looking on getting that new game we both want,” said Knuckles.“Good. Goody goody, Knux. Maybe when you get back, wanna do something tonight?” said Kate.“We can. I’ll see if there’s any show times for that new movie we wanna see at the theater tonight,” said Knuckles.“Sounds good!” said Kate, smiling at her husband.Knuckles finished cooking the pancakes. He and Kate ate breakfast really quickly, and after finishing up, they went their separate ways for the day. Knuckles headed to town while Kate walked through the Dream Village. She headed to Hadrian and Mevia’s new residence that they built in the village.Along the way, she greeted any of her friends that she saw outside. Cream and Amy were watering some flowers at the pink hedgehog’s house, Yoshi was tending to his crops in his yard, Silver was relaxing in his front yard reading a book, Manic was at Tails’s workshop to tweak up his motorcycle with some extra upgrades, and Espio was meditating outside of the Chaotix Detective Agency.Finally, Kate reached Hadrian and Mevia’s house. There was no sign of the Old Builder couple outside, but their Luxio, Kari, was sitting in the grass. She was curled up in a ball taking a cat nap.As Kate approached Hadrian and Mevia’s house, Kari lifted her head up. She yawned and looked over at Kate with a dazed look. However, upon seeing Kate coming up, Kari perked up. She jumped up and started to walk up to Kate. The Luxio paused for a second, to stretch, and finally made it to Kate to greet the human.“Good morning, Kari,” Kate said.She gently petted the Pokémon on the head. Kari purred happily. “Are Hadrian and Mevia here?”Kari meowed, nodding her head.The Luxio walked Kate over to the front door. Kari began to meow a bit. A few seconds later, and the door opened up, revealing Mevia. She started to motion for her Pokémon to come in the house, but she was surprised to see Kate.“Oh! Kate. I didn’t see you there for a second. What brings you by?” she greeted her.“Hi Mevia. I just have a day off. Knux is running to town for some treasure hunting business, so I thought I’d swing by and check on you and Hadrian,” said Kate.“Well, a guest is nice. Why don’t you come on in?” said Mevia.“You sure? I don’t want to bother you and Hadrian if you don’t have time for guests,” said Kate.“Come on in,” said a voice from inside.The women turned around to see that Hadrian was walking up to them. He greeted Kate with a smile.Kate smiled back at Hadrian and came inside. Hadrian and Mevia walked her over to the living room. Mevia offered Kate some tea, but Kate kindly declined.“I’m a little surprised that you aren’t going out with Mario and Sonic today,” said Hadrian.“Did they tell you that they have plans for something?” asked Kate.“Not really. I was on a morning walk, so I ran into them. I asked them what they’re up to today, and they said that they were going out for a bit. I half expected you to head out and hang out with them. The three of you are like peas in a pod,” said Hadrian.“They never told me about any plans. Guess they’re having a guys’ day or something like that,” said Kate, shrugging her shoulders.“You three have been friends for a long time, haven’t you?” said Mevia.“Well, yeah. But not as long as Mario has known his friends, or Sonic has known his. Still, like Hadrian said, we’re like peas in a pod. I don’t think anything could drift us apart. Not even me starting college or working on my writing career drifted the three of us apart,” said Kate. For a little bit of time, Kate spent the afternoon hanging out with Hadrian and Mevia. The three enjoyed chatting together, sharing some hot beverages, and even talked about making plans to hang out later in the month.Kate bid farewell to the Old Builders after a couple hours of hanging out with them. She enjoyed hanging out with her friends, but she had to get back to the treehouse. She and Knuckles still had plans to head to the movies and spend time together.As she was heading back to the treehouse, Kate noticed that a flying Koopa Troopa was coming near her. She was about to pull out her sword, but when they got closer, Kate smiled. It wasn’t an enemy. It was Parakary, and they were here with the mail.But as Parakary got closer, Kate noticed that they had a worried look on their face.“Parakary, is something wrong?” she asked them.Parakary swooped closer and handed her something. It didn’t look like the typical kind of mail that they normally delivered. It looked like a threatening letter, though it was hard to interpret due to the crummy writing.Parakary handed Kate the letter, and she quickly read it over.
Dear Dreamer of Peace,
You’re a pretty pathetic excuse for a hero. You have it too easy with your powers, and you still have to rely on your friends for help. Your friends are more of a weakness than a strength since losing them is what makes you tick as Dark Rage, which you can’t even control. You’ll never be as special to Mario and Sonic as their other friends are special to them since you haven’t know them for years compared to the others. You have too much faith in others and are too soft to be a hero. Mario and Sonic are real heroes compared to you.
And speaking of Mario and Sonic, we captured them. Want them back? Well, too bad! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! They are our prisoners, and we’ll never let them go!
Love,
Bowser and Eggman
“What?!” said Kate.She growled and crumbled up the paper. As she formed an angry look, Parakary quickly fled away, seeing how much anger was forming in the human’s eyes. Kate’s dark aura began to glow around her, but she didn’t change in any other hints. She still looked human, and her eyes didn’t look like cat eyes. There wasn’t a sign that Dark Rage was taking over.But despite that, Kate didn’t look like she was calming down. She bolted into a run, leaving the village. She knew where Bowser and Eggman’s base was, and she was coming right after them. Kidnapping her friends was one thing. Sending her that letter was another thing. And both made her angry.In a matter of minutes, due to her speed, Kate made it to where Bowser’s castle was. She saw that there were a few guards and some robots patrolling the area. For some reason, they looked bored, and even showed a bit of disinterest in their job.But Kate didn’t care. She pulled out her sword and charged. She slashed the robots with the blade, while Bowser’s minions shrieked and ran away in panic.Inside their base, Bowser and Eggman were calmly minding their own business. They were watching a soap opera in the living room, while Bowser’s children were in the dining hall playing some board games. They were just casually enjoying the day.However, as Kate began to attack the guards and robots outside, the alarm went off in Bowser’s castle. The villains were shocked as they heard the alarm go off. They quickly got up from their seats.“What’s happening doc?!” cried Bowser. He ran to the dining hall to keep an eye on his children, knowing that someone was coming to attack.“I don’t know!” cried Eggman.The scientist ran for his laboratory. When he arrived, he saw Orbot and Cubot nervously watching the live security footage on some monitors. That’s when Eggman saw Kate had finished attacking the guards and was breaking into the castle from the front doors. She was glowing in a dark aura, which made Eggman nervous.“What does she want?! We didn’t do anything!” he cried.Eggman quickly ran out of the lab. He rushed through the hallways, trying to get to the dining hall as quickly as he could to warn Bowsesr. He spotted the dining hall and was about to get in.However, something zipped right by him, knocking him off his feet and stopping him. Bowser and his children saw what happened, and they all gasped.“Gah!” cried Eggman.He hit the floor hard, and he felt pain in his back. He groaned as he tried to get up. As he struggled to stand up, he saw Kate approaching him. She had a furious look in her eyes, and her dark aura wasn’t making her any friendlier.Eggman yelped in panic. He tried to get back to his feet, but Kate made it up to him. She grabbed the collar of his shirt harshly and shouted, “Where are my brothers?!”“Wh-what?! I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Eggman stuttered.“Oh sure! You didn’t kidnap them! Like I’d buy your lies!” Kate sarcastically spat at him.Eggman tried to muster some words, but he was too scared to do so. Bowser had been watching. The Koopa King took a deep breath. He shot out a huge blast of fire.Kate saw Bowser trying to attack her. She didn’t move. Instead, she moved Eggman, and used him as a shield from the blast. Eggman let out a cry of pain, making Bowser stop.“Gah! I’m so sorry doc!” cried Bowser.“Run! Run Bowser! Save yourself!” cried Eggman.Bowser quickly spun around and tried to run away. Kate saw him trying to flee. She let go of Eggman and charged at Bowser. She reached the Koopa King and slashed him across the chest. Bowser’s skin was like tough armor, so he didn’t feel much pain. However, he did get knocked over.The Kooplaings let out shrieks of panic. Ludwig pulled out a staff, but before he could try anything, Kate furiously turned to face him.“Stay out of this!” she shouted at them.Normally, the Kooplaings would be stubborn. They would try to fight back and not take orders from someone who wasn’t their dad. But Kate was still glowing in her dark aura, which made them scared. They quickly ran away.Kate turned her attention back to Bowser. She pointed her sword at him. Bowser was shaking in fear.“Where are my friends?!” she shouted.“I-I don’t know! We didn’t do anything!” Bowser stuttered.“Liar! You and Eggman thought it would be a funny joke to send me a letter mocking me, and telling me that you captured my friends!” Kate shouted.“B-but we didn’t do anything! We swear!” cried Bowser.Kate inched her sword closer to him. Bowser yelped in panic again.“I-I promise! I’m not lying! Th-they aren’t here!” said Bowser.Kate let out a frustrated sigh. She pulled her sword away from Bowser. She fired a blast of magic from the blade. It hit the wall, destroying it a bit and creating a big hole.“Fine then! I’ll just make my way to the dungeon and look for them there!” Kate shouted.She bolted out of the room and down the hallways. She slashed anything that was in her way, from any of Bowser’s minions to Eggman’s robots. Most of them weren’t trying to pick a fight with her, and were trying to run away from some reason.In just a couple minutes, Kate reached the dungeon. But the cells were empty. No one was locked up. That only made Kate even angrier than before. She bolted out of the dungeon and began to run back to where Bowser and Eggman were. Before she entered the dining hall, she noticed them doing their best to get out of the front doors.Kate growled and chased after them. She shot another blast of magic from her blade. It hit Bowser and Eggman, throwing them out the front doors. The two villains landed on the ground with a thud.Kate began to charge at Bowser and Eggman again. The two villains screamed in panic and hugged each other, waiting for the next blow.“STOP!” cried two voices.Suddenly, two figures rushed out to get in the way of Kate and Bowser and Eggman. They stood in the way, facing Kate.It was Mario and Sonic.“Kate, please stop! You’re losing control!” said Mario.Kate gasped when she saw her friends. She skidded to a halt. She managed to slow down and stop just before she could even touch her friends. As she stopped, her dark aura faded away.“Guys! You’re okay!” she said.“But you’re not! You could’ve let Dark Rage take control of you!” said Sonic.“I was so worried! Bowser and Eggman sent a ransom note saying that they captured you guys!” said Kate.“Kate, that wasn’t them! It was us!” said Mario.“What?” Kate asked them, under a whisper.“It was our idea! We were afraid that they were going to try something now that Peach and I are engaged! I was so anxious when the news made it public!” said Mario“And after how Eggman tried to turn me against my brother and tried to kidnap Amy, I was worried that he and Bowser would try something again!” said Sonic.“We just wanted to have you attack them as a way to tell them to back off! But when we saw that you were glowing lback, we had to stop you!” said Mario.“We didn’t want you losing yourself to Dark Rage!” said Sonic.As the guys talked, Kate only half listened to them. She couldn’t believe what just happened.Mario and Sonic, her best friends, had tricked her. They tricked her badly enough to let her anger, the darkness inside her, consume her to the point where she was going to beat Bowser and Eggman in a possibly brutal manner.And it all happened because of the fake letter that the guys sent her. The things they said about her, and how it was meant to intentionally make her angry. Angry enough to be at the risk of turning into Dark Rage.Mario and Sonic continued to talk, not knowing what Kate was thinking. However, they saw Kate clenching her fists. Her dark aura didn’t return, but her eyes suddenly shifted to the yellow cat eyes that she has when she is Dark Rage.The guys stopped talking. They formed nervous looks.“You tricked me! You tricked me into hurting Bowser and Eggman when they were innocent! I can’t believe you two!” she shouted at them.“We-we didn’t mean any h-harm!” Sonic stuttered.“It’s one thing to trick me into attacking Bowser and Eggman like that! But that letter, the things you said is something else! It sure as heck sounded like what Bowser and Eggman would say, but you two really think that?!” she shouted.“N-no! We don’t!” said Mario.“I know that’s what you think! And based on how much damage I caused right now, you know I’m struggling to control Dark Rage! I’ve been struggling even more ever since Nega and Dry Bowser attacked! This just proves even more that I probably will never be in control!” Kate shouted.“K-Kate! You’re eyes! Th-they’re…” Sonic stuttered.Kate let out a frustrated sigh. She turned away from her friends. She let out some heavy breaths, trying to calm herself down. As she managed to calm down, her eyes turned back to normal. However, she was still angry with her friends.“My eyes are normal… but that doesn’t change what you guys did to me…” she said bitterly.“Kate?” said Mario.“I don’t want to talk to you guys right now… I need some space…” she said.Before the guys could say anything else, Kate broke into a run. She was heading back to the Dream Village. There was a long, awkward moment of silence after she left.“Kate… what have we done, Mario?” said Sonic.“We’re such idiots! Why did we do this?!” said Mario.“You both screwed up!” Bowser snapped at them.“She probably won’t ever talk to you two again,” Eggman said.Mario and Sonic sadly looked at each other. They didn’t say it, but they knew that the villains were right.There wasn’t anything they could do for now, except give Kate some space until she was ready to talk to them again.Hopefully, their friendship can be repaired. To be continued…
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A few days had passed since Mario and Sonic tricked Kate into attacking Bowser and Eggman. And ever since that happened, Kate still refused to talk to them. The whole day after the event, the guys kept their distance, giving their friend some space. However, once the day was over, Mario and Sonic started to come to the treehouse at least three time every day.After the fight, and knowing how they hurt Kate’s feelings, the guys were desperate to talk to her. They wanted to apologize and fix things with her. They knew that what they did was stupid of them, and how much it hurt their friend.But every time they came to the treehouse, it was the same scenario. They would knock on the door, they’d wait, Knuckles would answer, and when they’d ask to come inside and see Kate, the echidna would tell them to come back later and shut the door before they could say anything else.This had been going on for a few days. And now, in addition to going over there, the guys had been trying to contact Kate by other means. They tried calling her, texting her, and sending emails to her. But no matter what, Kate wouldn’t respond to their emails or text messages, and whenever they tried calling her, she refused to answer, since she recognized their numbers and would hang up.Mario and Sonic understood that Kate needed space, and they knew that she was mad at them. They understood how she was feeling and that she didn’t want to talk, but the longer they pushed aside talking it out, it put the guys on edge. They didn’t want Kate to hold a grudge, and they knew it wasn’t healthy for any of them. That was why they wanted to talk it out and hear what she had to say. They wanted to fix this before it could go beyond repair.The guys were once again trying to head over to the treehouse. It was early in the morning, and they could see that the shutters were open for the front windows. That meant that Knuckles and Kate were awake. The guys walked up to the front door and knocked on it.“This is not going to be any different…” Mario whispered to Sonic.“I know, but we have to keep trying. We have to talk to her,” the hedgehog whispered back.The door opened. Knuckles was standing in the doorway. Judging by how tired he looked, and how he was still dressed in his pajamas, he probably woke up just a little bit ago.“Oh. Morning guys,” he said, before letting out a yawn.“Hey Knuckles,” Mario said, smiling nervously. “Is uh… is Kate awake?”“No. She’s still asleep. And… to save you guys the trip later, I don’t think she wants to talk to you guys yet…” said Knuckles.“We know, Knuckles. And we’re sorry if we keep bothering you. But we really need to talk to her. We want to fix this before it gets worse,” said Sonic.“Look, I appreciate the apology. But one: I’m not bothered by this. And two: it’s not me you need to apologize to. She doesn’t want to see you guys right now. You need to wait for her to be ready. The more you keep trying to reach out, the more you’re just gonna anger her,” said Knuckles.“We… we know…” said Mario, before letting out a sigh. He turned to Sonic and said, “Come on, Sonic. We should go. Kate needs her space.”Sonic sadly nodded his head to the plumber. They said goodbye to Knuckles and walked away. Knuckles told them goodbye and closed the door behind him.Once he was back in the house, Knuckles let out a frustrated sigh. He walked over to the kitchen, looking sour as he did so.“They seriously need to stop trying to bother Kate when she clearly isn’t in the mood to talk. I’m getting sick of having to tell them to leave. I know they’re my friends, but why don’t they get the hint that my wife isn’t ready to talk to them about the stunt they pulled?” he muttered.Upstairs, Kate was lying down in bed. She had woken up a little bit ago, but she wasn’t in the mood to get out of bed. She hadn’t felt like herself ever since the mess happened. She felt awful for attacking Bowser and Eggman and scaring them. Although they were still her enemies, that was no excuse for her to hurt them when her friends tricked them. She had already sent them apology letters, but whether or not they would respond, she didn’t care about that. At least she apologized to them.Ever since what happened, Kate hadn’t had the energy to do anything around the treehouse. She didn’t want to go out since she knew that if she stepped out of the treehouse, Mario and Sonic would find her and use it as an excuse to talk her.And she wasn’t ready to see them.She really did want to talk to them. She knew that she couldn’t hold a grudge forever, and she figured that this could be sorted out if they just talk to each other. Mario and Sonic weren’t like the people she encountered in her past. She knew that the guys were sorry for how they hurt her, and she knew that they still cared about her and wanted to fix things before it was too late to repair their friendship.But she simply wasn’t ready to talk to them. She needed time to process her thoughts, and to calm down before she talks to them. She didn’t want to be in the wrong mindset when it was time to talk to them. So it didn’t help that the guys were trying to talk to her when she wasn’t ready.Knuckles was doing his best to help. He kept on telling the guys not to come in whenever they stopped by, but that was the most he could do. Kate didn’t appreciate the constant text messages, emails, and phone calls she was getting from Mario and Sonic, but she didn’t want to block them. She knew that would be rude, and she worried that if she did so, it would escalate things. So she simply didn’t answer or respond to them.Kate let out a sigh. She lied down in bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn’t go back to sleep, for she was wide awake, and it would soon be the early afternoon.One of her Pokémon, her Piplup, was lying down in bed with her. The Pokémon nuzzled her head against her trainer. Kate gently petted Piplup on the head.She suddenly heard her phone buzz. Kate let out a sigh as she grabbed it. It was yet another text message from the guys. She discarded the message, knowing that it was just another request to talk to the guys if she was ready now.“Why can’t they understand that I need space?” she muttered.Piplup sat up. She jumped off of the bed. Kate sat up and saw her Pokémon go up to her desk.“What is it, Piplup?” she asked her Pokémon.Piplup jumped up on the chair, and then onto the desk. Kate climbed out of bed to see what her Pokémon was looking at. Piplup turned to face the human. The penguin Pokémon was pointing to a few papers on the desk. Kate looked over them, realizing what her Pokémon had in mind for her.“You sure I should do this?” she asked her Pokémon.“Pip lup,” said Piplup.Kate let out a sigh. She heard her phone buzz off again. With how often the guys have been bothering her, she figured that there wasn’t many other options.“Guess this may be the solution…” she said. A few hours passed by. After being told that they still couldn’t see Kate, Mario and Sonic headed to the Hedgehog residence. When they arrived at Sonic’s house, they saw that Tails, Amy, and Peach were all having breakfast. Jules and Aleena were at work, Sonia was all the way in Mobotropolis looking over her people, and Manic was spending the weekend at Shade’s. After the problem that occurred, Peach and Amy came over to stay with the guys to support them through everything.After eating some breakfast, Mario and Sonic sat at the couch. Tails asked them to play some Super Smash Bros with him. The guys accepted, but they weren’t focused on the game. They didn’t put so much effort into playing, and Tails beat them.The twin-tailed fox may have been fighting his best on the game, but he didn’t enthusiastically or eagerly shout as he played. With his friends silent, he knew that the guys weren’t really up for playing. Tails figured that they needed a distraction, or were just looking for a way to pass the time before they try to head to Kate’s again and talk to her.At one point, Tails paused the game. They were about to start another round. The fox paused the game and checked on Mario and Sonic. The guys were sitting there with glum looks.“Guys? Should we take a break?” he asked them.“Nah. We’re good. We wanna play,” said Sonic. He did his best to muster a smile to Tails. The fox only frowned at his friend.“Guys, I know that what happened it eating you guys away. But you can’t keep bothering Kate. You need to leave her alone and let her talk to you guys when she’s ready,” said Tails.“But what if she doesn’t want to talk to us again? What if she’s never ready?! We screwed up so bad, and we want to set things right before we can’t repair our friendship!” said Sonic.“And bothering her isn’t going to do any good! I know you guys are upset, but you can’t do anything except give her some space for the time being!” said Tails.Amy heard the shouting. Worried that a fight was going to start, she rushed over. Tails and Sonic weren’t mad. Sonic still looked upset, but there wasn’t any anger in his eyes. Mario, who was sitting by them, just watched the two with a sad look.Tails let out a sigh. He took a deep breath and exhaled, calming down. He heard himself raising his voice, so he took a second to stop so he could calm down and not escalate things.“Sonic, I’m sorry if I was raising my voice. But what I’m saying is the truth. You and Mario can’t keep bothering Kate and need to give her space,” the twin-tailed fox said.Before Sonic could say something, the four heard the door to the house open. Someone came rushing in.“It’s all your fault!” they shouted angrily.Everyone quickly turned around, seeing Knuckles coming in. He looked furious, and he was eying Mario and Sonic.“Knuckles!? What is the matter?” said Amy.Knuckles pointed at Mario and Sonic and said, “You two just couldn’t leave my wife alone! Because you kept on trying to come over and contact her even though she needed space, she decided to leave!”“Wait, what?!” said Tails.“I went to the store for just an hour, and when I got back, I found a note from Kate saying that she decided to go off on her own for a little bit! She couldn’t take being cooped up in the house for so long, so she decided to leave without telling me!” Knuckles shouted.“Kate… is she… did she run away?” asked Mario.“She sure as hell did, and it’s all because of you and Sonic!” shouted Knuckles.“Knuckles, calm down!” said Tails.He and Amy grabbed Knuckles, trying to pull him away from Mario and Sonic. The echidna struggled, trying to get away from them so he could stand in front of his friends and continue to chew them out.“It’s all your fault! She ran away, and it’s all your fault!” shouted Knuckles.“Calm down, Knuckles! Yelling at Mario and Sonic isn’t going to get her back here!” said Amy.She and Tails pushed Knuckles aside. Knuckles let out a frustrated sigh.“Fine then! I’ll go and look for my wife!” he snapped.The echidna was about to turn around and leave, but Amy grabbed his arm. Knuckles turned to face her, and the pink hedgehog shook her head.“No! You need to calm down and apologize to Mario and Sonic for yelling at them!” she said firmly.Knuckles opened his mouth to snap back, but before he did, Amy turned to face Mario and Sonic. She gave them a glare and said, “And you two, you need to apologize to Knuckles for not only bothering Kate when she clearly wasn’t ready to talk, but for also stressing him out.”Mario and Sonic didn’t respond. They just sadly looked at their friends. Amy let out a sigh as she faced Knuckles again.“Listen, take a few minutes to calm down. And when you’re ready to sort this out with Mario and Sonic, you come back here, alright?” she said, sounding softer now.“What about Kate? I want to know where she went off to!” said Knuckles. “She didn’t say where she would go in her note!”Tails pulled out his phone. He was typing on the screen and said, “I’m already on it. I’m going to inform the others that Kate has run off. They can take care of her. For now, you, Mario, and Sonic need to talk things out.”Knuckles didn’t respond. He didn’t even sigh. Instead, he stepped out of the house. But to make sure that he heard Tails and Amy’s instructions, he sat down on the grass instead of left the area.Back inside, Tails and Amy both sighed in relief. Tails went back to typing the message for everyone on his phone. Amy watched with a worried look as Mario and Sonic sat back down on the couch. They both kept their glum looks, and they didn’t look at each other nor say anything.“Guys,” said Amy.Neither of them turned to face her. Amy sighed and walked over to Mario and Sonic. She sat down in a chair across from them.“Guys, Tails was right. You shouldn’t have kept on bothering Kate. You see what happened because you didn’t give her space?” said Amy.“We know! But… but we didn’t want to risk losing her. We didn’t want her to hate us forever. We just wanted to talk things out…” said Mario.“Remember how she didn’t trust people before she met us? Before she met any of us, Amy? She had a hard time making friends due to how she lost trust in people. Her former friends in her past, if they didn’t move away because of things out of their control, it was because of something stupid. Her former friends all judged her and left her, and some of them even got into fights with her,” said Sonic.Sonic sighed and looked down.“We didn’t want our friendship with Kate to end like all those other ones…” he said sadly.