Author's note:
Well, we rechead the final chapter of the Mall Arc, so I hope you guys enjoy it. Also it seems for the problems happening again on Fanfiction it doesn't show the reviews around each new chapter, so while it appears the review via my email inbox, I can see the emails from there. I just hope this glitch gets fixed soon.
I passed a long time thinking about this chapter, and I did my best to make the setup of many things, sorry if there is still something missing, but I did my best, so I hope you guys enjoy what I planned for this chapter. Still I have a lot of work to do and a lot to study, and I miss my friends from Discord, so K20 and my other friends you can send me a PM if you want to talk to me. Miss you guys.
Anyway, let's return with the reply of reviews:
Guest99:Well I thought the trailer already gave the hints of the first question, and I cannot promise anything related to Helluva Boss, the second Season clearly made me blank in mind so I have no idea, and I'm still looking for a job, so this fanfic had been my only focus.
MatiasND. I'm glad that you liked the last chapter, so now we are on the most important event, and I want to know what do you think after reading this chapter today. XD
Guest. I'm aware, usually I ignore them because I already do my own fanarts and coverarts, and not just me, but my friends who also pass in situations like that, Chaos Defender was one of them, so much that the scammers kinda hate him for getting into a discussion with them, and they don't have arguments against him. So yeah, I don't take them seriously.
Eccentric Guest. Thank you for like the last chapter, and buddy, well, you will have to see because this chapter was long, and many setups were made.
Guesthouse . Well to answer your question, channels of cartoons never existed, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and even anime didn't exist in such a world because it's a cartoon so there is parodies of parodies of it, but not something concrete, famous celebrities and movies existed because they are known for the pop culture, so they appear in shows inside of cartoon network as well, and references as well, but nothing something from our world. I hope you understand.
Mad Guest. It's kinda a funny idea, however that man was a movie character, which mean it was portrait by a real actor Celebrity, so while he couldn't actually be on the mall on the book signing, I think the movie itself was inspired by what happened to Ron, it would be hilarious. XD
Wolfang21 . I'm glad that you caught the reference of Alastor, and yeah, when he saw the video from home of Lindsay he freaking had hunches that he was imagining it was clearly Lucifer, Lilith and Charlie from Hazbin Hotel hahahahaha, I don't get it the last part, you mean the mask of Money Heist? Because that series was amazing and it was the one I quote in the trailer.
Just guest. That's an interesting idea, however sadly the opportunity was missed because Katie wouldn't have time to make such a jacket from scratch now that they are going to be on the show, it takes time to make clothing and Katie took a lot of it to make Ezekiel's jacket.
Odd guest. Well I'm glad that you liked the chapter, and sadly not even the happy plums will help Ezekiel on that time, because things will get serious from there. But still I hope you like this chapter.
Just guessing. Thank you for liking the chapter. Explaining the scene, Eva couldn't do that kind of tattoo because it would take a many sessions to make a real realistic tattoo as you said, it would take days returning, and since a small tattoo would take between 1 - 2 hours, and a medium and yet moderate tattoo would take 4 hours, the tattoo parloy would closing, and there was the other people of Killer Bass, so that's why I choose Zippers, to make it more or less mechanic for Eva while still having a Bass Robot, I hope you understand why I did that.
ZoyeZest . No Thanks, also Chaos Defender said Hi.
CodeTalker69. Okay answering your questions.
1- Nah, it's too early yet. XD
2- Hehehehe, you will see it.
3-I don't think I will be doing a scene like that, but if that would be an opportunity, Ezekiel would prefer to quote Cartoon Network Justice League, he isn't a comic boy, he is more a cartoon boy and Justice League from Cartoon Network made him love many iconic characters, Wally West being the best Flash and having one of the best attacks ever, Static Shock is his favorite teenager superhero, he never liked Spiderman, and from watching the movies of the future, his favorite Villain is the Riddler, he loved The Batman how it was portraited the Riddler and if he would create a villain for Batman, he would base that Riddler instead of the comic one.
4- Hunter level, which he could be using to hunt animals effectively, but not supreme like Izzy who has Rambo Level of archery, or Olympic level. Still he could be training for being able to do it in the future.
5-No, I'm not fan of comics like Ezekiel, for me comics really mess with my mind because the writers will always makes things confused and I have no idea on what to do to keep following.
djinn . Hehehehe, prepare yourself, because many things are about to happen this chapter.
Ghostly Guest. I'm happy that you liked the chapter, and about your question, who knows? I cannot tell you.
Sleepy Guest. Yeah, everyone is getting ready for the next season, it will surprise everyone in the television, let's get ready for everything XD.
Austin . I'm glad that you liked the chapter, and to reply your questions and suggestions... Some of the references it never appeared in my country, so I'm just seeing right now, I'm going to see if I will be doing that in the future, but I cannot promise anything. About Owen, he was already forgiven by Izzy and the others, but still he already got his own Karma named Max, so now he is going to enjoy the good paradise disguised as hell, Total Drama Action will be his refugee, hahaha.
About D&D, nobody plays that kind of game... and with Leonard appearing, it clearly killed any desire of them doing that, sorry, but they aren't that kind of gamers. The furniture over the downframe is hilarious as I saw so many good comedy scenes with that. XD
The Jojo reference I was fighting so much to not do any of them, maybe I will write one in the future, I don't know, who knows?
About DJ, nah, I don't see it happening.
About Eva, nah, I don't think she will be focused into getting a boyfriend yet, she will be doing her training to focus into her MMA career in the future. But she will always be glad for her friends. i HOPE THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS.
Benny Farr. Thank you for liking the chapter, and about the jacket, is one of the jackets that he will be using a lot of times, but there is a lot of other clothes that he bought for the future XD.
Just a wee guest. I'm glad that you liked the chapter after all the surprises I did, and about your suggestion I politely refuse, because I already did too much of that, and maybe I'm abusing too much characters of other shows, so I'm more focused into making more simple OCs who would fit the backgrounds from now on, didn't I tell you that I wouldn't be using Jenny from My life as teenager robot a long time ago? And no, anime and manga doesn't exist on that world like ours, only things that it's related to the pop culture to these days. Sadly, that how the things will goes. I hope you like this chapter.
Hyper LOL Guest. I'm glad that you liked the chapter, and about drawing the tattoos, maybe someday I will be drawing them and publishing on Deviantart or Reddit. Who knows? XD And yeah, the parents will freakout hahahahaha.
Mr. E Guest. I'm glad that you liked the chapter. I hope you like this one as well. XD Have fun.
duskrider . Well dude, that's the thing, movies like Shrek and Robots, already existed on that world, because they are movies, and they are part of pop culture. So you could see parodies of them and even the real version of them. So any animated movie created by any famous company who went on the theaters, then it existed. Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, Prince of Egipt, Robots, all of them existed since they are movies. Ezekiel quote Shrek because it's a famous quote, so of course many would recognize. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter. Have fun reading it.
And now, let's read the last chapter of the Mall Arc, I hope everyone likes it. XD
Before the mall opened, the world outside its glass doors had already transformed. The sun was still low, casting a soft, golden hue across the pavement, but the line had formed hours ago, a quiet testament to the anticipation that hung in the cool morning air. People stood like statues, bundled in jackets, their breath visible in the early light, as though the day itself hadn't fully awakened.
The mall's entrance, usually empty at this time, now had the appearance of a dam holding back a flood. The line stretched out across the front, curving along the sidewalk, a ribbon of humanity snaking toward the horizon. Some sat on fold-out chairs they had thought to bring, while others leaned on the walls, shifting their weight, their faces a mix of fatigue and excitement. The air around them hummed with hushed conversations, punctuated by the occasional click of a phone camera capturing the moment as if it was already part of history.
The glass doors of the mall, still sealed shut, reflected the crowd like a mirror, capturing their eager faces and outstretched bodies. Some held books, others had tote bags ready to be filled with newly purchased copies, and more than a few clutched coffees like lifelines against the morning chill. The line was more than a simple queue—it was a living, breathing entity, slowly growing, winding back and forth as more arrived, joining the ranks.
Above, the dark windows of the mall watched over the scene, cold and indifferent, giving nothing away. Inside, the stores were still asleep, their mannequins poised and frozen, unaware of the impending storm of footsteps that would soon fill the halls. But outside, the crowd continued to swell, a restless tide waiting for the gates to open, for the flood to begin.
Security guards stood at the ready, their presence calm but vigilant, as though preparing for the inevitable rush, since one of the most important members of the mall security had to go to the hospital for the day, the chaos from the last day made the former security mall members return as their way to place the entire mall in order again. The crowd, for the most part, was orderly—excited, but patient. Yet, there was an undercurrent of nervous energy, a shared understanding that when the doors finally opened, this peaceful wait would erupt into something entirely different. The stillness before the storm lingered, delicate and fleeting, as the clock ticked closer to the moment the mall would spring to life.
And from the group already in line... an iconic duo was there since 3 a.m, the two Cree sisters who had a pizza dinner with no one other than the writer of the book who was going to be signing the books for the day.
"Ahhhh," Sky yawned as she drank a coffee from one of the vendors who took the opportunity to sell across the line, and the waiting had been very draining since not only the line was very still, but they were also very bored. As most of the fans that as much the duo were excited about buying the new books, they were still a bit tired from waiting in line for hours. "I think we should have offered a Ride for him to come with us, to make him come here by himself sounded a bit harsh."
"Well, it was that or we came here early, and you decided to be one of the first, and thankfully we are in the 40th place on the line, which means a lot since there are hundreds of people here," Jane commented, which the youngest sister had to look around, and it was true, it was their choice to come early, and differently than the first book line on the bookstore where they lived, they had to compete a place against the fans almost around the state, and while the books would be sold for the other states across Canada, this mall was the only place Ezekiel was going to be signing the books.
With the forum of Total Drama Island sharing all the pictures and videos caught on digital cameras, the posts grew a big margin on how the Killer Bass were on the Mall, and now the popularity and certain of Ezekiel going to do the book signing on there, immediately made the fans going frenzy and ready to have their own book of Steven Universe and Adventure Time, but also having their books of Courage the Cowardly Dog signed. And for people who didn't have the opportunity of having the said book from the first sale, now could buy the book with also the autograph.
This was now a good reason why there were so many people in the place...
Quack* *Quack*
At that moment, Sky and Jane recognized the animal sound, which immediately made them turn their heads in the direction of their side.
"Hey Mom, there is a duck here." One of the kids on the line commented as both the athlete and her sister blinked into seeing a duck eating a few eggshells.
"Do you think it's..." Jane asked, as Sky narrowed her eyes a bit, just to identify one thing very familiar, a muslin bag.
"HOWARD?" Sky asked loudly immediately the Canadian duck which was enjoying a good breakfast meal, quickly turned its head to a familiar duo, and immediately in tiny steps walked in the direction of the Cree sisters, who clearly thought to see the familiar girls who he had an encounter weeks ago.
