The King examined the leftover rubble of the wall. It was the most recent in a string of attacks that were plaguing the human settlement. He looked at the area observantly. The blocks leftover floated randomly. Steve rubbed his gray beard. 'These blocks… this wasn't the work of a Creeper. They were broken on purpose from the outside…' He approached and looked at the blocks outside of the thick wall. They were, in fact, broken sporadically, further proving the wall was broken by hand. Steve looked around and found another strange clue: The ground. In the spot directly behind the wall, the ground was completely barren. The elder King rubbed his chin once again. "Hm…"

In the desert, a lone village stood. The denizens went about their day peacefully as the sun shined bright. Just outside of the village, two figures were walking away. The one in front walked with her head high and her arms folded. The other lagged behind a bit, walking a bit more relaxedly. The lead girl looked back. "Terra, will you please hurry? We mustn't be late!"

Terra scoffed. "Late? Grace, you're kidding, right? This event is probably going to last all night!"

"That's no excuse for tardiness. Besides, what would Tony think if his friends were late to his own celebration?"

Terra smirked. "I doubt he would notice with how much Slag and Mire harass him. Not to mention Hex's stalking."

Grace sighed. "I guess that's a good point. However, I would imagine Rube would have quite a few choice words."

"Alright, alright. Let's get a move on." Terra pouted.

In an average wooden house, a young man laid down, asleep. He snored lightly as the sunlight began to creep in. As it touched his face, he tried to turn over, but found he could not. Tony's eyes fluttered open to find that he was not alone; Hex laid on top of him, a smile gracing her lips. Tony felt his face heat up, but he just sighed. He tried to gently escape from her death grip, but she only held tighter. Tony sighed. 'I should be used to this by now…' He remembered how Hex snuck into his home almost every night for a month after the Mutant War. 'Transitioning from public enemy #1 to a rightful ruler must've been hard, but it's been… it's been…' Tony felt his eyes widen as he remembered what day it was. He looked around frantically as he tried to find any possible way to escape from Hex's grip.

After an unsuccessful attempt, he decided to just wake her up. "Hey, Hex. Hex."

"..."

"Hex… wake up."

"Hm…?" Her eyes fluttered open. She smiled at the sight of the boy looking at her. "Oh… hi."

"Hex… do you know what day it is?"

The witch had to think for a moment before jumping out of the bed. "Oh my Notch! You're right! What are you waiting for?"

Tony sighed, smiling. "Nothing, I guess. Do you know what time the fair starts?"

Hex put a hand to her chin. "I think it starts in an hour or so."

"Oh man. I can't believe I overslept. I should probably get ready. King Steve is probably not going to like it if I'm late."

"Well, the party doesn't start for another hour." Her eyes were full of mischief. "Besides, I'm sure you can be… a little bit late." She put her hands on her hips as she smirked. Tony blushed as he realized what she was implying. He stood up, trying to ignore his fluster. "W-w-we should get r-ready. Heh heh!" He immediately ran upstairs to get dressed. Hex giggled at his embarrassment.

It only took a few minutes for the boy to return in a change of clothes. He held his iron sword, making sure it was fully repaired and ready. 'In this world, you never know what'll happen next.' He sheathed the weapon before going to a nearby chest. Hex laid on the bed, watching. "What could you possibly need? The human settlement should have everything you need."

"I haven't been able to mine any emeralds lately, so I can't really buy anything. Besides, I don't need to spend the emeralds I do have on things I already have."

"Makes sense. If you needed emeralds, why didn't you just wake up earlier?" Tony sighed in defeat as Hex giggled. "I'm kidding. I probably should have woken you up."

"Don't worry about it, but I have to wonder, why were you sleeping in my bed again? I thought you would have adjusted to living at the Village Castle by now."

"I have adjusted, but Rube sent me here to see if you were ready for the celebration. Whoops."

Tony laughed. "Well, I'm up now. I guess it won't really matter. The actual ceremony won't start until an hour after the guests arrive. We should have time to meet up with everyone before it starts." Tony smiled at the thought of seeing his friends at the celebration. It had been exactly one year since the end of the Mutant War. King Steve declared it a monumental anniversary and decided to hold a ceremony in honor of the warriors who fought in the war. Because of that, the mob rulers were invited into the human settlement along with the village rulers, with the exception of Hex. She didn't mind; she understood why.

As Tony looked through the chest, Hex wrapped her arms around him. Tony stopped as he felt Hex's breath on his neck. She just laid her head on his back, savoring the moment. Tony smiled as he continued going through the inventory. Hex's words caused him to pause. "Maybe I'm lying. About adjusting, I mean."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Well, I want to feel at home with the others, but I… I really want to get used to waking up with you."

