A/N: Sup y'all. Hope y'all have been doing well. I've been trying this new approach to writing that I hope will let me update faster and make stuff y'all will enjoy. So feedback would be greatly appreciated. But here's the chapter!

Chapter 8: A Little Less Conversation

Heidi stared down in complete bewilderment at Randy sprawled out on the floor. A book was sitting inconspicuously on the table wide open for the world to see, but she hardly took notice.

"Randy, what are you doing?"

He tilted his head back from his floor position, staring up at Heidi. "Ah, don't worry about it. Oh, sweet! Pizza and soda!"

Like a rocket, Randy shot up to his feet and was on Heidi in an instant. He grabbed the box and soda from her arms, his hands slightly brushing against her arms as he did, and set them down on the table. "C'mon in. You can sit in the chair over there."

Heidi walked in and sat down, watching Randy open the pizza box with slight apprehension. It gave her visible pause. What was she afraid of? Why did she care? She didn't care. Did she?

"Hey, Sicilian pizza! How'd you know?"

Heidi stared at him, numbly. "Huh?"

"Sicilian pizza's my favorite. How'd you know? Was it a lucky guess?"

Heidi opened her mouth and then shut it. Would it be weird if she just rattled off that random memory? She'd seem like a total stalker or something.

Her nose scrunched at her internal dilemma. Why was she overthinking this? This was Randy she was talking about; her annoying brother's annoying friend. He wouldn't care and, if he did, she certainly wouldn't. "You wouldn't stop talking about it at your birthday party a while back. You looked like a total shoob."

Randy just rolled his eyes and dropped onto his bed, taking a sip of his soda. "Yeah well I don't blame me. Sicilian is the best. You can grab a slice if you want just don't hog it."

Heidi glanced at the alluring scent and gave a slight shrug, grabbing a slice. "So," she said after downing a bite of pizza, "what are some Ninja secrets?"

Randy hummed to himself, rocking back and forth slightly. "I'm pretty sure the Ninja suit has its own dry cleaning." Heidi gave him a deadpan stare. "What? I mean, I'm not sure what you want me to tell you."

"What do you think?! How are you the Ninja? Isn't the Ninja an 800 year old being or something?"

The teen took another swig of his soda before answering. "Yes and no. The Ninja has been around for 800 years, sure, but there have been lots of people before me. And there'll be lots of people after me."

"So, it's like a mantle?"

"Exactly."

"How did you become the Ninja? I'd imagine you'd have to have been. . . chosen?"

Randy snorted with a lopsided smile. "Yeah, I was chosen alright. Don't look too surprised about that."

"I wasn't surprised. I was just confused."

"Uh huh," Randy retorted with an annoyingly deliberate eyeroll. "Any other questions?"

Heidi pursed her lips, swallowing another bite. "Um, how did you get the powers? Was it just, like, there one day?"

Randy gave a light chuckle. His eyes seemed to sparkle a bit as his smile wrinkled them. She felt a her stomach do a little flip then. "Yeah, it was exactly like that. There was this note, the mask, and the Nomicon and just. . . poof! I'm the Ninja."

Randy pushed himself to his feet and grabbed a slice of pizza, tossing his empty soda bottle to the side. Heidi wrinkled her nose in disgust at the reckless littering but said nothing.

"You got anything else?" asked Randy.

"Where'd you learn to fight?"

"The Ninja suit let's me do all that. Reflexes, enhanced strength, weapons. It's got me covered."

Heidi nodded, thoughtfully. "What about whenever people turn into those monsters? What causes all of that?"

It was like a switch had been flipped. Randy went from a happy-go-lucky smiling dweeb to a noticeably paler, frightened teen. Heidi felt a surge of emotion swell in her chest. It wasn't surprising, or at least it shouldn't have been. She couldn't imagine having to face beings like that on a regular basis, knowing that you were the only person standing between your town and destruction. She shouldn't have asked.

At the same time, she felt her curiosity swell. At least, it's what she thought it was. A part of her felt some need to play therapist to him. Maybe it was some foolish sense of obligation to at least be there for him like he'd been there for her.

And the citizens of Norrisville, of course!

"I'm sorry," Heidi started, "I shouldn't have asked-"

"No, no. It's fine. We did have a deal, right?" Randy smiled, slightly. It didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's the Sorcerer. He's kinda the man behind the curtains and all that. He's trapped underneath Norrisville High, so he's had McFist and Viceroy do his dirty work."

Heidi almost dropped her pizza slice. "What?! Randy, stop pulling my leg."