Quack* *Quack*
"So you are on the line too?" Jane asked in amusement as she saw the duck nodding its head to her. "We were asking ourselves if we were able to meet you again, and I'm surprised that you aren't first in the line like the last time,"
Jane commented, but then she saw Howard tilting it's head, but then shook, and gave a slight smirk on it's beak. Which both Jane and Sky looked confused as they could see the duck with a slight provocation on it's face.
"Wait, you are the first in the line?" Sky asked, as she then saw the duck nodding its head to her. "But you are now here, how you are the first on the line?"
And then Howard used it's wing to call the attention of the duo, like he was calling them to follow it. And slowly the duck started to walk, which both Sky and Jane looked at themselves.
"Should we follow him?" Sky asked as she had a bit of worry, "If we get out from the line we may lose our place,"
"That's a reasonable thought, but Howard never lied to us so far, so if he said he was the first on the line, why doubt now?" Jane said, as she simply shrugged. She could see her sister in doubt. "Maybe he found a spot for us, and come on, you already met Ezekiel yesterday, so why not try to be the first again?"
"Ughhh, why do yo. *burp* like to bring *burp* that up?" Sky said as she sighed with a slight blush on her face, as much as she enjoyed having a great talk with Ezekiel, her sister seemed to be enjoying the gossip way more than she should.
But then... they have nothing to lose, maybe they would have luck.
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.
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"The lovers," At the time Sky and Jane got inside a tent which somehow was in the front of the line, clearly made them look the confusion, into where the duck had brought them in. As the time they got in, a voice was enough to take their attention, as they saw a girl, palled like the moon, with lilac lipstick and her iconic green blouse, as she looked serene and calm as she turned a tarot card for a man who was looking in anticipation on the table where she was drinking tea. "And they were looking up, which means that you have a great choice of a romantic partner in the future..."
"Do you really think so?" The man asked as he never felt so excited, since he seemed to be a very despaired man for so many years.
"Yes, however from checking your aura, it tends to be very impulsive in your choices, and the Lovers also represents making important choices, so when it comes the time, do not think harshly, since those decisions will actually lead to a person who you will have a great future with, now... let's turn for your business work... oh my..." The girl said as she turned to the person who also seemed to be scary.
"The Devil?" The man knew it was a bad sign just to see that card.
"Yes, and he was up, which means that you will have temptations, addictions, or something that could lead to if you are not careful about what would be your choice, it could bring the end of everything you worked for." The girl commented as she pondered for a few seconds. "Possibly it could be a decision of a new business partner, so in case you would find someone willing to work with or for you, be careful because depending on that person it could lead to the bankruptcy of your company."
And the man nodded his head quickly as he learned everything the girl had taugh him, and with a quickly look on his wallet, he decided to take a few notes and place over the table.
"Thank you so much, I was needing this. I don't know how much it was, but I think this will help you to have a good dinner in a restaurant tonight." The man said, to which the girl shook her head.
"You really didn't need to do it," The girl commented but the man insisted and imediatelly left the tent, which Dawn had to sigh... "I didn't need the money, I just did because I was bored and because he needed my help. Oh Mother Nature, everyone is very impatient today..."
QUACK* *QUACK*
And just like a signal, both Jane and Sky gave a step back which made a path for the duck call the attention for the girl who looked at the duck.
"Oh, Howard, you came early, how was your breakfast?" The girl asked as then she gave a slight look and stared at the duo who came inside of the tent, which her give a small smile on her face. "So we meet at last, Sky, Jane...Welcome to my tent, I was holding your spot for 2 days."
"How did you know our names?" Jane asked as both she and Sky were in shock at seeing a girl looking at them with a smile on her face.
"Oh, well... for starters, Howard told me you both were the ones who helped him to buy my book a few weeks ago... I was the girl who signed up to be the Moonchild, my name is Dawn, nice to meet you." Dawn gave an introduction as she smiled at finally meeting the girls, she had been eager to meet them for a long time since her friend Howard had been helped by them, but also the fact that she saw on one of the girl's aura... something that she feared.
Sky's aura... which was filled with yellow with slight shades of pink and red... Which was the color of the attraction and desire...And what Sky had been desiring, and repressing, was the feelings that Dawn could be hearing Mother Nature laughing since from the day before. Their auras had been like an open book.
And just like her... the hormones of the girl nearby her, wanted to see their idol once again, Ezekiel... the book writer that she knew allowed both of them to be his friends... Or what the chaotic future would desire them to be in the future, Mother Nature had been laughing a lot recently.
"Oh my God, oh my grob, gob, glob, grod, oh my stars and all the diamonds across the universe," Ezekiel whispered as he was wearing the disguise of a fake beard a sunglasses... He learned his lesson to not appear too early than before, but in case he was, he could have stayed in Dawn's cabin for a few hours before he could hide himself to go inside the mall again, but not this time, there was a freaking giant line to even passing the streets nearby, it was so crazy that Ezekiel had no freaking idea on how he was going to pass the freaking GIANT LINE. "I'm supposed to get inside of the mall before they open, how the heck I'm going to..."
"Oh my God, Ezekiel wasn't kidding when he said there was going to have a giant line on here." Then like the universe had been helping him, a familiar voice was enough to make the boy to turn and see that a few steps away, was nobody other than Jen who was with Wyatt walking in the direction of the mall.
"JEN, WYATT, THANK GOD," The boy shouted so loud that made the duo jump in surprise, just to see a person wearing a green jacket, a big beard, and black sunglasses, but the voice and shout were very familiar, which immediately made them realize who probably that person was. And before they could even say something, he walked fast to approach them. "Can you believe how large this line is? How are even going to get inside?"
Wyatt still looked unsure, but then he just saw the boy winking on them and pointed at the fake beard. Jen also had her eyebrows raised, but from looking around and seeing there was indeed a very long and difficult way to deal with the clients, the duo who usually had been working on the mall for months, they always knew a way to get inside of the mall when it was before the time the mall was opening.
And Jen was about to say his name, but her friend imediatelly raised his hand, to bring the attention around how the public around the place had been waiting the oportunity to meet Ezekiel, so it was that time, the brunette thought for a few seconds, but with a good smile on her face, she nodded her head, and made a motion with the hand to make the boy follow her.
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.
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"Ahhh," Ezekiel sighed in relief as he took his fake beard at the time the trio got inside the Mall, since now the group used the backdoor entrance for only people who worked on the mall were allowed to pass. "Thanks, guys, this fake beard was very itchy and was driving my mind crazy,"
"Why did you use a fake beard in the first place?" Jen asked as the reality show contestant simply took out his sunglasses and decided to give his explanation.
"I kinda suspected it would have happened the same thing from yesterday, so I tried to use a disguise that would help me to deal with the line… And I thought it would have been at least a hundred people wanting to sign a book or even going to buy it today, but there were hundreds and hundreds." Ezekiel said as he didn't believe how large the quantity of people were waiting to get inside. "I knew that being famous was very alarming because of yesterday, but today? I think I won't even be able to leave the bookstore."
"Well, that's the price of being famous," Wyatt commented as he was carrying both a keyboard case and a guitar case as well. "Especially from the books you wrote, I can see why people would be in the drive to read Steven Universe, from the episode Courtney sang a song about this book, everyone had been doing covers on the forum and even theories about what was going to happen."
"Yeah, and I liked to hear all the covers, they were with the heart and the melody almost in the right place, and if they keep trying, they will manage to even do fan songs that it will be fantastic to see how they would view and sing what the characters would sing and feel," Ezekiel commented as he could see Wyatt looking a bit tired. "Hey, are you okay? You look exhausted."
"Nah, I'm fine. Nothing that a triple strong coffee wouldn't solve," The musician explained as he brought the instruments with him. "I talked with Jonesy and he said there was AMP on the bookstore for me to have a better way to make the music work around there. Once again, thanks man for the opportunity."
"It's fine," Ezekiel waved as he was now feeling more comfortable even walking on the empty mall with the other employees of the other stores, usually when the day would be such a big event, most of the workers would prefer to use their excuse of working on the mall to get to go inside of the mall way before the clients, and since Ron wasn't there to annoy them, it had been an easy access to everyone.
"Well, also thank you for you and your friends appearing on Penalty Box yesterday, Coach Halder had been very satisfied with the quantity of products we sold yesterday, and with the good publicity on the forums, we didn't have that much interaction with celebrities since Ron from Maple Leafs came to the store. Even as much I said to Ron that he sucked" Jen said as Ezekiel couldn't help but look at Jen with sympathy on his face. And from his knowledge of the future… Ezekiel couldn't help but tell…
"Jen, if I tell you that Maple Leafs team sucks, would you believe me?" Ezekiel commented which made Jen and Wyatt stare at the boy who seemed to be serious. "Trust me, from Ron only making 3 goals in a whole season looks terrible, but you want to know what would be the lowest bar and the biggest humiliation a hockey team would ever have in their entire careers? If a professional hockey team lost a game an official game against a 42-year-old Zamboni driver, who works for them..."
Jen and Wyatt raised their eyebrows as they tilted their heads as the boy seemed to be talking a weird fact.
"Wha…"
"Trust me, Jen," Ezekiel interrupted as he raised his hand to interrupt her. "Whatever you may think a team would be bad, think about this fact, that would be the lowest point carrier for any team who plays hockey. Just think that when you think a team would have the most humiliating game, place this as the lowest point of their games, trust me, keep that in mind."
Ezekiel had to tell the truth, from the future Maple Leafs were the real definition of Oof, on the most humiliating way possible, since they lost against against their own Zamboni Driver who became the emergency goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes… The biggest joke of the national hockey league.
That team? Was always downhill, and Jen was right, even in the new world that Ezekiel was… Maple Leafs still sucked, but he couldn't help but bear in mind to see the game when that happens, it became a Meme so powerful on hockey, that he would want to see his friends watching this game with him, just to see their faces of disbelief from watching such a cringy game.
But still, Jen and Wyatt had no freaking idea what their friend was talking about…
Probably celebrity shenanigans.
It didn't take long until Wyatt and Ezekiel went to the bookstore, and from how the manager has experience in dealing with that kind of event, he called all the employees to be on 2 hours before the Mall opened, and that would give a good time for the employees to have breakfast, work on their stress, or better, pray for the celebrity appears on the time before the mall opens…
Ezekiel felt uncomfortable when the said manager gave a big hug and a kiss on his cheek for being in time with most of the employees… But ignoring such awkward feeling, he still acted professionally as the same way that he instructed where Wyatt would be playing the song.
"Okay, so you know how background songs work right?" Ezekiel asked as the boy who came to sit a few steps on the back in a well-spot place for him to place his instruments nodded his head. "So alright, give me what would your impression of Pearl."
"Well, she seems to be the type of moody but focusing on a good piano."