“Kate’s like a sister to us. She told us as we were all becoming close friends in the beginning that she had a hard time trusting others, because they would lie to her about things. And one of those things was lying to her about forgiving her. She’s had friends who said that they were sorry, but they’d go back to square one with a fight by starting the whole thing over again,” said Mario.Mario and Sonic fell silent. They would’ve said more, but they didn’t want to end up rambling about things that they knew weren’t true about themselves. Amy stood up from her seat, but she only did so that way she could sit in between them on the couch. When she sat down next to the plumber and the hedgehog, she pulled them into a hug, getting their attention.“Mario, Sonic, you are nothing like that. You know she wouldn’t think of you guys like the people who hurt her in the past. Besides, we’re all grown-ups now. We all know better,” said Amy.“Mario and Kate know better. I may be over 18 now, but I still act like a teenager at times…” said Sonic.“But you’re more mature than those people from Kate’s past. You know who she is, and you love her and respect her for the person she is,” said Amy.“We do, but after the things we wrote in that letter to trigger her into fighting Bowser and Eggman, it’s not likely that we show that kind of respect. She thinks that we don’t believe in her as a hero, and she certainly thinks that we don’t believe she can control the Nightmare inside her anymore…” said Mario.“We don’t want to lose her, whether as a friend or to the Nightmare that is in her. And after what we did, either or can be the case…” said Sonic.Amy let out a sigh. She was getting a bit frustrated that she was trying to talk some sense into the guys, and all they were doing was shooting down any positivity with their negativity. But despite that, she kept her ground.“It’s not going to be either case. She’s going to have some space to sort things out, and when she’s ready to talk, you’ll fix things with her. You’ll know what to say,” said Amy.The guys looked up at Amy. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t frown.“But for now, be ready to talk to Knuckles and apologize to him for bothering Kate and for stressing him out. Right now, he needs space so he can calm down,” said Amy.“We know…” said Mario.“If he even lets us talk to him, that is…” said Sonic.Amy sighed again. The day passed by. First one hour, then the next. And another, and a few more. Soon, the sunset came and went, and it was nighttime now.During that time, Knuckles stayed outside. Soon, he got up and left, but he returned to the treehouse. He still needed some space of his own and had to finish thinking things over. As for Mario and Sonic, they stayed inside the house. However, they were doing a bit better now. They stopped sitting around on the couch, and even got up so they could cook some food and eat something. After the two ate a couple of chili dogs, they felt better.When they were done eating, the two started to clean up the kitchen. There was a knock on the door. Tails went to answer it, and standing outside was Knuckles.“Hi Knuckles,” he said.“Hey Tails. I’m… I’m okay now. I’m ready to talk to Mario and Sonic,” he said.Tails nodded his head. He walked the echidna into the house and shut the door behind them. The twin-tailed fox escorted Knuckles inside and led him to the living room. Mario and Sonic saw Knuckles was back. They were both nervous, but they knew that Knuckles was ready to talk to them. And if the echidna was ready, then so were they.Once they were finished cleaning up the kitchen, Mario and Sonic walked over to the living room. They sat across from Knuckles, sitting in some chairs.“Guys, I want to… apologize for my outburst earlier. I have been stressed out with how often you guys have been coming over to see Kate, and I’ve been trying to hold my ground and politely tell you guys to leave. But the truth is, I’ve been ticked off. Only reason why I didn’t say so was because you’re my friends, and I didn’t want to make things worse,” said Knuckles.The echidna paused, taking a minute to take a breather, and continued.“But that is no excuse for how I yelled at you guys. I was stupid. So stupid… and I shouldn’t have come over to you guys and yelled at you. I’m sorry for that,” said Knuckles.There was a short moment of silence. Mario and Sonic were quiet, letting Knuckles speak. When the echidna was done, they were still quiet. They wanted to process what Knuckles said, as well as think through their response.Finally, after what felt like forever, one of them spoke.“No. You don’t have to apologize, Knuckles. Honestly, we’re the ones at fault. We’ve been so clingy to Kate, wanting to fix our screw up, we only made it worse by bothering her and stressing you out,” said Mario.“That wasn’t right of us to do, and we’re sorry for irritating you and Kate. We knew she needed space, but we should’ve respected that instead of keeping up our act of trying to reach out to her. We’re sorry, Knuckles,” said Sonic.“We mean it. We really are sorry. We’re sorry for stressing you out, and for bothering Kate to the point where she needed to leave without a word to get some space,” said Mario.“I…I forgive you guys… I know that what you did was stupid, but I know that you want to fix things with Kate. I forgive you, Mario and Sonic,” said Knuckles.Knuckles stood up. Mario and Sonic stood up. The echidna walked up to the plumber and the hedgehog. Knuckles extended his hand out. First he shook hands with Mario, and then Sonic. The three nodded their heads at each other.“We’re all gonna figure this out. For now, we need to let Kate have her space,” said Knuckles.“We will. But… I am curious, where did Kate go?” said Sonic.“We won’t bother her. We promise. But we do want to know where our sister went. Just to make sure that she’s safe,” said Mario.Knuckles was quiet. He pulled out something. It was a piece of paper. The note that Kate wrote to announce that she left. The echidna looked over it for a few minutes. When he was done, he looked up at his friends. He shrugged his shoulders, but he sighed sadly.“She didn’t specify. I guess she didn’t have a clue where to go, or she probably didn’t want to say in case you guys were going to go after her,” he said.“So where would she go?” said Mario.“Tails said that he would alert the others. Hopefully they find a trace of where she went, just so we know that she’s safe…” said Sonic. A few days past since Kate left. A few days since Knuckles almost started a fight with Mario and Sonic, but the three were able to talk things out and fix it before it could escalate. The rest of the group in the Dream Universe was aware, and they all agreed to be on the lookout for Kate. They all agreed that they would keep eyes and ears open on any word on where she would be.And with each passing day, it was getting more nerve-wrecking. The Chaotix even started a case since it had been a few days. They weren’t working alone, for everyone else had been searching. Peach, Daisy, and Sonia all informed their kingdoms to keep an eye out for their friend, but there was no trace of Kate in the Mushroom Kingdom, Sarasaland, or Mobotropolis. The people of the Dream Village knew that Kate wouldn’t stick around, so they all moved out to look for her.And no one was getting any hints on where Kate was. The Babylon Rogues had left on their airship, and had nothing to report back since they left. Team Dark had to take a leave from GUN for a while to aid in the search for Kate, and they weren’t having much luck. Yoshi traveled back to Yoshi’s island, and none of the dinos have seen Kate. Silver returned from the future and Blaze and Marine came from their dimension to help in the search as well. Even Hadrian and Mevia decided to go back to Apotos and see if anyone had seen any trace of Kate.But no one was getting anywhere. There was simply no word on where Kate could’ve been. As the days passed by, Knuckles made the effort to call Kate’s parents back in her hometown. Careful not to word it that their daughter had ran off, the echidna casually asked them how they were doing, and based on their responses, Kate hadn’t returned home to them. She wasn’t with them and they didn’t know what was going on.Soon, it became almost a week since Kate had left. By now, Mario and Sonic were getting worried. They were concerned about why Kate had been gone for such a while. Unlike the others, they didn’t aid in the search. As much as they wanted to, they knew that it wasn’t the right decision. Chances were that if they were spotted by Kate looking for her, then Kate would run off somewhere else. The point of her leaving for a bit was to have space from them, so Mario and Sonic wanted to respect her wish.But despite how they respected Kate’s wish to have space from them, Mario and Sonic couldn’t help but worry about her safety.It got to the point where they were worried that she got captured by one of their enemies. When it got to that point, Team Dark reassured the guys that they would investigate any of their rivals who would try and succeed in capturing Kate. They investigated Bowser and Eggman’s base, Fawful’s current hideout, and even Knothole to see if anyone who had a rivalry or a grudge against the Three Heroes could be holding the Dreamer of Peace hostage.And luckily, Team Dark reported back to Mario and Sonic with good news. No one had captured Kate, so she simply was somewhere hiding.Still, that wasn’t enough to reassure Mario and Sonic. They just wanted to know that Kate was safe. One morning, the guys headed to the treehouse. They knew that Knuckles wasn’t there, for the echidna was out searching for his wife. Mario and Sonic entered the treehouse. Kate and Knuckles’s Pokémon weren’t in sight, so they either went off with Knuckles, or they were somewhere else in the treehouse. The guys shut the door behind them and began to look around. They wanted to see if they could find a hint on where Kate could’ve gone.They didn’t think that they would find anything though. They already knew that both the Chaotix and Team Dark have searched the treehouse. But Mario and Sonic wanted to search for themselves, hopefully to put a bit of their anxiety to rest.Mario headed into the living room. As he looked around, he felt haunted a bit by the framed photos hanging around on the walls or resting on the shelves. A lot of the photos were memories of the good times that members of the group had together. But the one that made the plumber feel a chill run down his spine was one of him with Sonic and Kate. The three of them were all younger, back when they first became friends.The photo was taken sometime before the mess with the Dark King took place. Before they found out about Kate’s destiny to battle the leader of the Nightmares, a former friend of hers and one who caused her so much pain. The former friend of Kate’s who wouldn’t let go of her, who wanted to prevent her from fulfilling the prophecy of her stopping him. And he went as far to stop that from happening, by killing her cousin Mara and trying to turn Kate into a Nightmare.That could’ve happened. It almost happened. If Mario and Sonic weren’t there when Dark King tried to kill Kate and resurrect her as a full Nightmare. The guys were able to get her body away from the monster, but they couldn’t stop her fate of losing her human status completely. Though she was revived with the Elixir of Love, Kate still had a Nightmare inside of her, which was the reason why she could become Dark Rage and lose herself.Mario couldn’t help but walk up to the photo. He felt like he was going to cry, but he strangely didn’t have tears in his eyes. He let out a sigh as he looked at the photo.“I’m sorry, Kate. I’m sorry I hurt you. I hope you come home soon. I want to fix things with you, and not like how he wanted to hurt you. I promise… I don’t want to hurt you like Dark King did…” he whispered.While Mario was downstairs by himself, Sonic walked upstairs to look around. The blue hedgehog didn’t know where to search. There were two rooms that he figured he could look around. One of them was Kate’s study, and the other being her room.Sonic looked at the door to the study. A big sign right next to the door signified how Kate specifically didn’t want anyone to enter without her permission. The blue hedgehog smiled sadly for a second. He knew well, for the study was where Kate worked on her potions and brews, and practiced her magic skills. She had been studying up how to use such things so that she could do more with her powers, and even know how to heal others without using her limited healing powers.Sonic’s smile faded, and he headed up the next set of stairs to Kate’s bedroom. The blue hedgehog opened the door. The first thing he noticed was that Kate and Knuckles’s Pokémon were all lying down on the queen size bed. They were all fast asleep, but as Sonic entered the room, a couple of them woke up. Pansage and Riolu both woke up, yawning before they turned their heads and saw Sonic come into the room.Pansage and Riolu didn’t frown. Instead, they merely lied back down and went back to their nap. Sonic couldn’t help but smile a tad bit as he saw the Pokemon react that way. However, it faded as he looked around the room. There didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary. The blue hedgehog noticed that there was an empty glass case in the room. The case that was used for Kate to put her sword in when she wouldn’t carry it with her.The sword was missing from the case. That looked a bit odd to Sonic. No one could touch the handle of the blade except for Kate. It was enchanted to not be wielded by someone who didn’t possess the power of dreams, and Kate was the only one who could use the blade. So if it was missing, that meant that Kate had taken it with her.Sonic didn’t want to guess where Kate would’ve gone that required the blade. Instead, he figured that she would take it merely for defense. With her going off on her own, she would want to be able to fight any of her rivals if they tried to catch her off guard. She specifically went off on her own to be alone, so she would rather defend herself than cry for help if she ran into trouble.“I don’t know where you are Kate. But wherever you are, I hope you’re safe. I’m sorry I drove you to run away…” he said in a whisper.Sonic let out a sigh. He turned to check on the Pokémon, who were all still fast asleep on the bed. He slowly walked out of the room, and when he made it to the door, he closed it quietly behind him, so he wouldn’t disturb the Pokémon. Sonic walked down the stairs and returned to the ground floor. When he made it back to the living room, he saw Mario walked up to him.“Nothing huh?” said Mario.“Yeah… you got nothing either?” said Sonic.Mario only softly nodded his head. The two walked over to the front door and opened it. They exited the treehouse and began to walk down the path, heading back to their houses.Mario’s house was on the way to Sonic’s house, so the two were going to part ways there. However, as Mario was about to head back into his house, and as Sonic was going to continue down the path, they heard a voice call out to them.“Mario! Sonic!” called out to them.The two turned around. To their surprise, they saw Hadrian and Mevia walked up to them.“Oh. Hi guys,” said Mario.“How are you two holding up?” asked Mevia.“We’re hanging in there,” said Sonic.“Any word on Kate? Have you seen her around Apotos?” asked Mario.“We’ve asked around. And sadly, no. None of the villagers in Apotos have seen her,” said Hadrian.Mario and Sonic didn’t respond. They only looked down.“But on our way back here, we did get a call from Jesse. She said that Kate might’ve gone to her universe. Our former home universe,” said Mevia.That caught Mario and Sonic’s attention. They looked back up, facing the two Old Builders.“The Minecraft Universe?” asked Mario. To be continued…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
She didn’t really like the idea. Running away was scary, both for the individual and the people who they were running away from. It wasn’t new to her though, for she once tried it when she was younger, though that attempt didn’t last long, and she never tried again.At least, not until now. And now, she was a grown-up. And it wasn’t like she was trying to cause trouble. All she needed was space, which seemed like a valid reason to leave, not something petty that a kid would get upset over.After giving it some thought, Kate decided to leave. She packed up her backpack, grabbed her sword, and wrote a note for Knuckles. Once he was out to run to the store, Kate took the chance. She put the note on the fridge, and headed out on her own.No one noticed her leaving the Dream Village, and that was fine with her. She didn’t want to be noticed. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and the village. Kate didn’t want anyone coming after her, so to ensure that she could take care of herself, she brought her sword with her, and would keep in mind to stay away from where any of her enemies or rivals have set up base. There was not a chance that she would risk putting herself in danger when she only wanted to have some space.And at first, it seemed like this would work for her. She got pretty far from the Dream Village after she left, and she found a good spot to set up camp for the night.However, before she could start setting up camp, she heard some familiar voices call out her name. They weren’t the voices of Mario and Sonic, the very people she needed space from, but she wasn’t going to take the risk. When she heard her name called out, she immediately hid. A few seconds later, she saw that it was Yoshi and Luigi who were calling out her name. She figured that Mario sent them to look for her, so as soon as the coast was clear, Kate came out of her hiding spot and continued to move away from the Dream Village. She found a new spot to rest up, and this time, she was able to set up camp and get some sleep.The following morning, after cleaning up her camp, she continued to move forward. She soon reached the outskirts of another place: the Goomba Village. A village full of friendly Goombas who didn’t work for Bowser and weren’t hostile.Kate took a moment to rest up, and even pack up some extra food. However, while she was in the shops, she heard some of the Goombas whispering behind her back, talking about how she “ran away”, and how her friends were looking for her.As soon as she was done, Kate continued on foot. She managed to leave the Goomba Village before Team Chaotix could spot her, because as she exited, she saw the detectives coming in to investigate.And from here on out, it soon became a cycle. She would find somewhere to set up camp and rest for the night. The next day, she’d pack up and head to a village to try to stock up on supplies and get a brush on the current events, find out where her friends were currently looking for her. The cycle would end with her leaving the village she would stop at and make sure she didn’t get spotted by anyone looking for her, the cycle would repeat when she would find somewhere to set up camp and rest up.What began as a simple break for a few days lasted for about a week. Kate was getting fed up with how her friends were looking for her. She knew that they were worried, but she believed that the second she would return to the Dream Village, Mario and Sonic would try, like before, to get her to talk to them when she still wasn’t ready to do so.And with the constant hiding, she was stressed out to the point where Kate didn’t think over what to tell the guys. She still wasn’t ready to talk to them about the fight. Even running away for a bit couldn’t give her the space she needed, because now she had to worry about avoiding the rest of her friends from the Dream Universe. When it became the eighth day of trying to avoid everyone, Kate found herself outside of Apotos. She set up camp near Hadrian and Mevia’s old house, for the Old Builders’ former residence was on the outskirts of the ocean village. No one was around, and she didn’t see any signs that Hadrian and Mevia haven’t checked their old house yet for her. She stayed in the old house for the night, and woke up the following morning to see the sun rise from the ocean.After cleaning up her stuff, Kate left Hadrian and Mevia’s old house and headed down to Apotos. She knew it was risky, because back when Hadrian and Mevia lived by here, she visited the Old Builders often. Chances were that the villagers would recognize her, and were aware that she ran off. But Kate was hungry, and she ran out of snacks to carry with her. She needed to stock up on more, so she pulled her hoodie over her head and put on a pair of sunglasses to try to hide her identity as best as she could without looking too shady.She entered Apotos. Everything seemed normal. Villagers were going off about their day like the usual, the seagulls could be heard from afar, the breeze of the ocean was calm and cool, and the sound of the waves sounded soothing.Kate walked up to a stand that sold some food and picked what to pay for. She handed the stand vendor the cash and walked away. She quickly put her stuff in her backpack, and began to look for the way out of the village.As she was starting to head out, she noticed two familiar figures from afar. She sighed a bit. It was Hadrian and Mevia, and she knew they were looking for her.They were coming, but based on how they were walking calmly, they didn’t spot her. To avoid suspicion, Kate walked up to another stand that had a line in front of it. She got in line and pretended that she was waiting, and she stayed quiet. Hadrian and Mevia didn’t notice her, and they walked right past her.She waited a little bit, and when she was sure that they walked up to another villager, Kate stepped out of the line. She didn’t want to walk away right away, to avoid suspicion, so she sat down at a bench and pulled out a banana to eat and pretend that she was casually minding her own business. As she did, she could hear Hadrian and Mevia talking to a few villagers.“Sorry sir and madam. We haven’t seen this girl,” said one villager.“You haven’t seen anyone like her?” asked Mevia.“Afraid not. You two were good citizens when you used to live here, so we’ll give you and your buddies a call if we spot something out of the ordinary or see any suspicious travelers,” said the villager.The first villager turned around and walked away. Another villager walked up to Hadrian and Mevia.“There have been a couple travelers lately, including one earlier. Though they’re probably long gone now,” said the second villager.“Thank you for your time,” said Hadrian.The rest of the villagers walked away from the Old Builders. When they were left alone, Hadrian let out a sigh. Mevia gave her husband a worried look.“She may have come here already and we must’ve missed her,” said Hadrian.“We’ll find her. I know that everyone’s worried about her. I am too. But no one’s got to be as worried as Mario and Sonic,” said Mevia.“Yeah. They aren’t participating in the search since they know that it’ll drive Kate away more,” said Hadrian.The Old Builders started to walk away and out of Kate’s sight. She overheard those last few lines, and she was surprised to hear that Mario and Sonic weren’t a part of the search for her. Maybe they were finally acknowledging that she needed some space and were finally giving her what she had been asking for since the start.But that didn’t change the fact that everyone else was looking for her. She knew that they were all worried, but personal space meant personal space. And now, the rest of her friends weren’t giving her that. She had to keep moving.Hadrian and Mevia walked away from where she was hiding. Now that the coast was clear of her friends, Kate calmly walked in the direction away from them. As she was walking away, she began to think about how her situation was just giving her less and less personal space.It had been a week since she had left, and clearly the word was spreading quickly. There wasn’t going to be many places for her to go to in this universe where she could hide.But seeing Hadrian and Mevia gave her an idea.‘I’m running out of places to go to for some personal space. At least in this universe, I am…’ she thought. ‘It’s risky, but I have to try it.’ Later that afternoon, Kate found herself going near the last place she’d go to for some alone time: the Dream Village. To her relief, there weren’t many people around the village, probably because everyone was out looking for her.The only people she saw in sight were Mario and Sonic. They were sitting outside of Sonic’s house in the front yard, interacting with Kate’s Pokémon. Kate didn’t believe what she was seeing. They really weren’t looking for her. They really did respect that she needed personal space and time to ready herself for talking to them.But she wasn’t ready to see them, or talk to them. Not yet. And she still needed time to collect her thoughts first. So now wasn’t the time to see them.Kate had to be careful not to get too close. Her Pokémon were with Mario and Sonic, and they had a special sense to know when their trainer was near. One wrong move, and her Pokémon would let the duo know that she was nearby.She made her way behind some of the other houses, trying to get to Hadrian and Mevia’s house. The Old Builders had their own copy of the book about their universe, so she knew she could go there instead of the treehouse. Hadrian and Mevia were probably still out looking for her, so the only tough part of this, aside from not getting spotted by the guys, was getting into their house.After taking her time, Kate made it outside of Hadrian and Mevia’s new house. As she looked around, she noticed that there was going to be another issue. Kari the Luxio was hanging around the back of the house. She was taking a cat nap in the grass, and since she was outside, that meant that the doggie door in the back was open. That was Kate’s ticket into the house. But getting past the Luxio was going to be a challenge.Carefully and slowly, Kate tried to make her way up to the house. As she got closer, she felt anxious, worried that Kari would wake up from her nap and see her. She was now a few steps away from the back door. She got down on her knees and was ready to try to crawl in.As Kate got down on her knees, Kari suddenly stirred. Kate froze, and to her horror, the Luxio let out a yawn. Kari got up on her four paws and stretched. When she was done, she noticed Kate and began to growl.Kate didn’t want to get zapped by a discharge, so to avoid that, she had no other options. She stood up on her feet and took off her hood and shades.“Kari, it’s me! Kate!” she whispered loudly.Kari stopped growling and smiled. She ran up to Kate and head-butted her, almost knocking Kate down. The Luxio let out a happy purr and nuzzled her head against the human.Kate couldn’t help but smile sadly. She gently pet Kari on the head. Even after spending a whole week alone, Kate still felt happy to have a Pokémon greet her. Even if Kari wasn’t her Pokémon, it still gave Kate a smile to be greeted by a familiar creature.“You missed me huh?” whispered Kate.Kari meowed sadly and looked up at her.“Well, I’m not ready to come back. I was coming to use your mommy and daddy’s book to go to their former home,” whispered Kate.Kari tilted her head and formed a confused look like a dog.“The Minecraft book. That one. I’m going to go to that universe for some alone time. Can you keep a secret from your mommy and daddy?” whispered Kate.Kari formed a sad look and began to whimper.“Please?” Kate said, giving the Luxio her best puppy dog impression.Though it took her a few minutes, Kari finally nodded her head sadly. Kate smiled at the Pokemon and gently petted Kari on the head.“Thanks Kari,” she whispered.Kate gave the Luxio a gentle kiss on the head. Kari smiled sadly again. Kate stepped away from the Luxio, and crawled through the doggie door. Though she wanted to follow Kate inside, Kari didn’t. The Pokémon didn’t want to tempt herself into stopping her friend.Kate made it into the house and began to look around. She spotted the bookshelf right next to Hadrian and Mevia’s TV. She knew that was where the book was, for Hadrian and Mevia told her that was where they would put some particular books, and the book about their former home universe was indeed particular to them.Kate looked around the shelf and spotted the book. She opened it up, and a portal opened up in front of her. The human took a deep breath, and exhaled, before jumping into the portal and entering the Minecraft Universe. After much distortion, the spinning finally stopped. Kate fell down and landed with a thud in the forest somewhere. Kate groaned as she did her best to stand up.