Randy, to her relief, seemed to get a little more color return to his face as he chuckled and reached for his fifth slice of pizza. If Heidi hadn't been so preoccupied with the knowledge bomb that Randy had dropped, she would've wondered how he ate so much so fast.

"It's true," he said in between bites. "I didn't believe it even when I saw it with my own eyes, but it's true. They've made so many Ninja killing robots that it's insane. Absolute shoobs, but they sure know how to make bruce products."

Heidi didn't know what to make of the fact that Randy seemed more annoyed than afraid. "Wow. . . I had no idea."

Randy shrugged as he worked down the rest of his slice, simultaneously reaching for the last one.

"Hey, did Howard know about your Ninja identity?"

"Oh yeah," Randy snorted. "He's my best friend. There was no way that I wouldn't have told him. No matter what the Nomicon said."

In the corner of her eyes, she could see a flash of light. Randy pulled at his shirt collar with his free hand sweating ever so slightly. "Hey, I love you, Nomicon! Please don't kill me!"

Heidi couldn't help but laugh in spite of herself. It was so weird. Her brother's friend was a dorky and loud annoying bother who secretly fought as the bruce and fearless Ninja against the forces of evil.

And was afraid of a glowing book.

Still, she had to admit to herself. She was reevaluating the teen by the second. He didn't seem half bad to talk to, and she could see herself maybe hanging out with him. Or at the very least not leaving the second he entered the room.

Randy didn't seem to take her laughter too well, though. "You wouldn't be laughing if you had to deal with a grumpy 800 year old Ninja stuck in a book."

"I'm sorry what?!"

"Wish I could explain," Randy made a little apologetic wince that didn't quite match the amusement dancing in his eyes, "but I'm out of pizza and soda. We'll have to save 21 questions for another time."

Heidi gaped, standing up. "You never said there was a limit-"

Randy moved towards her, lightly steering her towards the door. "Alas, it's a new rule that I may or may not have made on the spot. I wanna sleep for a little, and you're weirding me out. So, goodbye."

Before Heidi could get a word in, she was already out in the hall and staring at a closed door. Heidi glared down at her half eaten pizza clutched in her hand, seemingly mocking her situation..

Heidi gave a small laugh as she walked away from Randy's room, shaking her head. "Unbelievable."

Dread drew a deep sigh. He wished he could say that he felt an inkling of longing after finally returning to N-Tek, but the scientist felt nothing.

Well nothing except for a small bit of confliction from remembering the accident. But that was something he was used to remembering, N-Tek or no.

"You ready, sir?" asked Naught. The apprehensive look on his face made him wonder how much that question was actually meant for him or the android itself.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Now let's move."

Naught grabbed hold of Dread's shoulder and Dread fired off his hand blasters, jetting off. They landed just in front of two guards armed with high tech blaster guns. Dread couldn't help but smirk.

It would be child's play.

"What are you doing here?" barked a soldier, aiming his gun at Dread's head. The other soldier had his blaster trained on Naught.

"At ease," Dread spat, "I'm here to talk to Ferrus."

The soldier gripped his gun a little tighter. "On what authority?"

"I do not have time for your little games. Either let me in, or I move you. I cannot promise that you'll still be breathing after."

The soldier's glare seemed to intensify before his partner placed their hand on his shoulder. "Alright," spoke the other soldier, "I'll have to ask you to leave. This is a private base."

Dread just smiled easily. Not that they could tell behind his mask, but it didn't bother him too much, anyway. "Naught?"

"On it, sir!"

"Hmm. . . What is this?"

A team of tanks were rolling along the terrain to engage him. Cell snorted in derision. As if any tank they could create would be a match for the perfect life form. The technology on this Earth was absolutely laughable.

The leading tank stopped just short of his fighting ring. The turret was pointed up at him when a hatch opened up revealing a man. Judging by his stern gaze, he was likely a captain or commander of some sort.

It wouldn't do the man any good, but it was fun to play detective.

"Cell!" boomed the Captain. "We're here to implore you to not destroy our world! Call off your tournament and come with us! If you do so, no harm will come to you!"

Cell gave a small smirk as he floated down towards the tank. He took pleasure in how quickly the man tensed.

"Hey!" the Captain protested, "don't come any closer now!"

"Or what?" Cell scoffed. "You'll shoot me? I'm interested to see how well it'd go for you."

The man straightened slightly and paled just a bit. "Come with us, Cell. Come with us, peacefully, and no harm will come to you."