"That's right, can you give me a demonstration?" Ezekiel asked as the boy simply shrugged as he made sure to place the keyboard and prepared to make sure the AMP was well positioned he gave a few notes and decided to press the keys of the keyboard, using the good sequence of what it was his view of Pearl.
And slowly Ezekiel gave a small nod and little buy little he was getting to like more and more of the song.
"That sounds great, for a first creation for her background song it looks so great so far, with more and more ideas into trying to make sure to remain classic, and yet elegant as the way of ballet, it can show how deeply she was on her style of swordsmanship." Ezekiel commented as he gave good approval, "Okay, I believe in you that you managed to make a few background songs for the character, but there is one that I want you to focus on using your guitar."
"Oh really? What would that be?" Wyatt was happy that the person who hired him liked the way he passed most of the hours trying to think about which songs he would be playing at the event, and then Ezekiel took something from the backpack he was bringing with him, and at the time Wyatt gave a look, it was lyrics of a song.
"These songs are kinda a key for the book, you may see some of them around the lyrics I place on there, but you never know when you are going to play on here. So if you don't mind I can help you to catch the melody." Ezekiel explained as he looked around everything seemed to be ready, the organization of the bookstore and the piles and piles of his books ready to be sold, he even had to make sure to test a box of pens to make the signature and autographs to everyone appearing. And he had to confess, he was feeling anxious and he was in a pile of nervousness, but also excited to see how the day will go.
"Huh, you really can do that?" Wyatt said as he was surprised to see his boss willing to help with his songs. "Okay, which one you want to start?"
"This one… this is basically the first song Steven ever wrote, and it's the main core of the songs of this book," Ezekiel explained and even instructed on how he should be playing from the few pages of papers of songs that Ezekiel knew that it would be important for the event.
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"Good morning everyone," Jonesy said as the employees gave a stink eye on him. "Woah, what's going on here?"
"You supposed to be here 2 hours ago," One of the employees said as the tension around the area was very heavy, since the guys who gave the time to meditate, take their breakfast, and even imagine how terrifying the event of the place, it was like a sale of 96% discount they had one year, which it created such a catastrophic fear deep inside of most of the workers of the book store, and with a good reason since it had been so chaotic that 26 people broke bones and 441 had to go to the hospital or to jail, it was such event that it left the fear in the hearts of the most veteran of the workers.
Thankfully they aren't into a whole event of mega sales across the whole mall, but it was only a celebrity book signing, which from their experience, the people were more patient and well-behaved than the berserk of bunch of animals who traumatized the mall stores since 1987…
"Oh come on, I'm here already, am I not?" Jonesy said as he scoffed, but from seeing some of the coworkers simply ignoring, Jonesy was already having a feeling that he wasn't going to remain on that job for far too long. But it was enough to see some of them on the back of the bookstore around the hall where Wyatt was playing some nice guitar, and Ezekiel was signing a few books for a few of the employees of the area.
"I hope you like this one, if you want my advice, read the final chapter on Christmas, you're not going to regret it," Ezekiel said as he said to one of the girls who worked in the bookstore, who nodded their heads and thanked for him signing their books. At the time Ezekiel gave a sigh he then blinked into seeing Jonesy appearing on the work. "Oh, you are still working on here, that's great."
"Har, har, har," Jonesy commented as he saw both Ezekiel and Wyatt getting ready for one of the biggest events of his life. "I can't believe that you both came here 2 hours ago?"
"It was crazy, the line on the outside was terrifying, and if wasn't for Jen and Wyatt I would have no idea how to get inside the mall." The homeschooled boy simply gave the fact that Wyatt was drinking one of his coffee to get enough energy…
"Well, I'm about to go to the food court to try to find something to eat, does any of you want something?" Jonesy asked as Ezekiel and Wyatt raised their eyebrows, as he noticed that boy hadn't even prepared himself to have breakfast before the store opened.
Before any of them say anything…
"THE MALL WAS OPEEEEEN," The store manager shouted, which immediately the employees of the place, went to their positions, while Wyatt finished his cup of coffee, and Ezekiel clinched his fist while giving himself small slaps, to make himself ready.
"What?" Jonesy was the only person in the store who wasn't prepared…
"Jonesy… do you smell it?" Ezekiel said as he started to sniff around, which the boy had no idea what he was talking about, and even raised his armpit to check if he hadn't put the deodorant, "That smell, that kinda of smelly smell, the smelly smell that smells smelly…"
"What are…"
"Anchovies," The bookstore manager said, which appeared in surprise making Jonesy jump away.
"What?" Jonesy and Wyatt asked in unisson as they had no idea on what the manager just said, but immediately Ezekiel and the store manager insisted in one voice.
"ANCHOVIEEEEEES," Both screamed, as the waves of people finally reached the doors of the bookstore and immediately spread like water, but mostly importantly making 4 lines in one go.
"Alright everyone, in your positions, time to sell everything." The bookstore manager said as he went to organize everything as the crowd was each of them catching books and books around and even checking if there was anything else they could buy the books, while Ezekiel could see Jonesy being dragged by the store manager.
On the next second, Wyatt stared at Ezekiel as he had his eyes wide open.
"I can see why you told the joke about the anchovies 2 hours ago, for me it was just crazy stuff, but to see this place full like a bunch of fish it's overwhelming." Wyatt sweated cold as he could see the public approaching more and more and going straight to the cashiers to buy the said books. With the help of the security guards they were making sure the line of four would be organized and nothing would be too chaotic.
"Well I'm glad the story manager laughed hard when I explained about the joke of how a seafood restaurant got overwhelmed by a bunch of people who he called Anchovies," Ezekiel said as he himself could remember how the first episode of Spongebob was, and as much he would have loved to write about him, it was an abyss that he would never be able to bring the full potential of Nickelodeon, the same way of Disney Channel and Disney XD shows, or when it was Fox Kids on the time on the other world, those channels don't exist on this world, and sadly he was just one person and he would never be able to bring in reality…
"Don't be sad Ezekiel," And then a familiar voice commented which immediately made him snap from his thoughts, while Wyatt immediately felt from his chair.
"What the hell?" Wyatt commented as he almost felt a heart attack. "How did sh-"
"Hey Dawn, I'm so happy to see you again," Ezekiel said as he smiled at the former thoughts that he had before, he needed to launch away, by seeing the aura reader herself, with a duck lying over her shoulder, while both were holding a book for him to sign. "Does Howard want his book signed as well?"
"Nah, it's just for me," Dawn giggled, as the duck gave a scoff sound by even twitching on her shoulder. "Hey, I paid for those delicious meals that you had yesterday, I just wanted you to hold this book for a few minutes, it was a fair deal,"
Ezekiel saw Dawn pouting for the duck which clearly turned its head to her, and Ezekiel gladly took the book to sign.
(To Dawn, thank you so much for helping me, I needed someone I could trust with my deep secrets, and having someone as a good friend and confident of these secrets, I know that these books will be a good way for you to enjoy your day, have fun reading Adventure Time and Steven Universe. Whenever you want to talk to me, you can call my number, I know that the future has great things related to you, since you are this wonderful girl.
Wish me luck on season 2 of Total Drama.
From your good friend, Ezekiel. )
And on the corner there was a drawing of a chibi version of Dawn giving a hug to a familiar drawing of the Magical Tree of Nowhere. And a duck seeing everything. Steven Universe, Finn the Human, and Courage give a triple fist bump together.
"Here you go Dawn, also an advice, there is the final chapter of Adventure Time, and I recommend you to read it on Christmas," Ezekiel explained as the moonchild girl simply nodded her head. "Also if you need to get in touch, you have my cellphone number, so when the second season ends, call me for we hang out okay?"
"Sure, thank you Ezekiel… May Mother Nature help you on the movie themes of the second season." Dawn commented as she could already guess from reading by his auras, what would possibly be the theme of the challenges of the season 2, and since he wished to talk more with Dawn, he couldn't, since the next person would appear already to make the next book being signed.
"Hey girls, it's nice to see you again," Ezekiel commented as he saw both Sky and Jane appear not a few minutes longer after Dawn's departure, since it had been a very rushing day, he wouldn't be surprised to see the girls who helped him to have a dinner on the last night. "Got your books already?"
"Yeah, we were surprised to meet the duck and the girl who wanted the book, she was the first on the line," Sky explained as Ezekiel nodded his head.
"Dawn, and you were right, Howard seems to be an interesting duck," Ezekiel explained as he remembered the interaction that he had with both the aura reader and the animal companion she had. And for everything that he could have passed on the days, he couldn't help but appreciate more the good friends he had been around. "So after today, you both are going to return to your home?"
"Probably, but depending on the day we are going to return tomorrow morning since it will be a long ride back home, and with all these people around, it would cause a big traffic probably," Jane explained as the boy seemed to nod from seeing the logic behind the decision.
"Well, if things get to be difficult for me to even have time to rest for the day, then I will let the time to invite you for coffee for another day, I'm sorry," Ezekiel said as he opened the book, so decided to give a dedication for the Cree sisters since both Jane and Sky bought 2 books for each other. "But hey, if you want to talk to me, or even if we manage to have time, we could hang out, and if I visit the neighborhood where you two live, you can give me a tour around there."
"Do you promise?"Sky asked as she gave her best to control herself from burping into the middle of the bookstore, which seeing him smile, made her release a slight burp while he used his finger to make an X on his chest.
"I royal promise," Ezekiel said as both girls tilted their heads. "If I don't accomplish this promise, the Gumball Guardians will put me in a trial of fire."
"What?" Both Jane and Sky looked confused, but instead of being annoyed, Ezekiel simply chuckled.
"Just read the Adventure Time few chapters and you will understand, however, advice. The final chapter of Adventure Time read on Christmas day, it's the best day to read the final chapter." Ezekiel said as he finally gave each girl their own dedicatory.
As he was doing a drawing both Finn and Jake were on the Olympics podium while a chibi version of Sky was receiving a golden medal while the duo was giving their iconic High Five, Courage was wearing his dodgeball uniform, and Steven and Connie were wearing a tennis uniform with racquets in their hands.
(To Sky, thank you for being this amazing girl, I know that our country will be in great hands at the time you participate in the Olympics, always go after your dreams, but most importantly, always remember that you have good friends and a good sister to always get your back. And most important, have fun around the journey of the path of your dreams, since you never know what kind of great stories you could bring in the future. I hope you like reading both these books in the same way I loved to write them.
From your good friend Ezekiel,)
And with that, Ezekiel gave to Sky, who simply smiled and gave a few steps away, for her big sister appear, and Ezekiel already starts drawing a chibi version of Jane crossing her arms while seeing Sky and Finn being competitive in a game which somehow managed to break a vase, and from her amused look, it was indeed what big sisters would do in that situation.
(To Jane, it was very nice to meet you and your little sister, you really are a lifesaver since I had no idea what I could eat, and I had so much fun enjoying the conversation and interaction with you both, thank you for your friendship, and I wish you everything great for your future. Have fun reading these books since I know that they could be as precious to me as the same way Courage the Cowardly Dog was.
