Chapter 49: The Aftermath of the Scary Sequence

"Mmm… Mmm… oh, my head… wait, it's still morning?"

"Yes. It still is."

"Huh… who said that?" I said as I rubbed my eyes as I woke up from a deep sleep I was in.

"I'm right behind you."

When I looked behind, there was a girl behind me who looked a lot my age, having long black wavy hair and gray eyes, and wearing a black leather jacket, black jeans, and black boots. I had a feeling she was some sort of agent or something.

But with her here, I had a feeling she was the one that caused that fog.

"W-Wait a minute! Was that you with that suspicious fog that brought me to sleep?!" I asked, looking disgruntled with her.

"N-No. I've seen you kidnapped by these suspicious people. I had no idea what was going on, but their ringleader was going through your pockets and your shirt."

"Going through my pockets and my shirt? What does this ringleader look like?" I asked, wanting to get more information from her.

"Well… he has this rare skin tone of purple, he's almost big and strong, wearing armor…"

Thanos!

"Ok, that's all I needed to know. I know who that being is." I said.

"How do you know? I wasn't done describing him yet." The girl said with a sweatdrop.

"I know all about him. And to be honest, I know what he's planning to do. But… how did you know where he was?"

"Last night I saw him up in the sky. I found it very suspicious but I know he's up to no good. But you should go home just for your own safety. I'm gonna do everything I can to locate this demon."

"But you don't know where he is. He can teleport anywhere."

"I don't care. He can't hide from me. I will find out what he's up to." The girl said, looking annoyed.

"But you're in luck. Because I really know what he's up to. At least just listen to my story." I said.

"Are you sure? You were the one asleep, so I guarantee you don't know what he looks like."

"I know him. One hundred percent."

"Ok, fine. Go."

*SEVERAL MINUTES LATER*

"And that's everything I know." I said after explaining everything I know about what Thanos is plotting.

"Hmm… I guess this is really serious. Are you sure you're not making this up?" The girl asked after listening to my story.

"N-No. This isn't hearsay or anything. This is all coming from what I see." I said, with a sweatdrop.

"Ok, ok. Goddamn." The girl said with a facepalm. "So these stones that this Thanos guy is searching for. Do they have an origin?"

"I think they do. It's probably due to the popularity we have in our world. Our world was popular so a stone just came into our world."

"Our world was… popular?" The girl asked, looking confused.

"I was confused at first, but it's true. The only time these stones appear are when worlds are becoming popular. So the chances of the stones appearing get higher as worlds become popular."

"Do you know someone that knows this information?"

"I do. She can give you all the information. But I have to go to a different world to do so."

"Go to a different world? That's…"

"Trust me! This is the only way!" I said as I left the girl alone as I was about to run back inside my house to get my telecator.

"I'm home, Mom! Sorry, I'm late!" I said as I came back home in no less than a minute.

"K-Kaze? Are you ok, sweetie? Did you get caught in danger or something?" My mom asked, looking shocked and confused.

"I-I'm fine. Good news: I found the fifth person. I may not know what her name is, but she wants to know more about Thanos and these stones."

"D-Do you know her name? I think it's best that you find somebody else." My mom said, looking worried.

"She just told me that she was an eyewitness. She knew something suspicious was going on with Thanos and that's why I wanted to help her. I don't have anybody else to recruit."

…

"*sigh* Ok, but please be careful around her. I want you to be safe for me and Dad's sake. Are you going back out?"

"Yes. I'm going to inform Lunia. She can definitely fill her in on everything." I said.

"Ok. I hope you know what you're doing."

"I am." I then ran to my room to get my telecator and went back downstairs to head back outside.

On my way out, I somehow noticed that it was already afternoon in the blink of an eye due to the sun's quick movement.

Was I asleep for that long?! What time is it?

I checked my phone to figure out the time and I was surprised at how much time had passed.

It's 11:48?! It was 8:25 earlier this morning! Ugh… forget it.

I then went ahead and rushed back to the same spot where I had fallen asleep. And much to my relief, the girl from before was still here.

"I'm back. I got what I needed." I said to the girl as I brought in my telecator.

"J-Just a Walkie-Talkie?" The girl asked, looking confused.

"It's like a Walkie-Talkie." I said as I then pressed the button on the telecator to activate a portal in front of us.

"This is a telecator. It opens up portals to different dimensions for wherever we wanna go." I explained.

"Huh. I see… but how do you know where to find somebody that knows these stones?" The girl asked.

"I've been here before. She knows all the answers to our problems." I said.

"Fine. Let's get going then."

We then entered the portal that led to Lunia's base. Once we arrived there the girl was surprised by the scenery of this world.

"Wow… What is this place?" The girl asked as she was looking around to see the futuristic stuff that's here.

"Hyperdrive City. Everything you see is Sci-Fi stuff so you might be able to see really cool things here."

"Huh. This is a sight to behold. A-Anyway, you lead the way. I'm not too… experienced here." The girl said.

"Yeah, of course." I said as the both of us were now walking inside Lunia's base where it was quiet as always.

Lunia should have workers here. Or guards. No wonder why there's no one around.

"It's very quiet here." The girl said as she was discovering this place.

"I know. But don't worry." I said. "This person I'm meeting is not gonna hold you hostage. She's just someone that is willing to help."

"I hope so. Because if it's a trap I'm leaving you."

"It would never be a trap. Again, I've been here before so there's no way it's possible."

"Ok. As long as it's not a trap."

As soon as we reached the automatic doors, I used the hand scan to have authorization inside.

*ACCESS GRANTED*

The automatic doors opened and we walked inside to the next room to see not only Lunia, but Alexis, Scarlett and Zack.

"Hello." I said to my friends.

"Hi, Kaze." Alexis and Zack said.

"Hello, Kaze." Scarlett said.

"Welcome back, Kaze. I assume this is your friend?" Lunia asked as she was glad to see me again.

…

"Well… we barely know each other. But she's the reason why I came here." I said.

"I got sent here in all truthfulness. I didn't plan this but she did." The girl said. "Wait a minute. Your name is Kaze?"

"Yes. Kaze Matsuzaki. Kaze for short. I guess you never told me your name either."

"Y-Yeah. That's a mouthful. Anyway, I'm Kinsley White. Just Kinsley for short."

Well it's not really a mouthful. I mentally said with a sweatdrop.

"But yeah. I was probably the reason why we came."

"Ok. What's the purpose?" Lunia asked.

"She got caught in a scary situation I stopped. It almost sounded uncomfortable that I just needed to halt them. But then they escaped afterwards."

"Scary situation?"

"Hold on. What do you mean by "scary situation"?" Scarlett asked.

"I fell into Thanos' trap by this strange fog." I said. "One morning I was walking outside where there was nobody around. I was texting Gemma when I noticed these big footsteps in the forest and it really raised suspicion. So I decided to investigate for a little and that was when the fog came in and wore me out. It was a feeling that I was tired and took me out in an instant. I tried to get out of there, but I couldn't."

"What?! Then that must've meant he's hunting you down for the red stone next! I'm so glad you were provided backup!" Lunia said in relief.

"But how did Thanos know about this?! There's no way he would find you in a big country!" Alexis asked in disgust.

"I think his mastermind told him her location. He or she thinks he or she has eyes everywhere." Scarlett said with an annoyed look.

"Right. Much like recon. I'm guessing they have the same technology as us." Zack said.

"I wanted to find this Thanos person immediately, but I'm guessing you have all the information, yes?" The girl named Kinsley asked.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure Kaze told you everything, right?"

Lunia asked.

"Well… only Thanos. Is there other worlds involved?"

"Yes. Including your world, other worlds are about to face a significant challenge in the upcoming days, which is why I offered a myriad amount of support from you girls. These stones, in which Kaze told you, hold different meanings. They're usable, but it is much needed here. We can't let the mastermind know where the stones are, so it would be best to store them in the safest place here."

"You know, now that I think about it… that bright light several days ago… was it the stone that caused all this news?"

"Yes. I checked the news on my phone." I said. "People were talking about the bright light confusion. Not only was there one bright light in our world, but there was another one in a different world. I went there and it was way too bright. It almost burned my eyes."

"I see… so I guess you weren't the only one." Kinsley said while thinking about it.

"Did your eyes get burned too, Ms. Kinsley?" Lunia asked.

"It just scared me to death. I was utterly disgusted." Kinsley said with a dirty look on her face.

"I feel like everybody is about to say the same thing, but what matters is hopefully we have peace restored." Scarlett said.

"Yeah, so… what now? This is what you wanted to show me?" Kinsley asked.

"Yeah. You wanted to find Thanos, right? I have others I've recruited and it's possible that they're gonna join me. I've got nobody else to recruit after that."

"Hmm…"

…

"Well… I did say that. And the amount of you are short on reinforcements to defeat Thanos, so… *sigh* I guess we can create an alliance." Kinsley said as she gave in after seconds of thinking.

"Thank you so much, Kinsley. I hope we can be a big help together." Lunia said happily.

"Same here, Kinsley." I said with a smile.

"Well I'm only here to put a stop to whoever's causing all of this, not just to hang out." Kinsley said with a blush on her face.

"Don't worry. We'll find out who's causing all this. Just got to bear with us." I said.

*RINGTONE CHIME*

"Oh… that's my phone." I said as I went into my pockets to get my phone.

"It's my friend, Blue. Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Kaze! I brought Candace here in Hyperdrive City. Come quick!"

Great! Now we are making a lot of progress!

"Alright. I'm on my way." I said as I hung up the phone, with a surprising look on my face. "I'll be right back. Candace is here."

"Candace? Who's Candace?" Scarlett asked.

"Someone I recruited." I said as Ieft everyone behind to go meet up with Blue.

I'm not sure how that happened, but I was surprised Candace is in Hyperdrive City. One time, Gemma was concerned and confused, but somehow, it's Candace that got here. I was wondering what got her to accept.

I guess Blue must've done the recruiting.

But this day is starting to make a comeback. One time, I was in great danger, but now I'm now starting to get help from others. With Candace here, I'm sure we would have no problems helping each other out. At least, if she needs it.

"O-Oh. Geez… Hello, Blue and Candace." I said, as they scared me as soon as I reached outside.

"Hi, Kaze." Blue said.

"Nice to see you again, Kaze. I've read your letter, knowing you need assistance from the "Should've been" Royal Rally Champion." Candace said, acting like she has lots of pride in herself.

"Y-Yeah. There's not much time left though, so a friend of mine is gonna give you the information for what's about to happen in the upcoming days."

"Well… if it makes you happy, then I'll listen." Candace said.

"Alright. Follow me." I said as I escorted them to Lunia's base.

Now I'm starting to act like I live here. I don't know why though.

"So did you find anyone to recruit yet?" Blue asked as we were walking together.

"Luckily… I did." I answered.

"R-Really?!" Blue asked as she was surprised at my answer.

"Yes. But I'll have to explain to you my situation first. It may lead to why she was recruited here in the first place."

"Oh ok. It sounds urgent."

"Yeah. I'll tell you once we get here."

"This place reminds me of a mansion that I once saw. I'm not sure why. Do you ladies know?" Candace asked.

"I-I'm not sure, Candace." Blue said with a sweatdrop.

"Well, this is all Sci-Fi. My friend will tell you about this world as we go along." I said.

"Fine by me."

I placed my hand on the hand scan, opening the automatic doors as we were about to enter the next room up ahead.

Hopefully, this will be music to everyone's ears.

"I'm back. Sorry about that." I said.

"Welcome back, Blue. And I assume you are Candace?" Lunia asked as she was happy to see Blue and Candace.

"Yes. That's me. Candace Maxey. Pleasure." Candace said.

"Nice to meet you, Candace. I am Lunia. The goddess and ruler of this dimension called Hyperdrive City."

"G-Goddess and ruler? Y-You mean the people worship you?"

"Yes. You may think of it as an empire, but it's all futuristic things. Everything you see is modern technology. I have a lot of people that are actually working on different types of stuff."

…

"O-Ok then." Candace said with a sweatdrop.

"Oh and these are my kids. Kinda." Lunia said as she wanted them to introduce themselves.

"I'm Alexis. I've heard of you. Sucks that you lost the Royal Rally. But it doesn't matter, I guess." Alexis said.

"My name is Scarlett. I'm the intelligent one out of the three so I can be a big help along the way. I hope we'll be great together." Scarlett said.

"And I'm Zack. Whether you need help with technology, I'm on the job. Just say the word and I'll get it done. Overall, it's nice to meet you." Zack said.

"Wow, such kind people I see. Unlike the ones from back home. I guess I can get along with you all."

"Our friends are nice too, Candace." Blue said with a sweatdrop.

"You and your "friends" give me problems. I don't give a damn what they do." Candace with an annoyed look.

"H-Hey, Candace? Language." Lunia said.

"W-Wait a minute, I can't swear? Not once?" Candace asked.

"No. You are still young. I mean it's ok that you swear. Just not when I'm here."

"Ugh… ok, fine. I'll keep it family-friendly. Anything for you, Goddess Lunia." Candace said as she gave in easily.

"J-Just Lunia is fine. No need to be honorific."

"Anyway, Lunia, do you have any idea where Thanos is? I need to track him down." I asked.

"W-Why do you need to track him down immediately? He's too immortal for you." Kinsley asked.

"There were two stones in the United Kingdom that he was on the hunt for. At the roof in which it first appeared it and the other one I took from another dimension. Fortunately, it's safe here. But I need to know where he is now."

"Wait a minute, he was after you earlier, Kaze?" Blue asked.

"Y-Yeah. It happened this morning." I said.

"Why didn't you say anything?! I could've helped you out at least!" Blue asked with an upset look on her face.

"I was knocked out by the fog that appeared suddenly! Thanos didn't appear before then! I was too busy walking outside when I discovered these mysterious footsteps in the forest. I followed those and the strange fog caught me into a deep sleep. I thought I was done for sure."

"Wait a minute. Thanos was targeting you?" Candace asked.

"Yes. Thanos had something big up his sleeve that he was about to take the red stone from me. Luckily, he doesn't know where it's hidden." I said.

"Well, I saved her. Kinda." Kinsley said to Candace.

"Y-You did?!" Candace asked with a surprise look.

"I was originally about to hunt that foul being down, knowing that she was about to make her her prisoner."

"*sigh* Kaze, you could've been under pressure easily." Scarlett said with a facepalm.

"W-Why is this on me?! I've never seen suspicious stuff like that before." I asked, while panicking. "In my neighborhood, I've never seen stuff like that before. I really haven't. But in another dimension, me and my friends have experienced stuff like this so I had to stay calm and encouraged."

"E-Even still, Kaze. You're no match for him. How are you gonna eliminate a dangerous threat with how you are right now?" Kinsley asked.

"Well… about that…"

"I trained her, Kinsley."

"Huh?" Kinsley then looked at Lunia with a confused face.

"I don't know if I ever told you this, but I gave Kaze the ability to fight her opponents. Along with her friends."

"P-Pardon?! You can fight, Kaze?!" Candace asked.

"Well, I-I wouldn't say I'm a…"

"Yes she can! She's more of a Wonder Woman type!" Alexis interjected. "I can guarantee her combos are off the charts! You should totally see them!"

"I'm nowhere near that stage yet!" I said with a blush on my face.

"You'll get there soon. You just gotta keep believing in yourself." Scarlett said.

"But yes, we all are targeting Thanos too, so that's why we joined forces and trained together." Lunia said. "And not just Thanos, other baddies that are involved too. Allow me to locate him and we'll be situated."

Lunia then started to type a few buttons on her computer or whatever that is and started finding results.

After a few seconds of looking for results…

"N-Nowhere to be found. I-I wonder if it's a glitch." Lunia said, surprised at what she read.

"It's not that. He was in the United Kingdom earlier, but I'm not sure if it's a glitch." Zack said as he chimes in.

"Should I try again?"

"Yeah, try again. If he's not there, I'm gonna look on here." Zack said as he pulled out some sort of rare technology.

"Wait, what's that you got there?" Blue asked as he was curious about Zack's technology.

"Oh this? This is for when I need to track someone very far. It can be any person in any location. It never fails me."

"So… you invented that all by yourself?" Kinsley asked.

"Mhm. Having radars like these are always important when you're trying to find someone or something around here. So I thought maybe I'll get one for myself."

"That's why he's really a trustworthy brother to have." Scarlett said which made Zack blush a little.

"Well… I guess I should be happy for you then." I said with a small smile.

"Still no results." Lunia said.

"Hm… that's odd. There's no way it would be a glitch." Zack said. "It would track down most of the people from around the universe, dimension after dimension, but this is really odd. Ok, let me check here."

Zack did a few typing on his rare device to track down Thanos, but several seconds later…

"No dice. Can't find his location." Zack said looking a little disappointed.

"Is it the internet or something? Why is it taking so long to find him?" Alexis asked.

"No, the internet's good. I can find one person with ease, but maybe Thanos is in an unknown location."

"So he thinks he's gonna get away from someone dangerous like me, huh? That's fine with me. Because I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind wherever he goes." Kinsley said with such malice in her voice.

"W-Well, hang on there, Kinsley." Lunia said. "Kaze may not be ready for Thanos yet, but you are also not ready for him too."

"W-Why? I want to prove that I can be ready for anything that stands in my way. As well as becoming a protector for everyone."

"I understand your bravery, but Thanos has had tons of experience in fighting before. It would be highly impossible to do this alone."

"We can do this together, Kinsley."

"Huh?" She then turned her attention to me.

"I want to get payback too, but we can't think too much about him at this current moment. But I understand your feelings for me. You want to protect me, right?"

I asked.

"I-I was only here to make sure you were ok! You roped me into this type of stuff!" Kinsley said with a blush.

"I know but I had to make it easier for you. Thanos was your target from the moment you saw him. And Lunia and the others… They have everything that we need to solve this investigation. We can figure this all out together. You'll get what you want. You just got to trust us. Please."

…

"*sigh* Ok, fine. I'll start small and train here." Kinsley said as she gave in with a facepalm.

"Thank you, Kinsley. I promise you'll be pleased once we take care of Thanos." Lunia said, looking blessed.

"Hey, Mom!" We then heard Darius' voice, just as Kinsley was about to say something, as he and Kris entered the room.

"Yes, Darius?"

"You are not gonna believe this but… there's another girl that just magically popped into this dimension. It's not a joke."

"Wait, who is it?"

Oh wait, I know who it is.

Entering the room was Gemma as she made her way into Hyperdrive City and inside Lunia's base.

"O-Oh, am I intruding?" Gemma asked, looking concerned.

"Wait a minute… Gemma?!" Candace asked, looking surprised at who she just saw just now.

"Holy toledo! Candace?! You're here too?!" Gemma asked with the same reaction that Candace had.

I had a feeling they were gonna react like that.

Author's Note: So after a few hours of being knocked out, Kaze's Savior, Kinsley White has now been recruited to the team, but the questions still remain on Candace and Gemma on whether or not they're gonna team up. You may not know until the next chapter or two.

So no updates currently, just a quick author's note. But all I can say is… we're getting close. Really close. Right there. And I'm so excited.

That's all I got. If you're enjoying this story so far, make sure to follow/favorite/review this story and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.