“Gah… been a while since I traveled between universes…” she groaned.After standing up, Kate brushed off some dirt from her jeans and began to look around. It took her only a few seconds to notice some familiar gates in the distance. She landed outside of Beacontown.“Maybe I can ask Jesse and her friends if I can hide out here,” she whispered here.Kate began to walk up to the gates of Beacontown. Everything seemed pretty normal as she made her way to the familiar town. She pulled her hood over her head as she entered Beacontown, careful to not get spotted right off the bat.If Hadrian and Mevia were aware that she had run off, then they possibly informed the others in the Minecraft Universe about her absence to.As she walked through the streets of the town, Kate blended in. No one found her suspicious, and everyone seemed to be going off about their day. She was making her way through some of the market stands when she spotted a familiar face. Due to their dark red hair, she could see them from far away.It was Romeo, and he was talking to Stacy and Stampy. Curious to see how her friend was doing, Kate walked closer, but careful to not get spotted. She stood near a stand that was run by someone she didn’t know, to pretend that she was shopping and to listen in on Romeo, Stampy, and Stacy.“You doing alright, Romeo?” asked Stacy.“I’m hanging in there. I still can’t believe that there’s been no update,” said Romeo.“It must be awful. A friend of yours has run off like that. But… I’m sure she had her reasons, right?” said Stampy.“Apparently, she did. Some sort of mess that happened with Mario and Sonic, and she left to go and get some personal space from them before she talks to them again. I hope Kate is alright,” said Romeo.“I’m sure she’ll be okay. You talk about her a bit often with us, especially since we don’t see her or her friends anymore now that we have things to run here,” said Stacy.“If she is as tough as you’ve told us she is, then she’s bound to be okay. She’ll be back when she’s ready to go home, and you can visit her again,” said Stampy.“Yeah… I know…” said Romeo, giving them a small smile.‘Crap! They’re probably gonna look around for me here to!’ thought Kate.“Can I help you miss?” a voice said, startling Kate.“Oh! Uh!?” said Kate. She spun around. The stand owner who was running the stand that she was hanging out by had finished business with another customer. He eyed her with a frown.“N-no thank you. Sorry to bother you sir!” said Kate.She quickly walked away. As she did, she didn’t notice that Romeo, Stampy, and Stacy had overheard them. Romeo saw Kate quickly walking away. Curious, he walked up to her.Instead of saying anything, he tapped her on the shoulder. Kate stopped. She slowly turned around. And when she did turn around, she saw Romeo’s shocked expression. The former admin gasped when he saw his missing friend.“Kate?!” he said in a loud whisper.Kate didn’t say anything. Instead, she quickly turned around and booked it into a run. Romeo didn’t try to chase after her, because he knew that he couldn’t catch up to Kate due to how fast she could move. Instead, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. He finished punching in the phone number and put the phone to his ear.A short moment later, and someone finally answered on the other end.“Hello?” said a girl’s voice.“Jesse! You remember how Hadrian and Mevia said that Kate ran away?” said Romeo.“Yes?” said F. Jesse’s voice. “Romeo, did you see her?! Is she here in Beacontown!?”“I just ran into her, but she ran off. I thought I’d let you know,” said Romeo.“I’ll call Axel and Olivia. Let them know in case she goes to Boomtown or Redstonia. You call Aiden and tell him to inform Isa and her people in Ground City!” said F. Jesse’s voice.“On it!” said Romeo.Romeo heard the line go dead on the other end. He pulled his phone away from his ear and began to dial a new number, so he could call Aiden and inform Ground City about Kate. After getting away from Romeo, Kate didn’t want to risk hanging around Beacontown. She slipped past the people standing guard at the gates and ran into the forest, ignoring everyone calling out to her to come back since it would soon be nightfall. But Kate didn’t care about the monsters in the Minecraft Universe. She had a sword on her and she knew how to fight, so she could defend herself if she got into trouble.Once she was far away from Beacontown, Kate finally took a moment to rest. She didn’t want to risk sitting out in the open, so she jumped up a tree and sat down on a large branch. She pulled out a water bottle out of her backpack and drank some water.When she was finished, Kate sighed as she put her water bottle away.“Great. Now I can’t hide in Beacontown. There’s gotta be somewhere I can lay low and have someone who won’t rat me out to the others!” she whispered to herself.Kate sat down, quietly thinking over where she could go to.If Beacontown knew about her absence, then that meant that the Jesse twins knew that she was gone. That meant that they would inform other towns that had friends of theirs about what was going on. So that automatically meant that Kate couldn’t go to Boomtown, Redstonia, or Ground City.She tapped the tree branch with her fingers a bit, as she anxiously tried to recap on other places to go to in the Minecraft Universe.The first place she thought of was Crown Mesa. The people there didn’t really know her, but she knew how to get there thanks to Ivor and Harper. However, as she remembered Ivor and Harper, Kate realized that she probably couldn’t go there. If Ivor was there, he would tell the Jesse twins that Kate was there. He was like a father to the twins, and chances were he would tell the twins if she went there, and it would soon spread around to the rest of the group.So the next place she thought of was Champion City. Stella had stepped down as the leader, so the chances of running into her or Romeo were low. But Kate remembered that Champion City was right across from Beacontown. That meant that the citizens of Champion City were probably informed to look for her there to.The third place she figured she could go to was where Binta and her people had set up their new village. Binta was a pretty kind and considerate woman, and Kate had earned her trust and friendship the last time they met. Maybe Binta could let her stay in her village. But then again, now that Fred’s people have made amends with Romeo, they would probably inform the Jesse twins back in Beacontown about Kate.And finally, the last place she could think of was the Old Builders’ headquarters. Or more specifically, Otto’s home, since he was the last of the Old Builders to remain there and continued to run the games along with the Gladiators. Even though Hadrian and Mevia had redeemed themselves, and Cassie was trapped in the Dream Universe on the run, Otto was still the only true Old Builder left. Otto respected Hadrian and Mevia’s choice to live peacefully in the Dream Universe, and he understood that Cassie was too dangerous to be left running around freely. At least he had the Gladiators with him, so he wasn’t alone. Kate could go to him, but he probably knows about her running off due to how he’s still friends with Hadrian and Mevia.Kate let out a sigh. She had four good options, but each of them had someone who could inform the rest of her friends that she was in this universe due to their connections with the Jesse twins.‘Where can I go? No matter where I go, everyone wants to look for me. I don’t want to go back home, at least not yet! I’m not ready to face my friends and I’m most certainly not ready to talk to Mario and Sonic!’ she thought.She let out another sigh, this time feeling frustrated.‘I’m supposed to be trying to take time to collect my thoughts and mentally prepare myself for facing Mario and Sonic again, but I can’t do that! I’ve been so focused on making sure that I stay alone for the time being!’ she thought.Kate heard a twig snap nearby. She quickly stood up from her seat on the branch, and was ready to pull out her sword. It was still daylight, but she wasn’t going to take any chances in case a monster immune to sunlight came out of a nearby cave.She heard some footsteps below her. Kate looked down, and to her relieve, she only saw a wild cow walking around. She sighed in relief and sat back down. When she sat down, Kate noticed that it was going to be sunset soon.She had to pick somewhere to go. Night would get worse because of monsters, and she didn’t have time to make a camp like how the people in this world do so. If she didn’t pick somewhere to go, then she would be stuck trying to last the night.‘I can’t risk staying outside all night. If I’m going to go somewhere with a familiar face, then it has to be with someone who I’m sure can be understanding and won’t tell the others that I’m here,’ she thought.Kate scratched her chin as she began to think over her options.‘Crown Mesa could be a good place to go to. Though I’d have to go to the portal network, which is back in Beacontown. And honestly, can Ivor be trust worthy? Champion City’s close, so no portal network access, but it’s right by Beacontown. That might not be a good option if the citizens there know about my absence. Binta’s town might be an option, but I don’t know her well enough if she will or won’t tell the twins that I’m there. And finally, Otto is pretty understanding, but if I go to him, I’d have to go to the portal network…’ she thought.Kate heard the cow from before let out a moo. She turned around. The cow was looking up at her and was staring at her. It was like he was watching to her and was curious to what she was thinking about.Kate let out one more sigh and stood up. This time, she jumped down from the tree. She turned around to look in the direction that led back to Beacontown.‘Champion City is too risky, and I don’t know Binta too well to know if she can be trusted. Crown Mesa might not be a good option, so it’s settled. I’ll go see Otto. Hopefully he’ll understand and not call anyone…’ she thought. Nightfall soon arrived. There were monsters walking around freely outside of Beacontown. However, inside the safety of the town, there were no monsters, and very few people were roaming the streets. That was the perfect timing for Kate to go back and hopefully get into the temple and gain access to the portal that would take her to the hallway.There weren’t many townsfolk walking around the streets. But even if there weren’t any people out and about, Kate took care to stay in the shadows. Now that Romeo spotted her, chances were that he informed the twins and they told the whole town to look for her.Luckily, no one spotted Kate. She made it to the temple. The doors were still unlocked, so maybe Radar or one of the twins were out somewhere. She managed to get inside quickly and quietly. To Kate’s surprise, no one was around in the temple. She was able to make her way to where the portal was.The portal was off, but luckily, Kate didn’t have to use the enchanted flint and steel. She didn’t want to take that or the portal atlas. She knew her destination, and she had her own way of activating the portal just long enough for her to go through.Kate used her magic, and casted a short and small spell that turned on the portal for a few seconds. Once the portal was on, she quickly jumped in. the portal shut off just a couple seconds after Kate made her way inside.The trip through the portal wasn’t as rough as the trip to get to the Minecraft Universe. Kate found herself in the portal hallway and began to walk through the long, narrow pathway.Instead of going into a glowing, unique portal that led to a different world in the Minecraft Universe, Kate made her way to the large set of stairs that led to the arena. She began the long, lonely walk up the stairs.‘Almost there. Hopefully Otto will understand. And hopefully, if there are any competitors, they won’t tell anyone back in Beacontown or Ground City. The Gladiators probably won’t recognize me since I don’t come to the games often. I only see Otto often since he visits Hadrian and Mevia whenever he can or pleases,’ she thought.After what felt like forever, Kate found herself at the set of doors that led to the arena. She opened them up and stepped through, curious to where she would end up.Suddenly, Kate found herself falling down. In a reaction of panic, she pulled out her sword. She expected to land smack in the middle of a game and have to be ready to defend herself. Sure, she wouldn’t die if she accidentally got killed in the games, and she would respawn, but after what happened the first time, Kate wasn’t a fan of participating in the games. She didn’t like the idea of dying and being temporarily separated from her stuff when she respawns.Kate landed with a thud in the spleef arena, but to her surprise, it was calm and quiet. She got up on her feet, finding herself alone in the area. There were no competitors playing, and there was no sign of the Gladiators anywhere.She looked up above her, seeing that there was a night sky above her.“Oh. It’s night here to. That must explain why it’s quiet here. They would be taking the time to rest up,” she said to herself.Kate put here sword away and quickly walked out of the area. She began to search for the exit, finding it eventually.Kate walked down the path that led to the Competitors’ Village. The way was lit by a line of torches, but even in the distance, she didn’t see any monsters around. It was almost eerie with how calm it was, based on how alone Kate was.Kate made her way up to the entrance to the village. The gates opened up automatically, allowing her to enter the village. But even here, there wasn’t anyone. Not even a single competitor was around. The village was so quiet, it was like a ghost town.However, in the distance, Kate could see the palace, where Otto and the Gladiators lived at all year. And there were lit windows. That meant that there were people there. Kate broke into a run and made her way to the palace.In a matter of minutes, she finally arrived outside the palace. Kate didn’t hear anything inside, so maybe things were calm. She walked up to the door and raised her arm. But before she could knock, Kate let out a heavy sigh. It took her a few minutes, and she finally knocked on the door.She waited for what felt like forever to see if someone would answer. And for a minute, Kate thought that no one would come. That perhaps she hadn’t knocked loud enough and no one was aware that she was there. She was ready to knock again, but before she could, she could hear the sound of someone unlocking the door.One of the Gladiators, Slab, had answered the door. Kate recognized him, but she was unsure if he would recognize her since she hadn’t been at the games in a long time.“Yes? Can I help you?” he asked, forming a confused look.“I’m uh… is Otto here?” asked Kate.“Yes. He’s here. Look, if you’re looking to enter the games, you came a long way for nothing. The games are out of season for a bit. Won’t be on for another month or so,” said Slab.“Thanks for informing me, but… I’m not here for the games. I just want to see if I can talk to Otto. It’s uh… a friend matter…” said Kate.“Oh. Well, why don’t you come on in?” said Slab.“Thank you,” said Kate.Kate nervously followed Slab into the palace. The gladiator shut the door behind her and walked her through the place. In just a couple minutes, Slab led Kate to the dining hall. Otto wasn’t sitting at the table, but he was standing nearby and was talking with a couple other gladiators. One of them was Clutch, who Kate recognized, but the other one, she didn’t recognize. Either he was new, or she didn’t remember him.“Sorry to bother you, Otto. But this girl was at the door and asked if she could speak with you,” said Slab.Otto turned around, and when he saw Kate, he formed a stunned look.“Katelyn?” he said.“Hi Otto…” Kate said. She smiled nervously, but it quickly faded.“What are you doing here?” said Otto.Kate didn’t answer. Otto quickly looked at the gladiators and asked them to leave them be. The three gladiators kindly left the room, and shut the door behind them when they left.“Better?” Otto asked her, giving Kate a smile.“Yeah… thanks…” said Kate. She didn’t smile back.“So what is going on? Why did you come all this way, and why by yourself?” asked Otto.There was a short pause. Kate was ready to answer, but Otto kindly answered for her.“Is this about you running off? Hadrian and Mevia told me, but they didn’t tell the Gladiators. I merely found out since I was visiting them a few days ago,” said Otto.Kate nodded her head.“I… I’m sorry if this is a big favor, but… can I stay here for a bit?” she asked. “I… I need some space from my friends, Mario and Sonic.’“And why do you need space from them?” asked Otto.“We… we had a fight. I needed time alone to think things over, and to prepare for talking with them. But they didn’t respect that. They kept on coming to me and asking me if I was ready to talk. I clearly wasn’t, so… I decided to leave for a bit. But I haven’t had time to think things over since I’ve been more focused on trying to stay off the radar,” said Kate.“Say no more, Kate. You can rest up here and take the time to collect your thoughts. I won’t tell the group, but in return, I ask that you don’t stay for a long time. No more than a week. You’ve worried your friends back home, so you can’t stay more than a week. Does that sound fair?” asked Otto.“I can respect that. Thank you Otto,” said Kate.Otto gave his friend a smile. He walked up to Kate and pulled her into a hug. It took Kate a minute to return the hug. And as she did, she startd to tear up, feeling guilty, relieved, and happy all at once.When they let go of the hug, Otto gave Kate a pat on the back.“You need anything right now?” he asked her.Kate heard her stomach growl.“Something to eat, if that’s alright,” she said, smiling nervously.Otto smiled and said, “Sure. Let’s go make some dinner.”The two of them exited the dining hall and entered the kitchen. To be continued…
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It had taken her a full week ever since she decided to leave to find solitude, but Kate had finally found the time to actually have some personal space and start to mentally prepare herself for when she has to face Mario and Sonic again. Otto was kind enough to let her stay at his palace, and it was even more reassuring that the games were not in session, so she didn’t have to worry about the competitors. Hopefully the Gladiators wouldn’t ask too many questions if they were curious to why she was staying for a short amount of time. As long as Kate left no later than seven days, she was welcomed to stay at the palace.It was now the following morning after she had made her way to the palace. Kate woke up early in her guest room. Even though she was tired out the night before, she didn’t oversleep. Due to camping the past week or so, she had gotten used to waking up as early as sunrise. When she woke up, Kate got dressed and fixed her hair.She exited the guest room and headed down the hallway to the dining hall. She grabbed some breakfast, but instead of eating at the table, Kate headed outside. Despite the goodnight’s rest, she was still bothered by one thing: she needed time to process what happened. And she needed some fresh air.Otto watched as Kate headed outside. He had a worried look on his face.‘I wonder what she fought over with Mario and Sonic. And why would she run off to get some personal space? I wanted to ask her last night, but if she has been trying to avoid everyone because she’s not ready to talk about it, then I couldn’t ask her. All that would’ve done was make her run off again. I hope that, at the very least, she can open up to me, because I want to help,’ the Old Builder thought.“Morning Otto!” a voice greeted him.Otto turned around to see Em, who was now the head of the Gladiators, coming to greet him.“Good morning Em,” he responded with a smile.“Your guest doing alright?” asked Em.“She’s outside. I think she needs some fresh air,” said Otto.“Why is she staying for a week? The games aren't in session, and I frankly remember that she doesn’t like participating. Didn’t she have some sort of panic attack because seeing people die in the games to respawn triggered some traumatic experiences or something?” said Em.“She’s not here for the games, and how did you find out about that? I didn’t tell the Gladiators about that…”“Nell told me. She’s still my best friend and she told me about it in a letter.”Otto bit his lip. He didn’t like how the Gladiators were curious about why Kate was staying. He was afraid that it would cause her to run off again, and he didn’t want that. If she had run off to get personal space, and she trusted the Old Builder for a place to be alone, then Otto couldn’t break that trust. He had to ensure that Kate would stay at the palace, to guarantee her safety for everyone.“Well Em, if the Gladiators are curious about why our guest is staying, I request that everyone not ask her about it,” said Otto.“Why not? We’re just curious and want to know. That’s all,” said Em.“Mrs. Katelyn went through something rough, something that she won’t fully share the details with me. As her friend, I respect that she’s not ready to open up about it. And I ask that you and the Gladiators respect that to for my sake,” said Otto.“I understand Otto. In fact, I’ll go tell the other Gladiators right now. I’m worried that Slab might ask her. He talked to me last night about he vaguely remembers Katelyn,” said Em.She turned to leave. Em exited the room. Otto turned his attention back to Kate, and the Old Builder walked to the window. He checked on Kate, who was sitting down on the grass. She had already finished eating her breakfast, and she was writing in a journal.Otto sighed sadly when he saw Kate writing in her journal. Seeing her do that, writing about her conflicted emotions tied to her current problem, it reminded him of Hadrian. Otto remembered how shy Hadrian was, and how he had a hard time talking to others about his problems. It even took him a while to trust Otto, who was his best friend since their youth.And as he remembered Hadrian, Otto felt a bit sadder. He knew how Hadrian and Mevia bonded with Kate. Otto was grateful that his friends not only got a second chance, but were doing much better in a new home. They were happier, and were even together as a couple, in their new home, thanks to Kate.‘Hadrian. Mevia. Kate did a lot for you ever since you two ended up in her world. Even though you were about to start off as enemies, she saw what I knew was still inside you: the real people you were. That there was still goodness inside of you. If it weren’t for her, you wouldn’t be where you are now. I promise, I’ll help her out in any way I can. Hopefully she can open up to me, because I can’t help her unless she does that. I want to help her. I hope I can help Kate,’ thought Otto. A couple days passed, and still no update. Kate was doing much better now that she didn’t have to run off anymore, and it was a relief that the Gladiators listened to Otto’s request and didn’t ask her any questions about why she came to the palace. But she still had to leave within a week, and even though she finally had time to think through everything, Kate didn’t feel any different.She attempted to run off to collect new thoughts to assess the problem, and even figure out what to say to her friends when she’s calm and prepared enough to talk to Mario and Sonic. But her solitude didn’t feel different. Not even writing in her journal helped. It normally would help her vent out her thoughts and feelings, but there was still something she didn’t feel ready to do: talk to a person instead of herself.And Kate felt that was hurting Otto. The Old Builder was kind enough to let her stay with him for a week, and she still didn’t feel ready to talk too even Otto. She feared that Otto felt that there was a matter of mistrust between them.Otto, on the other hand, didn’t feel that way at all. Though he was still concerned about Kate, and hoped to help her before the week was up, he knew he couldn’t ask her about what happened. He would still check on her, by asking how she was feeling, and if she showed signs that she felt uncomfortable talking, Otto would kindly give her space. He understood that she needed space and time to open up to him.Still, he was worried that he wouldn’t get to talk to her before her week of stay was over. It was now day three of Kate’s week at the palace. And so far, no one had come to the palace to ask Otto if he saw any sign of Kate. He half expected Hadrian and Mevia to come, but luckily, they didn’t. He knew that they were worried, but he was glad that Kate still had that sense of personal space.It was the afternoon. Otto walked around the palace, looking for Kate so he could check on her. However, he saw no sign of her anywhere. He spotted Slab and approached the Gladiator.“Slab, have you seen my guest?” he asked him.“No sir. I haven’t. But I think Clutch might know. She and Facemeat talked about how Kate was looking for a training room. They tried to tell her about the training center in the Competitors’ Village,” said Slab.“Thank you for informing me, Slab. I’ll go and see if she’s there,” said Otto.The Old Builder quickly left the palace. As fast as he could, Otto walked to the Competitors’ Village and headed to the training center. As he got closer to the training center, Otto could hear some commotion coming from inside.When he walked up to the front doors, Otto opened them. The Old Builder stepped inside to find Kate practicing self-defense on one of the training dummies. She was roughly punching the training dummy numerous times, though she didn’t look anger in her expression.“You needed to let out some anger?” he asked, coming up to her.Kate stopped punching the dummy. She panted a bit and paused to wipe some sweat off of her face.“No. I just haven’t been keeping up with practice for a while…” she calmly said.Otto frowned. He wasn’t sure if Kate was lying or not, especially since Kate didn’t look him in the eye when she spoke.“So… just training? Nothing else?” he asked her.“That, and alone time. I didn’t really feel comfortable with some of the Gladiators staring at me. Though I appreciate the fact that they won’t ask me anything…” said Kate.Otto opened his mouth. He was about to tell Kate that if she did need to talk about what happened, he could help. However, he almost immediately stopped himself. He couldn’t risk upsetting her to the point where she would run off again.“Alright. I understand,” was all he could say. “I’ll leave you to it.”Otto turned around to leave. As he headed out, he heard Kate resume punching the training dummy. The Old Builder formed a worried look on his face as he left. The week was going to come to an end soon. It was already about half over.‘I know she needs her space, but she needs to know that I want to help her,’ he thought.After Otto left, Kate was still back in the training room. Now that Otto was gone, she clenched her fists and punched and kicked the dummy as hard as she could. She suddenly formed an angry expression, but there were tears in her eyes.‘I did a pretty good job hiding it from him. I thought that coming here would help, but keeping to myself isn’t as helpful as I thought it would be…’ she thought.Kate stopped punching the dummy. She let out a heavy sigh.‘I may never be ready to go home and face my friends… I want to sort things out with them, but… I may never be ready to face Mario and Sonic again…’ she thought. After finishing up at the training center, Kate returned to the palace. When she got there, she didn’t see any sign of Otto. She did run into the Gladiators, but none of them asked her questions about her stay, like always. But now, Kate wasn’t sure if she was relieved by this or not. Even with a few days staying at the palace and having time to herself, she wasn’t sure anymore.The next day had arrived. Morning came, but Kate didn’t wake up early. She overslept and stayed in bed until it was almost the afternoon.When she woke up, she finally sat up and rubbed her eyes. She felt exhausted and didn’t have the energy to do get out of bed. She reached for her glasses and journal on the nightstand next to her bed. She found her glasses and put them on.After putting on her glasses, Kate could see better. She noticed that there was something next to journal. Next to her journal was an apple, and a letter. Kate grabbed the letter and opened it up to read it.