From your good friend Ezekiel,)
"Well, I hope you girls enjoy your trip back home, and have a great time girls," Ezekiel said as he could see the duo smiling at him, and even had to walk on the other side to give a hug on the homeschooled boy who just smiled from giving his goodbyes to the other duo of girls…
And with now Sky, Jane, and Dawn out of the bookstore, it seems that there were still long lines of people who wanted to take a book signing from him. And the day just had started. And there were still too many books to sign.
"Wow, I never thought being a book writer would let you to meet a lot of babes," Then for surprise of Ezekiel he looked to see Jonesy crossing his arms as he couldn't help but show a bit of envy and yet awe from seeing a lot of babes over the lines.
"Aren't you supposed to be attending the clients?" Wyatt asked as he stopped playing the guitar for a while, and decided to focus on the keyboard, but even the preparation was enough to make him ask his friend who simply scoffed.
"I'm on a coffee break," Jonesy said as he was eating a muffin, which immediately made both raise their eyebrows.
"On the start of the session? It didn't even pass 30 minutes man," Ezekiel commented as the shouts of the other coworkers and even one dragging the man by the ear, immediately made him yapping in the middle of the work. Ezekiel while smiling and signing an autograph for one of the fans, and signing a picture of himself who somehow someone printed from the Forum of the show, or even a T-Shirt of the Killer Bass logo. The boy wearing the green jacket made by his friend Katie, couldn't help but comment loudly. "He is going to get fired today isn't he?"
"Yep," Wyatt said as he finally started to play one of the Steven Universe songs. "So I was thinking about this for Lapis Lazulli,"
And then the musician boy started to play which Ezekiel passed for a few seconds, while some of the fans were enjoying the background around, as the loud sounds of the talk were distracted by the boy playing the keyboard.
"It sounds nice, but try to make it a bit more dramatic," Ezekiel said as he decided to give a good point. "Try something like this, pam pam pam paaaaam, pam pam pam pam paamm, pam pam pam pam, pam pam pam PAM PAM pam pam…"
"Hmmm, something like this?" Wyatt nodded his head, as he could see that the boy was giving the right tones, and combining with the song he did, it indeed fit better with a dramatical tone which from the look of the writer, he seemed to be satisfied with the work.
"Perfect, keep playing and try to go from there, use your creativity, it's your first day and we can work a lot with it in the future," Ezekiel explained as he could see Wyatt trying to follow the pattern he gave and slowly he could recall little by little the songs of Steven Universe, but sadly he couldn't remember 60% sure how the background songs went from Steven Universe, just the most iconic ones, so that's why he needed to trust in the musicians on their best of abilities to do all the work. "Hello, do you want me to sign for you?"
It took a very long time to keep working, and he gave his trust to Wyatt, knowing that he was going to do his best, then he knew it was in good hands.
.
.
.
"Thank you so much for buying my books, do you want me to sign them?" Ezekiel commented as the woman in front of him who he could recognize was very familiar to him, a black woman with an afro, wearing a purple dress, and purple necklace, but one thing that made it look very familiar was the fact the woman was also wearing glasses.
"Oh, of course, it's for my little Cammy Bear," The woman explained as she gave three books to the homeschooled boy who raised his eyebrows. "He wanted to read the books for the person who also was homeschooled since I have been protecting him for everything outside of the world, and since we have a bubble in our house, he is always smart, so I thought for him read something to distract his mind would be a good idea."
On that momment the key words imediatelly made Ezekiel has his eyes wide open, and the pieces were placed together.
"Just for being sure, you want me to sign his name as Cammy Bear?" Ezekiel asked the final question, which the mother shook her head.
"Oh no, his name is Cameron," Then the woman said the name which immediately Ezekiel could recognize which person was. Small World, or small country as Ezekiel finally sees the mother who made one of the future winners of the Total Drama Island the way he was…
"Okay," Ezekiel said with a good smile, as he decided to give a good dedicatory for the Revenge of Island winner, "I hope he likes my books…"
Ezekiel decided to give something special to Cameron, as he drew Steven inside of his Bubble Shield, Finn kicked the ass of Magic Man, and Courage smiled while pressing the keys of one of his biggest allies but also one of his most despised naggers. The computer.
(To Cammeron… I was also a boy inside of the bubble, and to confess to you, getting out of my metaphorical bubble had been the best day of my life. Being at Total Drama Island was the place where I was completely out of my comfort zone, and I grew up not only with the strength to endure the outside world but also grew up and mature as a person, your mother loves you and protects you in the same way my parents did to me…
But there will be the day that we must get out of our bubbles and see that even over the dangers and pain outside of the world, there will always be a treasure that we can value in life and time… experience…
Be happy with your mom, and I hope someday we can meet so you tell me about your experience of getting out of the bubble.
For one homeschooled to another, I'm doing my best to make you proud, to represent that we are smart, even if we never had a chance to go at school. Stay awesome…
From your new friend… Ezekiel,)
And with that, he drew Finn raising the fist with the words 'MATHEMATICAL' as a way of his homage.
As he finished signing he smiled for the mother, and waved his goodbyes, while warning her to read the final chapter of Adventure Time on Christmas.
And who could be the next of the line? Nobody knows…
"Pfff, please tell me you are joking," Ezekiel commented as he stared at the bookworm looking at him with his arms crossed. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,"
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up, but I got screwed by my sisters, and now I had to bring everyone here to take their books and signed for free in exchange for me doing work for you," Noah complained while it was very controversial and many complained about a bunch of people cutting in line, which would have caused a big fight if wasn't for the fact some of the people recognized it was Noah from the reality show Total Drama, and while it was about of him being caught, and even was forced to take a few pictures, the mockery coming from the line as well wasn't welcomed. "Anyway, you want something?"
"Well, since you are offering," Ezekiel commented as he went to his backpack near his foot and took a few bucks which would be enough… "I won't mind a good cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll, there are 2 places that sell that, so if you bring me a good and strong coffee I accept. Hey Wyatt, do you want to take a coffee break? And rest a bit your fingers?"
"I thought you never would ask," Wyatt commented as he had been playing songs for 2 hours, and while they had breakfast when they got in, he would never refuse a good coffee, "I also know where to find the coffee and the cinnamon roll, I can take him."
"Great, see you later boys," Ezekiel chuckled as he was signing each book dedicated for Noah's siblings, his only brother, while a group of girls being his sisters.
Where did he see a show like that before? It was a movie or a cartoon? He doesn't remember much, but still, he found it funny as Noah was looking annoyed at the fact that now he had to work to get the autographs. But still seeing the boy leaving while having a few mocking comments on how she was tricked by Heather, yeah, it was going to be a sore spot for him to be aware of the next season.
.
.
.
"JONESY WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" The line seemed to never end, and still with Noah and Wyatt returning from the coffee store where he usually Wyatt drinks his coffee every day, the duo brought a few cups of coffee and a few pastries to help them keep working while dealing with all the problems across the book signing.
"I swear, this place was supposed to be calm and quiet which was focused into people buying books, how a person signing them would create such shouting and noise around?" Noah commented as he looked at the musician who preferred to not answer that question, specially that he saw the Manager shouting furiously for his friend who isn't seen for probably 2 hours.
"Well, the life of a celebrity, yesterday was very chaotic how the public was making circles of gathered people and it made even difficult to walk around the mall," Wyatt explained which the bookworm simply shrugged.
"It may be, so… how did you got dragged into this mess?" Noah commented as the duo kept walking in the direction of lines, and see Ezekiel working without stop, giving a slight comment, a joke, a smile and a wave while signing each book for each person who appeared.
"Well, I and my friends just found him hiding from the fans, and he got disguised and when I was just talking about playing music, he simply said that he was planning to do an audiobook and needed some songs in the background." Wyatt explained as the sarcastic boy nodded his head.
"Yeah, that sounds like him, when you spend a few hours with him, it feels that he wants to hire you and then when you just blink, you are hired by him and doing some work with him," Noah said as he could see a lot of people reading the books already, and as much he disliked working a lot, he couldn't help but also feel pride. "I helped him to edit a lot of the chapters and his books. We had a lot of free time, and to see this work being read by many people just like that, it had been mind-blowing."
"Huh, that's true," Wyatt commented as the duo appeared until they saw something that immediately made them freeze and step back… A child of 3 years old, simply gave a spin of 180 degrees, and smiled at them. "What the…"
"Fuck?" Noah said, as they literally walked away from the girl on the line and went directly at Ezekiel with his coffee.
"Thanks guys, I hope it doesn't have been much problem, how was things outside?" Ezekiel asked which he then saw both boys sweating from something, and the boy tilted his head.
"Outside is fine, slower in comparison than things happening on here, we just saw the spawn of Satan approaching the book signing, or the daughter of the girl of the exorcist," Noah explained as he should have expected that after getting out from the show Total Drama and watching every single episode even the Pay-Per-View, he should have been used to seeing bizarre things. But not that bizarre.
"Really?" Ezekiel titled his head, as he didn't recall who supposed to be. "Well, never mind, I signed the books Noah, and your sisters decided to pass the whole day around the Mall while saying that you should be staying here because you love books so much and you were the one who said who would help me."
"Ugh… why I still am living in my mom's house again?" Noah asked as he felt frustrated, but Ezekiel simply rolled his eyes.
"Because you don't have the capability to live independently yet, because you need to have a full income and how to learn how to make taxes, so you would need to hire an accountant and a lawyer and then find a good stable house while you still have to work in a stable life and yada yada, and we don't have time for that because in 3 days we are going to be on the Season 2 of Total Drama," Ezekiel explained point by point as he could see the annoyed bookworm from now being dragged to the hell once again, by nobody other than his friend.
"Okay, you made a point, do you need help with something?" Noah rolled his eyes, as he took a chair to sit.
"Yeah, if you want to add something on the dedicatory you are allowed to do it, writing an autograph if they show a T-shirt, or something related to the show, and sign some books as well..." Ezekiel explained as he could see his friend raising his eyebrows at him. "You are also my co-editor, who helped me to edit those books, but please, remember that these books are for children, so if you have a sarcastic comment that would infuriate or upset the kids, please avoid writing."
"So… thank for you buying the book then?" Noah said as he couldn't come up with compliments towards the group of people who would be crazy to cross the entire Canada just for having their books signed.
"Yes." And Ezekiel knowing the sassy of his friend said with a smirk which immediately made Noah scoff but also having one of the pens to start signing as a co-editor of the book. He just signed and gave his autograph after Ezekiel finishing to write the dedicatory and signature for the person.
If you're evil and you're on the rise
You can count on the four of us taking you down
'Cause we're good and evil never beats us
We'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas
We are the Crystal Gems
We'll always save the day!
And if you think we can't
We'll always find a way!
That's why the people of this world believe in
Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and Steven!
If you could only know, what we really are
When we arrived on Earth, from out beyond your star
We were amazed to find, your beauty and your worth
And we will protect your kind, and we will protect your Earth
And we will protect your Earth
And we will protect you!
I will fight for the place where I'm free
To live together and exist as me
I will fight in the name of Rose Quartz
And everything that she believed in
I will fight for the world I was made in
The Earth is everything I've ever known
I will fight to be everything that everybody wants me to be when I'm grown
The odds are against us, it won't be easy
But we're not going to do it alone
We are the Crystal Gems
We'll always save the day!
And if you think we can't
We'll always find a way
That's why the people of this world believe in
Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and Steven!
As the time Wyatt finally playing the guitar and singing the song, it even made the people around nearby the line doing the book signing applaud as they have not much information about the book, but the song itself was clearly catchy and was making interesting for them to read even more the book.
"Gotta say, the boy's got talent," Noah commented as Ezekiel nodded his head, as the more they signed, the more Noah felt himself wanting to give a few steps away. It had been a whole hour doing the book signing with his help, and he was already feeling his hand cramp. "I'm with my hand tired, I'm going to take something to eat."
"Can you grab me something too? Maybe a few French Fries or a Taco?" Ezekiel asked and his friend nodded his head at him. "Thanks, Noah,"
As the bookworm left the area, Ezekiel just saw one familiar face approaching.
"Oh hey, Caitlin how are y- oof." Ezekiel was about to greet his friend when suddenly she gave a good hug to him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving the tip, I never thought I would enjoy so much into going to buy clothing and enjoy the mall in the same way as before, it was really fun to buy clothes. Also, I'm here to buy the book and I also want you to sign to me." Caitlin commented that she was happy to see her new friend who helped her. "And it was very hard to be on the line, I work here and I had to wait for cut in the line by selling lemonade around here."
"Well, it had been a crazy morning, I have been sitting here for hours, and from the line there are still a lot of people on the line," Ezekiel said as he gave a good signing and even placed his new cellphone number to his friend to send a text whenever she needed him or when he was available to visit his friends at the mall again. "Also while you are here, did you see where is Jonesy? The manager is getting furious since he didn't appear in the store while he was doing his coffee break."
"No, I didn't see him… actually I didn't even see Jude today as well," Caitlin commented as she got the books and once again hugged her friend and managed to walk pass and be behind his back. "I'm going to call Jude to see if he had seen Jonesy, maybe they are together."
"If that's the case, tell Jonesy the manager is on the verge of…"
"THAT'S IT, AT THE TIME I SEE THAT LAZY BOY AGAIN HE IS FIRED." The manager furiously commented as he didn't see a signal of their friend, and from leaving a few hours of the work, specially in a busy day like that, the trio watched that scene, and sighed together.
"Too late," Wyatt commented as he stopped playing a song that Caitlin was now dialing the flip phone.
"Hey Jude, how are you?" Caitlin called happily as she even tried to not flinch from hearing that her friend just got fired from another job, "Oh great, I'm glad that you are fine, did you happen to see Jonesy? It's because the manager really got angry this time and seems that he fired Jonesy without him being here…"
Ezekiel and Wyatt had to continue their work as they needed to deal with more and more fans of the work, and since the show didn't stop, neither should they. But at the time they were about to continue, Caitlin immediately got a reaction that they didn't expect.
"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T COME TO WORK TODAY?" Caitlin said loudly as both the musician and the book writer had their eyes wide open in surprise just to stare at Caitlin.
"I'm in a mission dudette," Jude said as he was with a backpack on his back, and walking down the street by skateboard. Passing towards the public and ignoring the cars which passed on him. "Courtney paid up for those sticks and I will give her the sticks as change for what she paid up."
"But Jude, you don't know where she lives." Caitlin's voice coming from the flip phone which Jude simply shook his head as if there was a person seeing him in front of him.
"You are wrong, I know that Courtney talked with her friends that she moved to Ottawa, so that's where I'm heading right now. And in case I get tired I could take a subway there, also tell Zeke, dude, thanks for the money, I'm using them to go to find her." Jude commented as he was determined to find his friend and give her the change that she paid for.
"But what about your job? Aren't you going to be in trouble if your boss find out?" Caitlin asked as Jude simply was passing the streets and even giving a few tricks around.
"I called a sick day, left a note that I got a terrible case of diarrhea and a medical diagnostic from a doctor who was my neighborhood, also I gave a replacement to take my place." Jude said as he was passing towards the street.
"You mean the mop with a bucket on the top?" Caitlin asked as Jude hummed in agreement.
"Yeah, it helped me when I needed to get out for a service," Jude commented as he avoided the traffic even as the horns of the cars almost hit him, which he simply was chill from the dangers happening around. "I will keep in touch in case I get across the city,"
"Hey Jude, do you want me to call Courtney to ask her where she lives? I think that would help you in case you have to look around the entire city for her." Ezekiel's voice was loud and clear, and the skateboard blonde boy simply smiled in appreciation.
"That would be cool dude," Jude said as he almost got himself caught by a car. "Ops, sorry dude, anyway, call you guys later."
"I can't believe Jude just decided to cross the cities of Canada just to find Courtney," Wyatt commented as he was drinking coffee, to which Ezekiel simply shrugged.
"Well, it's a childhood friend, and I never thought he would have such a drive to do that as well, I will call for her right now. And make sure to send a message for him." Ezekiel commented as he took his flip phone and decided to call for either Courtney or Duncan since knowing his friends, they would be together or at least know where each one lives since they are in a relationship. Or in the worst-case scenario, he would call his Ma, she had the address of all the moms of the Killer Bass members and since they all enjoyed chilling out and having fun together, she would have their residential numbers to make sure they knew where they live.
"Hey guys, how are you? Did you see Jude?" And then the trio just saw Jonesy appearing with what would be a popcorn bucket on his head.
"…" The trio remained quiet, as Jonesy took the said popcorn from his head, and still had a few butter drops around his face and hair.
"I tried to find him around, but he wasn't on the arcades and neither on the Gigantoplex," The tan boy commented as he could see the group staring at him in silence. "What's wrong?"
"You're fired…" The trio said in unisson which imediatelly made the boy look at them in disbelief.
"What?" Jonesy asked in surprise and disbelief, but then he felt his ear being pulled. "Ouch ouch ouch…"
"THERE YOU ARE… DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ON HOW MUCH WE WERE LOOKING FOR YOU? COME AT MY OFFICE NOW…" The manager of the bookstore shouted as Jonesy was dragged as to his now his doomed future of being jobless again.
"…" The group remained quiet, as even the fans of the book writer had to see the boy being dragged and fired from the office, which Ezekiel couldn't help but just shrug.
"Hello, whose name do you want me to dedicate this book to?" Ezekiel asked as he then saw a woman who seemed to be a well grown up woman who seemed to be dressed as waitress, but having a very rural background which remind of himself and his family.
"Ah, well, my two kids, Albie and Scotsy, my two possum kids," The woman said as she sounded very tired from her exhaustive work, which made the boy blink in surprise. Especially the woman who simply yawned loudly which made him look at her in concern, "Sorry, hey… It's because I drove my kids from Alberta to here, and I was working at the truck stop before traveling here. I didn't sleep well until I got on the line."
"Oh," Ezekiel asked as he looked at the woman who seemed to still be wearing the waitress apron, even as he was surprised to see someone from far away in a rural area. Since it was a long trip, he had to admit to never explored further the country since the last time he took the train… Both his ma and pa had an orange farm in Leamington in the Southern area of Ontario. It was a long trip for the woman to travel with her family… "Let me sign for… wait, what happened with this book?"
Ezekiel just had opened it, but he realized that book was actually with pages missing and even had the cover damaged.
"Ah, it's because that was the only book I managed to take it when it was in the stores in Alberta, someone messed up and made a huge discount, since it was the only thing I could afford for my girl Alberta." The woman said with a blush on her face, which Ezekiel had to stare at the book…
"That's not right," Ezekiel said as he could see the woman about to say something, probably thinking he was going to humiliate her since she didn't have the condition of buying a book. But then she just saw Ezekiel taking something from his pocket. And there was a small pile of books on the table where he was displaying on the table. And with the books, Ezekiel picked 2 of each pile. "Hey Wyatt? Can you do me a favor? Take this money and go in the line to pay for 6 books for me? Just make sure the books were signed and it's on me."
The woman blinked in surprise, seeing the boy already signing for the book he worked so much. And taking a look on the old damaged book, he never wanted someone to have paid such terrible conditions and it felt incomplete if someone never took the whole time to read the books.
"I will take this, and from seeing you traveling all the way here doesn't seem fair. My Ma and Pa would be very disappointed in me if I didn't help a Ma who wanted to have good books for her kids." Ezekiel said as he smiled, not seeing how emotional the woman was feeling at the moment. "For Albie, I hope you like this gift your mother wanted so much for both of you, have fun reading the stories of both Finn and Jake, Steven Universe, and Courage the Cowardly Dog, as a farmboy, the imagination is limitless, so I hope you like these books to help you to have a great time reading on the farm. Signed. Ezekiel,"
Ezekiel even had to drew Courage, Finn and Jake waving from the book, as he went towards the next book.
"For Scotty, I hope you like this gift your mother wanted so much for both of you, have fun reading the stories of Finn, Jake, Steve Universe, and Courage, since living on the farm could lead to our own adventures, it's never late to have fun and enjoy the time with family. Have fun and please enjoy those works, Signed, Ezekiel." As the boy finished, he signed each book and even gave his own autograph, now seeing the mother even sniffing in gratitude, and by having his friend Wyatt walking out the line with a thumbs up, the green jacket boy knew he did good, by giving 6 books for the kids the woman needed.
He knew he was making both his parents proud, and books were always good to help people to keep reading more. Since the internet wasn't as strong as it was in the next decade, maybe it was his time to enjoy all the time he could be doing to write and make people happy.
"I will be dammed, if is not the healthiest couple of the entire Total Drama Universe, Enui and Crimson, the goths… Wow," Ezekiel thought as he looked surprised to see a few years younger duo, who seemed to be the next on the line… Even though they weren't dressed in their iconic clothing, it was very similar since their makeup gave a huge hint… But what he didn't expect was..."You even dressed yourself as Shirley? That looks… very dark…"
Both Ennui and Crimson nodded in acknowledgment, which Ezekiel felt sucked since he would have said he loved it and it looks amazing, however describing feelings to goths? Yeah, it's really difficult, maybe he should have asked Gwen what would be the best words to make the goths… happy, which is difficult.
Then he heard a hiss from their direction, and to his surprise, there was even a rat as a pet.
"Wow, you even got a rat? That sounds… very dark and depressing," Ezekiel commented as he tried to focus on the right words to say since it was related to one of his favorite episodes, and he could see both goths actually having a twitch on their faces, almost looking like a smirk. "Well, you got the feelings of the chapter right, can you tell me which chapters were your favorites?"
"The Demon in the Mattress, the Tower of Doctor Zalost, King Ramses Curse, and the Curse of Shirley…" The duo said in unison which their favorites were, as Ezekiel knew that they didn't buy another book from the bookstore, they just bought their own book from Courage the Cowardly Dog. Ezekiel could understand why, Steven Universe isn't for their tastes or Adventure Time didn't go to the part of the lore that would make them interested in reading yet. It would be in the next book or after that, he would introduce the Lich and then things would get dark from that perspective. But still, Ezekiel decided to be happy to see the best couple enjoying one of his best works, and he was right into making it really traumatizing and wholesome since even the goths liked reading it.
"Alright, let me add a dedicatory for both of you." Ezekiel gave a small drawing of each of the chibi goths staring at Courage as he was screaming in panic, while Shirley was playing her saxophone, making the chibi goths a demonic summon to scare the poor pink beagle. "Names?"
"Enui, Crimson," The couple said as Ezekiel couldn't call them couple yet, since probably they weren't the same couple who appeared in Ridonculous race, it was years in the past, so he didn't want to mess up with what was the best of each person.
(For Enui and Crimson, may the darkness of fear and traumas be enough to envelope inside of your hearts and make shown this terrible world needs to be ready to learn about their deepest fears, since all the kindness may be shown after dealing with the terrifying monsters that would try to consume you and destroys from the inside, and that all the depression cannon balls could hit all your enemies and may the curse created by the saxophone of Shirley would be the one for lead the cruelest and funniest of the curses on people you despise. And may they be too ignorant to never return the slab, and King Ramses himself appears to let them suffer the Egypt curses.
From Ezekiel, creator of Courage the Cowardly Dog,)
Of course, Ezekiel wrote their names in each separate book, but it was enough to see their eyes sparkling, from how he wrote their deepest feelings.
"Thank you…" And that was a word that clearly surprised Ezekiel, from seeing both Goths nodding their heads in appreciation and immediately leaving the bookstore.
"Huh… what a great couple, I hope they still become the amazing duo like from Rindonculous Race, I would like to see Loki and that Rat working together, it would leave the Ice Dancers panicking" Ezekiel chuckled as he continued to sign the others books.
.
.
.
"Jen, nice to see you here," Ezekiel commented as he was massaging his own hand.
"Well, Coach Halder said I would get an extra lunch break if I get your book signing on all the books, and I also started reading on the line, and I gotta say that I never thought I would love reading Steven Universe," Jen commented as she saw Caitlin offering lemonade for Ezekiel, and Noah was also helping him to do the signatures and organizing the piles of books for them to keep signing. "So he is Noah the first eliminated of the Total Drama?"
"No, I'm Ron of the Maple Leafs, just got from another game which immediately made a lot of people scream curses on my name," Noah commented as he then saw the group even booing him from far away, and the bookworm showed the middle finger for them.
"He looks a very lovable person," Jen said as she crossed her arms to her friend Ezekiel.
"He is just like this because his siblings tricked him to work for me in exchange signing their books, and now he had been complaining almost all day long," Ezekiel commented as he could see his friend showing the middle finger for him. "If you want to take a coffee break then you can go… but…"
"Bring a coffee for you as well, I know, I know." Noah said as he didn't think twice as the group had been working 5 hours straight, it had been exhausting to everyone.
Adventure Time,
Come on, grab your friends
We'll go to very distant lands
With Jake the Dog and Finn the Human
The fun will never end, it's Adventure Time.
Jen saw Wyatt finishing another song, as he was feeling deeply exhausted as well, thankfully Caitlin came to his rescue and brought a lemonade from the Big Squeeze, since Ezekiel suggested to Caitlin since she was going to pass time inside the store, she could bring a few jars and could offer lemonade as a service for the day and make people pay up for the lemonade as well.
"I can't feel my voice or my fingers," Wyatt said as he had been playing for hours, and Ezekiel nodded his head.
"It's hard work, but that's the way things will go," The boy commented as he forgot how many books he had signed for the whole day, and he felt his entire hand burning in pain, but that wasn't going to make him stop. As he himself wrote the dedicatory for Jen and for Coach Halder, he knew that they would love the books. "An advice, read the final chapter of Adventure Time on Christmas, I suggest you tell your boss about that too."
"Will do, keep doing the good work guys, you just need to do it for more than 5 hours," Jen commented as the group looked on the big line, and couldn't help but groan from how crazy the event had been going.
Wyatt went to his coffee break, leaving once again the lines that didn't seem to ever come to an end, but still more and more Ezekiel and Noah were working together to make the book signed, or in case Noah had to keep watching his siblings who were once again on the bookstore looking for other books for them to buy...
"There she is," Noah commented as he pointed to a bunch of parents who seemed to be looking a bit exhausted, on their hands, there was something that would be described as a creepy girl, but something oddly familiar appeared to a boy like Ezekiel, the color pallet and also the creepy smile that made it looks like way familiar to him.
"Huh," Ezekiel commented as he saw the duo of parents approaching with what would be a scary child itself, "Hello, thank you for buying my book…"
"Actually we are the ones who should be thanking you…" The father was the person who clearly had a tired smile on his face. "Our daughter had been always very eccentric when it came to her bedroom,"
"Let me guess, creepy dolls and all kinds of pent-OUCH," Noah was about to retort when Ezekiel simply stomped his foot, which made his editor stare angrily at him.
"Yes, and she always had the like of seeing pain and suffering of the horror movies, and she always wanted me to read horror books for her to sleep," The father coughed as he looked a bit ashamed and yet palled into seeing his little girl smiling creepily at Noah, but the father also had to give a warm smile. "But since you wrote Courage the Cowardly Dog, it had been her favorite book to sleep, and all the stories she loved it so far. Isn't that right Lauren?"
The girl giggled as she was very happy to see the author of her book, which imediatelly Ezekiel recognized who that person was.
"Really?" Ezekiel commented in surprise, as he then noticed the girl being very creepy he immediately recalled only one person who would be this kind of scary, and yet the father gave the name of the said girl, the A.K.A. Scary Girl known as to be one of the favorites of Total Drama Reboot, Lauren, which from the way she acted, it was indeed not a surprise to see her being always like this even at the childhood. Which also clicked one thing. "Well, that's funny because I remember I had a fan named Lauren who wrote a fan letter of Total Drama Island and probably wrote it in red crayon."
"Yep, that's me… hehehehe, seeing people in pain is so fun," The little girl giggled as imediatelly Noah looked at Ezekiel as if he just saw a demon nearby them.
"Oh, I bet it is," Ezekiel commented as he took the Courage the Cowardly Book brought by the parents, who seemed to just want his autograph. "Well, if you want in a few weeks or possible months, I'm doing a whole audiobook of Courage the Cowardly Dog, which will have his iconic screams, a good soundtrack to follow the story, and even times when Courage gets so hurt, that he just laughs before getting knocked out."
And just by saying those words, he could see the eyes of Lauren sparkling, and even seeing the relief of the father who seemed to be happy to see a person so understanding over the child he had in hands.
"Really? Do they get hurt a lot?" Lauren asked, as Ezekiel simply shrugged.
"Well, Courage always screams of terror and fear, but there will always be the funniest parts when he just laughs before going to sleep," Ezekiel commented as he even started to draw a few things on the book of the girl. "I'm glad that you are sleeping very well, can you tell me your favorite monster?"
"Demon on the Mattress, demon on the mattress," Lauren giggled as a girl who just got candy, which Ezekiel couldn't help but chuckle as well.
"Yeah, some of my favorite scenes are over there as well," Ezekiel commented as he always laughed when the possessed Muriel clearly gave a scare in Courage by showing a set of tea and also made Eustace humiliated in so many ways it was hilarious.
"Well at least she stopped focusing on killing the animals, but now she found a lot of fun in taking out all their fur like her uncle, OUCH." The father decided to also show a good point on how the books made Lauren make drastic changes in a good way, but just to quote the uncle immediately the wife stomped his foot. "What did I do?"
"Don't talk badly of my brother just because he is a barber." Lauren's mother said as she crossed her arms angrily at him, which immediately made him scoff and defend himself.
"Oh come on, he is like Freaky Fred, and Lauren could have him as an influence and traumatize the others by taking out the hair, also your brother isn't a saint. OUCH." The father said which immediately the mother used the purse to beat her husband. Which Lauren was giggling madly.
"Go Mommy, make him feel pain." Lauren as the toddler she was, she was clapping happily to see how much joy she was having.
Ezekiel simply chuckled, while Noah looked at him as if he were some kind of maniac.
"Ah, kids these days," Ezekiel commented as he simply dismissed the child, while Noah looked at him as he lost his mind.
(For Lauren, I hope this book will bring the joys of having fun but also learn more about Courage but also more about yourself, have fun seeing Eustace getting his Karma, Muriel being kind, and Courage defending his family but not without dealing with all his screams and pain he must take to save them. Because his biggest weapon is his own scream, and screaming in fear and pain is fine, as long you never damage them permanently, since Courage is immortal, humans don't have the same luck, so I hope you learn the joys of feeling and knowing pain and fear, but also learn about Kindness and desire to protect people who are important for you.
Ezekiel, creator of Courage of the Cowardly Dog.)
And on that book, Ezekiel drew a chibi Lauren smiling at Courage who was screaming in fear at her, but on the next second she was hugging him with a good smile while his face was suffocating in pain, and then she was giggling when Courage got out of a hole from somehow he fell from the sky, and he with his face out of the hole was laughing completely in pain.
And by giving back the book, Ezekiel waved at them as Noah looked at Ezekiel as if he was crazy. And Ezekiel simply looked at his friend.
"What?" Ezekiel asked as he could see the bookworm staring at him in disbelief.
"What was that?" Noah said as he simply think that book writer just lost his mind. "That girl is clearly an horror monster material and you simply dismissed her like she was just a happy kid?"
"That's because she is?" Ezekiel commented that he could see his friend having a migraine. "Noah, let's be honest, I suffered a lot when it comes to the challenges of Total Drama, and we meet all the kinds of people on the show, seeing a girl who practically had psychopath tendencies to show that she just wanted to become more like Freaky Fred instead of an actual assassin? I think I made a progress that saved the humanity."
"How can you be sure?" Noah said as he raised his eyebrows… Which Ezekiel simply chuckled.
"Just a hunch…" The boy smiled, as he never thought he could actually manage to meet the girl Lauren at that young age, and her being able to write words in crayons and send a fan letter to him? That girl doesn't seem to be more than 2 years old, and yet she sent him a fan letter? It probably would be far scarier if he didn't know about how she was from the reboot, and seeing that he could have a positive influence on her? That was a personal victory that only he knew about it.
"Yes…" Ezekiel could imagine the inner Courage cheering for his inner victory as he smiled for the next person who wanted the book signed.
"That girl was terrifying." The father commented as he was next on the line, while his little boy was simply taking a look at the cover of the new books his father was buying for him. "Oh hello,"
"Hello, thank you for buying my book, do you want me to sign them?" Ezekiel commented as the father simply laughed.
"Of course, haha," The father commented as he gave a laugh as the boy was looking more focused on the books. "His name is Dwayne Junior, and I bought the first one thinking it was a very cool book for him, hahaha… err… if you don't mind my question…"
"No, the new books aren't about terror like Courage the Cowardly Dog," Ezekiel commented which the man himself sighed in relief.
"Phew, well it's because some of the chapters of the book clearly scared too much for my dear little boy," The man commented which he just saw the writer simply raised his eyebrows at him.
"Hey, kiddo, which story made your big dad cry all night?" Ezekiel smirked as the boy who was still looking at the cover didn't even see the reaction of his dad.
"The Great Fusilli, Evil Weevil, Car Broke Phone Yes," Junior simply replied as Ezekiel nodded his head in agreement. "Hey, can you tell me if Weremoles are real? They were so awesome."
"I'm glad that you liked it kiddo," Ezekiel smiled as he simply took the 2 books Junior offered to him. And then he looked at the father. "I think you will like more this one, Steven Universe, it doesn't have scary moments, but it is more about a little kid growing up in a society with his family, in which his father had very touching and amazing moments together with his son, you will like it a lot."
"Okay, hehehe, thanks…" The father laughed sheepishly as Ezekiel gave a good signature and dedication to a person named Dwayne Senior since the son is named Junior.
"Also, Junior right?" Ezekiel asked with a smirk which brought the attention of the boy. "The next volume of Courage the Cowardly Dog will have a lot of more scary encounters with villains and possibly a lot of new chapters that would terrify many people. Also, an audiobook will be produced and published in a few weeks or months, so better prepare yourself."
"Really?" Junior said with his eyes sparkling with interest. "And what about this book here?"
Ezekiel smirked even further when he saw the book of Adventure Time.
"Kid, I'm going to tell you the small plot that only a few will know…" Ezekiel said as he winked at the boy… "As much that this world looks colorful and happy with candies and kingdoms… All of this world is actually a post-apocalyptic world."
"No way," Junior said as Ezekiel gave an autograph and a few drawings of something to take interest of the boy… Finn holding the iconic family's sword, and the skull of Lich, glaring at everything. "Oh, that's so cool."
"Well, I hope you two enjoy a good time together reading those books," Ezekiel smiled as he waved at the duo. He made sure to know that both father and son would still be a great duo together in the future.
"Heh, Father and Son, Dwayne and Junior, after appearing the goths, this day is getting better and better," Ezekiel commented as he could see Noah bringing a pizza for the duo to eat while they continued signing the books.
"Did I miss anything?" Noah asked as Wyatt came while he was ready to finish the rest of the day singing for the audience, as he passed the whole day working, and enjoying the good time meeting the people around the lines.
"Just a father and son…" Ezekiel smiled as he remembered the dedicatory he created for each of them.
("To Dwayne Senior, I'm glad to see a parent like you happy to pass a good time with your son, so I hope these books will help you to enjoy the small things like passing the time reading with him, and even as much you are not perfect, just doing your best is clearly something that he will appreciate, even as time will show that he is growing up, enjoying the small things with him will make him value the good times with you.
Have fun learning about what Greg Universe taught his son, and how much he is important on his life.
From Ezekiel, writer of Steven Universe and Courage the Cowardly Dog.)
("To Junior, I hope you have a great time reading these books, to have fun learning about the crazy adventures that you are about to even imagine, and just in case you want to do something while you are bored, watch the new season of Total Drama, me and my friends will be trying to win 1 million dollars while we are going to be doing all the crazy things just for the sake of entertainment, to make things funnier, go watch with your dad and see his reaction when there will be a lot of weird challenges, it's hilarious to see our parents freaking out when we do crazy stuff.
I hope Adventure Time and Steven Universe will make you have fun into using your imagination, but also having so many cool moments into living life.
From your friend, Ezekiel.)
The late afternoon sun filtered through the large glass windows of the mall, casting a warm, golden glow over the food court. Caitlin stood behind the counter of her lemonade stand, wiping down the blender that had worked overtime all day. She couldn't help but smile to herself, the scent of fresh lemons still lingering in the air as she thought about how well her sales had gone. Thanks to Ezekiel's suggestion, she had managed to sell enough lemonade to take not just the rest of the day off, but possibly even the entire next day.
Across from her, Jen was sitting at one of the tables, lazily picking at a carton of french fries while flipping through a Steven Universe book she had picked up from one of the stands. She was relaxed, letting the sounds of the busy mall wash over her like white noise, the day's worries melting away.
Nikki, meanwhile, was thoroughly enjoying the sight of Jonesy, who sat with his face firmly planted against the table, his muffled voice radiating frustration.
"Three times," Jonesy groaned, his voice thick with defeat. "I was fired three times from Booktropolis. I can't believe it. The manager fired me for the second time, just to hire me again—only to fire me in the next minute."
Nikki, smirking, barely looked up from her phone as she rolled her eyes at him. "Well, ironically, you got fired for the exact same reason you were fired the first time—you weren't there when they needed you most," she said, her tone flat but teasing. She leaned back in her chair, watching Jonesy with a kind of detached amusement. She loved watching him suffer from his own actions, especially when it was this predictable.
Jen glanced up from her book, briefly raising an eyebrow before diving back into the colorful pages of Steven Universe. She didn't need to comment; the whole situation was too typical of Jonesy to waste the effort.
"Okay I don't know why, but this Lion came from nowhere and had a pink fur, Ezekiel must have a reason for placing him on the chapter. He looks very suspicious," Jen commented as Caitlin giggled after finishing cleaning up the blender.
"Well I think it belongs to Steven," Caitlin commented as she saw her friend raising her eyebrows at her. "I love the concept that even the sweet boy Steven is, he is not afraid to be using pink color powers like his mom, it's so cute."
"Are you two still going to keep talking about the book?" At that moment, the group just saw one of the members of the group finally there, Wyatt who was now very exhausted and strangely his voice was hoarse, which made the group stare at him in surprise. The musician just managed to bring all the instruments he spent most part of the day playing. "It was crazy, playing for hours and hours, never thought I would feel both my fingers cramped and my voice like this."
"Wow, and how it was with Mr. Celebrity himself?" Nikki asked, as Wyatt just passed a few seconds resting his head on the table.
"If being famous is like this, then you must have a lot of patience and energy to keep doing this for a whole day. I'm just happy that now I'm going just compose songs for an audiobook project that he was making, and even play the songs and lyrics that he placed on the book, it will help me a lot..." Wyatt commented as the group saw the boy feeling clearly tired for the whole day. "Also, after working today, I'm just glad that this is just today, and it was awesome to see how many people really liked reading his book, and he was great at giving a good talk and autographing every single one of the names."
"Yeah, I was there. I had fun selling lemonade all day long on there." Caitlin commented as she was telling the truth, and seeing their friends working the whole day, and even meeting another famous member of the cast of Total Drama, made her have a lot of fun.
"I don't know how Ezekiel did that for the whole period, he had been sitting on that chair for 8 hours straight and didn't even get out to go to the bathroom, but after the last client of the line, I can't believe we managed to sell all the books," Wyatt commented as he never thought he would be so relieved to see his entire work being over.
"Wait what? What do you mean? There were 15 thousand books, and from the lines, it clearly didn't appear more than a thousand. How did they sell the remaining books?" Jonesy asked in disbelief as he could see his friend still feeling exhausted.
"From the manager telling us, 20 guys were from wholesale stores, and they wanted hundreds of books for they sell on their region… They needed people to place the books in the box, and that was the reason why you got fired Jonesy." Wyatt said as he found Caitlin looking at him sheepishly and with a lemonade in her hands.
"You need to drink more liquids, Wyatt, you cannot force your voice like that," Caitlin commented as the group just saw Jonesy slamming his face on the table. Which the group simply ignored and continued the conversation. "Did Ezekiel send a message to Jude where Courtney lives?"
"Yeah he did," Wyatt nodded his head, as the group couldn't understand why Jude decided to keep insisting on paying the change for his friend, since he could have waited another day to give her the change.
"Well, at least the day was very nice," Jen commented as she closed the book, and was ready to call for the day. "So anyone wants to go to Gigantoplex to watch a movie before we leave? I'm curious about the new movie that got out recently."
And with that the group simply shrugged and decided to continue their lives happily as the same way as it was before.
"I can't believe that it's finally over," Noah said as he felt that nightmare finally ending, he felt his arms tired, and a big headache on his head. "I have no idea how you managed to do that, especially holding yourself for 8 years to not taking a bathroom break,"
flush sound*
"Noah, let me tell you something, at the time Owen used the bathroom in case of diarrhea, me and the others had to hold ourselves for 12 hours or go at the bushes," Ezekiel explained how the situation got to be extreme on the show. "If you had to deal with Owen going first, you need to train everything in your body, as much that it's painful and you needed to hold together."
"Ugh, why are we even talking about this?" Noah said as he clearly didn't want to have that kind of conversation.
"I don't know, but I never felt my hands in so much pain, giving autographs and signing books had been really a long day for me," Ezekiel explained as he felt that he would need to place an ice pack on his hands. "Next time I'm going to be doing that it will not be early."
"At least you have common sense," Noah said as both were washing their hands, as it was a way to enjoy their afternoon before going home. "So what are you going to be doing?"
"I'm going to take a taxi cab to take me to Bridgette's house, from there I will check if my Pa will take me back home with all the things I bought from here." Ezekiel simply shrugged as the bookworm gave a small look on the jacket.
"Including this jacket?" Noah pointed as he then saw the writer simply shake his head.
"Nah, this one was made by Katie, she worked so much to work for this jacket," Ezekiel smiled as he could see his friend narrowing his eyes. "It's from Ben 10 design."
"Strange, I didn't read of something wearing green lik-" Noah was commenting until he paused, as he could see the smile coming from Ezekiel. "A sequel of the book you didn't even start?"
"Yep, in a few days when we get on season 2, I can start writing more about the chapters of Ben 10, and also do another whole volume for Courage the Cowardly Dog," Ezekiel commented as he could see the annoyed look on his friend's eyes.
"Ugh, a lot of work for us to do, while we have to try to survive the challenges around the show?" Noah commented as the duo kept walking outside of the bathrooms from the mall, and he looked at his friend and boss in disbelief. "And what about Adventure Time and Steven Universe? You just gave 2 bombshells on those 2."
"Yeah, but since one of them is a cliffhanger, I decided to let them sink even more time, and give some rest for myself, Adventure Time as well, I could enjoy a bit of time to write some ideas, but to write the chapters, nah, I want to focus into more of one shot… like a new idea that I have in mind. A short oneshot but it will make a lot of impact." Ezekiel commented as he looked at his friend who had with inquiring look on his face. "The name is… Over the Garden Wall,"
"And is it about?" Noah said as he looked intrigued and curious about what his friend was about to make, but from seeing him smirking at him, he already hated what he was going to say.
"Well, you will have to wait." Yep, Noah hated it when Ezekiel said that. "I will be contacting my lawyer tomorrow and give a whole contract to Wyatt for him to start developing a few songs, as I also gave a lot of ideas audio tapes while we were at the Playa Del Losers, I'm so glad that we were allowed to send mail around, I know that while I will be on the game, Wyatt will be doing an amazing job."
"So you are really going to be doing the audiobook? I thought it was more focused on playing a prank on Chris…" Noah commented as both smirked from imagining how Chris is probably traumatized to this day… But nothing they couldn't handle or care about the host. "Well, at least it shows that you are getting more money with the fame,"
"Yep… that's very true my friend… and think about it. I can feel this season will be our season," Ezekiel smiled as he placed his arm across his shoulder. "The focus on this season is to make us have a lot of fun and help us to solidify our fame into doing well establishment business for our future."
"Please don't tell me that you are going to create a vlog." Noah commented as he facepalmed but then he just saw Ezekiel laughing.
"Vlog? Nah, that's very short fame, why not be more ambitious? Why not do something out of the box?" Ezekiel commented as he was feeling so happy and excited about the future. "I know for sure I and my friends of Killer Bass will be doing so many amazing things. Mark my words, Noah, I'm happy with doing my books and audiobooks, but if my friends just follow their dreams and have some right guidance, we can take this Total Drama and make ourselves way bigger and happier than we ever imagined."
"Pff, only you could see those great things after being in such a chaotic place." Noah rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but feel touched to see his friend motivated.
"Noah, the secret of being on Total Drama is just to be used to everything Chris is going to throw at us and act like it was just a simple day of the week, and if you have fun while doing it, it will easy up the chaos of how terrible everything is happening on there," Ezekiel commented as the duo walked towards the group of a large number of siblings the bookworm had. "Be yourself but do not dismiss the challenges thrown at you, have fun, have some jokes, memorable moments being with friends, and when you less expect, you are already at the merge, Owen and Lindsay went way ahead just for doing that and taking all the opportunities will make you memorable to everyone, that's how Izzy became a successful businesswoman, and I became a well-known writer, I know that if everyone just does like we did, everyone is going be famous and successful, and all of us will reach the true happiness."
"Ezekiel, sometimes I have no fucking idea what you talk about," Noah commented, as his friend gave an over-exaggerated dramatic sigh.
"Just have fun on the Chaos Noah, don't be a douchebag, and always expect the worse of Chris, with these 3 thoughts in mind, you are going to have fun and go way ahead of the game," Ezekiel explained as he even laughed at how excited he was for season 2. "I have a very good feeling about this season, so you better get a good rest for these 2 days, because we are going to have a lot of weeks to deal with the whole new season."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it…" Noah said, as both gave a handshake and with that, Ezekiel smiled as he waved back to the group of 2 boys and 6 girls who once got another migraine to Noah.
"Believe me, Noah, your happiness will happen at the time you enjoy the Chaos, after all, your girlfriend will be waiting for you in the future." Ezekiel smiled as he knew that things would become very challenging but also a great opportunity for their future.
Even as the duo departed their ways, their future wouldn't be ordinary, not when it comes about participating in a reality show like Total Drama.
As the time Dawn walked on the street, even as the sunset clearly was an indication that she had been walking for hours with her duck companion, the girl carrying a backpack didn't complain, she simply followed the instructions of Mother Nature.
"Are you sure you don't want a ride back home?" Dawn recalled the two cree sisters after they having a very wonderful morning talking about their lives.
Dawn saw how both auras were indeed very warm and welcoming and from her conversation waiting over the morning. Dawn could see from how their auras reacted and told her their story.
Jane is a great sister who needed to find a way to get money to pay for their house, while both girls needed to deal with their education at school. While the one being responsible for raising her sister while their parents still live in another state.
Sky is a wonderful girl that indeed shows how noble and righteous her decisions to always giving your best was very inspiring, maybe that was why when she thinks about Ezekiel, her body reacts to a crush that both girls had in common.
Maybe that was why Mother Nature was giggling most of the time, since it was clear that not only her, but there was other girls who were interested about the boy with 2 auras...
Ezekiel clearly opened his heart and soul to her as they talked about his past, and Mother Nature told her that Sky and Ezekiel talked more about the present and future projects of their lives.
And as the way she could read the dedicatory he did for her, but also for Sky and Jane, the trio got happy into becoming friends and have saved their own contacts.
She had a feeling that they would meet once again in the future, as she hoped Jane would be in better conditions and less stressed with life. But knowing how universe works, it's so misterious and tricky that nobody is sure on what it is prepared for them.
As the same way she was supposed to be traveling to her journey of 40 days to go back home, but instead Mother Nature insisted to be her guide as she passed hours alround the streets, to even bypass the train to bring her directly at Ontario...
She wasn't sure why, but Mother Nature was being the one who said that her decision of leaving her home would be a first step of her journey.
She missed both her parents but it was the time to ler her future be in the hands of Mother Nature, and so far everything had been a wonderful experience to her.
And to her surprise she walked so much that she just found herself in a wildlife reserve and a big forest.
"Haliburton forest," Dawn commented as she looked around to see that place would be great for turists, and having an animal reserve was very touching welcome for her to feel connected with Mother Nature. "That's a very sweet place..."
And Mother Nature wasn't done with her moonchild, as the more the girl in tune within the forests, passing the hours, she reached at the big beautiful view over the night. Stars and a halfmoon on the sky, being her guide as the more and more she ventured herself...
Until she found to her surprise, a big and well made tree house, which was one that she never saw in her entire life, not even her mom and dad wouldn't believe even if she tells them what she was seeing.
A tree house that looked 20 times bigger than the house she ever lived. As slowly the girl approached, she felt Mother Nature guiding her as she saw the well made... Was that mansion in the trees? She wasn't sure.
Until she approached a long plaque reading the entrance.
"Dakota's doll house?" Dawn blinked as she tilted her head in confusion and then stared at what would be the biggest house that she had ever seen in her life. A doll house.
As she got inside, she could see there was a lot of dolls and manaquins dressing with dressed and clothes, but Mother Nature slowly started to take control of the place. Since there was a few squirrels, birds, and even insects living inside of the said mansion.
But what it surprised the girl, was the fact the place looked recently made, because there was a few plasma screen tvs, refrigerators, air conditioner, a computer...
"Mother Nature, this house looks modern and yet abandoned... When..."Dawn commented as she wasn't sure why Mother Nature brought her to a place that she isn't sure on why there was this place was supposed to be a toy house, and was fancier than any tree house that she had ever imagined seeing. And then her eyes went wide open in surprise... "The owner of this place just gave it away because she didn't like the color of the wood?"
.
.
.
"I don't know if should be grateful for having a place to stay for a while offended by that... She just threw away a house like this as it was a toy," Dawn commented as she was very confused, seeing Howard walking around and interacting with the other animals. The moonchild simply walked to one of the photo portraits of the girl, which showed the look of a well-dressed girl who Dawn could hear Mother Nature saying about the girl was a wealthy child, who just bought property in her forest, just to make a house for her toys of childhood... And then gave away the propriety to whoever would find the key and the documents under the carpet... "Mother Nature, you are not thinking... I can't accept this."
Dawn remains quiet, as she then saw the creatures of nature interacting and living well at the doll house. As a signal, the moonchild had the decision of her future in her hands.
"Okay, I will stay and take care of them. But if I see Dakota, I will make up for her generosity and help. I swear." Dawn said as she never thought that looked that under the carpet... Indeed the key of the tree giant doll house. And the documents in her hands. And with a resolve that she should help the girl who practically gave such a house to Mother Nature.
"Ezekiel, when I thought you said you bought some things on the mall for yourself and for home, you should have told me you bought literally many bags of things," Curtis commented as Ezekiel chuckled from seeing his pa grumpily comment on how much the boy had expended on the Mall, while knowing that his son was actually controlling his own finances, by also saying that he is doing his best to focus on controlling how much he was paying for things, and even building the resort where he was going to live in the future.
Still he could see how much his son had been working all day, from how he flinched wenever he opened and closed his fist, even more when it comes about how many hours he passed inside of the Mall just to make the book signing of the day, and from what saying his son signing hundreds of not thousands of books? Yeah, anyone would have the right to being tired all day long.
He would be curious to ask on how his day was, however he would find even more interesting to see his Ma being the one doing the interrogation while he watches it on the sidelines with a bowl with popcorn on it.
"I bought a lot of things Pa, you and Ma needed a few clothes in case you wanted to visit my friends' family, and I also bought new bows for us to keep practicing and having fun in the future," Ezekiel commented as he was feeling very tired and even yawning while both were traveling towards the street back home. Hours driving to go back to the farm. He needed one day to rest and spend his time with his family before returning to the city once again just for the birthday of his friend.
Curtis rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but see his son slowly sleeping on the seat, slowly snoring from how exhaustive it must have been for his little boy.
The farm man sighed, as he couldn't help but keep looking at the street, and imagine that his little boy had been growing up at such a speed that he couldn't help but just watch, and cheer up for the decisions his son had been making for himself.
The boy had always helped him and his wife, whenever it comes about the farm, even giving a part of his money from the book to help to finances for new farm tools and delivery trucks… And with how good his son had been on the reality show, he knew that his farm was being known by companies and supermarkets that wanted to buy his fruits.
His son really did so much for him… and he couldn't help but think, that maybe what was the best thing that happened for himself and his wife, was the fact Marta was now acting more cheerful whenever she talked about the mother of Ezekiel's friends since his wife usually stayed with the boy just to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself, the woman always had been very adventurous, but after what happened with his sister, she simply closed herself up…
Maybe it had been guilty that had been inside of not just his heart, but hers as well… But after seeing how many good things happening in their lives, the grunted man, couldn't help but give a small smile from seeing how his boy had grown up, and slowly his little wings would have strength enough to fly to his new nest…
Leaving the old birdies by themselves…
"Maybe I should take Marta to Paris, to enjoy our time together after all these years raising Ezekiel, she deserved it more than I do…" Curtis commented as he could see his boy with a new green jacket, that it made him look like the usual boys from the show, and from how serene he was smiling. It clearly resembled himself when Robin took a picture of him sleeping. His boy really took a good part of his Ma, but still, a bit of his personality came from him. And by seeing the night and the future he had plans for his wife. "Le pays de l'amour, et l'histoire d'un agriculteur et d'un aventurier, (The country of love, the story of a farm man and an adventuress)"
Who said Ezekiel was the only one of the family who could speak more than one language? Robin was a very insistent sister, and maybe that was something that also Ezekiel took from his side of the family.
Curtis gave a small smile as his eyes sparkled with its desire to release a tear, but one that the farm man would refuse to let drop. He had a boy to take home and a good time to pass with him before seeing him make a name for himself again in the future.