"I'd love to, but I have a tournament to run. It's a bit important."

"Cell-"

"Save your breath, Captain. I'm not going anywhere. I'm waiting for someone. Either leave and fight on tournament day, or die now."

"So be it, Cell. We warned you."

The little human retreated back into his tank and the hatch closed. Not too long after, the turret fired a powerful blast that slammed hard into the android. The smoke from the blast itched at his lungs before he threw up a Ki barrier. He took a deep breath wiping the soot from his shoulder. "I really don't want to deal with this."

Not one to keep people waiting, Cell jetted out from the smoke and landed on the turret. He relished the thought of the men quaking in terror. It was a shame that he wouldn't be able to spot most of it. "So be it, Captain. I warned you."

Cell chopped off the turret and jammed it through the top of the tank, skewering the metal with an ear-splitting shriek. He inwardly thanked Gero for giving him the Namekian's hearing, albeit being a double-edged sword, so he could take in their terrified screams. He floated down to the base of the tank and grabbed it firmly.

"Alright then!" Cell muttered. "Up you go!"

Cell slowly lifted the tank above his head, prolonging the terror for as long as possible before chucking it. The tank crashed into five of its allies, bouncing along the turf, before rolling to a stop, absolutely ravaged.

Cell raised a hand before firing a blast. And another. And another.

Soon, there was only a single tank left standing amongst the wreckage of smoldering metal. In the blink of an eye, Cell had the tank side ripped open. A trio of wide-eyed soldiers were staring back at him, absolutely stupefied, not that Cell could blame them.

He was glorious, after all.

Some quick eye lasers to the chests later, and there was only one soldier left. Cell smiled as he walked forward, easily noting the soldier's fear as he inched away. Unfortunately for the man, his back soon hit a wall while Cell crouched down before him.

"You'll be coming with me. I have a message to send."

Gohan didn't have much to do today aside from training, training, and more training, but he couldn't find it in himself to focus. Not after his conversation with Forge.

That's why he was betting on a certain orange-haired Fenton being free.

He felt a little smile worm it's way along his face at the thought of her. He had no idea when exactly she'd become his personal confidant or why it'd happened so soon, but he knew that if anyone could help him clear his head, it'd be her.

He found her in the lounge, chatting away with another agent. She looked just as animated as she did when she listened to his stories about his Earth. Her eyes were all wide and sparkly as if trying to absorb every bit of detail that she could.

Heck, he wouldn't doubt if that was what she was doing.

He gave a small chuckle at the thought. It was all it took to get the attention of the girl. "Oh hey, Gohan! What's up?"

As much as he loved her new found attention, he glanced over at the agent she'd been talking to, bowing apologetically. "I'm sorry for my interruption, sir, but I wanted to talk to Jazz for a moment."

The agent just waved him off. "Ah, don't worry about it. Gotta get back to work anyways. See ya Jazz!"

"You too, Jefferson!"

Once the agent had left, Gohan regarded Jazz with an amused grin. "You're making a lot of friends, here."

Jazz rolled her eyes, smiling still. "Yeah, well I don't always just read. Besides, I gotta keep my people skills sharp. So, anything up?"

"Um, yeah, yeah," Gohan scratched at his cheek, looking off to a wall. "It's just that Max is unconscious."

Jazz's hand flew to her mouth. "Is he alright? What happened?"

"D-Don't worry," Gohan assured, waving his hands, "Berto said he'll be fine. He's just gonna be out of it for a while."

"Thank goodness!"

"That's not what I came for, though."

Jazz's brows furrowed as she stared at Gohan. Her eyes were searching, always searching. He wouldn't be surprised if she didn't realize it. "Oh?"

Gohan shifted slightly, not quite meeting her eyes. "Should I really be involving them in this? Max, Danny, and Randy are absolutely strong in their own right, I know, but Cell is a different monster. And he wants me! It's my fight. I know Forge told me that they won't let me do it alone-"

"Because that would be a horrible idea."

"-but I don't have much of a choice. It's gonna come down to Cell and I. There's no other way this can end."

Jazz opened her mouth to say her piece, but the sudden sound of static cut her off. They both turned to the TV watching as it flickered in and out for several moments.

"What the. . ?" Jazz breathed.

Not long after she'd finished, the static finally disappeared to reveal a familiar bio-android.

Gohan's teeth ground together. "Cell! What are you doing now?!"

The self-proclaimed perfect life form was smirking at the camera. It looked so much like the teasingly cocky smirks that Vegeta would throw him when they trained. A smirk that said 'I can talk shut cause I'll back it up.'

