Chapter 9 – The Second Night

Hey everyone! Happy (late) new year! *: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*

I'm back – and with a new chapter, no less!

Looks like this story ended 2021 with over 2000 views and I just want to say thanks! Thanks for reading and thanks to ulrictheold, Chronos the watcher and paperbagmaneichi for the newest favourites and follows! It really means a lot!

Now without any further ado, on with the story!

After both Toph's and Valkyrie's demonstrations of their powers, the four of them had wandered around the park, Child Emperor happily pointing out various features. But before they had been about to leave, food stalls had popped up seemingly out of nowhere. And when those had caught Toph's, Child Emperor's and Valkyrie's attention, there wasn't anything that Zombieman could have done to stop them.

"Nice place, huh?" Child Emperor asked as they sat on a bench, enjoying some food.

"Yeah," they all agreed.

"I think the food's the best part about it," Toph said as she swallowed a mouthful of yakitori.

"What about the rest of the park?" Child Emperor asked with a frown.

Toph merely shrugged in response.

"I dunno," she hummed, "I mean – ground's ground, right? Besides, all the stuff here's for people who can actually see."

"Hm… good point," Child Emperor admitted thoughtfully, giving her an odd look. "But you seem to manage fine."

"That's only 'cause of my earthbending," she snorted, "I see through vibrations."

"Wow," the young hero's eyes were wide.

"Okay everyone," Zombieman said, getting to his feet, "I'm going to have to be the responsible adult here, so come on; time to go."

The three other members of the group began to protest, but Zombieman cut them off with a raise of his hand.

"Come on, it's time to go," he said.

Eventually, after some persuading, the three of them were on their feet and on the way back to Child Emperor's lab. The younger hero entered first and immediately scampered over to the computer he'd used before they'd all left. Valkyrie didn't know what he was doing; all she saw was lines and lines of coding that whizzed across the screen. To another side of the lab, there seemed to be some sort of automated building process going on, though what was being built, Valkyrie could not identify.

"Ah! Looks like nothing's ready yet!" Child Emperor said aloud.

He looked back to the two of them, his expression apologetic.

"Sorry, guys," he told them, "but it looks like you're gonna be stuck here for another night until I can finish this device. Don't worry, though, I'll have it up and running by tomorrow morning!"

"You'll be working through the night?" Zombieman asked with a frown.

"That's right!" The ten year-old nodded, "I will need time to test it, too."

"Don't push yourself too hard," Zombieman advised him, "you should take some time to rest."

"Don't worry about it, Zombieman," Child Emperor waved aside the older hero's concern. "I'll be fine. This is nothing I haven't done before."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at the exchange. It reminded her of her own conversations with Skulduggery. Well, the ones that weren't just smart comments, that was. But even as she smiled at the thought of it, she could feel worry clouding her mind. How was Skulduggery? And her family? What was going on back home? Were they looking for her? Surely, they would be able to find her, wouldn't they?

And Fletcher should be able to open a portal to find her, couldn't he? Like the time when she had to rescue Skulduggery. Valkyrie was surprised by how she realized she was now in a similar situation.

"Hey," Zombieman's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "You okay?"

"What?" She blinked.

"Blanked out, did you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, sorry about that," she grimaced. "Did I miss anything?"

"I was just asking if you minded staying here another night."

"Nah, it's fine," Valkyrie shrugged, her hands in her pockets.

"Good to hear," Zombieman said.

"Just one question, though," the teenage sorcerer began, "where will we be staying? Back at that other place?"

"Doesn't matter where I'm gonna be staying!" Toph declared and stomped her foot on the ground, raising an earth tent around her, much to Child Emperor's horror.

"Please be careful!" The young hero exclaimed, "There's a lot of sensitive equipment in here and underlying powerlines!"

"I know that!" Came Toph's voice.

"As for accommodation, I may have a solution for that, too," Child Emperor said turning to Zombieman and Valkyrie.

The older hero's only response was to raise an eyebrow at Child Emperor's words.

"Follow me, I'll show you," he said.

Zombieman was the first to follow the young hero as he trotted off down a wide, brightly lit corridor. Valkyrie, too, followed after a moment's deliberation. Not far behind, she heard a grind of rocks against each other and was soon joined by Toph, the girl's expression as blank and unreadable as ever.

After a few minutes, they were led into another large dome-shaped building. This differed from the first in the fact that it was somewhat emptier than its counterpart, and had a lower roof that was not rounded but flat. Child Emperor gestured for them to enter a small lift that consisted of only a platform and simple frame with no walls.

"Nice place," Toph commented.

"Thanks," Child Emperor grinned, "I don't normally bring anyone here, but I guess there's a first time for everything, huh?"

The lift stopped at what was another floor and the doors swung open.

"This is our stop, folks!" Child Emperor said, stepping out.

Zombieman, Valkyrie and Toph stepped out behind him, finding themselves in a large space that could be described as a living room. On the floor was a large, plush rug while various posters and blueprints were stuck up on the walls. To one side was a long, low sofa that was almost pushed up against the wall, leaving just enough space between for someone to walk. There were other beanbags and cushions strewn about as extra seating. Part of the room, however, was sectioned off and had a large modern cupboard placed against it.

"What's all this?" Valkyrie asked in surprise.

Child Emperor shrugged.

"I tend to spend a lot of time of time here," he explained, "so I had this part converted to a… living space, of sorts."

"Makes me wish I had a personal lab," Valkyrie said with a chuckle.

"So long as its comfy, I don't care," Toph shrugged.

"Trust me, I've spent a lot of time here and it's pretty comfy," Child Emperor smiled. "Bathroom's through there," he added, pointing to a barely-noticeable door by the cupboard.

"Thanks, kid," Zombieman said, ruffling Child Emperor's hair.

"Hey!" He laughed, "Hands off the genius!"

Chuckling, Zombieman withdrew his hand from the indignant ten year-old. Valkyrie smiled to herself at the scene, noticing that Toph had already flopped down onto the sofa.

"Make yourselves at home!" Child Emperor called out, already on his way back to the lift, "I'll see you all tomorrow morning!"

"Way ahead of ya," declared Toph.

That's all for chapter 8 – er, no – make that chapter 9… Thanks for reading!

Also, sorry for the long wait – I've been on a partial break all this time. But I will be getting back on track from now! And don't worry, there will be more action in the next chapter! … Probably…

Anyways, until next time everyone, go read the latest chapters of One Punch Man and ge up to speed with current events! And more importantly, stay safe!

See you next chapter!