Katelyn,
I don’t know if you’ll read this, considering that you have requested to have personal space and don’t want to talk about what happened. And I respect that. But I am worried about you. I wish to help you, so I’m only writing this quick letter to let you know that if you need someone to talk to, I’m all ears.
But if you truly don’t want to talk about what happened, I can respect that. I do apologize if I’ve bothered you with this letter, considering how you wanted personal space and to be alone. You can discard it after you’re done reading it, if you’ve read it. I just wanted to give you a quick note that I can help you, but only if you want my help.
If you do want to talk, I’ll be in the library today. The Gladiators have today off, so they shouldn’t bother us if you do want to talk. If you don’t want to talk today, but do want to before you leave, just find me. Don’t be afraid to talk to me.
Have a good day, Katelyn. I’ll be here to help if you want me to.
Otto
Kate was silent after she finished reading the letter. She started to tear up after she finished reading it. She felt awful for hearing from Otto, even if it was through a letter, that she had worried her friend. He wanted to help her, and she had been dismissing him and his help this whole time.Kate took her glasses off because her eyes were watery. She began to cry, and her tears were getting on the lenses of her glasses. She didn’t break down into sobs, but she still cried a bit.After a few minutes of crying, Kate calmed down. She grabbed the apple and quickly ate it. She needed to eat something before she could get through the rest of the day.‘He wants to help… I should go talk to him… but… will I be ready to talk to him before I leave? I… I can’t keep this bottled up anymore…’ she thought.She finished eating her apple and got up and out of bed. She proceeded to getting dressed and fixing her hair, so she could be ready to take on what was left of the new day. Later that day, Otto was in the library. He was busy rearranging some of the books on his shelves. The Old Builder was wearing a pair of reading glasses on his face, which made it easier for him to read the titles of the books that he was trying to reorganize.Otto was alone as he worked in the library for the day. He woke up bright and early to get ready for the day. After he was ready for the day, Otto got to work on the letter. He planned to leave it on the nightstand so that he could give Kate space as she read the letter. He didn’t expect her to read it, but at least he would try.After leaving the letter, and an apple for Kate to eat, in her room, the Old Builder headed up to the library. For a few hours, Otto spent time by himself and worked on rearranging the books on his shelves.At one point, Otto checked the time. He noticed that it would soon be the early evening. He looked out the window to see that sunset was approaching. This whole day, Kate hadn’t come over to talk to him. He expected this.‘Maybe tomorrow,’ he thought.Otto finished up the shelf that he was working on and exited the library. Otto headed downstairs and to the kitchen so he could start up some dinner. As he was heading to the kitchen, he noticed that sitting outside on the patio was Kate. She was writing in her journal again, and she had her back turned towards the Old Builder, so she didn’t notice that Otto was checking on her.Otto walked away, leaving her alone again. Even though he wrote the letter, he was still going to give her space and let her come to him if she needed someone to talk to. He still respected that she needed personal space. A couple more days passed. Kate’s week at the palace was coming to an end. Just two more days until she was expected to leave. With the week coming closer to an end, Otto became more concerned that Kate wouldn’t talk to him at all. But he still didn’t want to come up to her and ask her to talk to him. He still wanted to let her come to him instead.Otto was done rearranging the books on the shelves in the library. The Games were going to restart soon, so he decided to check on the arena and the announcement booth, make sure that things were still in working order.As Otto was checking on the microphone in the announcement booth, he wasn’t aware that someone was coming up to see him. Kate was walking up the steps and heading to the booth. After much confliction, she finally had an answer to Otto’s response in the letter. She was ready to talk to the Old Builder and see if opening up to him could help her.Otto finished checking the microphone. He turned to leave, but when he did, he saw that Kate was coming into the announcement booth.“Oh. Hello Kate. And how are you today?” he politely greeted her.“I… I’m alright… but… do you have a bit of time to spare?” she asked.Otto gave her a kind smile. “Yes. I do have some time to spare. Do you need something?” he said.“I… got your note. I was wondering if I could talk to you about… about what happened. I… I could use a friend to talk to. Someone I can trust,” said Kate.Otto walked over to his chair in the announcement booth. He sat down and politely gestured to the chair next to his. He didn’t need to say, because Kate was already walking over. She sat down next to the Old Builder.She began to talk about what happened at long last. Getting the letter, being tricked by Mario and Sonic, hurting Bowser and Eggman, her argument with her friends, and what drove her to end up running off on her own.The whole time Kate talked, Otto was quiet. He just let her explain everything, showing that he was listening to her words before deciding what to tell his friend.As Kate finished, she suddenly paused. She looked down as her eyes began to tear up.“Kate?” he asked her. “You okay?”“N-no… I’m not… this whole time… I thought that I’d be better thinking it over by myself, but… I was wrong. I realize now that I’ve wanted to talk about what happened, but… I didn’t think I was ready to…” she said.“Talk to anyone about it, or just Mario and Sonic?” asked Otto.“I… I guess it’s just Mario and Sonic, but I felt that I didn’t have the courage to talk to anyone…” said Kate.Kate let out a heavy sigh. She started to sniffle a bit. She took her glasses off to wipe away the tears. Otto pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her.“Thanks…” said Kate.She took the handkerchief and patted her eyes gently to wipe away the tears and calm down.“It’s okay to talk about what happened, Katelyn. Keeping it bottled up isn’t healthy,” said Otto.“I know. And even I say that to any kind of situation. But… I’ve been afraid of facing Mario and Sonic. I know they wouldn’t do such a thing, but… I’ve been afraid to talk to them because I’m worried that our friendship will end…” she said.Kate handed Otto back the handkerchief.“In the past, long before I met anyone in our huge circle of friends, I had a very difficult time keeping friendships. In my childhood, if my friends didn’t move away, it was that they changed as we grew up. They started off as nice kids, but as we grew up, they became harsher, and they would end our friendships for petty reasons. And…”Kate paused for a second. She didn’t show any expression in her face before she continued.“And… after how hard it became with Dark King, how far he would go to take control of our bond… I guess I developed this fear deep down that something bad would happen between me and the guys…” she said.“Kate, that was all in the past, and they are different people compared to the friends you have. And Mario and Sonic are very understanding. You three have been friends for years already. Even with how much you’ve all grown, the three of you are still friends, and call each other family as well. I cannot possibly see how Mario and Sonic could go down a path like the people who hurt you in the past. They may have done something stupid, but that doesn’t mean that they intended to hurt you,” said Otto.Kate didn’t respond. Otto only continued to talk.“Mario and Sonic love you, Kate. You are their friend, their sister, and even if they said those things in that letter they sent you, that doesn’t mean that they would want to part ways with you. I’m sure that the reason why they wanted to talk to you was because they’re afraid of losing you,” said Otto.“I-I know Otto… I really do want to talk to them about it, but… I don’t think I’m ready to face them. Still, I know that they’re sorry…” said Kate.She let out another sigh.“I need to go back in a couple days. I need to face them. I… I can’t face them, but I know what to tell them… I know now that I shouldn’t keep avoiding them,” said Kate.“Are you ready to go home? If you need more time to think things through, and prepare yourself for seeing your friends again, you’re more than welcome to stay here,” said Otto.“Thank you, but I need to face this as an adult. I need to take responsibility for what I did on my end. I did a childish thing, running away just to get space. I need to go home and take responsibility for my end of the problem,” said Kate.“Then I can take you home. I’ll go home with you when you do. I let you hide here to get your own space. The least I can do is acknowledge what I did while everyone was looking for you, worried about where you were,” said Otto.Kate was about to object, but Otto kindly cut her off. He put a hand on her shoulder and said, “I’m handling things as an adult as well, and like I said, you’re my friend, and I want to help out in any way I can.”The Old Builder pulled the Dreamer of Peace into a hug. Kate almost immediately returned the hug. As she did, she felt a lot better.“Thanks Otto… thank you for everything. Letting me stay here, allowing me to open up, and for coming with me when I go home,” she said, almost quietly.“You’re welcome Kate,” said Otto.The two parted from their hug. They stood up from their seats and exited the announcement booth.‘Time to go home…’ thought Kate. Later that day, Kate and Otto made it to Beacontown. Upon arrival, their friends in the town were shocked, but relieved to see that Kate was alright. The Jesse twins, Romeo, Lukas, Reuben, Radar, and a few others wanted to know what happened, but Otto told them that they would discuss things later. The group understood that Kate was still iffy on what was going on, and they knew that she would tell them later. So everyone kept the visit short, and the Jesse twins gave Kate and Otto the book to go back to the Dream Universe.Once they arrived in the Dream Village, Kate started to head to the treehouse, with Otto following her. They were walking up to the treehouse and saw a few of their friends standing outside. They appeared to be surrounding a table with a map on it, and they were busy discussing something.“Okay, no sign of her around Sarasaland, Mobotropolis, the Mushroom Kingdom, or Westopolis. What about New Donk City?” said Knuckles.“Highly unlikely she would go there. She may have erased Pauline’s memories, but Sally still goes around there. I doubt Kate would go there,” said Tails.“Female Jesse said that Romeo spotted her in their universe. But if she got spotted, she should’ve come back!” said Luigi.“You can’t be sure about that! Maybe she went somewhere else other than Beacontown!” said Hadrian.“And she knows about the portal network there to. She could’ve gone to another dimension in our old universe!” said Mevia.“So she could be anywhere in those networks?!” said Knuckles.“Are you guys nuts? Going into unfamiliar territory without a buddy? Kate’s not like that! She wouldn’t even go into a haunted mansion alone!” said Tails.“But it’s been almost two weeks! Where the heck could she have gone off to!? She could be captured for all we know!” said Luigi.“None of our rivals or enemies are trying anything. If they would’ve captured Kate, then they would’ve tried to use her as a ‘bargaining chip’ against us for anything bad,” said Amy.“Where else can we look then?!” said Yoshi.“You don’t need to look anymore,” said Kate.Everyone turned around. When they saw that she was back, they all gasped. Her friends ran over and tackled her with a hug.“Kate! Thank goodness you’re okay!” said Yoshi.Hadrian and Mevia noticed Otto. They let go of the group hug and faced their friend.“Otto, did you find her?” asked Mevia.“No. I let her stay at the palace. She came to me, asking if she could have some time to collect her thoughts,” said Otto.“And you didn’t bother to tell us?! How long was she staying with you?!” said Hadrian.“Don’t be mad at him,” said Kate.She stepped out of the group hug and faced her friends. “I asked him not to tell anyone, and he agreed not to as long as I left in a certain amount of days. But it was still wrong of me to run off like that with a note saying so. I’m sorry I worried everyone,” she said.“We’re just glad you’re okay. And you’re finally back,” said Tails.“We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Everyone’s been looking!” said Luigi.“Except Mario and Sonic. They… they felt it would be better if they didn’t…” said Amy.“They… they didn’t help the search?” asked Otto.“They just felt that it would be better. They felt that if they found you, Kate, then you’d run off again,” said Amy.“No. I’m the one to blame. I shouldn’t have ran off just to get personal space, and I’m sorry,” said Kate.There was a short moment of silence. Before someone else could say anything, the group heard a couple people coming up to them. It was Mario and Sonic.The guys noticed that Kate was back. They didn’t say anything, but instead of looking angry, they looked glum. They even turned away to not face Kate.Kate bit her lip as she walked up to her friends.“Mario. Sonic. I know what you’ve been wanting to say to me. This whole time, I know that you just wanted to apologize to me. To be honest… I don’t know if I’m even fully prepared to actually talk about what happened. But… I forgive you guys,” she said.Mario and Sonic were still silent, but they did turn around to look at Kate.“I can’t forget what happened. I doubt I ever can. But I know you guys screwed up, and you feel guilty. So I forgive you. I won’t run off again, and I’m sorry I did that and making you feel guilty for it,” she said.There was a short moment of silence.“Are… are we cool?” asked Sonic.“You’re not mad anymore?” asked Mario.Kate let out a sigh.“I… I know that you guys feel guilty and are sorry, so I’m not mad anymore. But… in terms of us being cool, I need to be reassured that I can still trust you guys. I don’t know if you guys wanted to hear that, but… I still am a bit iffy over what happened. But… I do accept your apology,” she said.“We understand. What we did was bad, and we are sorry…” said Mario.“Is there anything we can do to show you that you can trust us?” said Sonic.There was one more short moment of silence. As the three were just slightly talking things over, the rest of their friends only watched in silence. They didn’t want to step in because the three had to be the ones to sort this out, at least enough for now.“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next…” said Kate. To be continued…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It had been a couple days since Kate had finally returned. Ever since she returned, she had some explaining to do to reassure her worried friends, who had yet to know of her return, that she was alright and wasn’t in danger while she was away. To her relief, no one was mad at Otto for letting her hide at the palace at the games arena when she needed time alone. No one was really mad at Kate for running off, and everyone was glad that she had returned and was safely home at long last. She was finally back in the Dream Universe.Though, she had told Mario and Sonic that she forgave them for what happened, there was still one more thing that needed to be discussed. Kate told Mario and Sonic that she still didn’t feel that she could trust them. Due to the hurtful things they said in the letter, and how they tricked her into fighting Bowser and Eggman, it still was difficult for her to trust them again.But the guys understood. And now that she was back, they weren’t coming over to ask her constantly if she was ready to talk it over even if she wasn’t. Now they were giving her space, thinking over how they could repair what was left to fix within their friendship.Kate was over at the treehouse, trying to catch up on some editing assignments for her job since she had decided to run off in order to try to get some personal space. While she was busy working, Mario and Sonic were at the Mario Bros house. They wanted to talk to Luigi and Tails about what they could do to make amends with Kate.“This is kinda ridiculous. You’re asking us for advice on how to make amends with Kate. But you guys know her better than anyone else!” said Luigi.“We know, but… after that letter we wrote and how we tricked her, it’s like we know her well to the point where we know what can hurt her…” said Mario.“We want to make amends with her, not make things worse. What do you the two of you suggest we do?” asked Sonic.Before Tails could answer him, someone rushed into the house.“Guys!” the person shouted.Everyone turned around to see that it was Amy who came in.“Guys, I just got a call from Queen Peach! She says that there might be something up with Fawful!” she said.Mario, Sonic, Luigi, and Tails all formed worried looks. Was Fawful back and up to something new?“The Chaotix never returned from their search for Kate. The queen told me it’s because they think they found a possible hideout Fawful has near the Mushroom Kingdom. But that was before Kate came back. It’s been a few days. The queen thinks they might be in trouble!” said Amy.“Espio, Charmy, and Vector. They could be held hostage. This is Fawful we’re talking about, so who knows what he’s up to?!” said Tails.“Get ready to head to the castle! I have to go tell Kate!” said Amy.Amy turned around and dashed out. As she did, Mario and Sonic looked nervous. Kate was coming with them to rescue the Chaotix? They knew that she was still unsure about being around them for the time being, so was this really going to work in their favor?“Guys come on! We need to get to the castle!” said Luigi.“The Chaotix need our help! We don’t have time to stand around!” said Tails.“O-oh! Right. We’re coming!” said Mario.Sonic nodded his head. The four of them rushed out of the Mario Bros house. As they headed out, they saw that Knuckles and Kate were following Amy to the warp pipe.“Amy just told us! We’re coming to!” said Knuckles.He and Amy jumped into the warp pipe almost instantly. They were followed by Luigi and Tails. Finally, it was just Mario, Sonic, and Kate left. The three were ready to go down the warp pipe, but they stopped as they saw each other. Kate didn’t frown at the guys, but like Mario and Sonic, she formed a nervous look.“Oh! Uh…. L-ladies first?” said Sonic nervously.Kate didn’t say anything. She took a few steps forward, but she stopped and looked at the guys. She remained silent, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she finally jumped down. Once she was in the warp pipe, Mario and Sonic followed her down. A bit later, and the group finally reached the Mushroom Kingdom. They immediately headed to the castle and met up with Peach. Peach was waiting for them in the dining hall, and she was standing by the dining table. The group walked over to see that Peach had laid out a map of the forest outside the kingdom. There were markings that pointed to a specific spot on the map.“Thank goodness you all got here. I asked Amy to come get you guys because we have a situation,” she said.“We’re aware, your majesty. The Chaotix think they found a hideout near the kingdom belonging to Fawful, and they might have gotten captured. Correct?” said Tails.Peach nodded her head. She pointed to the marked point on the map and said, “The Chaotix told me that they noticed something odd in this spot. They reported that they were going to investigate, and we haven’t heard from them since. The last time we heard from them was a few days ago, the day before Kate finally returned home.”“Vanilla and Cream must be worried about them…” said Kate.“They are. They figured that they were overworking because of the search, but now that it’s been a few days, they fear that they might need to be rescued. Can you all handle the job?” said Peach.“We got this. We’ll rescue Vector, Charmy, and Espio!” said Luigi.“This is Fawful though. What if he’s expecting us all to go in and leave you unguarded?!” said Mario.“We got that,” said a voice.The group turned around to see Silver and Blaze coming out from the kitchen and entered the dining hall to join them.“Just in case Fawful is planning to come after me while you go rescue our friends, I called in Silver and Blaze to protect me,” said Peach.“Make that three. I can stay here and help out,” said Knuckles.He turned to face Kate and said, “Be careful. I’ll see you when you get back.”“I’ll be fine, Knux. I’ll be going in with the others,” said Kate.To reassure her husband, Kate gave Knuckles a quick hug. The echidna almost immediately returned the hug.“Don’t worry, your majesty. We’ll come back safe and sound, and we’ll rescue the Chaotix!” said Tails, doing a salute.“We got this, Peach!” said Luigi.Kate and Knuckles let go of their hug. Now that they were done, Kate followed the others out of the castle as the group began to run out.“Good luck!” Peach called out to them.The group didn’t respond, but they heard her. They ran out of the castle and began to make their way out of the Mushroom Kingdom. It was time for a rescue mission. About a half hour later, the group was far out in the forest. They were coming close to the spot that Peach directed them to head to on the map and were looking around. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, for the forest looked calm and peaceful. But even if that were the case, the group didn’t want to take any chances.They were going to be dealing with Fawful. A magician who liked to use his magic to play tricks on them, but if he wasn’t simply messing around, then he was coming up with a dangerous scheme. It was why he was a bigger threat now than Bowser and Eggman.“I don’t see anything out here. Just more trees. Not even any Goombas or other creatures native to this forest,” said Amy.“This is Fawful we’re talking about. Maybe he has his place hidden in plain sight and we can’t see it!” said Luigi.Tails had a device of some sort. It had a radar system shown up on the monitor, and was making beeping noises.“Hmm… I’m not detecting anything moving out here, if you don’t count ourselves,” said he said.Kate peered over the fox’s shoulder.“Is that all the radar can track? Movement?” she said.“I can change it to track something else. Just gotta enter it in the keypad,” said Tails.“Why not have it track down traces of magic? Fawful’s a magician, so he probably uses magic to hide his hideout,” said Kate.“Good thinking!” said Tails. He began to type in a change to the radar.“Yeah. Why didn’t we think of that?” said Sonic, smiling nervously.Kate looked at him, but she wasn’t frowning. She just formed a confused look.“Oh uh… sorry…” said Sonic.“It’s fine… you don’t need to apologize for that…” said Kate.Luigi, Tails, and Amy all looked at each other with concerned looks. They could sense that there was still a bit of friction between Sonic and Kate, and also between Mario and Kate.But they didn’t say anything. They had to focus on a mission.The radar suddenly began to beep like crazy. Tails checked the radar to see that it was directing him to a tree.“This tree has some traces of magic!” he said.Mario walked up to it and touched the bark.“It’s not made of wood,” he said.The plumber spotted a branch in his reach. He jumped up and grabbed it. The branch moved down a bit, and clicking noise went off. The group turned around as they heard some noises. They saw a hidden stairway open up from the ground. They walked over and looked down. They couldn’t see anything except stairs leading down into darkness.“This has Fawful written all over it indeed. I’m picking up a lot of traces of magic from this…” said Tails. He was looking at his radar as he spoke.“Stay together guys…” said Amy. She pulled out her Piko Piko hammer.The group walked down the stairs and into the dark room below. As it got darker, Mario and Luigi pulled out fire flowers. They changed into Fire Mario and Fire Luigi. Using their fire power, the guys formed some fireballs in their hands to light up the way. Tails pulled out three flashlights. He handed one to Sonic, one to Amy, and kept the third one for himself. Finally, Kate pulled out a wand, which started to glow after she muttered a spell to light up like a torch.The group entered the room below and finally made it to the end of the stairs. There wasn’t anyone in sight, and it looked like there were a couple tunnel choices to go down.“Wonder if Fawful set up any traps in these tunnels to toy with us for when we come here…” whispered Sonic.“Stay sharp!” whispered Mario.The group walked up to where the tunnel entrances were. Tails held up the scanner. He began to type in something else, changing what he wanted the radar to track.“Just give the radar a second. I changed the setting to track heart bats. We pick up on three that isn’t with us, then we’ll know that the Chaotix are somewhere,” said Tails.The monitor started to look fuzzy, and make static noises. Tails sighed as he tapped the screen a little bit. After tapping the screen a few times, the radar monitor went back to normal. There were three dots on the radar.“I’ve got something! Down the left tunnel!” said Tails.“Then let’s go!” said Sonic.The blue hedgehog started to run ahead of the others. However, as he did, he tripped over a wire.“Watch out!” cried Kate.She rushed forward and she pushed Sonic out of the way. The sound of a click went off, and a gate suddenly went down. The group had to jump out of the way. Everyone except Mario jumped back, getting locked out of the tunnel, while Mario had jumped forward, getting locked in the tunnel with Sonic and Kate.“Don’t go running off like that, Sonic!” said Mario.“Sorry!” said Sonic.“You guys okay?!” said Tails.“We’re fine…” Kate said, sounding a little irritated.Mario and Sonic could sense that she wasn’t happy. They didn’t say anything.“Just keep going and see if you can free the Chaotix. We’ll find another way through!” said Amy.The trio nodded their heads. They continued down the tunnel and onward. As the others watched them leave, Luigi, Amy, and Tails all formed worried looks.“Hope they’ll be alright if they run into Fawful on their own…” said Amy.“I’m more concerned about how they’ll cooperate. Kate still doesn’t want to talk about what happened…” said Tails.Back with the trio, they continued to run down the hallway. Despite the tripwire that triggered the gate, they didn’t run into any more traps. That surprised them, for they expected another trap to trigger and try to cut them off or attack them. But they made it to the end of the tunnel without running into any more trouble.However, they found themselves in another room. At the other end of the room was something glowing. The three noticed that it was a spell keeping something enclosed in the light, and it was the Chaotix. They were all unconscious inside the spell.“There they are!” said Mario.“We need to get to them!” said Sonic.“Wait guys!” said Kate.Mario and Sonic were about to run forward, but she quickly grabbed them and pulled them back. Kate looked around.“There could be traps between us and them…” she said.“Should one of us run forward while the other two stay behind then?” said Mario.“It has to be you, Kate. You’re the only one of us that knows magic, and you can free them with a spell or something when you get to them!” said Sonic.“Me? You really think I’m the one who can fix this?” Kate said. She sounded a bit annoyed, but she didn’t frown.“I-I didn’t mean to offend you! I-I just thought that you’d be the best s-shot!” said Sonic.Kate opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped herself. She signed in frustration.“We’re all going,” she said.“Wait, what? I know that you and Sonic can run through, but me? I’m not as fast as you guys!” said Mario.“We can’t split up,” said Kate.Mario didn’t think this was a good idea, but he didn’t want to argue. He sighed.“Alright. We go together…” he said.The three moved into position, ready to run through. Sonic counted down, and once he was done, the three began to dash to the Chaotix as quickly as they could.As they ran, the three could hear some traps trigger. Some arrows shot out of the ceiling, holes in the floor opened up at random parts, and some parts of the walls shots blasts of magic at the trio as they ran as quickly as they could.But despite how they were attack in multiple directions, the three made it to the other end of the room without a scratch.“Phew! We made it!” said Sonic.“Yeah. Just barely…” Mario muttered.He took off his cap, which was slightly lit on fire. Mario shook his hat and patted the fire out with a free hand. Once the flames were gone, the plumber put his cap back on.Kate turned her attention to the Chaotix, who were all still unconscious as they were enclosed by the spell. She tapped the magical barrier a few times with her wand, and stepped back. A few seconds later, the bright glow vanished, freeing Charmy, Vector, and Espio.The Chaotix groaned as they woke up. One by one, they got back on their feet.“Urgh… my head…” said Espio.“Mario, Sonic, and Kate? You guys came for us?” said Vector.“The queen informed us that you guys were in trouble,” said Kate.“Kate?! You’re back?! When did you get back?!” said Charmy. He suddenly began to jump up and down in excitement.“Yeah, when did you return? We came here thinking you were down here!” said Vector.“A couple days ago. It’s… it’s a long story…” said Kate.“We can talk about it later! This place is full of traps!” said Espio.“Now we gotta run back through this trap infested room?” Sonic said, groaning a bit.“Hey, what does this switch do?” said Charmy.The five turned around to see Charmy approaching a switch.“Charmy, don’t touch that!” cried Vector.But it was too late. Charmy already grabbed the switch and flipped it over. The group heard the sound of a click. They all waited with anxiety to see if another trap would trigger. However, nothing happened.“I sense nothing but calmness… I think that turned off all the traps in this room,” said Espio.“Only one way to find out…” said Sonic.The group ran back to the tunnels. They were expecting to still be attacked, but luckily, nothing triggered. Nothing came out to fire at them or attack them. They made it back to the tunnel without any trouble.But even though things were calm, the group didn’t take that as a chance to relax. They kept on running. Still, no traps activated and tried to attack them. They made it back to where the gate was closed off, only to see that the way was open now.“Huh… guess we are in the clear…” said Vector.“Wait, where are the others?” said Kate.“Were you guys with more people?” said Espio.The group walked back into the first room. They saw Luigi, Tails, and Amy were coming out of the other tunnel.“There they are!” said Luigi.“Guys!” said Tails.The group rushed over to the three. However, suddenly, the place began to shake. Everyone stopped where they were.“Now what’s happening?!” said Charmy.Before anyone could say anything, the floor below Mario, Sonic, and Kate suddenly collapsed. The three fell down into a pit, which was closed off by a grate, separating them from their friends.“Mario! Sonic!” said Luigi.“Kate! We’ll get you guys out!” said Tails.The three heard their friends shouting, but even though they knew that the others wanted to help, they were more focused on trying to get out themselves. There were no doors or vents to the pit that they fell in. The only way out was the grate that locked them out the way they fell from.All three of them were trying to jump up and grab the grate, but even if they could touch the grate, the holes in the grate were too small for them to put their fingers through.“Can’t get out!” said Mario.Sonic began to spin dash. He jumped up, but instead of knocking the grate open, he fell back and hit the floor on his back.“Ow…” he groaned.Kate shot some blasts of magic with her sword, but the blasts didn’t even make a dent in the metal of the grate.“What are we going to do?!” said Vector.“Look for an access panel or something!” said Tails.“But Fawful used magic to build this place!” said Luigi. “Won’t there be no access panel!?” said Luigi.“Even if you use magic to get something running, you still need wires and gears to keep it running!” Kate called out to them.The others began to look around the room. However, as they stepped away from the pit, the group heard another sound go off.“Now what’s happening?” Amy said, forming a nervous look on her face.The group could hear some panicked shouts from the three stuck in the pit. They all rushed back to the grate, but couldn’t see what was going on through the tiny holes.“Hurry up! The walls are closing in down here!” cried Kate.Everyone else began to shout in panic, and started to run frantically around the room to look for an access panel.Down in the pit, Mario, Sonic, and Kate were doing their best to prevent the walls from squeezing them to death. But it was just the three of them, and even their combined strength wasn’t enough to keep them from pushing back the walls.“Ah! It’s no use!” cried Mario. “We’re screwed unless you guys can find that access panel!”“We’re trying!” cried Luigi.The three were trying their best to push back the walls.“Mario! Sonic! I’m sorry that I’ve been distant even when I came home! I didn’t want to talk about what happened, but it kept on eating me up! I was afraid that if I talked to you guys, we’d only fight! I’m sorry!” cried Kate.“No Kate! We’re the ones who should be sorry! We screwed up so much! That letter, tricking you, and hurting you! It’s our fault and we’re sorry!” said Mario.He and Kate tried to push the wall again, while Sonic was pushing the wall across from them.“We know we messed up, and we’re sorry for hurting you! We wanted to talk to you badly because we wanted you to know that we didn’t want to hurt you! We were afraid of losing you like how you lost your friends in the past!” said Sonic.The walls were very close now. The three were at the point where they had to lean against the walls and tried to push them back with their legs. They could feel their space getting tighter every second.“Urgh! Kate, you’re our sister and our best friend! Even if we do something as stupid as what we did, we still love you!” Mario groaned.“Ever since we met you, we all became friends! Mario and I aren’t rivals anymore, and you became our sister!” Sonic groaned.“Guys… I-I’m sorry to! We wouldn’t be in this mess if I would’ve just talked to you! I love you guys! I’m sorry!” Kate said.The guys wanted to try to say more, but their space was getting even tighter. They were more focused on trying to stay alive.“This is it! We’re done for!” said Mario.“Mario, Kate, you’re my best friends! I’m sorry!” cried Sonic.“I love you guys! I’m sorry!” said Kate.The three tried to shout, but they found it difficult to breathe now. They were fighting more and more to keep the walls from crushing them all the way. But it seemed hopeless now. They were just mere inches from getting crushed to death.However, back upstairs, Amy found something. She pulled it off the wall, revealing a ton of wires.“Tails, it’s here!” she cried.“Cut a red one! It’s always the red one!” said Tails.Amy spotted the red wire. She quickly grabbed it and pulled it out. She cut it with a small knife, and the group head the sound of something click. A few seconds later, they heard some rumbling from the pit.The group rushed over. They couldn’t see what was going on down in the pit since the grate still made it difficult for them to see.“Mario! Sonic! Kate! Say something!” said Vector.Down in the pit, the three were all breathing heavily in relief. Once Amy had cut the wire, the walls stopped closing in and were moving away. They were all lying down on the ground, happy that they had been spared from death.“We’re okay… we’re okay…” Mario called out to them.Everyone all sighed in relief. The group heard another click, and the grate suddenly opened. The group could finally see their friends, and they were even happier to see that their friends were alive and alright.“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” said Vector.He extended a hand down. Mario stood up and grabbed Vector’s hand. The crocodile pulled the plumber out, before reaching back down. Next he pulled out Sonic, and finally once Sonic was out.With that done, the group quickly ran back up the stairs before any more traps could activate and attack them. Now that the group finally rescued the Chaotix and escaped, everyone made it back to the forest. They headed back to the Mushroom Kingdom, and by the time they returned to the castle, it was sundown. They found Peach waiting for them, and Silver, Blaze, and Knuckles were happy to report that no trouble happened while the group went to rescue Vector, Espio, and Charmy.The Chaotix returned back to the Dream Village, back to Vanilla and Cream, who were waiting to know if they were alright. Tails, Luigi, and Amy went to accompany them. As for the Three Heroes, they stayed at the castle.Mario, Sonic, and Kate were in the back, alone in the garden.“I’m sorry I wanted to keep avoiding talking about what happened…” said Kate.“No. We’re sorry for what we did to hurt you,” said Mario.“Guess we all messed up in this case…” said Sonic. “But we were worried that you didn’t want to be our friend anymore. That we lost you as our sister.”“I was worried that I wouldn’t be ready to see you guys again. But… sometimes friends are going to fight. Now I know that will happen, even between the three of us,” said Kate.“So… we cool?” said Mario.Kate smiled sadly at Mario and Sonic.“Guys, even if we fight like we have recently, we’ll all be friends. And we’re gonna be friends for life,” she said.To reassure her friends, she pulled Mario and Sonic into a hug. Mario and Sonic smiled sadly as they returned the hug.“I love you guys,” she whispered to them.“We love you to sis,” said Mario.“No matter what happens,” Sonic added. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Over at the treehouse, Romeo and Stella were there for a visit. Knuckles and Kate invited them over for dinner. Romeo and Stella were sitting in the living room. Knuckles was making some coffee in the kitchen for his guests. Kate wasn’t at the house at the moment, because she had run to the grocery store to get some ingredients for dinner to cook.Knuckles finished pouring coffee into some mugs and put them on a tray. The tray had some spoons, some different kinds of creamer, and a small bowl of sugar. Knuckles picked up the tray and carried it over to his guests in the living room.“I don’t know how you guys like your coffee, so I brought this all over for you to make it your way,” he said.“Thank you, Knuckles,” said Stella.“I don’t drink coffee often. What kind of creamer do you recommend?” said Romeo.“I recommend the hazelnut one. Kate doesn’t like coffee, but she recommends it since she knows that her folks like it,” said Knuckles.Romeo picked up the hazelnut creamer and carefully poured a little bit into his mug. He and Stella worked on getting their coffee to their liking.“Anything else I can get for you guys?” asked Knuckles.“No. It’s fine. Thank you, Knuckles,” said Stella.The three heard something fall off of something. They looked over to one of the bookcases and saw that Kate’s Pansage was trying to climb up it. However, a picture frame fell off and hit the floor. Knuckles rushed over and picked it up. He let out a sigh of relief.“Be careful next time, Pansage. This photo took so much effort to get right,” said Knuckles.Pansage nodded his head sadly. To show the Pokémon that he wasn’t cross, Knuckles gently pet Pansage on the head.“What photo is it?” asked Romeo.“I guess you could see. You guys weren’t a part of the group back then, so you weren’t there,” said Knuckles.The echidna walked over to his guests and handed them the photo. Romeo and Stella carefully grabbed it and looked at the photo. They saw that Knuckles was dressed in a tuxedo and Kate was in a wedding dress.“Was this taken at your wedding?” asked Stella.“Yeah. Well… on our second attempt…” said Knuckles.“’Second attempt’? What do you mean?” asked Romeo.“Oh. You guys weren’t told by anyone? Well… when Kate and I tried to get married, the reception got ruined by some of our rivals. It was so bad, we agreed to try again and not have the first time count,” said Knuckles.“Are you serious? Your wedding was ruined by your rivals?! What happened?” Stella asked him, forming a shocked look.Knuckles fell silent for a minute. He sat down on a chair across from his friends.“Well, you guys weren’t there when it happened. I guess I could tell you what happened…” he said.
The big day had finally arrived. I was so nervous, but I was also very excited. I had been looking forward to this day ever since I proposed to Kate. But then again, there was a reason why she was very anxious, and I didn’t blame her.
I remember after I proposed to her, she had a nightmare about some of our rivals coming in and crashing the ceremony. My ex was among one in her nightmare. They had attacked us, and it wasn’t a good ending in Kate’s nightmare.
For a while, we were torn between two choices: either we could hold a secret ceremony, or making it a big ceremony. We wanted everyone to be there. Kate wanted her family to come and for her father to be there to walk her down the aisle. A lot of our friends were all waiting to see this big moment happen between us, and we wanted them there.
But if our rivals were really going to come after us and crash the wedding, we didn’t want to put anyone in danger. And it wasn’t like we were going to be the only couple to elope. Shadow and Rouge did so for their wedding, with only Omega as a witness. And Hadrian and Mevia, who were the first people we told about our engagement, they eloped because they felt that no one would be there for their wedding. But still, it was different from their situations. Shadow and Rouge didn’t want to bother with a big ceremony, while Hadrian and Mevia didn’t have any friends with them at the time. We had friends and family, and to keep them out of this big moment wouldn’t be fair to them.
After sharing the news with everyone in our group, our friends from the Minecraft Universe offered to help us with the wedding. Otto asked the Gladiators from the games to come and help guard the wedding. In addition, Reginald went to Milo and Isa, and he got some of the guards of Ground City to come and help out as well.
All that extra protection, and we figured that it would be good to go.
And it was finally the big day. We were all at the Mushroom Kingdom, so that the ceremony could be held in front of the castle. Kate was over at Toad and Toadette’s house. Some of the girls, such as Peach and Amy, were getting her ready. Soon it would be time for everyone to take their seats. I was already to go. I was waiting outside the front of the castle, trying not to show how anxious I was.
“Nervous, Knuckles?” I heard a voice say behind me.
I turned around and found myself facing Tacey. She was the maid of honor for our wedding. She’s Kate’s best friend, so it seemed right for her to be the maid of honor. Tacey was accompanied by Kate’s younger sister Allison, who was one of the flower girls, and Aiden, who was the best man at our wedding.
“What was your first guess?” I asked her, giving her a nervous smile.
“It’s okay if you’re nervous. My sister is pretty nervous. And the fact that she’ll have all eyes on her today. You know how she is with people staring at her,” said Allison.
“Yeah, but she won’t be the only one. I’ll be up there with her,” I said.
“That’s the spirit, Knuckles. Now when it’s time, you got this,” said Tacey.
I nodded my head at them.
As if on cue, we saw some people taking their seats. As they did, we could hear Sonia playing the organ. She’s the best piano player we know, and she’s had experience on an organ as well. So when she offered to play at our wedding, we almost immediately told her she was hired.
The guests were taking their seats. I could see a lot of Kate’s relatives looking around at the guests. They weren’t used to being around a lot of our group, for they rarely interacted with us. But they are Kate’s family, and since I have no living relatives, I wanted her to be happy and invite them over.
I waited up at the entrance to the castle, which was the altar for our wedding. Standing to my left on one side of the altar was Mario, Sonic, M. Jesse, and Kate’s friend Clint the Guard. They were all with Aiden for they were the groomsmen. And standing to my right, on the other side of the altar, was the five bridesmaids with our maid of honor. For our wedding, Peach, Amy, F. Jesse, Olivia, and Maya were the bridesmaids.
We all watched as Kate’s father escorted her down the aisle and up to the altar. Behind them was Allison, Cream, and Marine, scattering flower petals for they were the flower girls at our wedding. Kate’s father walked her up to the altar and next to me.
“Take good care of her, alright?” he told me, giving me a smile.
I nodded my head and said, “I will sir. I promise.”
I must’ve been blushing a bit, because Kate smiled at me and blushed as well. Holding hands, we turned to face Toadsworth, who was the priest.
But something seemed off. Toadsworth was taller than usual, and he was wearing a thick hood. His face was hidden.
That’s when ‘Toadsworth’ jumped forward and grabbed Kate. Kate struggled, and as she did, the figure’s hood came off their head. The crowd gasped.
I don’t know how, but it was Sally Acorn. How did she get in!?
“Sally!?” Sonic shouted in panic.
“Let go of her!” I shouted at Sonic’s ex.
Someone suddenly grabbed me from behind. I struggled and broke an arm free. I swung my arm at them, but missed punching them. That’s when I saw that it was Pauline.
Pauline pushed me towards Sally and Kate. Someone suddenly came out from the entrance to the castle. It was Fawful.
“What a shame that we weren’t invited,” he said.
“Let her go!” I shouted at him.
I charged forward, but Pauline punched me behind my head. I stumbled and fell down at Fawful’s feet. As I did, I saw that Toadsworth was lying unconscious on the floor in the castle.
“Sorry, but I think this ceremony is canceled…” said Fawful, giving the crowd his devious grin.
I heard our friends and family shouting our names in panic. I saw Mario and Sonic come charging towards us, but before they could catch up, a bright light surrounded us. Fawful used a teleportation spell with his staff.
I tried to get back to my feet, but I suddenly felt myself unable to move. Fawful had hit me with a spell from his staff, and he was able to turn me around by force. I watched as Kate got out of Sally’s grasp. She didn’t have her sword with her, so she and Sally got into a fist fight. Pauline almost immediately rushed over, and they tried to gang up on her. Even without her sword with her, Kate wasn’t going down easily. She didn’t care if she was outnumbered. She punched and kicked them both.
But Fawful zapped her with the same spell from his staff. He forced Kate to freeze, and now that she couldn’t fight back, that enabled Sally and Pauline to punch and kick her multiple times.
“Stop!” I shouted.
“No she deserves it! She took you away from Julie!” shouted Sally.
“I don’t love your damn friend anymore! She wasn’t right for me!” I snapped at her.
Fawful approached me, giving me his evil smirk.
“Why did you help them crash my wedding?” I sneered at him.
“Because it’s fun. Besides, what better way to hurt you both than ruin the most important day of your lives? You’ve both caused so much trouble in my plans, and it hurts Mario by taking you away like that in front of his eyes,” said Fawful.
“So you’re buddy buddy with those two now?” I angrily asked him.
“Nah. I just brought them along so that they could get what they want. Of course, they think that your ex is coming to take you back. I could care less. It’s satisfying enough to see your girl get beaten by the people she’s angered. Two is enough. I would’ve brought your ex to, but all she cares about is having you back. Love is a foolish thing. I’m not supporting her motives,” said Fawful.
I growled at him angrily. I don’t know if he’s lying or not, but I could only pray that Julie-Su wasn’t coming and wasn’t going to do something like put a love potion on me. That happens, then Kate’s nightmare would fully come true.
I struggled, but it was no use. My anger began to fade as I saw my bride getting beaten by Sally and Pauline. She was losing consciousness and was starting to slouch on the floor.
“Stand up and take it!” Pauline shouted at her angrily.
Kate frowned at her, but her frown quickly faded. She wasn’t going to take much more hits now. I struggled some more, but to no avail.
“Hey! Shouldn’t you two be taking it out on me to!? You could care less about me since you know that I’m Mario and Sonic’s friend! You hate them having other friends!” I snapped at Sally and Pauline.
“We don’t give a damn about you. Besides, Julie will be here to take you away from this stupid girl,” said Pauline.
“Fawful, you told Julie to come, right?” Sally angrily snapped at him.
“Of course my dear,” said Fawful.