It was unnerving.

"Greetings, again, people of Earth!" boomed the android. "Now, I wasn't planning to talk to you all again so soon. I wanted to wait until the end of the Cell Games, but it seemed a certain army of fools were just itching to get ahead."

He chuckled a little to himself, spreading his open palms. "I can understand those impatient jitters. Trust me. But I also can't have another unexpected surprise like this, now can I? My precious ring could've been destroyed, and that'd be incredibly bothersome to fix. So, I decided that I'd get on ahead of this problem. Bring me the soldier!"

Gohan felt his heart drop straight to his stomach. What had Cell done? Who was the soldier? What was Cell going to do?

A group of strong security men hauled in a man who was kicking and screaming. He was brought to the front of Cell's desk, still fighting to no avail.

Cell rose from his chair, lighting a hand with a ball of Ki. He held it casually as if it wasn't capable of blowing everyone in that room to kingdom come. Gohan felt his face heat up with the anger stirring in his chest. "Why don't you tell the good people what I did to your men?"

The man was much more placid now; however, if his quaking shoulders were any indication, he wasn't any less angry. Or scared. "You killed them all like a fucking demon! We tried to reason with you, but you're just a fucking-!"

Cell's lit hand seemed to drift towards the man in slow-motion. For a moment, the man wasn't a stranger. His hair became a familiar long, lilac mane spread out on the back of Saiyan armor.

Gohan acted.

He had no clue how fast he was going, but it was probably a new record for him. One moment, he'd been in N-Tek, then the next he was clutching Cell's hand in a death grip. Cell only expressed mild surprise behind his smug grin, which only made Gohan more pissed off.

"To what do I owe this-"

"Graahh!"

Gohan launched Cell through the wall before jetting after him. Gohan rammed his shoulder into the already disoriented Cell, steering him through the sky. Thankfully, Gohan was able to keep enough presence of mind to move to a place with no civilians.

It would've been a bloodbath if there was anyone near when he piledrived Cell into the Earth. There was a loud boom and an eruption smoke that followed out from his devastation.

Not missing a beat, Gohan got back to his feet as he glared down at the android. "Get up, Cell. I know you're not dead."

"Very perceptive, Son Gohan," drawled Cell. With a quick flare of his Ki, the smoke instantly dissipated to reveal a floating Cell, looking no worse for wear. "Ah, I remember the first time I saw that form. Now you've gone and gotten me all nostalgic!"

Gohan only barely noticed the solid, sharp bang hanging in his eyes. Even then, he didn't care. "What did you do, Cell?"

Cell gave a little half shrug. "I did warn them. It's a shame that they didn't seem to listen."

"You bastard!"

Gohan shot off like a rocket, socking Cell square in the jaw. There was a small pop as the android went skidding along the ground. He knew it wouldn't kill him, but damn did it feel good.

Cell stared up at him wide-eyed and a bit slack jawed, which felt even better, before he began to chuckle, rubbing at his jaw. "Huh! I forgot how much power you pack whenever you get serious, Gohan!"

"Cell, don't attack anyone again. I mean it. Your fight is with me, remember?"

"Oh, I have no interest in terrorizing those fools just yet. I'll gladly leave them be, but only if they leave me alone. As you can tell with my broadcast, I was trying my best to set an example."

Gohan's jaw set before he jerked his head towards the north. "You've made enough of an example. Your ring is that way. Go there and don't do anything stupid."

In a flash, Gohan was back in the broadcasting room. The soldier from earlier was nowhere to be found (hopefully he was still alive), and the henchmen from earlier seemed about to turn off the broadcast.

"Don't turn it off yet," Gohan spat, leveling a withering glare at the henchmen. Safe to say, they stepped away pretty quickly.

He glanced around until he found the camera. He could feel the rage of his Ascended Super Saiyan form threatening to take hold, and it was taking everything within him not to blow up at viewers. "Don't go fighting Cell. You won't be able to beat him. When tournament day comes, I'll take him out. Until then, stay out of this."

Gohan's aura exploded outward as he blasted out of the broadcasting room, taking off into the sky.

"What's going on here?"

Dread walked through the N-Tek halls, Naught not far behind, without much opposition. An odd agent here and there, sure, but nothing close to the level of pushback that he should have faced. He knew he hadn't been there in ages, but surely the security couldn't have become this lax.

A part of him even felt a tad offended.