"Get used to… you mean…" The conversation was interrupted by the front door slamming open. Tony and Hex looked in shock to see Saber and Skelli at the door, weapons raised.

The former looked at the sight in front of her and sighed with relief. "Phew. We made it on time."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "On time? For what? Did something happen?"

Skelli smirked. "Rube told us she sent Hex to get you, so we ran over here to make sure she wasn't, uh, "overstaying" her welcome."

Heex blushed, fuming. "Hey! I wasn't trying to keep him here! Well, maybe a little, but it's not like I wanted to make him late!"

Saber rolled her eyes. "Whatever. We'll wait outside. Just hurry up!" With that, Saber and Skelli closed the door.

Tony looked back at a suddenly bashful Hex. "So, where were we?" He asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Nevermind. We should hurry." The witch said, smiling sadly.

After the duo finally prepared-and Saber scolded them- the group began to make their way to the human settlement. The walk was rather uneventful and it didn't take too long as the group began to see their destination just over the horizon. Tony felt butterflies in his stomach as they neared the area. The celebration would require him and the rulers to stand on a stage as King Steve makes a short speech. Tony scratched his chin at the thought. He never liked being in front of crowds, much less an entire city.

The doors to the kingdom were wide open, unafraid on this day of peace. Saber smirked. "Humans really are trusting. They left the doors wide open as a sign of trust for the mob rulers."

Skelli rubbed her neck. "As if we'd be dumb enough to attack this many humans at once. Speaking of being dumb enough for that, we should probably hurry before Yaebi gets any ideas." As they approached, they saw the rest of the rulers waiting at the gates. "Hey! Over here!"

The group looked and waved. Rube stepped forward. "Greetings. You certainly took your time."

Tony blushed a bit. "Yeah, I woke up late." Hex snickered. The human looked at the rest of the rulers in confusion. "Why are you all waiting out here? Shouldn't you be inside to prepare for the speech?"

Andr suddenly appeared beside the boy. "It would seem that humans get nervous around mobs. Who knew?"

"So, we all decided to wait together until you showed up." Rube said.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Me? Why on earth would you need me?"

"Are you kidding? You are, like, the mascot for the humans! If they see you with us, we can probably go through town without being gawked at." Lattice, the spider ruler, spoke.

Tony sighed before looking at his comrades. Now that he was closer, he could see them much more clearly. They all wore their usual attire, but they seemed more… cleaned up. Tony suddenly felt a bit self-conscious.

The group began heading inside, Tony leading the way. As they walked, Atlas began walking beside him. She leaned closer and whispered. "I'm glad you made it." "I'm glad I did. Still a bit nervous." Tony whispered in reply.

"Nervous?"

"Yeah. I didn't have time to get very well-dressed, but everyone else did! You look great!"

Atlas a bit as she smiled. "Thanks, but you look very handsome. You shouldn't worry."

A new voice joined in the whispering. "What are you two prattling on about?" The duo was surprised to find Yaebi tailing behind them, annoyed. He rolled his eyes. "You have no idea how tiring it is to see you two so lovey-dovey all the time."

Atlas blushed. "W-we're not being "lovey-dovey". We're just having a conversation."

Yaebi smirked. "I can practically hear the wedding bells-" His banter was interrupted by a sudden smack to the back of his head. Mire frowned at him. "Stop teasing them! Besides, I don't think you're one to talk, Dead Head!"

Yaebi glared at the slime. "What are you talking about?"

Slag suddenly stepped in, gesturing to Hamilton, who was conversing with the other rulers. "It is so obvious you've got a thing for Ms. Hamilton over there."

Yaebi's face suddenly turned red. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about." He glanced back for a moment. "Has she, uh, said anything about me?"

Slag and Mire rolled their eyes before turning back to Tony and Atlas. "So, what are you two talking about?" The latter asked.

Tony smiled. "Hi, Slag. Hi, Mire. Thanks."

"Don't mention it, but you'd better spend a little time with us at the celebration!" Slag said, winking. Tony nodded, but a light blush appeared on his face.

The group made their way toward the citadel in the center of town, where the speech was being held. On the stage, King Steve waited, talking with some of the citizens. When his gaze landed on the group, he excused himself and grinned. "Friends! Welcome!"

Tony approached and shook his hand. "Glad to be here, Your Majesty."

"None of that. Formalities are for business meetings. This is a celebration! Are you ready?"

"Honestly, I'm a bit nervous."

"Well, I'd imagine so. You all are being rewarded with a very special honor! Even I'm feeling nervous!" He looked at the sky, finding the position of the sun. "Ah, it's almost time. Places everyone! The ceremony is about to begin!"