He grinned at her, and something told me that he was lying. He was that deceiving. And he doesn’t even like having any allies of his own. He would’ve merely used anyone he ‘sides’ with as pawns. I figured that the only reason why he teamed up with these two was to let them beat up my bride. Nothing more. He was happy enough to see Kate struggling to stand, and making it so she couldn’t fight back like how she normally does.
Sally kicked Kate again in the chest, causing her to fall over.
“Oh for Chaos sake, stand up!” she shouted at her.
I couldn’t take much more of them beating up my bride. I had to anger them enough to come after me. Not my brightest idea, but I had to do something.
“This coming from the girl who won’t be queen of her own kingdom,” I taunted Sally.
Sally turned to face me.
“Shut up…” she growled.
“Not used to being told ‘no’, Sally? Heh, you gotta accept that you’re not always in control. It’s called being an adult. You’re not a princess. You’re a toddler in an adult’s body,” I said.
“I said shut up!” said Sally.
“You can’t do anything on your own since you’re so used to dear old daddy giving you what you want. You couldn’t even pretty yourself up correctly if you think that looks are what it takes to get Sonic’s attention,” I said.
Sally stormed over to me. She immediately slapped me in the face. I cringed. It stung a lot. The last time a girl slapped me was when Julie-Su slapped me when I broke up with her. Kate never did that with me. The most we’ve done with fights was just argue.
“Leave… him!” Kate tried to shout. She coughed a bit, and I don’t know if she did or not, but I think she coughed up a little bit of blood.
“Sally! Don’t damage him unless you want to upset Julie!” shouted Pauline.
Sally stepped away from me and turned to face Pauline. The two of them began to argue. As they did, I touched my cheek where I got slapped, and it stung a little bit. Sally hit me hard enough to probably bruise me.
I tried my best to get free, but Fawul still had me trapped in the spell. I saw Kate try to crawl away, but she wasn’t crawling fast enough. Sally and Pauline spotted her trying to get away, so they dropped their argument and stormed over to her.
“You’re not going anywhere…” Pauline sneered at her, as she kicked Kate in the stomach.
Kate groaned. She looked up at our rivals and frowned.
“Gee… I can see what a kind person you were towards Luigi. No wonder Mario broke up with you…” she said sarcastically.
Pauline clenched her fists as she kicked Kate again. Kate groaned again and fell on the floor.
“I’d watch your mouth if I were you… Do you want us to kill you?” Pauline sneered at her.
“You could never kill what can’t be killed…” Kate said, frowning.
I didn’t know what she meant by that. I don’t know if she was referring to how she was technically a Nightmare now, or by the fact that the elixir enables her to stay alive for a long life. But regardless, what she was saying was only making Sally and Pauline angrier with her. I struggled again, but I still couldn’t get free.
“How many times are you going to try breaking free?” Fawful taunted me. “You can’t get out of this spell.”
“You all ruined our wedding day. I don’t care how impossible it is. I just want to go home with her,” I snapped at him.
“This all could’ve been avoided if you would’ve just invited us,” Fawful said, pulling off a fake, innocent smile.
“You would’ve done this regardless!” I shouted.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s still a shame that you both wanted to do this. Because it’s like they say, you won’t be parted till death do you part…” said Fawful.
He was still smiling at me, but now that he said that, that only made him sinister. I stopped frowning and looked over at Kate. Sally and Pauline were still beating her up a bit, but I was scared. Were they really going to draw a weapon and try to actually kill her?
But before anything could happen next, Fawful suddenly formed a stunned look and groaned. He dropped his staff, which stopped the spell that held me in place.
I was confused, but my immediate thought was to rush to Kate. I charged at Sally and Pauline. They had turned around and saw what happened. I was able to attack one of them out before they could react, so when I punched Pauline in the face, she passed out almost immediately.
“What the-?!” Sally shouted.
She pulled out a pocket knife and tried to slash at me. I was lucky that I was a few feet away, or else she would’ve hit me. She tried to stab me, but I grabbed her arm before she could even tip me with the edge of the blade.
“Leave Kate alone!” I growled.
We struggled for a bit, but I managed to get the knife out of her hand and knocked it aside. I punched Sally a few times before she finally passed out. Once she was down on the ground, I rushed back to Kate. She was coughing a bit and was struggling to stand up. I immediately picked her up and started to run away.
“Stop right there!” I heard Fawful shout.
He was behind us when he shouted, but a few seconds later, he appeared right in front of us. Since he had his staff in hand, and it was glowing, that meant that he teleported to get right in front of us. I skidded to a halt.
“You’re not going anywhere…” I said, still giving me his menacing smile.
Suddenly, a blast of fire shot from the side, hitting him and knocking him out of the way. I turned around to see who attacked him. My immediate thought was that it was Blaze using her fire powers, and she teamed up with Mario and Luigi as they were powered up by fire flowers. The group had come to rescue us, wherever we were.
But my guess wasn’t right. It was Bowser that shot fire at Fawful, and right next to him was a robot. Hovering above the robot was Eggman in his Eggmobile buggy.
I was very, very confused. They were the ones who rescued us?!
“Don’t just stand there! Run!” Bowser shouted at us.
I would normally ignore him, but Kate was injured. So I took his advice and ran away. I don’t know where I was going, but I had to get Kate away from our rivals.
I didn’t need to run for long. When I got away from our rivals, I found out that Fawful had teleported us to the outskirts of Knothole, Sally’s kingdom. Tails was flying the Tornado, and he and a small handful of the group had gone to search the area for us. He spotted us and came down to give us a lift.
We made it back to the Mushroom Kingdom. By the time we got back, it was almost sunset. If there hadn’t been any interruptions, then everyone would’ve been able to party. We would’ve had dinner, play some music, maybe dance, and just talk to everyone who wanted to congratulate us.
But sadly, that wasn’t happening. Instead, Kate and I got taken inside the castle to be treated to our wounds. Our friends swarmed me, for I didn’t really have a lot to get treated for, while Kate’s family was waiting for Rosalina to finish healing her with potions. I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of Kate’s relatives weren’t with her.
I walked over to Kate, not wanting to be around our worried friends. Rosalina had given her one last potion.
“There. That should do it. You guys can still continue the reception if you want to,” said Rosalina. “Kate should be good as new in a little bit.”
“I would rather try another day…” Kate muttered. “This was supposed to be the most important day of our lives, and it got crashed by three of our rivals who wanted to kill me today…”
“I still don’t understand how Sally and Pauline got in! The Gladiators and the Ground City Guards have been scouting the perimeter!” said Peach.
“Fawful was with them. He must’ve teleported them in the kingdom, past anyone who was on patrol,” said Mario.
“You guys sure that you want to do over today? And if so, when?” asked Sonic.
“Let’s give it a few days, I guess,” said Kate.
“I’m with Kate. I don’t want to remember today after what happened. I want a do over for this ceremony in a few days so that we can do this right,” I said.
“I’ll ask Shadow if he can get GUN to be on the lookout for any of our rivals. Hopefully with them on the search, they’ll want to stay away from here,” said Sonic.
“But are you both sure that you want to do over today? Kate, a lot of your relatives fled in panic. They probably won’t come back when you guys hold the reception,” said Peach.
“If they want to flee, yeah, it sucks. It sucks that they wouldn’t be here for me. But after what happened today, I want to do this properly. I’m not letting them tell me what to do about this. It’s my wedding, so if me and Knuckles both agree for a redo, that’s what we’re doing,” said Kate.
She looked down and frowned as she spoke. I sat down next to her and squeezed her hand gently. She almost immediately held my hand and looked at me. She gave me a sad smile.
“Not an ideal day, but at least we’re both alive, and we both got out together,” she said.
“Yeah…” I said, nodding my head in agreement.
“We held the reception a few days later. Thankfully, that day, no interruptions. It felt like a real wedding,” said Knuckles, as he finished his story.“Man… that’s horrible that happened to you guys…” said Stella.“Yeah. It sucked a lot… but… it’s alright now. Kate and I are married now, and if anything, I think some of our rivals have started to bother us left often since then,” said Knuckles.“You sure about that? Is it because GUN is keeping an eye on them?” asked Romeo.“Somewhat. But we have been dealing with our rivals a tad bit here and there. Pauline’s not an issue since Kate cursed her with amnesia,” said Knuckles.“She told me about that. It’s because Mario and Peach are engaged now,” said Stella.“Hopefully Bowser doesn’t interrupt their wedding. He’s still a bit of a threat, isn’t he?” said Romeo.“He is somewhat, but more annoying. At least he’s not as threatening as Fawful. Fawful’s the one we’re worried about a lot. I think he’s getting worse and much crazier…” said Knuckles.The three heard a door open. They all turned around and saw that Kate had returned from the store at long last.“Hey guys. Sorry about the wait, but I finally got the last few ingredients,” she said.“It’s alright, Kate. I was just giving our guests coffee and sharing stories with them,” said Knuckles.He stood up from his seat and walked over to her.“I got the cooking. Why don’t you go spend some time with Romeo and Stella?” he told her.“Alright, but if you need my help, don’t hesitate to ask,” Kate said, smirking at him.“Hey, I’ve been getting better ever since you started teaching me while we dated,” said Knuckles, smirking back.“Yeah, and don’t you forget it,” said Kate.She walked over to Romeo and Stella and sat down with them.“So, what would you guys like to talk about?” she asked them.Romeo and Stella were quiet, thinking over what to talk about with Kate. They figured it was best not to mention the story that Knuckles brought up. But they saw that Kate was giving them a smile. It eased them down a bit.So the three began a new conversation about a new topic, enjoying time together. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Another day was beginning in the Mushroom Kingdom. It seemed like a pretty normal day. Many Toads were getting up for the day, going about their business or managing their stores. Birds were chirping happily in the trees, flowers were in bloom, and there was a nice spring breeze in the air.And over at the castle, Queen Peach was having breakfast with Mario, Toadsworth, and a few others. They had a busy day ahead of them, so nothing like a good breakfast to start the day and to give them energy to work on their tasks. Peach sat down at the table, sipping some tea while reading over her to do list of things to work on for the day.“Your majesty, how is the wedding planning going?” asked Toadsworth.“It is running smoothly, Toadsworth. Mario and I have a date set up, and we’ll be ready to work on the invitations to send out soon,” said Peach.“If there is anything I can do to assist you both in planning for your wedding, please let me know,” said Toadsworth.He gave the queen a smile and said, “It seems like just yesterday you were crowned princess and began to lead the kingdom. Now you’re getting married to your hero. I believe Mario will be a fine king to the kingdom.”“I hope I’ll be great at it,” said Mario, smiling nervously.He resumed to eating his breakfast, but as he did, Mario’s smile faded.‘That’s right. Since Peach and I are getting married, with her status as queen, that means that I’ll become king. I’ll have the responsibility of leading the kingdom with her, and if Peach and I ever have kids, then we’ll have to face raising them as both our children and as future leaders. It’s a lot to have to work on…’ he thought.Mario shook off the thought. It was intimidating, but he couldn’t look that far into the future. For now, he had to focus on today.The plumber finished eating his breakfast and got up from his seat.“I best to get to work on my chores for the day,” he said. “I’ll see you later, Peach.”“Good luck, and I’ll see you at lunch, Mario,” said Peach.They shared a quick kiss, and Mario headed out of the dining hall. He made his way to the entrance hall and exited the castle. Now that he was out of the kingdom, he headed down the path to get started on his chores. He offered to check the progress of some repairs on a few things in the kingdom.To start off, Mario headed to the park in the center of the kingdom. A few things in the park had to be repaired, and the project was almost completed. He greeted the Toads and told them that they were doing a job well done.“We were aiming to finish by tomorrow. But with some of my crew absent, it might take a little bit longer,” said the head Toad.“Some of your crew members aren’t here today?” asked Mario.The Toad shrugged his shoulders and said, “Probably sick or something. They seemed fine yesterday, but I probably overworked them. Oh well.”“Well, please tell them I hope they get better soon, if you see them,” said Mario.“Of course Mario! And thanks again for checking in on our progress!” said the Toad.“My pleasure,” said Mario, giving him a smile.Mario exited the park and began to head down the path to the next location. However, before he could reach his destination, he heard someone frantically calling his voice.“Mario! Mario!” they cried.Mario turned around to see Toadette running to him.“Toadette, what’s wrong?” he asked her.“It’s my brother! Something’s wrong with him!” she shouted.Toadette turned around and ran back to her house in panic. Concerned and confused, Mario followed Toadette. In a matter of minutes, they reached Toad and Toadette’s house. Mario rushed inside and followed as Toadette led him to Toad’s bedroom.Toad was lying in bed. He looked peaceful asleep, but something seemed unsettling with the fact that he was lying so still. Toadette ran to her brother and shook him on the shoulder a little bit.“Wake up! Wake up!” she cried.Toad didn’t stir. He stayed still, showing no response. Mario nervously walked up to Toad and checked him for a pulse. He gasped.“What the heck? No pulse!” he said.“You mean… he’s dead?!” cried Toadette.Mario didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled out his cell phone. He quickly dialed for help. A short while later, and the situation hadn’t been solved still. Mario had called for help, but the paramedics couldn’t come in. that was because they got calls from other houses, stating that other Toads were in the same condition as Toad. Mario couldn’t believe it himself, but when he got to the medical wing at the castle to investigate, he saw that was true.A lot of other Toads were in the same condition: no signs of life and no pulse. It was as if a plague had hit the kingdom.Peach and Toadsworth were both confused and horrified by what was going on. Unsure on what they could do and wanting to understand what caused this to happen, they called Kate. Kate had arrived in the castle, and was searching through numerous books. Since so many Toads were in the same condition, she knew that something else was amiss. She was checking her books to see if there was some sort of spell that the Toads were under.But after looking through her books, she hadn’t figured out anything.“Still nothing?” asked Peach.“No. I’m afraid not. I’ll have to look in some other books,” said Kate.“I’ll ask Merlon if he has some other books. And maybe Rosalina has some from her library back at her Comet Observatory,” said Peach.“Anything will be helpful. We gotta figure out what is going on with the Toads…” said Kate.She went back to her books, and Peach left the library. As Peach headed back downstairs, she saw that a Toad was running up to her.“Your majesty! There’s a couple of people from out of town who are asking for Mrs. Katelyn!” said the Toad.“Kate is busy right now. Sorry,” said Peach. “Though, please take me to them. I will see what they need.”“Of course your majesty,” said the Toad.Toad led her to the entrance hall. To Peach’s surprise, it was a few people from the Minecraft Universe. The Jesse twins, Petra, Romeo, and Radar were all there.“Guys?” asked Peach.“Queen Peach, is Kate available to talk to? We have a situation we could use her help with,” said F. Jesse.“Sorry. She’s busy reading up in her books. There’s something we’re struggling to understand that has been going on in the kingdom,” said Peach. “A lot of my people are all unconscious.”“Wait, here to?!” said M. Jesse.“Some of the citizens of Beacontown are unconscious to!” said Radar.“Jack and Sammy… they’re also unconscious…” said Petra sadly.“This really is something else… if it’s happening in both of our universes, something terrible might be amiss…” said Peach.“We need to tell Kate! If she’s looking for what could be going on, then she needs to know!” said M. Jesse.“I’ll tell her right now,” said Peach.Peach hurried back up the stairs to return to the library to inform Kate. In just minutes, she made it to the outside of the library. But before she could enter the library and speak to Kate, she noticed that the door was open a little bit. And Peach could hear Kate talking to Mario and Sonic from inside.“Still nothing?” asked Sonic’s voice.“I don’t understand! What kind of spell could leave everyone without any signs of life!? There isn’t any kind of spell in any of these books!” said Kate’s voice.“Kate, calm down. Panicking isn’t going to do any good,” said Mario’s voice.“I can’t help but panic, guys! There’s so many Toads relying on me to figure this out! People are going to panic if it spreads more like a plague! I need to figure out what this is before it gets even worse!” said Kate’s voice.“We understand, but can’t you take a minute to take a breath?” asked Sonic’s voice.There was some commotion inside the library. Judging by the noises, it sounded like someone was pulling books off the shelves and throwing them on the floor very quickly.“Kate, slow down!” said Sonic’s voice.“The answer has to be here somewhere!” shouted Kate’s voice.“Okay, you need to stop for a second!” said Mario’s voice.Peach dared to take a quick peek inside the library. She watched as Mario and Sonic pulled Kate down from a ladder and away from the shelves of books. She squirmed in their grasp, but the guys stood their ground.Mario and Sonic moved Kate over to a table and chair, making her sit down.“Just calm down, alright!” said Mario.“There’s no time to calm down! I need to figure out what is going on!” said Kate.“There is time for you to calm down! You aren’t in the right mindset to focus if you’re panicking!” said Sonic.“There’s so many Toads who are unconscious right now! Their families are going to panic and are expecting me to figure out how to save them! Do you know how much pressure I’m under right now!?” cried Kate.Mario and Sonic fell silent for a second. They only formed sad looks on their faces. Seeing the expressions on her friends’ faces, Kate calmed down a little bit.“Yes. We know how that feels Kate… I am always the one expected to save the kingdom and my future wife when danger arrives…” said Mario.“And the number of times I’ve chased after Eggman to stop him from hurting my friends, I know that kind of feeling…” said Sonic.“I… I shouldn’t have asked that… I’m sorry guys…” said Kate, now sounding calmer.“We know you’re under a lot of stress right now, and we’re sorry if we snapped at you,” said Sonic.“We’re just worried about you,” said Mario.“I know. It’s just… what could this be? There has to be something we’re missing tied to what is going on. But I can’t find the answer,” said Kate.“We’ll help you figure it out. We’re gonna solve this mystery and save everyone,” said Mario.“Yeah. We always save the day. We’re the Three Heroes after all,” said Sonic, giving Kate a nervous smile.Kate nervously smiled back at the blue hedgehog. Back outside the library, Peach had overheard everything. She stood there for a few more seconds, and then walked away from the library. She returned to the group waiting downstairs, back at the entrance hall.The Jesse twins and their friends watched as the queen returned and walked back up to them.“Did you tell her that the same problem is taking place in our world to?” asked Petra.“Yes. She knows. She’ll let you know when she figures something out. For now, please go back to your world. I’m sure that there’s a lot of panicking people in your world,” said Peach.“She’s right. We better get back home. Beacontown’s in a state of panic…” said F. Jesse.“I need to get back to the emporium. Vos and Nurm must be worried about me, and they’re already worried about Jack and Sammy…” said Petra. She let out a sad sigh.“Whatever is going on, we’ll figure it out,” said Peach. Later that evening, over in the Minecraft Universe, the Jesse twins and their group had returned back to their world and back to Beacontown. The twins had to go around town, checking in on everyone who was unconscious.As the sun was setting, F. Jesse headed over to Romeo and Stella’s house. The door was unlocked, but she didn’t welcome herself into the house. She did the polite thing and knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, Lluna came and opened it up.The teen walked F. Jesse into the house, and upstairs. There, F. Jesse saw Romeo sitting in a chair. He was watching over Stella, who was one of the people who was unconscious. F. Jesse could see that Romeo’s eyes were red, and his cheeks were dry. He had been crying.“Romeo, are you okay?” she asked him.Romeo looked up at F. Jesse. He had some tears in his eyes. He sniffled, showing her that the answer to her question was no.“I know you’re worried, Romeo. You’re not the only one. Lukas also ended up as one to fall unconscious…” said F. Jesse.“What is going on, Jesse? If it’s in both our universe and the Dream Universe, then… it can’t be a natural cause…” said Romeo.“What do you mean?” asked F. Jesse.“What if… someone is doing this to everyone? Don’t some of the bad guys know that there are other universes?” asked Romeo.F. Jesse fell silent, forming a terrified look on her face.The thought hadn’t crossed her mind until now. There were some enemies back in the Dream Universe who knew that there were other universes.During the first universal adventure, Bowser and Eggman started to get the idea when Ellegaard showed up. And because of all the times that the twins and their friends traveled to the Dream Universe, it took the bad guys time to figure out that they weren’t from their world. They were from a different universe.But Bowser and Eggman weren’t the only ones. Fawful knew, and he was the one who revived Romeo and tried to force him to become the Admin again. That nearly caused a disaster, but it became evident that the evil magician already knew about multiple universes.‘Romeo has a point. What if the cause is someone who knows about the universes? If it was a natural cause, then it wouldn’t be happening in both universes. But what could be done to make everyone unconscious? And more importantly, who is doing it, and why? That is, if someone is behind all this…’ thought F. Jesse.She shook off the thought. Now wasn’t the time to think things through. Right now, she had a friend to support. F. Jesse walked up to Romeo and gave him a pat on the back.“I don’t have the answer, Romeo. But if you really think that could be a possibility, I’ll let Kate know when we go back for an update,” she told him.Romeo nodded his head. He began to sob again, feeling the urge to break down again. F. Jesse pulled her friend into a hug, which Romeo almost immediately returned. Back in the Dream Universe, it was around the same time as it was in the Minecraft Universe. Sunset had arrived, and after what was going on earlier, everyone had retreated back to their houses. Some Toads really did believe that it could be a plague, so they wanted to shut themselves in their homes for safety.Kate was still in the library, still reading through all her books. Merlon and Rosalina had dropped off some books that they had on magic and curses, but even through the extra reading materials, Kate couldn’t find anything that could give them an answer.“There has to be an answer in one of these books!” said Mario.“My question is which book. We must’ve gone through ten thousand different books already!” said Sonic.“And you guys were trying to calm me down earlier. Now you’re stressed like me…” Kate muttered. She didn’t look up at her friends, but she heard them raising their voices. She kept her focus on the book she was looking in.Kate flipped through some pages for a bit, but after a while of going through the book, she noticed something odd. It looked like there was something sticking in between two pages. She checked the page numbers, and realized that there was a jump in between the pages.“Huh… a page was ripped out of this book…” she whispered.She picked up the book and walked over to Merlon. The good wizard had joined the group in the library in the hopes of helping them find an answer quicker.“Excuse me Merlon,” she told him.Merlon looked up from the books he was searching through.“Sorry to bother you, sir. But I think you ripped a page out of this book,” she said.She handed him the book and pointed to the tear point to show Merlon. To her surprise, Merlon formed a concerned look.“Oh my. I wouldn’t dare rip any pages out of my books. It is possible that someone stole this page from me,” he said.“Do you remember what spell was on the page that is missing?” asked Kate.“I’m afraid I cannot remember off the bat, my dear. I’ll go back to my house and see if I can get an answer from my crystal ball. If you don’t mind, I would like to take this back. I’ll need it with me in order to conjure the trigger for my crystal ball,” said Merlon.“Of course sir,” said Kate.Merlon grabbed a bookmark off the table and placed it in the book. He closed the book and said, “I’ll return when I have an answer. You and your friends keep searching for anything else in these other copies.”“Yes sir,” said Kate.Merlon nodded his head. He exited the library and began to head out. Kate watched him leave. Suddenly, she heard Sonic yelp, followed by the sound of some books falling down.Kate spun around and faced her friends. Sonic had accidentally fallen off a ladder, and a bunch of books fell on top of him.“A little help here?” he asked Mario and Kate nervously.Mario and Kate didn’t need to hear Sonic ask them again. They immediately ran over and started to help get the books off of Sonic so their friend could get back on his feet. Hours passed by, both in the Dream Universe and the Minecraft Universe. Now, it was late at night in both universes. Everyone was asleep for the evening, trying to get some rest after what was discovered.Well, almost everyone was asleep. Over in the Minecraft Universe, someone was awake back at the temple. Radar was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Even though he couldn’t see without his glasses, that didn’t stop him. What kept him awake was the fact that he was restless, and nervous.The intern was anxious. A few people he knew had suffered the state of unconsciousness out of nowhere. Lukas, Stella, Jack, Sammy, and even Radar’s girlfriend Nell were all unconscious at the moment. All out of nowhere, they had fallen into this state with no trace of life.But they weren’t dead. Here in the Minecraft Universe, if all those people who were lifeless were dead, then their bodies would’ve despawned. Nothing would be left of them, except what little they had in their inventories. That was how it worked in this universe.So they were still alive, but the question to why they had no heartbeat was what made it so frightening.And Radar was worried that the same thing would happen to him. That was why he was wide awake right now, unsure if he could sleep or not.That, or maybe because he wasn’t tired.Radar reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his glasses. He put them on, and once he did, his vision became clearer. But he couldn’t stand staring up at the ceiling another minute. He turned on his lamp and grabbed the book he had resting on his nightstand right by where he would put his glasses down.Radar opened up the novel and tried to read, but even after reading a chapter, he didn’t find himself feeling tired. Which was odd, because normally, a good book would help him feel tired and go to sleep. But his anxiety was still keeping him wide awake.Putting the book back down on his nightstand, Radar sighed. He got up and started to head out of his room. Moving as quietly as he could, he walked downstairs and headed to the kitchen.‘Maybe a midnight snack will help…’ he thought.Radar entered the kitchen and flipped on the light switch. It was super bright in the kitchen, so he adjusted the switch to dim down the light. Once it wasn’t as bright as it was before, Radar felt a bit more relaxed.The intern walked up to the fridge and pulled out the milk carton. He grabbed a cup from one of the cupboards and poured himself a glass of milk. He put the carton back in the fridge and closed the fridge door, but not before grabbing an apple.Radar sat down at the table by himself, shifting between drinking his beverage and eating his apple. Once he was all done, he felt a lot more relaxed.‘I feel much better now. Maybe now I can go back upstairs and get some sleep,’ he thought.Radar got up from his seat and put the glass in the sink. He threw the apple core away and turned off the light in the kitchen.But before he could head upstairs, he could hear some footsteps, coming from the second floor.The intern paused. He didn’t know why, but he felt anxious again.‘Who’s awake at this time other than me?’ he thought.Radar began to shake a bit, but he mustered up the courage to walk up the stairs and investigate. As he made it up to the second floor, he noticed that one of the other bedroom doors were open. And it wasn’t like a little crack. The door was wide open.‘Is M. Jesse awake?’ thought Radar.The intern moved up to the door, slowly and quietly with caution. As he approached the room, he could see a light shining from inside the room. There wasn’t any noises, except for a voice muttering something that he couldn’t make out.Radar began to feel nervous. The voice didn’t sound like M. Jesse. He had walked over closer to the doorway, and despite his anxiety, he dared to look into the room.Radar had to cover his mouth with both of his hands to stop himself from gasping. Otherwise, he would’ve given himself away, and suffer the fate that happened to M. Jesse.Someone had broken into the castle. Radar couldn’t see who they were, because they were wearing a big, thick cloak to hide their identity. But whoever they were, they were holding a glowing, white heart in their hands, and they were standing over M. Jesse, who was lying unconscious and perfectly still in bed. Much like everyone who had fallen in the unconscious state.Whoever this person was, they had taken M. Jesse’s soul, and they were most likely the cause of what was going on. To be continued…
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All Radar had done was get up to get a midnight snack, hoping to calm himself down to the point where he could get some sleep. No one could blame him for why he would be too anxious to sleep. There was something strange going on, both in the Minecraft Universe and the Dream Universe.People were falling unconscious, showing no signs of life. They were merely found lying in bed with no heartbeat, but they weren’t dead. It was possible that someone was responsible for this strange event.And Radar figured out two things: someone WAS responsible indeed, and the way they were doing so was by taking the souls of the unconscious victims.And he figured it out, by just witnessing someone taking M. Jesse’s soul out of his body.Radar had to cover his mouth with both of his hands, to stop himself from gasping. If he hadn’t done so, then he would’ve given himself away to the cloaked figure. The intern began to quickly but quietly move away from the bedroom. He could hear the figure coming out, so he quickly ducked into another room. Once he made it inside, he locked the door.Radar yelped when he heard someone yawn from inside the room. He turned around, realizing that it was F. Jesse, and he was inside her bedroom.“Huh? Radar?” she said, before letting out another yawn.“Jesse! Are you okay?!” he said in a loud whisper.“Yeah. I’m fine,” said F. Jesse.Radar stepped away from the door. He searched the room, trying to find a weapon. He spotted F. Jesse’s enchanted diamond sword and grabbed it.“Radar, what’s going on?” asked F. Jesse.“Don’t go near the door! And stay away from the windows!” said Radar.F. Jesse got up. She could sense fear in Radar’s voice. She knew that something was going on, and whatever it was, Radar knew. She rushed by the intern’s side, but not before grabbing her bow and a few arrows.Radar was facing the door, so F. Jesse loaded an arrow in her bow and faced the windows.“Radar, what’s going on?” she whispered to him.“It’s your brother! I know what’s going on with everyone! I just saw someone take your brother’s soul! It’s why he’s unconscious! It’s why everyone else is to!” he whispered.F. Jesse felt a chill run down her spine as Radar spoke.‘Romeo was right! Someone is behind all this! But… who is it, and why are they taking everyone’s souls?!’ she thought.The two waited in silence, prepared in case someone was going to come into the room. But after what felt like forever, nothing happened. However, they heard another door from down the hallway open up.“Reuben!” F. Jesse whispered in fear.She dashed for the door. Radar tried to grab her arm and pull her back, but F. Jesse pushed Radar back and ran for the door. She unlocked it and ran down the hallway. She spotted Reuben’s bedroom door, which was wide open.F. Jesse dashed into the room. There was no one there but Reuben, who was lying still in bed. The window was wide open, but just to be sure, F. Jesse walked up to Reuben and lowed her head closer to his chest.No heartbeat. She was too late to save her little brother. Rather than wait for morning, F. Jesse and Radar had to head out. They immediately ran down the streets of Beacontown. The rest of their friends were still in danger, and they had to warn the others.First they headed to the emporium, hoping to warn Vos, Nurm, and Petra about what was going on before the same thing could happen to them. They ran to the front doors and frantically knocked.“Petra! Nurm! Vos! Someone answer!” shouted Radar.They continued to knock. As they did, some lights from the other buildings down the alley turned on. One person even popped their head out and shouted at the two to quiet down.“Sorry!” yelped Radar. The door finally opened. Nurm looked tired, for he had bags under his eyes.“Nurm, where are Petra and Vos!? Are they okay?!” said F. Jesse.Nurm formed a worried look when he saw the panic in F. Jesse and Radar’s expressions. He led them inside the emporium. As they started to head upstairs to the apartment, someone walked down the stairs, yawning a bit.“What is going on at this hour?” Vos asked, yawning.“Vos, you’re okay!” said F. Jesse. “But… Petra?!”Before anyone else could say anything, F. Jesse dashed past Vos and headed upstairs.“Oh my! Jesse?!” said Vos.F. Jesse ignored him. She ran to Petra’s room. And to her sadness, Petra was lying still in bed.“No!” she whispered.F. Jesse checked Petra, and just as she feared, no pulse. She stepped away from Petra, just as everyone else came over.“No! We were too late to save Petra!” said Radar.“Save Petra? Did you figure out what’s going on?!” said Vos.“Someone is taking everyone’s souls! I saw someone do the same thing to M. Jesse! I was awake, and I heard something in the room! Someone broke into the temple and took M. Jesse and Reuben’s souls!” said Radar.“We need to get Romeo and Lluna! And we need to get back to the Dream Universe and warn Kate! We know what’s going on!” said F. Jesse. Minutes later, and F. Jeses, Radar, Vos, and Nurm were back at the temple. They had gone to Romeo and Stella’s house, but to their horror, they were too late to warn Romeo and Lluna. They couldn’t get into the house, so Vos had to pick the lock to the house. And when the group headed to Romeo and Lluna’s rooms, they found their friends unconscious with no pulse.Romeo and Lluna’s souls were taken to.There was no time to waste, so F. Jesse and her group found the book and used it to open up the portal the Dream Universe. When they arrived in the Dream Universe, they landed outside the Dream Village. They ran to the treehouse and frantically knocked on the door.“Kate?! Kate, are you home!?” shouted F. Jesse.No response. F. Jesse continued to knock for a bit longer, but after a few minutes of knocking, no one came. Fearing the worst, they had to get inside. Vos picked the lock, and once they were in, the group rushed around the treehouse, looking for their friends.They called out Kate’s name, but still no response. F. Jesse ran upstairs to the top floor, reaching the bedroom. She saw that the door was wide open. But to her relief, no one was lying in bed without a soul.“That’s right! No one bad can get in here! But… where are Knuckles and Kate?” F. Jesse said to herself.She ran back down the stairs and informed her friends that the couple wasn’t home. They decided to head to the Mushroom Kingdom and see if Kate was there. They exited the treehouse, locked the door behind them, and ran to the warp pipe.One by one, everyone entered the warp pipe and into the tunnel that led to the Mushroom Kingdom. They didn’t run into any of Bowser’s minions in the tunnel, so getting the kingdom was quick and easy.After what felt like forever, they finally reached the end of the tunnel and made it to the Mushroom Kingdom. The kingdom was quiet, and the streets were dimly lit by street lights. No one was walking around, for it was the middle of the night.The group ran to the castle doors, knocking frantically. After a few minutes, a Toad finally answered and let them in.“What can I do for you this evening?” the Toad asked, before yawning.“Is Kate here?!” said F. Jesse.“Mrs. Staples? I think she’s still in the library,” said Toad.Toad led the group to the library. As they got closer, the group could see that a light was coming from the library. Toad let them in, and to the group’s relief, Kate was awake. She was still looking through her books, and Mario, Sonic, and Knuckles were keeping her company and helping her out.“Jesse?” asked Kate.“Kate! Oh thank goodness! They didn’t get your soul!” said F. Jesse.“What? I don’t understand? What’s going on?” asked Kate.“We’re kinda in the middle of trying to figure something out,” said Mario.“We know why people in our universes are unconscious! Radar saw it happen for himself!” said F. Jesse.“Now’s not the time to- Wait… did you say that it’s happening in your universe to?!” said Kate.“You didn’t know?! Peach said that she told you!” said F. Jesse.“We weren’t told at all. Why would she not tell me?” said Kate.“Probably to not stress you out more than you already are. But we’re getting off topic. Radar, what did you see happen?” said Sonic.“Someone broke into the temple. They took M. Jesse’s soul. That’s why everyone is unconscious and won’t wake up,” said Radar.“Stealing their souls? Why would anyone want that? Did you see their face, Radar?” asked Mario.“I couldn’t. They were wearing a cloak…” said Radar.“But if it’s happening in both of our universes, that means it’s someone who knows about their being multiple universes. How they have access is what concerns me…” said Kate.“It could be Bowser or Eggman. I mean, they’ve know, and Eggman could’ve built a portal again. But magic wouldn’t be their thing… maybe they’ve been sending a Magikoopa?” said Sonic.“You think Cassie got back into your world?” Mario asked F. Jesse.F. Jesse shook her head and said, “If she had, she would’ve stayed there. And she wouldn’t be willing to steal souls from people. She’d be mad at just me. Sure, Lukas and a few others lost their souls, but so have many innocent citizens in Beacontown and the Mushroom Kingdom. Cassie wouldn’t have any beef with them.”“Maybe… it could be Eggman Nega and Dry Bowser. After what they did to us last time, they know that there are other universes. Maybe they could’ve built a portal, and they can be more mischievous than Bowser and Eggman, so it seems likely that they’d steal souls,” said Knuckles.“I don’t think they’re that sadistic. Whoever is behind this is sadistic enough to steal the souls of people. And out of our enemies who know about the universes, I don’t think any of them would be that sadistic…” said Sonic.Nurm began to make some nervous villager noises. Only Kate and Vos understood him, so everyone else formed confused looks.“Nurm is right. Whatever happens, we need to figure out who has stolen the souls. Our friends are counting on us,” said Vos.“I better go see Merlon. Maybe he has an idea on what to do next. He went back to his house because one of his books had a stolen spell,” said Kate.“Don’t go alone! I’ll go with you!” said Knuckles.He immediately ran up to his wife and held her hand. The two of them exited the library. As they were leaving, Mario formed a worried look.“Oh mama mia! Peach went to bed! I have to check on her!” he said.He dashed out of the library.“Mario wait! Don’t go by yourself!” Sonic called out, before he chased after his friend.“B-boss…” said Radar nervously. “I’m scared. Who could be doing this, and why?”“I don’t know, but I’m nervous to, Radar. This is not good…” said F. Jesse. Knuckles and Kate had exited the castle and made their way to Merlon’s house. They were still by themselves as they made their way. It was now the wee hours of the morning, and sunrise would soon arrive. But since it was stil la bit dark out, there was no one else in the streets. No Toads were awake, and even if it was morning, they would probably remain hiding in their houses. However, they were half expecting to get ambushed by whoever the soul stealer was.But they didn’t run into any trouble. They made it to Merlon’s house and knocked on the door.“Merlon?” Kate called out.Nothing but silence.“Merlon, we’re sorry to bother you at this hour, but we need to speak,” Kate called out.No response again. Knuckles knocked on the door again.But seconds shifted to minutes. And there was still no response. By now, the coupe was becoming worried.“No… you don’t think…” whispered Knuckles.Kate pulled out her wand and used a spell to unlock the door. The lock clicked, and she turned the knob and opened the door. Kate entered the house, with Knuckles behind her.They turned on the lights. Lying in bed was Melron, and despite how the lights were on and shining brightly, he didn’t stir. Kate rushed over and checked Merlon.“No… they got him to…” she whispered.“No! Not Merlon to!” said Knuckles. “Now what are we going to do?!”“Don’t give up. Maybe he left something for us,” said Kate. “Maybe in the crystal ball?”The couple walked up to the table where the crystal ball was set on. They waited, but nothing happened. They even tried tapping the crystal ball gently, but still nothing.“Okay… maybe in something else?” she said. “Search the place.”Knuckles and Kate looked around. They didn’t see anything that looked like what Merlon would use. His books were all neatly put away, the bottles with brews or spells were stored away and locked up. Nothing had been set up, so nothing was out of the ordinary.Knuckles locked around on the table by the crystal ball. And he noticed on a chair next to the table was something on the seat. He picked it up, realizing that it was a recorder.“Kate, I think I found something!” he said.Kate walked over to her husband. Knuckles hit the play button on the recorder.“Mr. Knuckles and Mrs. Katelyn, if you are listening to this recording, it means that I have ended up as one of the victims who had their soul stolen,” said Merlon’s voice.The couple formed a stunned look.“When I returned to my house to conjure the spell, my crystal ball has given me a warning. It warned me that the unconscious are in their state because their bodies lack souls. I realized now that the page stolen from my book was a spell that removes a soul from a body. And I feared that I would end up as one of the unconscious,” said Merlon’s voice.“Just tell us anything helpful…” Knuckles muttered.“My crystal ball couldn’t give me any details on who is responsible, but you should know something about the spell: it is very difficult for a magician to perform. Whoever has been successful multiple times, they would’ve had to be quite skilled in magic. Spent years in the field, and it is a form of dark magic. Hopefully this will aid you in your search for the responsible one. As for saving everyone who lacks souls, retrieve them from the one responsible. When they are close enough to their rightful body, a soul will go back to the body on its own. Good luck. Everyone is counting on you heroes,” said Merlon’s voice.The recorder went silent. Knuckles and Kate looked at each other. After hearing the recording, the couple returned back to the library. They replayed it for their friends to listen to.“Merlon got his soul taken to?!” said Mario.“Yeah. He saw it coming, so he made the recording to warn us all,” said Kate.“Just great! We don’t have a good magician with us anymore! And you’re still trying to master some brews and spells yourself,” said Sonic, looking at Kate.“Alright, calm down. We do know that whoever’s responsible is skilled with dark magic. So at least we have a lead,” said F. Jesse.“And they know about the universes. Does anyone sound familiar?” said Vos.Mario, Sonic, and Kate all looked at each other. The three of them frowned.“Fawful!” they all said at once.“Well, well, well. You guessed correctly,” said a voice.The group turned around. Fawful was standing in the doorway of the library that led to the rest of the castle.“We should’ve known it was you!” Vos said angrily.“Why are you doing this to our friends?! Why are you doing this to my citizens back in my world!?” said F. Jesse.“This isn’t a game, Fawful! You took my fiancé’s soul!” Mario shouted.“You’re right. It isn’t a game. I have some great plans with the souls I have,” said Fawful.“What are you going to do to our friends?! And how did you get into another universe?!” said F. Jesse.“A magician never reveals the secrets to his tricks. You’ll just have to figure it out on your own. Besides, you all don’t have to worry. I have enough souls to move to the next step of my plans,” said Fawful.“Give us back our friends now!” Kate shouted.“My my my. Such a temper. And… this coming from the most powerful one in this room. Well, aside from me,” said Fawful.“What are you talking about?” Kate sneered.“You don’t know? As the Dreamer of Peace, you hold quite the amount of power. Though it’s a shame that you don’t like using it so much. You are very selective in turning thoughts into reality. Must be a big letdown for the world. There’s so much you can do, and you choose to keep it for yourself…” Fawful said, smirking.Kate growled. Her hands were shaking a bit.“Kate, don’t listen to him, he’s trying to screw with you!” said Sonic.“Think about it: you have one of the strongest powers in all of the world, and you save it for yourself. Giving yourself fighting abilities, so you can spend your time fighting people like me. Why do that, when you can turn almost any imaginative thought into a reality? You think that makes you the hero the world looks up to?” said Fawful.“You don’t know a damn about this power, Fawful! It’s caused as much trouble as it can solve problems! I will not abuse this power and let imagination get out of hand! Thoughts can be dangerous, especially if people are ambitious to pursue something that isn’t worth going after!” shouted Kate.As she shouted, her eyes suddenly turned into cat eyes, much like when she turns into Dark Rage. Fawful saw the change in Kate’s eyes. He grinned again.“If you won’t use it, then I will. Looks like I have one more soul to pick up…” he whispered.No one heard him, but they did know what he was thinking. Knuckles pulled Kate out of the way, trying to take cover behind the shelves. The others tried to charge at Fawful, but the magician pulled out his staff. With a big wave, he knocked back everyone with a blast of magic. They all stumbled back, hitting the floor.“You’re not even trying,” said Fawful.His staff glowed again, and he suddenly teleported away. But he didn’t leave. He teleported right next to Knuckles and Kate.Fawful grabbed Kate and shot a blast of magic at Knuckles, knocking him back.“No! Kate!” cried Knuckles.Kate tried to push Fawful away, but she suddenly felt herself paralyzed. She was behind held in place because Fawful was using his magic.“This won’t hurt a bit. It’s relatively harmless,” said Fawful.He muttered some words, and Kate felt herself suddenly feeling weak. She groaned as a light glowed from her chest. A few seconds later, a white, heart-shaped light came out of her chest.And after the light left Kate’s chest, she collapsed onto the floor. Fawful put Kate’s soul in a jar and closed it.“Well that was fun. But also too easy. I must be on my way. I have to move to the next step,” said Fawful.“You bastard!” Knuckles shouted. “Let her go!”The echidna got back on his feet. He tried to tackle Fawful, but the magician waved his staff once more. In a flash of light, he disappeared.Knuckles growled, but his expression softened when he looked back over at Kate’s body, which was lying on the floor unconscious.“Kate?” he whispered.No response, but even though he expected that, Knuckles teared up.“He got you to…” whispered Knuckles.The others ran over. They gasped when they saw that Kate’s body was lying on the floor.“He got her soul! Which means, he might have her powers! With the power of dreams in Fawful’s grasp, this is so bad!” cried Mario.“We need to go to his fortress and stop him and get everyone’s souls back!” said Sonic.“Where is it? Do you know the way? We can help you guys out!” said F. Jesse.“I think Shadow knows where it is. He should be back at the Dream Village. There wasn’t any trouble there yesterday morning, so hopefully Fawful hasn’t gone there either!” said Sonic.As everyone was talking, Knuckles picked up Kate’s body. He wasn’t listening to anything anyone was saying, for he was looking at his wife’s body.“Kate…” he whispered.However, something seemed off. Kate’s body was as cold as ice as Knuckles picked her up. Her skin was starting to turn pale, shifting to a shade of grey. And a faint, dark aura began to glow around Kate’s body.“Kate?” Knuckles said, almost in a whisper.The aura began to glow darker. As it did, the others noticed something was off. They turned around, and they all gasped. The dark aura suddenly began to glow bright enough to consume the whole room. Knuckles didn’t know what made him do it, but he dropped Kate’s body and jumped back. The dark aura continued to glow, and began to swirl around the room.Everyone got knocked back, and as they did, the noticed that Kate’s body was starting to stand up. But it couldn’t be Kate, because her body was soulless now. It was someone, or maybe something, else now.“KATELYN!” Mario and Sonic shouted at the same time. Somewhere else, in his fortress, Fawful had teleported back. He was in a dark room in the basement. The magician was standing by a line of shelfs against a wall. And on each self were jars, each containing a soul that he stole from someone.Fawful walked up to the shelves, holding onto the jar that had Kate’s soul inside it. He looked at her soul, and formed his malicious grin.“I know I can’t use your powers. Only the one gifted with it can be worthy to wield it. But it’s not like I have any use for you. I can’t use your body the way that I plan to use the rest…” he whispered to the soul.Fawful put the soul on the shelf.“Oh well. At least with your soul in my possession, you can’t stop me. And it’s not like you can ever go back to your body, and regain control…”Fawful turned around, and began to walk away. As he did, Kate’s soul began to glow brighter. The jar began to shake, but it wouldn’t move off the shelf.Fawful stopped at the base of the steps. He turned around, taking one last look at his collection of stolen souls before he walked up the stairs to return to the upper levels of his fortress.“And besides, I need something to keep them away from me. Something that will make them forget to come after me, so that I’m ensured to finish my plans. So we can thank Dark Rage for putting the body to new use…” he whispered. To be continued…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