"It's like a ghost town in here," his assistant muttered. Dread couldn't help but agree. Something had to have been happening to cause such awful security.

Be-Beep! Be-Beep!

Dread turned back to glower at his servant. "Didn't I tell you to silence that infernal updating system?"

Naught didn't hesitate or falter in the slightest. He seemed to be checking the notification on his arm. "Sir, I'm picking up a huge amount of T.U.R.B.O. energy coming from a room somewhere northwest of here! It's a bit faint and erratic though."

Dread raised a brow. "Max Steel is here? That could explain the soldier shortage. Very well then, lead the way."

"Not so fast, Dread."

Dread turned to face the aging commander. He looked a little more sluggish than the last time he'd seen him, but the fire was still there. His missing arm was a sight for sore eyes, though. "How's the arm? I see that you've manufactured a replacement."

Forge's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, Dread?"

Dread sighed. "I don't want to be here either, but I can recognize a dire situation when I see one."

"What?"

"Cell doesn't care about any of us or anything else other than fighting. Once that boy is dead, he'll come for the rest of us. Now, we can either wait and die, or we can fight back. Together."

Forge stared at him with a piercing gaze. It wasn't dissimilar to the way he'd looked at a faulty invention. "How do I know you won't doublecross us?"

Dread scoffed. "If I doublecross you now, we won't stand a chance against Cell. This alliance is only lasting as long as that android does."

Forge's stance didn't falter in the slightest. Dread felt a swell of uneasiness in his former colleague's silence. The uneasiness was enough to stir some of his latent irritation. "Well?"

Forge shook his head, turning on his heel. "I can't believe I'm doing this. C'mon. We need to discuss this as soon as possible."

Randy walked down the familiar halls of N-Tek, softly drumming his fingers against his thigh.

It was more than a little easy to get used to living in the agency. The place wasn't home by any stretch of the imagination, but the amount of cool technology and people seemed to override it.

Unfortunately, the halls did little to stop the queasy feeling in his stomach. It felt like a Cold Ball had exploded in there. Talking to an inquisitive gossip reporter who was also your best friend's sister when they acted nothing like themselves tended to do that.

He had to deal with it for the time being, he guessed. It wouldn't be long until he'd be able to use the mindwipe. He walked a little bit straighter at the thought before slouching once again.

The Nomicon had been right. He'd utterly failed. Not just with the revealing of his secret identity, but the Cell Games and battle with the Sorcerer as well. He was too weak, and if it wasn't for the Nomicon and Gohan, he'd be dead and screwed.

His eyes caught a sudden flash of motion, causing him to glance over. Danny had just turned the corner and was heading right for him.

Danny gave a small smile and a wave that Randy returned with a nod. He thought that'd be the end of it, but Danny paused and fell into step with him. "Are you alright? I heard that you've been overdoing it in training."

Randy's eyes widened before he gave a measured eyeroll. "Howard?"

Danny nodded with a fair amount of mirth lurking behind his eyes. It was like he was trying to hold it back. "Yeah. I know how tempting it can be, but you can't train yourself into the ground."

"I'm not 'training myself into the ground'," Randy defended. "I'm just preparing myself for the Cell Games. You've seen Gohan and Cell. I'll need all the training I can get!"

Danny just nodded, tucking his hands into his jean pockets. "I said the same thing, but Tucker and Howard convinced me. We need to take the time off. We've been working around the clock to get ready for Cell, but we haven't taken any time to just chill and be normal teens. And we won't be much use against Cell being so tired and out of it. Or at least I think so. My sister's psychobabble can get extremely annoying."

Randy cracked a small grin in spite of his mood. Normal. What the juice did that even mean anymore? "Cell isn't going to wait for us to live normal lives once the day hits. He's gonna demolish us. We can't afford to just live a normal life or else people will die!"

His sudden vehemence seemed to take Danny aback, and he wasn't the only one surprised. When had he gotten so uptight? Whatever sense of duty the Nomicon had put in him screamed that all this was necessary to battle Cell.

But his teen side just wanted to kick back and play some Grave Puncher with his friends.

Randy swallowed hard, shaking his head. "I-I just can't right now, Danny. I'll talk to you later?"

Danny nodded with a noticeably tighter smile. Or did it only seem tighter to him? "Yeah, I'll catch you later."

When Danny was out of sight, Randy dragged his hands down his face as he felt his back slam into the wall. Everything was just spiraling too fast. It was too much to handle.

"What is wrong with me?"

