Chapter 67: Something Special Postponed
After teleporting out of Hyperdrive City, I've made it back home safely where I see my mother making the marble cake already in the kitchen.
"Mother!" I said as I called out to her.
"Kaze! Welcome back! I'm preparing your marble cake right away, so hang tight." Said Mom.
"*sigh* There was so much that happened today. I don't even know where to begin."
"Oh, really? I need to hear this. Just hold that thought."
As soon as I did so, I went ahead to place my bag down next to the couch and sat down in a chair in the kitchen.
"*sigh* You are ok, right? Nobody else was hurt?" Mom asked.
"Everybody else is fine. We just got more work to do, but it turned out to be a success." I said.
"Ok, that's good. Looks like you're making a ton of progress. Here's your treat." Mom said as she placed my marble cake on the table and sat in a chair next to me.
"Alright, so tell me what happened out there." She said to me then.
So I told her about the journey we went through, how we were able to meet Princess Peach, but not Mario… and it stunned her after hearing that he retired, but she's not alone. There were others that were shocked as well. I also told her about the trip to the stone. How we were able to find information, looking for clues and so on. I finally told her about Infinite, along with Cackletta and Fawful and how we were able to defeat them… "unexpectedly", for the yellow stone since Infinite was the one who set this up in the first place, along with one other thing: The fact that he's part of this organization called the VAF.
"So… yes, that's what happened." I said after finishing up my explanation.
"I see. This is definitely a lot to take in with all of that pandemonium." Mom said. "So you have… Ecolo… and Satan. Then you have Thanos, right?"
"Yes." I said.
"Then there's… I forgot… What was her name?"
"There's Arfoire." I said.
"Arfoire. Right. Then you got… Infinite, Cackletta and Fawful. What is with these strange names?" Mom asked.
"Well, Cackletta and Fawful, yes, but not Infinite. I don't think there's anything strange in that." I said with a sweatdrop.
"What is with this dangerous army? Bowser's gone and the mastermind's aiming for the Mushroom Kingdom regardless?"
"That's why I'm trying to find answers as to who runs this VAF organization. I'm hinting it's Thanos, but we won't know until we capture the rest of the stones."
"I'm just glad you were able to ward off Infinite's attack. Princess Peach is somebody that I would love to meet one day. I'm pretty sure others would love to meet her as well."
"That's right. But I wasn't alone on this. Rosalina used herself as the last resort and helped take out Infinite. I was so relieved that someone as strong as her would join the fray and finish the job with us."
By the way, I did tell her about Rosalina.
"Yeah, that was very awesome of her to swoop in at the very last moment. My little girl would've been killed at that last moment." My mom said in a sad tone.
"I'm still here. I'm just not at my true potential yet. It's my first stint as an HCU. Infinite was all over the place with his powers."
"Yes. All over the place that you would've been badly hurt. But, you do have other people to help you out so I'm still gonna hope that you still survive this."
"Yeah, that's right. But with that big of an organization, we're gonna need to grow our firepower a whole lot more." I said.
"That's right. With your group like this, it can't be possible that you'll win."
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Oh. It's my phone."
Mom checked her phone to see what was going on. And she looked surprised at the news she was given.
"Oh, Kaze…"
"What happened?" I asked, looking worried.
"It was supposed to be Gemma's title ceremony and she wasn't present at that time. Her butler told everyone that she was really sick and couldn't make it to the ceremony so it will be postponed until 2 days from today."
It was her ceremony?!
"Lucas and Xavier were available, Kaze. They could've taken over for Gemma and Candace if you actually took my advice.
…
"I-I know. *sigh* Why did I get her into this?" I whispered as I facepalmed.
"Look, I'll let it slide for now since this is who you wanted on your team, but you have to be more mindful about the choices you make. You could've harmed a celebrity's life for the worse."
"Ok. S-Sorry about that. Are you sure you don't want me to let go of Gemma?" I asked.
"I'm positive, sweetie. It's too late now. You got what you wanted. You already completed your adventure with the group that you have. Now you have to live with it."
"Oh ok. I was doing this because, for starters, I want to see them work together in order to nix their rivalry. I know that's not what the people want, but those two have been going at it for years. Secondly, I thought doing this would make their fame grow even stronger than how it is right now. Because our country is pinpointed by the mastermind and I wanted to see if both of them can be capable of being heroic as well. But I guess I put not only them, but myself in a "high risk, high reward" type of situation."
"Well, that situation could likely meddle in your progress of saving the world. The country is gonna flood them with questions and concerns so I hope you find a way to make them become more available to you."
"That may be my next plan. I might need to have a conversation with Gemma. I have to make it up to her, especially since she helped me on her adventure. I just want her to know that I haven't owed her a thing since she's really kind enough to help out."
"Yeah, you haven't done something kind to her for once. She's not your slave. You can't recruit her on your adventure and refuse to scratch her back because she's helped you with your problems."
"Right. I'll make it up to her."
"Please do that. Maybe she'll respect you even more. Well… after you reward yourself with some marble cake." Mom said with a sweatdrop.
After I ate my marble cake to my heart's content, I went upstairs in my bed to text Gemma about ways I can make it up to her. I really left a lot of people confused, shocked, stunned, and a lot of other emotions about this happening. I can understand if I was a fan of Gemma, I would be either of those emotions, but they don't know about the situation we're dealing with at this time. If I can't get it done, our world is doomed, and I'm not going to forgive myself for letting some stupid malevolent plan of the mastermind's come to fruition. That's why I'm trying to find ways to isolate Gemma and Candace away from the people so that the people don't accuse me of putting them in a bad spot.
sigh* I hope Gemma is feeling alright. Damn. I didn't want to do this to her. But I thought this would be even better for her.
"Hey, Gemma." I texted.
I then sighed as I needed time to think to myself after what was a long day. It was still pretty fun seeing Peach. And Daisy. And… the Toads. Mimi… I still have questions about her. Don't you dare bring up what she was doing when she turned into me. She was so creepy. But… all in all, it was such an experience.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Hiya, Kaze! Do you need something?" Gemma texted back.
"I just wanted to text to see if you're feeling ok." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Oh, I'm fine. I'm stuck on what I want to do." Gemma texted.
"I see. I thought you would never text me back after what happened a couple of minutes ago." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Huh? Why would you tell me that? And what do you mean "what happened a couple of minutes ago"?" Gemma texted.
"Well, I never knew you had a title ceremony today to celebrate your win against Candace at the Royal Rally. People started questioning you about your whereabouts and I feel like I put you in a bad spot."
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Well, people questioning you about my whereabouts is true, but I ducked my fans because I wanted to do what me and you have done. And that's saving our world. Choosing somebody else instead of me is not deniable, but I really care about not only this world, but my life as well. So it needed to be done."
"So, you're really serious about saving the world?" I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"That's right. The moment I heard what Thanos did to you, I had a change of heart. I even said that I wasn't gonna let you be lonely and do this by yourself. I meant every word of that."
"Ok. I didn't want to treat you like a slave. And I didn't prove it once. I didn't vote for you in the Royal Rally. I didn't even owe you my thanks for helping me do this. I just dragged you into this mess and put your reputation in jeopardy. Somehow, you're just fine with it. I feel guilty about it." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"I can forgive you if that's how you feel, but I really care about your current state right now. I'm doing this because I don't want you to feel sad or bored or frustrated all the time. You have me, you have Candace, you have your friend Blue, you have everybody else to rely on."
She still cares about me. This is really… mind-blowing.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"You may have postponed my title ceremony, but I'm doing this because I want to figure out who is about to put everyone's life in jeopardy. I don't want to throw that opportunity away. It's not acceptable. I'm willing to do whatever I can to get us out of this situation."
She's not taking no for an answer. It's really starting to motivate me now.
"Ok. Thank you so much, Gemma. You really are confident to do this with me." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"I'm happy to always help you, Kaze. How about this: If you're free that day, do you want to be the first to come to my title ceremony? That's my way of helping you make up for not rewarding me with anything."
The first to… come to her title ceremony? That sure is a way to make up for the amount of times I gifted her with something.
"Certainly. I'll accept your offer. Can I bring Blue with me?" I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Of course! She is my teammate after all. It depends on if she's doing anything. I'm pretty sure your other friends do as well." Gemma texted.
"I might need to talk to them about it. I'll see if they are willing to come." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Yeah, see if they want to come too. I'm sure they'll be glad to be the first ones in my ceremony."
"Ok. Thanks for talking to me about this. I didn't want to hurt your feelings by bringing you on this adventure but it was essential for me as I don't have enough power to take on this mastermind." I texted.
"Don't worry about me. I'm happy with you bringing me along. Especially when we were about to head to the Mushroom Kingdom first. I really wanted to go there. We're going to find a way to bring down this mastermind. Just keep being in touch with me a little while longer." Gemma texted.
"Ok, I will. I'll see you at the ceremony." I texted.
But then at that moment…
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
Another person texted my phone and it was Blue. I was about to check but not before…
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"You too, best friend! ;" Gemma texted me that.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
Then there were two more people on my phone texting as my phone was alerting me repeatedly in seconds. It seems like I have a crowd that wants me.
I first went straight to Blue to see her message.
"I gave Lucas and Xavier your phone number just in case you want to keep in touch with them." Blue texted.
"Ok. Thanks, Blue. By the way, Gemma offered us an invite to come to her title ceremony. And she said we can be the first to enter. Do you want to come?"
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Sure! I loved that she would invite us there and let us be the first to enter! I'm not sure how Candace would feel about it though." Blue texted.
Oh, I forgot about her. I have to find a way to get in contact with her and Kinsley. We all need to keep in touch together. Especially since we're HCUs.
"Wait, you do have plans on that day, right? It's in 2 or 3 days." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"No, not at the moment. The days where I go to work are Thursdays and Fridays. But I was able to convince Ms. Sparr that I was gonna go with you to save the rest of the world. So I'm leaving it to Xavier and Lucas to clean up the mess."
Crud. I wanted to ask them if they want to come, but they have to work. Oh well. It's just me and Blue for this one. I don't think Xavier wants to come anyway, since he picked Candace in that Royal Rally.
"Ok. Well… it's in 2 days so I'll come to you by then." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Ok. I'll see you then." She texted back.
I then went back to my contacts and went straight over to the first new phone number.
"Hey, Kaze. It's Lucas. I just got your number from Blue. How are you making out?" It was from Lucas.
"Hello, Lucas. I'm fine. I'm just sitting in my room. Nothing too serious at the moment." I texted back.
I then went out of Lucas's message and went straight to Xavier's message next. It said…
"Hey, Kaze. The Outlaw of Xavier is here. Just wanted to keep in touch with you just in case you need me."
"Hello, Xavier. