Chapter 23: Before Brothers-In-Law

Vicki was lying down on the hammock, staring at the sky blankly. She looked at her smartphone and read the recent text message from her younger brother, Nick. She gazed and frowned at the message he sent to her. Then, Robert noticed his fiancée glaring at her smartphone. So, he wanted to know of what's going on in her mind.

"Hey Vicki, what's up?" Robert asked.

"Oh hey, Robert..." said Vicki, with an unpleasant tone. "I received a message from Nick today."

"Oh? What did he say?"

"He's coming over here tomorrow, and he'll be staying here for a few days..."

"So? What's the problem having your little brother coming to visit us, Vicki?"

"Well, Robert, if you put it that way, Nick mentioned he wants to get to know you a lot more!"

"Nick already knows me very well. What gives?"

"Not half of it, of course!"

"And that doesn't make any sense to me at all!"

"You will see when he comes by tomorrow."

"Roger-dodger that!"

The next day, a dark blue-haired boy had arrived in Triforce. He was Vicki's little brother, Nick and his eyes were looking at Vicki and Robert who were waving at him. He quickly rushed to them and gave them a big hug and a firm handshake.

"Hey sis, Robert, I'm finally here for a visit!" Nick announced in triumph.

"Hello Nick, what's up?" Robert asked.

"Oh, you know me, taking care of mayor business that is!"

"That's nice, Nick, and how's everything with you and Serenity so far?" Vicki asked eagerly.

"We're both doing great! Our relationship is in good progress, just like yours with Robert."

"That's very good to hear, little brother!"

Later in the evening, Robert and Nick were inside of Robert's house. The awkward atmosphere began to stir between Triforce's island representative and StarLily's mayor. They both stared at each other without saying a word at all. Robert scratched the back of his head while Nick rubbed his chin.

"Say, Nick, I have a question," said Robert, breaking the silence. "Why do you plan to stay at my house, instead of Vicki's?"

"Oh, that's a good question..." Nick answered. "You see, I want to get to fully know you well."

"But you already knew me very well."

"Well, not half of it though..."

"I don't understand at all..."

Before Nick could explain the situation to Robert, there was a knock on the door. Robert immediately answered the door and glanced at Vicki. She quickly came into his house before he asked her a question.

"Oh hi, sis, what are you doing here?" Nick asked.

"Just checking to see of what's going on, what else?" Vicki answered. "Say, Nick, may I have a word with you for a moment?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

While Robert was sitting on the couch and waiting at the living room alone, Vicki and Nick were heading to the kitchen. She glared at her little brother and gave him a quick rundown.

"Nick, whatever it is you're up to, you'd better behave yourself," Vicki warned him, pinching his cheek.

"Ow, I'm just trying to interact with your fiancé, sis - ow!" Nick groaned, as he felt his cheek being pulled by his big sister.

"Well, I hope you won't do something crazy by the time you're visiting us!"

"Ugh, why would I do something like that? Ah, ow!"

"Then, promise me you won't try anything funny."

"Okay, fine! I promise, I promise!"

"Good!"

Vicki and Nick had return from the kitchen while Robert was waiting for them at the living room. She immediately went back to her house and waved farewell to the two boys.

"That was fast..." Robert mumbled. "What was that all about?"

"You seriously don't want to know, dude..." Nick moaned, as he was massaging his cheek where Vicki pinched.

The next morning, five people had arrived at the island where Vicki, Claire, and Sonia worked. While Vicki was on her way to Paradise Planning, four boys were planning to go elsewhere during their free time.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but Jimmy and I will be roaming around the beach," said Sammy.

"You guys always roaming around the beach while waiting for your soon-to-be girlfriends!" said Robert, rolling his eyes and waving his hand dismissively.

"Hey, you can't blame us for doing the same thing, muscle-brained island representative! So, if you'll excuse us, we'll be taking our leave!"

"Yeah, good luck and have fun on whatever it is you're planning, Robert, Nicky-boy!" Jimmy laughed, as he and Sammy were heading to the beach.

Robert explained to Nick that the twins didn't change much, but they eyed on the girls they adored the most. These girls, Claire and Sonia were also the friends of Vicki. Nick finally understood of where this was going. All of a sudden, a black horse appeared from the restaurant and spotted the two boys.

"Hey, you two!" said the horse, looking at Robert and Nick.

Two confused boys were looking around to see if the horse, Roscoe was referring to someone else. Then, Robert and Nick were staring at each other with the puzzled look on their faces.

"Who? Us?" Robert asked in confusion, while he was pointing at himself.

"Yes, both of you!" Roscoe answered. "Who else do you think I'm referring to, nay?"

"Is there something you need from us, Roscoe?" Nick asked.

"Yes, there is. You see, the problem is the restaurant is short-staffed. So, I'm looking for someone who will take their place for only today, nay. I'll pay you both a bonus if you're both willing to help out just for today. What do you say, nay?"

Without any hesitation, Robert and Nick decided to help Roscoe in the restaurant for just one day. The boys asked the horse of what to do in the restaurant. Roscoe explained everything of what they needed to do. So, he took them to the restaurant and offered them a new, cleaned uniforms and their job positions.

Several minutes later, Robert and Nick were wearing the fast-food uniforms and their job positions were the cashiers. By the look on their faces, they looked devastated and dreadful when they put those uniforms on. As soon as the customers showed up, they were stunned of who they were. When Sammy and Jimmy were ready to order something, their faces turned pale, just like the temporary cashiers'.

"Welcome, may I take your order?" Nick asked, forcing a smile while hiding his irritation from the twins.

"Yeah, I would like to order potato soup, a slice of chocolate cake, and a vanilla shake," Sammy replied, with a crooked smile.

"And I would like to order a cheeseburger, some fries, and a coke," Jimmy answered, with a weak smile.

After Nick put down the twins' orders, he added the amount altogether and revealed their total prices. Sammy paid for his and Jimmy's orders and Nick gave him a change after collecting his money. While the twin brothers were waiting for their orders, they were starting to burst with laughter and pointing at Nick and Robert. Two temporary workers got very pissed off when Sammy and Jimmy made fun of them.

"I owe those two a knuckle sandwich later..." Robert grumbled.

"That's my line, dude," Nick murmured.

When Sammy and Jimmy's orders were ready, the twins took the food and drinks from the counter. Again, they were still pointing at Robert and Nick and continued to laugh so hard. By the time they left the restaurant, two temporary workers cracked their knuckles so they could deal with them later. Roscoe and the two working animals were meeting up with the two humans. One of the animals was the lion named Rex who was in charge of making hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. Another animal appeared to be a cat named Punchy who was responsible for making salads and soups.

"Good job, boys, keep up a good work, nay!" said Roscoe in triumph.

"Indeed, why don't you two take a break for a little while, cool cat?" Rex suggested.

"That's right, we can serve you a free meal, mrmpht!" said Punchy.

"Is that really okay?" Robert asked.

"Of course, it's okay!" Roscoe explained. "When you work in the restaurant, you will get a free meal!"

"Sweet, I'll grab a grub then!" said Nick excitedly.

"Me, too!" Robert agreed. He and Nick decided to get a free meal, so they could eat during their break time.

One hour later, Vicki, Claire, and Sonia entered the restaurant after their job was finished. They were ready to order some lunch, so they could eat inside together. To Vicki's surprise, she saw Nick and Robert temporarily working here.

"Uh, w-what are you two doing here?" Vicki asked, twitching her eyebrows at her little brother and her fiancé.

"What does it look like we're doing?" Nick asked, giving his older sister a sidelong glance.

"Say, Vicki, who is this guy?" Claire whispered, glancing at Nick.

"Ah, right, you two haven't met my brother yet," Vicki whispered back, as she began the introduction. "Claire, Sonia, this is my little brother, Nick. And Nick, these are my two friends who worked at the same place as me, Claire and Sonia."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you!" everyone exclaimed in unison.

"As for what Nick and I are doing..." Robert explained, as he cut off the introduction. "Roscoe asked us if we can temporarily work here for just one day, and we both accepted the offer!"

"Ah, so that explains everything!" said Vicki.

"Yeah, no doubt about it when Sammy and Jimmy laughed their butts off!" Claire grinned, which made Robert and Nick gave her a disturbing glare when she said it. "Guys, what's with that look?"

