CHAPTER 7: In Which Gwen Hates Zoe, Txt It

After they'd finally removed every single weed from every single public garden bed, Gwen and her friends were sweaty, dirty, and spectacularly tired. Mason had said that physical labour would make them feel empowered and strong, but it had basically the opposite effect. Even seeing the weed-free beds as they trudged back to the clocktower didn't really make them feel that much better.

When they finally reached Mason's office, they tried to put a brave face on things.

"It was...great," Gwen tried. "Doing things with our own hands."

"Yeah," Jason agreed with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. "I feel like we really helped out the town."

Zoe was silent, looking down at her ruined manicure in tired despair.

"I knew you'd have a great time, yes," Mason rumbled, enthusiastic grin plastered wide on his brown cheeks.

"Yeah," Celia agreed. "I never realised how cool gardening could be?"

"Exactly!" he nodded, clapping her on the shoulder so hard she almost fell over. "I'm so proud of you little heroes! You worked hard, yes?"

"We sure did," Adrian agreed, covering a yawn with one dirt-encrusted hand. "So, uh...is that...the end of our quest? Are we done?"

"Eager to get your emblem and move on, yes?" Mason asked with a booming chuckle. "Well, I don't know...gardening is great, but have you really helped anyone since becoming heroes?"

There was silence for a moment, and then -

"Oh," Gwen cried. "Yes, we did! Adrian and I rescued a stolen Pichu and returned it to the Adventurine daycare center."

Mason nodded thoughtfully. "Stolen pokemon are bad, yes. Good work."

"We, uh, we saved some stolen pokemon too," Zoe added. "Two, in fact."

"Oh get real," Gwen snapped. "Zoe, what?"

"It's true," Zoe smirked at her. "We saved two tiny little stolen Budew, and we walked them all the way back to the daycare center. I hear you let the police take your Pichu back..." She trailed off with a grand gesture that was probably supposed to imply how terrible a hero Gwen was when compared to her.

"Ugh," Gwen said, forcing down the urge to strangle her foster-sister. "Look, Pichu was injured, and they could get it to the Pokecentre faster than we could, alright? And we didn't want to waste a whole day walking in that forest."

Zoe sniffed, lifting her nose into the air. "If it was me, I would have carried that poor Pichu all the way to the Pokecentre."

That was it.

Gwen's vision blurred in a haze of red, and she launched herself at Zoe, intent on beating some sense into her. She got a solid punch in, and Zoe managed to scratch her face, before Adrian could grab her and pull her away. Jason and Celia held onto Zoe, who struggled like a feral Meowth.

"Let me at her," Zoe cried, writhing in fury. "I'll teach her to punch my beautiful face!"

"I'll punch it again," Gwen promised, trying to get out of Adrian's grip. "Just you wait!"

Mason cleared his throat, and both girls went still. They looked at the hero, who had raised his eyebrows.

"This is how heroes act?" he asked. "Punching each other?"

"She started it!" Zoe cried, pouting at Mason.

"I – I started it?" Gwen asked incredulously. "Zoe, you baited me! You were trying to get me angry!"

"I was just saying what I'd do in your position," Zoe sniffed, trying to look as innocent as possible with an eye that was rapidly blackening. "Why would I want you to be angry? We're sisters, Gwen."

Gwen snarled wordlessly, trying once more to get away from Adrian.

"Enough," Mason boomed. When Zoe looked triumphant, he clarified "That goes for both of you. This behaviour is completely unacceptable, yes?"

"Yes," they echoed softly, looking at the ground.

Mason sighed. "If this was the only thing I'd heard today, neither of you would receive emblems. But you saved stolen pokemon, and you helped the town. Settle your issues, girls, or I'm sure that you will never get another emblem."

Gwen grumbled, but she could see his point. She was lucky they'd just been in Mason's office, and that they were all out of uniform. If they'd acted like this on a mission, or if civilians had seen heroes acting like this...

"I'm sorry," she muttered to Zoe. "I shouldn't have hit you."

"I should think not!" Zoe cried, then relented. "And maybe I shouldn't have said what I said."

Adrian and Jason released the girls, but Celia continued to cling to Zoe's arm.

Mason handed out the emblems. "Remember what I said," he rumbled sternly. "Work it out."

Gwen ducked her head, feeling embarrassed. It had been a while since she'd let Zoe rile her up like that, and even longer since she actually punched someone. She was sure Zoe would have some things to say about her eye, as puffy and bruised as it was.

Once they were all back outside the tower, Celia cleared her throat. They all looked at her.

"Guys," she said pointedly to Gwen and Zoe. "What is even your issue? You need to sort this out before we go any further, you really do."

Gwen crossed her arms. She didn't want to talk about this – heck, she wasn't even sure what there was to talk about. Zoe had randomly decided to hate her, she'd done nothing.

Zoe pursed her lips and glared at the ground. "We don't need to sort anything out," she said after a long pause. "We just need to separate again. Working together just isn't a good idea."

"What?" Jason asked, incredulous, but Gwen nodded her head.

"Zoe's right," she said, a wry twist of her lips indicating she knew how infrequently she said that. "We should just split up. Sorry, guys."

Adrian and Jason didn't look happy about it, but Celia sighed. "If you guys think that's what's best," she said, "I guess it makes sense."

Zoe tossed her long red hair over one shoulder. "There," she said. "Was that so hard? See you round, Adrian."

And with that, she stormed off down the road. Celia and Jason looked after her, then back at Gwen and Adrian.

"Yeah, I guess we'll see you guys later," Celia agreed reluctantly. "Maybe we'll run into each other in Tanzanite?"

"Hopefully," Jason said with a frown. "We didn't get to catch up today at all! When Zoe calms down, we can hang out again."

"You know she's not going to calm down," Gwen said with a laugh. "Zoe doesn't know the meaning of the word calm."

Celia laughed, then glanced over her shoulder in the direction Zoe had gone. "We really should go," she said. "Email me, okay?"

"Sure," Gwen said, giving her friend a hug, trying not to suffocate in Celia's tangle of mahogany hair. "We'll send you so many emails you won't know what to do with them all!"

With another laugh, Celia jogged away, following Zoe. Jason gave Gwen and Adrian a disappointed look before following Celia.

Gwen sighed. "Sorry," she said, unable to face Adrian. "I know you wanted to catch up with everyone. Sorry I ruined it." Without warning, she could feel her eyes filling with embarrassed tears.

Just as suddenly, Adrian enveloped her in a hug, resting his sharp chin on her head. "It's not your fault," he said softly. "Zoe knew exactly which buttons to push, don't worry about it. We'll call the others later."

Gwen blinked away the tears and smiled. The day had been a whirlwind of excitement, disappointment, and fury, not to mention the six hours of mind-numbing, back-breaking boredom. But right now, in this moment, being held by her best friend...she felt at peace.

After a moment, Adrian spoke. "Can I let go now?" he asked plaintively.

Gwen laughed, and pulled away from her friend. "Thanks," she said with a small smile. "I needed that."

Adrian looked a little awkward, like someone might have seen him being emotionally sensitive. "Uh," he said. "Shall we go get some food?"

"Oh my god," Gwen said. "Yes? I am so hungry."

Linking arms, they walked off down the street in search of a nice cheap restaurant, in the opposite direction Zoe and her group had gone. Gwen agreed with Adrian, they could call Celia and Jason later. But for now, she just needed to forget about Zoe entirely.