With Kate’s soul in his possession, Fawful teleported away, leaving the rest of the group alone in the library. Knuckles tried to stop him, but the magician teleported fast enough to avoid getting caught.Things seemed pretty bad already. Fawful was revealed to be the one traveling between the Dream Universe and the Minecraft Universe, stealing the souls of some people, and now he got Kate’s soul. Things couldn’t get any worse than they already were.But things did shift. From bad to worse.As the others were discussing where Fawful’s fortress was and the resolve to go after him to get the stolen souls back, something happened with Kate’s body. It happened shortly after Fawful teleported away. Kate’s body was ice cold, her skin turned to grey, and a dark aura started to glow around the body.The glow was what caught everyone’s attention, and it started to glow brighter, knocking everyone away from Kate’s body.“KATELYN!” Mario and Sonic cried at the same time.The aura suddenly vanished, enabling the group to see what became of Kate’s body. And a horrifying sight was what awaited them.Her body was standing up again, but it wasn’t Kate. It was Dark Rage.“What the?! Kate, get a hold of yourself!” shouted Knuckles.Dark Rage growled. She ran up to Knuckles and tried to scratch him with her claws. Knuckles yelped as he just barely dodged the attack.“Kate, I know you’re in there! You’re in control, not Dark Rage!” he cried.Dark Rage ignored him. She tried to attack him again. Knuckles moved back, until he was corned in a corner of the room.“Knuckles!” cried Sonic.The blue hedgehog did a spin dash, knocking Dark Rage aside.“Get out of there!” he shouted at Knuckles.“Sonic stop! We just need to talk to her!” shouted Knuckles.“If she had her soul, then we’d have a chance! But Fawful has her soul. Dark Rage must have taken over Kate’s body!” shouted Mario.The plumber pulled out an ice flower, changing to Ice Mario. He threw some ice balls at Dark Rage. He managed to hit her and freeze her in a block of ice. However, the ice was starting to crack already.“Go to Fawful’s fortress and get the souls back! We’ll keep Dark Rage under control! Go now!” shouted Mario.“Guys!?” said F. Jesse.“Go! We got her! Go and get the souls back!” shouted Sonic.Mario threw some more ice balls at Dark Rage, trying to keep her enclosed in the ice longer. Knuckles stood in horror, watching as his friends had to freeze Dark Rage. F. Jesse and her friends grabbed Knuckles and had to try to pull him away.“Knuckles, we need to go!” said Radar.Knuckles didn’t respond, but after getting tugged on the arm long enough, he finally turned around and followed his friends.The group ran out of the castle. As they did, the sun began to rise. The morning had finally arrived, but no Toads were still coming out. Probably for the best, because now a Nightmare was on the loose.F. Jesse, Vos, Radar, Nurm, and Knuckles ran through the streets of the kingdom. They found the warp pipe and entered it, heading back to the Dream Village. A short while later, the five finally reached the Dream Village. When they made it back to the surface world, they could see that the day was beginning as normal in the Dream Village. Everyone who lived in the village and was either in their homes, or was outside in their yards, signifying that they were safe and weren’t affected by Fawful’s soul-stealing scheme.The group walked to the treehouse, hoping to be protected by the barrier that surrounded the treehouse. They needed a minute to catch their breaths before they could find Shadow.Knuckles didn’t speak to the group the whole trip back to the Dream Village. He walked up to the treehouse and stood right by it. But he wasn’t heading to the front door. Instead, he just stared at the wall.“Kate…” he whispered.“Knuckles? Are you okay?” asked Radar.Knuckles punched the wall, cracking it a bit. He gave Radar an angry glare, making the intern yelp. Radar jumped back and hid behind Vos and Nurm, who were just as scared as he was.F. Jesse was scared as well, but the most she did was shake. She still stood her ground, knowing that her friend needed comfort.“Knuckles, we’re sorry about what is going on with Kate… but we’ll get her back to normal. We just have to get her soul back, and we can stop Dark Rage. We promise,” said F. Jesse.Knuckles looked down. The group could hear him starting to sniffle, fighting the urge to break down.F. Jesse didn’t know what else to tell her friend. She slowly walked up to him, just in case he would tell her that he needed space. Knuckles didn’t look up, and he didn’t say anything. F. Jesse hugged the echidna. As she did, she could hear Knuckles stop sniffling.“It’ll be okay. We’ll help you save her,” she said, almost in a whisper.Knuckles didn’t return the hug, but he felt calmer. When F. Jesse let go of the hug, he turned to face her. His eyes were still watery, but at least there wasn’t anger in them.“Thanks Jesse…” he said.“You going to be okay?” she asked him.“I will be once I save my wife, and your brother, and everyone else…” said Knuckles. “Come on. Let’s go to Shadow and Rouge’s house and see if they can help us.”Knuckles walked past F. Jesse and the rest of their group. No one said anything. They watched him walk away for a bit, before following the echidna. Back at the castle, Mario and Sonic were still trying to keep Dark Rage in one spot. Mario had to keep on freezing her, but he was getting tired of doing so. Dark Rage was stronger than a normal goon that would follow Bowser, so breaking out of the ice wasn’t a problem for her.“We’re not going to be able to hold her back for the others long enough!” said Mario.He threw another ice ball to free Dark Rage. She froze into a bit block of ice again, but it was instantly cracking. He tried to throw more, but it seemed like the more he tried, then the harder Dark Rage was fighting to break free.“Don’t you have any other kind of power ups to stun her?!” said Sonic.“No! I don’t want to do a fire flower! She’s a Nightmare! They’re weak to sunlight, so they could get hurt by fire! I could kill Dark Rage, which means destroying Kate’s body!The guys heard the ice crack more. Dark Rage got out completely. Mario tried to throw another ice ball, but Dark Rage moved out of the way, dodging the attack. She ducked behind a bookshelf and made a hissing sound.“Just chill! We don’t want to fight!” said Sonic.“That makes you weak, and will be the death of you…” they heard Dark Rage say.Mario ran over to the bookshelf. He had an ice ball ready in his hands, but when he made it to the bookshelf, he noticed that Dark Rage was gone.“Mario!” cried Sonic.Mario spun around, but he didn’t react fast enough. Dark Rage kicked him in the back, knocking him down. As he got hit, Mario lost his ice powers. He turned back to normal.Dark Rage let out an angry yell. She swung her arm at Mario. Mario quickly held his arm in front of his face, shielding himself from getting scratched in the face by Dark Rage’s claws.“Just die already!” Dark Rage shouted.Sonic quickly ran over. He wrapped his arms around Dark Rage and pulled her away from Mario. Dark Rage began to shout angrily, thrashing in Sonic’s grasp.“Just relax!” Sonic shouted.“You two are better off dead!” Dark Rage shouted.Mario stood up quickly. As he did, he and Sonic noticed that Dark Rage was suddenly starting to calm down. She wasn’t thrashing around, but she did start to twitch a bit.Dark Rage looked down for a second, groaning as she did. That concerned Mario and Sonic.Suddenly, Dark Rage looked up. Her eyes weren’t cat-like. They were Kate’s normal human, brown eyes.“G-guys…” she said.Mario and Sonic gasped. “Kate?!” they said at the same time.Dark Rage suddenly twitched again. She groaned again, and when she stopped twitching, she began to thrash again. Her eyes were back to being cat-like.“Let go of me you stupid hedgehog! I’ll kill you!” she shouted.Sonic tightened his grip.“Mario, hurry and get another ice flower!” he shouted at Mario.Mario quickly ran out of the library, rushing to the gardens.“Oh Mama mia! Please have some more ice flowers!” he whispered to himself. Over at his base, Fawful was in the basement. He was busy making a brew of some sort, in a large black cauldron that had a green, bubbling liquid inside of it. He poured a few different things into the cauldron as he got to work.Suddenly, he heard a rattling noise coming from the shelves stored with the souls he stole. Fawful put a big bottle of something down and walked over to the shelves. He noticed that one jar, with a soul glowing brightly, was shaking. He picked it off the shelf, and stared at it.As Fawful took the soul off the shelf, the soul began to glow brighter. He frowned.“Quite the fighter, compared to the others I’ve stolen. You really are something else, Katelyn Staples. I told you you’re very powerful,” he said.The jar began to shake a lot more. Fawful formed a nervous look. He quickly walked back to his table and put the jar down on it. The jar began to shake a little bit more, so Fawful grabbed a hand towel. He picked up the jar, placed the hand towel down as a bundle, and put the jar on top of the hand towel.The jar began to shake more, but this time, it couldn’t move off the table. The soul inside glowed brighter than before.“You should just give up while you can. Besides, you want your body back that badly? I can give it back to you, after I finish this brew. In fact, everyone will get their bodies back. Just… with a new upgrade, as my puppets,” said Fawful.He proceeded to getting back to work on the brew. Fawful picked up more bottles and began to pour more ingredients into the cauldron. Outside of Fawful’s fortress, Team Dark, Silver, Blaze, Tails, and Luigi had teamed up with the others. Knuckles brought F. Jesse, Vos, Nurm, and Radar to Shadow and Rouge’s house, where they explained what was going on to the two. Shadow and Rouge called up the others, and they all traveled as a group.Team Dark knew where Fawful’s fortress was, thanks to being informed by the GUN President. They brought the others to the fortress, where they saw that there weren’t any patrols or anything outside. It was so quiet, it was unsettling.“What do we do? What’s the plan?” asked F. Jesse.“We’re going to break in and get the souls back,” said Shadow. He turned to face F. Jesse and said, “While you and your friends from your world stay here.”“You can’t be serious. You expect us to sit out here and do nothing?!” snapped F. Jesse.“Our friends got their souls stolen by this maniac! We’re going in there to save them!” said Vos.Nurm made some angry villager noises and nodded his head, showing that he agreed with his friends.“Fawful is dangerous, and if he got into your world, we need to figure out how to prevent him from doing so. You five are going to stay out here and let us handle this,” said Shadow.“We can handle ourselves! We’ve dealt with things just as bad as Fawful! The Witherstorm, the White Pumpkin, PAMA, a giant Enderman, even Romeo when he was still the Admin! You seriously think we’re just going to be getting in the way of this mission?! A mission to save our friends!?” said F. Jesse, almost shouting.Shadow clenched his fists. He had to try to hold in his anger. He didn’t like being yelled at, but he had to hold his ground and stay calm.“Yes. And before you go yelling off at me again, it’s because I don’t want any more of our friends getting their souls taken. We don’t want any of you getting hurt. If Fawful was able to master a spell to steal a soul, multiple times, then he’s getting better at dark magic. He’s becoming a more dangerous threat,” said Shadow.F. Jesse’s expression softened a little bit. Shadow let out a sigh.“We’re asking you again, please stay here where it’s safe,” said Shadow.F. Jesse and her friends didn’t say anything. Shadow turned around and looked back at the fortress with the rest of the group. The others jumped out from the bushes, ready to launch their attack.“Silver. Rouge. You’re up,” he said.Rouge pulled out some devices. They were bombs that she carried, and she tossed them up in the air. Using his psychic powers, Silver caught the bombs, and then threw them with a big psychic wave. The bombs hit the walls of Fawful’s fortress, exploding upon impact.From inside the basement, Fawful felt his fortress shake. He was getting to work on pouring the last ingredient into the cauldron, but the explosion shook the room. It shook the room so much, the magician stumbled, dropping the bottle with the ingredient.The bottle hit the floor, smashing into lots of shards of glass, and spilling out the ingredient.“Rats! I was so close to finishing!” he shouted.The magician heard something rattling on the table. He sighed in frustration and stood up. The jar that had Kate’s soul was shaking once more. It was about to fall off the table, but Fawful caught it just before it could hit the floor.“I worked so hard to try this scheme, so I will not escape empty handed!” he said angrily.He ran over to the other end of the room, picking up a box, the size to gift a piece of jewelry. Fawful put the case in a pocket in his robes, and then quickly ran upstairs.He spotted his staff, which was sitting on a coffe table. However, at the other end of the room were the intruders. Shadow and his group had arrived.Fawful quickly broke into a run, trying to get to his staff.“Oh no you don’t!” shouted Shadow.He launched some Chaos Spear attacks at Fawful. Fawful continued to run forward, dodging the attacks as he did so. He managed to grab his staff, but as he did, one Chaos Spear hit the staff.Fawful got knocked back, dropping the jar with Kate’s soul. The jar cracked as it hit the floor, but didn’t break completely. Fawful quickly picked up the jar. He waved his staff, trying to teleport away, but the spell didn’t work.Shadow ran up to Fawful and kicked the magician in the face. Fawful stumbled, but he aimed his staff at the black hedgehog. He didn’t mutter a spell, so all the magical blast did to Shadow was knock him back. Shadow went flying into the wall. He groaned as he hit the wall and fell to the floor.“Gig’s up, Fawful!” Rouge shouted angrily.She tried to throw some bombs at Fawful, but the magician knocked them to the side with his staff. The bombs blew up when they hit the wall, causing the place to shake more.Downstairs in the basement, some of the jars that had souls trapped inside fell to the floor. A few jars broke open, but the souls only hovered over what was left of their prisons.Back outside, F. Jesse and her group saw smoke coming from the fortress, which resulted from the explosion.“What is going on in there?!” said Vos.“That’s it!” said F. Jesse. She drew out her sword. “I’m going in there! I don’t care if Shadow told me to stay back!” she said.“Jesse wait!” Vos shouted, as F. Jesse ran.The alchemist, Nurm, and Radar drew out their weapons, following F. Jesse. They weren’t going to stop her. They were going with her.Back inside, Rouge and the others were trying to fight Fawful. The magician was shooting more magical blasts out of his staff at them. Since his staff was damaged, he couldn’t use any actual spells, but he could shoot blasts at them to attack them. The blasts couldn’t do anything except knock them back.Even though he was outnumbered, Fawful wasn’t giving up easily. He kept on trying to keep everyone back, getting kicked or punched a few times since the group had the advantage of numbers.And as he was trying to hold everyone back, Fawful kept his grip on the jar that had Kate’s soul trapped inside. During the fight, the soul was glowing brightly, and the jar even shook a lot.F. Jesse and her group arrived in the fortress. When they arrived, they saw as Silver tried to use his powers to get Kate’s soul back from Fawful. He managed to grab it with his psychic powers, but Fawful used his staff to try to pull it back. And as the two played the game of tug-o-war, everyone else was down on the ground, temporarily stunned from getting knocked aside and thrown into the wall a few times. Blaze was trying to get back on her feet so she could attack Fawful, but she stumbled a bit.“Let that soul go!” Silver shouted.Radar readied his bow and aimed at Fawful.“This is for Nell!” he shouted.Radar fired the arrow. Fawful turned around, seeing the arrow charging for him. He had no choice but to let go of the soul, and he tried to move aside. The arrow missed his head, but it ended up hitting him in the shoulder.Fawful let out a cry as he got hit in the shoulder. Silver, who had been trying to pull with as much force as possible when he tried to get the jar back, accidentally threw the jar all the way to the wall. The glass jar broke instantly upon impact, and Kate’s soul hovered in place along the wall.“NO!” shouted Fawful.Fawful looked up and saw that F. Jesse and her group were approaching him. He sighed in frustration and pulled out something. Ender pearls.Fawful threw one out the hole that was in his fortress due to the first explosion. Seconds after the ender pearl disappeared, the magician disappeared.The group turned around to see Fawful had teleported away. Shadow and Silver got back on their feet. The two hedgehogs gave chase after the magician.“He’s getting away!” said Vos.“Let Shadow and Silver go after him. They’re the fastest out of all of us. Besides, we need to get the souls and return them to their bodies,” said Tails.“There’s a glow coming from the basement,” said Rouge.She pointed to the staircase that led downstairs. The group headed downstairs. As they headed downstairs, they didn’t notice that Kate’s soul was still left behind in the room. It was hovering against the wall, for it hadn’t fallen since it got out of the jar.And suddenly, the soul flew out the hole in the fortress. Back at the castle, Mario and Sonic were still struggling to keep Dark Rage at bay. Despite how tiring it was the entire time, they were able to keep her contained in the library. Sonic eventually got tired of trying to keep Dark Rage in his grip, but luckily, Mario found more ice flowers. The plumber turned back into Ice Mario, and he was able to freeze Dark Rage again.But like before, Dark Rage continued to fight to get out of the ice. She was easily breaking the ice as Ice Mario kept on freezing her.“Give it up, you idiots!” she shouted.“No! Not until we get our sister back!” said Sonic.Mario didn’t say anything. He was trying to save his energy to keep on throwing more ice balls at Dark Rage and keep her frozen.Suddenly, Dark Rage broke out of the ice completely. Mario tried to throw more ice balls, but the ones he threw were tiny. They hit Dark Rage, but didn’t even freeze her.The plumber panted a bit. He was exhausted from trying to keep Dark Rage frozen.Dark Rage let out an angry yell and kicked Mario across the head. Mario felt dizzy, and the effects of his ice power up wore off.“Mario!” cried Sonic.Sonic tried to spin dash Dark Rage, but as he charged at her, Dark Rage held him back. The two were in a bit of a stalemate for a second, until Dark Rage threw Sonic back.The blue hedgehog hit a bookcase. He fell down to the floor, and a ton of books fell on top of him. Dark Rage approached him. She grabbed Sonic by the ear and lifted him up. Sonic yelled as he got pulled up. He looked up at Dark Rage.“Kate, I know you’re still in there, fighting for control!” he cried.As a response, Dark Rage punched him in the eye. Sonic felt dazed after he got punched. The Nightmare threw the blue hedgehog aside, making him land on the floor next to Mario.The two tried to stand up, but they were hurt pretty bad. They watched as Dark Rage approached them. She growled angrily.“Kate, we know you’re in there! We know you’re in control, with or without a soul!” said Mario.“You don’t know me! And I’m not her anymore!” Dark Rage sneered.“Kate please, you have to fight it!” said Sonic.Dark Rage was now a few feet away from them. She grabbed Sonic. The blue hedgehog tried to struggle, but Dark Rage had a strong grip. She growled at the blue hedgehog, and slowly opened her mouth. Sonic felt panic as he saw her start to expose her fangs.“Kate, please don’t!” said Sonic.“Kate, we love you sis!” said Mario.Dark Rage lower her head closer to Sonic’s arm. She was going to bite him, but suddenly, she froze. The anger in her face faded, and shifted to a blank expression.A bright light suddenly got closer to the library, coming from the window outside. The wind blew hard, opening up the window. Mario and Sonic saw what the glowing light was when the window opened.Kate’s soul had somehow gotten back to the castle.The soul flew straight to Dark Rage. Dark Rage ended up dropping Sonic and getting knocked back. Mario and Sonic watched as Dark Rage glowed brightly, and when the bright, white light was gone, Dark Rage was no more. Kate was back.Kate got back to her feet, and she gasped when she saw how injured Mario and Sonic were. Sonic had a black eye and Mario had a huge bruise on the left side of his forehead.“Guys! Oh chaos, she hurt you! I’m so sorry!” she said.She ran over to her friends and hugged them. Mario and Sonic smiled sadly. They teared up as they returned the hug, relieved that Kate was back.“It’s not your fault, Kate. We knew you were still fighting to stop her,” said Mario.“Yeah. We’re okay, and you’re back. That’s the more important thing,” said Sonic.Kate smiled sadly. She let go of the hug, and her eyes were glassy as she looked at her friends.“But, how did you get out? I mean, how did your soul get out?” asked Mario.“I don’t know. I was fighting the whole time. Something inside me just wanted me to get back to my body and take control of it. I managed to get out, with some help from the others,” said Kate.“While we were fighting her, there were a couple moments where Dark Rage hesitated. It’s as if you were in control, even if you didn’t have your body. You must be getting better at controlling Dark Rage if that happened,” said Sonic.“All I could think of was stopping her, so I could protect my friends,” said Kate.Mario and Sonic smiled again. They pulled Kate into another group hug.As the three friends hugged, over at the castle entrance, the rescue group had returned. They managed to get all the jars with the souls. Though, Shadow and Silver weren’t with them, for they must’ve still been chasing Fawful.The rescue group was able to get all the souls back, because thanks to F. Jesse, Radar, Nurm, and Vos having inventories, they could carry multiple jars. The group was able to get every one of the souls off the shelves and bring them back to the Mushroom Kingdom.They entered the castle, hurrying to the library so that they could try to get Kate’s soul back and return her body to normal. But as they arrived at the library, they saw Mario, Sonic, and Kate sharing their group hug.“Kate, you’re back already?!” said Tails, forming a shocked look.The three let go of their group up. They formed nervous looks.“I’ll… I’ll explain later. For now, let’s get the souls back to their bodies,” said Kate. Sometime later, in an unknown location, Fawful was alone. He managed to evade Shadow and Silver, which was harder than it appeared to be, since the two hedgehogs were very fast. Shadow had his speed, and Silver continued to keep up with his powers. And eventually, Fawful ran out of ender pearls. It should’ve been over for him, being cornered by Shadow and Silver. And they could’ve had him.But luckily, a Magikoopa came in and helped Fawful escape. He helped Fawful teleport to safety, since Fawful didn’t have his staff.Now that he was finally safe from being chased, Fawful took a minute to rest. He was sitting somewhere in a dark forest. Magikoopa promised to bring him back to his hideout, but it would be a long journey to get there. So for now, they had to set up camp for the night.Fawful was alone at the moment, for Magikoopa had to go find some firewood. To lower the risk of getting spotted by Shadow or Silver, who were most likely still looking for Fawful, the two agreed to not use magic to set up camp. Using magic could give away their location.“Well, that was a big letdown. I failed to have my own army of puppets in both universes,” said Fawful. “But…”He pulled out something from his robe pockets. The little box he grabbed before he tried to make his escape. The magician grinned as he looked at the box.“At least I have a failsafe. And they don’t know about this… I have a chance now, to finally defeat them once and for all. To finally have the universes in my grasp… It will take long to move to this plan, but it’ll be worth the wait. It was very generous of Dry Bowser and Eggman Nega to ‘give’ this to me,” he said.The magician made a sinister chuckle.‘They may have won today, but now that I have this, once my next brew is complete, there really will be no stopping me. The universes will be in my grasp once and for all…’ he thought. The end!And till next time on “The Adventures of the Three Heroes”!