The N-Tek break room wasn't too shabby. Heidi supposed that would only make sense for an agency, but everything about the room just exuded comfort and relaxation. The smell of donuts wafted towards her nose, and the coffee in her hand was just the right level of warm.

But these comforts did nothing to solve her sour mood.

"Stupid Randy and his half answers. . ." Heidi murmured as she lounged out on a couch.

Randy had made her borderline giddy at the idea of learning the secrets of the Norrisville hero but left her with more questions than answers. She was almost disappointed in herself for not pressing harder.

Yet, she felt that annoying little buzzing in her gut that made her feel giddy all over again. It came every time that she'd remember his confident chuckle or his teasing grin. He just seemed so much different than she'd ever seen him.

It was enough to get her annoyed all over again. It was tempting to go talk to Theresa about it or something, but it would feel a little more than embarrassing to vent to someone from her Earth. Granted, the reserved girl didn't seem like the gossiping type (Heidi would know after all), but she couldn't risk it. It'd be far too much trouble to deal with.

A sudden movement in the corner of her eyes drew her attention. It was the goth girl holding a cup of steaming liquid. She glanced over at Heidi, and the two exchanged a curt nod before the girl went over to the other side of the room.

Heidi could easily see that the girl wanted to be left alone, but she couldn't help the easy option for a distraction. "Hey!"

The goth girl looked up at her through the lids of her eyes before blowing on her drink. "Hi."

"How's the whole different dimensions thing been? Pretty wonk right."

The girl shrugged, sipping her drink. "I've seen weirder."

An uncomfortable silence hung over them. Uncomfortable to her, anyway. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name?"

The girl raised a brow before setting down her cup. "Sam."

Heidi waited for a moment before it became quite clear Sam wouldn't ask for hers. "My name's Heidi, by the way."

"I know."

She must have had puzzlement written all over her face because Sam rolled her eyes. "We exchanged names after the whole impromptu skydive."

"Oh." Had that really only been two days ago? "What are you drinking?"

"What do you really want, Heidi?" Sam asked. "Don't get me wrong. You seem nice and all but small talk isn't really my thing."

Heidi sighed with a weak shrug. "I'm sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind lately, and I needed a distraction from it."

Sam gave a tight smile along with a slight nod. She wasn't enthusiastic about hearing her problems, but she was listening. At least, that's how Heidi saw it. "You know Randy right?"

"Tall, lanky with the wild hair and slightly awkward, cheesy outbursts?" she asked with a dry smirk. "Yeah, I remember him."

"Well, he was the Ninja, and I had no idea this entire time! I run this gossip news show back on my Earth, so it's just so strange that I never noticed."

Sam shrugged. "It doesn't seem like too big of a problem. I've seen a lot worse shows of obliviousness. It happens."

Heidi knew there was truth in the girl's words, but she couldn't fully accept them. Or was it something else entirely that she couldn't come to terms with? Ugh. Why did everything have to be so annoying? "I know, but it's just I've been having these weird. . . feelings around him lately. I don't know what to make of them."

Sam sipped at her beverage before leveling an expectant stare.

Heidi set down her coffee."I just get goosebumps whenever he's around, and I've started noticing details about him that I'd never picked up on. Like the way his eyes get all wide when he's excited or just the way he laughs or-"

"The way he has that big dumb grin whenever he messes up?"

Heidi regarded her with slight surprise. "Uh, yeah, stuff like that. It's all so wonk. . ."

"I'm no love expert, but it sounds like you've got a crush."

Heidi jerked back, absently thankful that her coffee was on the table instead of her hand. "No way do I have a crush on Randy!"

Sam raised her hands in a placating manner as Heidi's cheeks flushed. 'Great job' she thought. 'She probably thinks you're absolutely insane.'

"Would it be so bad if you did have a crush?"

Heidi felt her protest die on her tongue. Would it be so bad? Of course, he was her brother's annoying best friend, unbearably geeky, and had an unhealthy obsession with Grave Puncher.

But he was the Ninja. It had to count for something right? Surprisingly, she found herself looking past all of that. Looking into Randy as Randy. The quirky, somewhat cocky, funny guy that happened to love Sicilian pizza.

And it absolutely terrified her.

"Well," said Sam, scaring the daylights out of her. "I think I've played enough Love Guru for today. So long, Heidi."

Before Heidi could say a word, the goth had zipped out of the room with surprising speed, not spilling a drop of her drink.

Heidi was alone yet again.

A/N: Have a good one and hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! You're welcome to leave feedback, favorite, follow, or something like that lol

Posted: March 16th 2021