"Um, um, anyways, I'm ready to order now!" said Vicki, changing the subject.

Vicki, Claire, and Sonia bought their own lunches and ate inside the restaurant. Nick and Robert were inside the kitchen since there's no customers in sight. Nick wanted to show Robert something, so he took out his smartphone and showed it to Robert. When the red-haired boy looked at his friend's phone, his face was turned bright red as an apple.

"My dude, can you explain this picture to me?" Nick asked sternly, as he glared at Robert. It was the image of Robert carrying Vicki while she was dressed as a mermaid.

"N-Nick, where on earth did you get that picture from?" Robert asked curiously, before he could answer Nick's question.

"I thought you're fully aware of, but I guess not... Anyways, one of Vicki's friends sent the picture to your sister Lorelei; and then, Lorelei showed this to me and sent it to my smartphone right away. If I recalled correctly, this picture was taken few days ago, right?"

Robert didn't feel like answering his friend's questions, so he crouched down to the floor and lowered his head like a ball. He felt so ashamed after what he just saw from Nick's smartphone and heard the whole explanation. Nick, on the other hand, tilted his head to the side as if he thought his friend was feeling unwell. As soon as they heard the customers' footsteps, they hurriedly went back to the counter and ready to take orders from the customers.

At the kitchen area, the reptile demon, Solomon hid behind the food storage and spied the three animals. He unleashed his powers to snatch the dream life forces from them before they got turned into the nightmare monsters. Solomon cackled as he took three dream life forces and disappeared.

After Nick and Robert got the orders down, Nick went to the kitchen and was about to tell Roscoe and the others to prepare the food. But few seconds later, he got shoved away from the kitchen somehow. Robert checked on his friend whether he was injured or not. Vicki immediately rushed to her little brother after she ate her food and saw what just happened.

"Guys, I'm alright, no broken bones here," Nick reassured Robert and Vicki. "But you wouldn't believe of what I just saw in the kitchen..."

Before Nick could explain, three nightmare monsters crashed into the dining room. That made the customers screamed and ran away in a panic, including Claire and Sonia. While they were running away from the place, Jimmy saw what happened since he and Sammy were at the patio. He wanted to run away like the others, but his older brother grabbed him by the collar in order to stop him.

"Will you sit down?" Sammy commanded, as he forced Jimmy to sit back down.

"But Sammy, we'll be under attack by those monsters if we don't get out of here!" Jimmy cried.

"I'm not finished with my cake yet!" Sammy continued eating his cake while Jimmy waited for him to finish it up quickly. Until the attack came out of nowhere and went right between them, Sammy hurriedly finished up the cake, so he and Jimmy could get out of here.

Back inside the restaurant, Nick used his broom to block the monsters' attacks. But one of the monsters easily grabbed the broom and threw him to the wall. Vicki called out his name and rushed to him, but Robert stopped her right away.

"Vicki, wait!" Robert exclaimed. "Let's transform right now since nobody's here!"

"Oh yeah, let's do it!" Vicki nodded. "Angelic dream rescue action!"

"Knight dream rescue action!"

One of the nightmare monsters threw out the sizzling lava onion rings at the dynamic duo. They quickly dodged the hazardous rings, which they caused the chairs, tables, walls, floors, and windows burned holes. Another monster tossed out the poisonous soup at the Duo of Justice. Once again, Phantom Angel and Masked Swordmaster avoided the attack. The poisonous soup damaged the furnishings by melting them when it was spreading.

"Waah, there goes the new, beautiful restaurant!" Phantom Angel shrieked in panic.

"We'll worry about that later, Phantom Angel," Masked Swordmaster reassured her, "but right now, we have main things to worry about!"

"That's easy for you to say!"

"Just suck it up already..." said the familiar voice, as it reached the Duo of Justice's ears. They turned to see Nick who was standing between the heroes and the monsters after he was recovered.

"Nick?" said the dynamic duo in unison.

"I'm not afraid...to some monster like them. And I will show them no mercy!"

Nick was charging at the nightmare monsters with full force. The Duo of Justice were dumbfounded and tried to stop him. Instead of fighting back, one of the monsters caught Nick's fist, grabbed him, and threw him to the table. After Nick fell off the table, he tried to get up, but he was unable to do so because he was badly hurt.

"No, Nick!" Phantom Angel shouted, as she then glared at the monsters. "You vile monsters, how dare you harm my brother and damage the restaurant?!"

Phantom Angel screamed in rage as the golden light enveloped her. The nightmare horse threw out the tray discs at her, but she knocked them down with her staff. Then, she summoned the heavenly light flash attack at the nightmare monsters. Finally, she used her healing magic to turn them back to normal animals.

Nick slowly opened her eyes and glanced at Phantom Angel who turned out to be his sister since he already knew her secret identity. He slowly sat up while he was still badly hurt. The angel gestured him to go easy and not push himself any further.

"Nick, how are you feeling right now?" Phantom Angel asked.

"I'm feeling alright..." Nick answered. "Although, I'm still hurt, but still, no broken bones..."

"That's very good to hear!" Phantom Angel took out her heart compact mirror and turned it into a fan with soft, fluffy feathers behind her. As soon as she took it out, Nick noticed she was holding a fan.

"Uh sis, what's with the fan?" Nick asked, pointing at the fan and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, this?" Phantom Angel chuckled. "I'm just using this...TO SLAP YOU SILLY FOR DOING SOME CRAZY STUNTS AND SAYING SOMETHING CRAZY! You have no idea of how worried I am!"

Nick tried to defend himself while Phantom Angel slapped him with her fan in multiple times. The two were protesting each other while one kept on hitting and another still defended himself. Masked Swordmaster went silent this whole time and had no idea of what just happened. He glanced around the restaurant and realized it needed to be fixed.

"Hey, I know that I have nothing to do with your argument and all, but we need to repair the restaurant first!" Masked Swordmaster interjected, as he broke up the fight between his "female counterpart" and her brother.

"Oh right, perhaps, Nick will help you clean up the restaurant," said Phantom Angel, as she shoved Nick to her "male counterpart."

"Me?! Why do I have to do all the dirty work?" Nick asked.

"Unfortunately, Nick isn't the only one I need help with..." said Masked Swordmaster. "I need your hocus-pocus magic tricks to fix the damages, Phantom Angel. Because you have something that none of us have."

"Fine, I'll help you all out anyways..." Phantom Angel sighed. "However, you can blame someone who thinks he was all high and mighty, but ends up getting beaten by the nightmare monsters!"

"Hey!" Nick shouted, as he was glaring at his own sister.

The next day, Nick was ready to head back to StarLily. He wanted to chat with Vicki and Robert one last time before he left. But the conversation got interrupted by Sammy and Jimmy.

"Well, heading back to your hometown, Nicky-boy?" Sammy asked, slapping him on the shoulder. "We're going to miss you, pal."

"Yeah, don't forget to write," Jimmy smiled, as he slapped Nick's other shoulder.

"D-Don't worry, I-I won't forget..." Nick groaned, as he rubbed his shoulders at a same time.

"But guess what? We secretly took a best photo of you and Robert wearing those fast food uniforms from the other day so we can post-ugh!" Sammy moaned, when he got interrupted by Robert who punched him in the stomach.

"Hey, he was about to tell you all that we're going to post this picture online-aah!" Jimmy whimpered, when he suddenly got kicked in the groin by Nick who deserved payback.

Sammy and Jimmy were groaning and crying in pain and lying on the ground, curling themselves like a ball. Vicki, Robert, and Nick ignored them and continued their farewells.

"Well, guys, now is the time for me to go," said Nick, "I'll be seeing you again next time!"

"Yeah, we'll be seeing you again on my wedding day, little bro!" said Vicki.

"Right! It's on next year, is it? I won't forget to inform everyone about your wedding, big sis!" Then, Nick finally turned to Robert. "And Robert, take care of my sister for me! I trust you in my hands!"

"Yeah, you got it, Nick!" said Robert, giving him a thumbs-up. "I wish you'll be safe back home!"

"Thanks...brother-in-law."

"Huh?"

"Uh, g-goodbye until we'll meet again on your big wedding day...which it will be on next year!"

Nick immediately hopped on to the plane while he was flustering. As soon as the plane departed, Vicki and Robert waved him farewell until the plane was out of their sight.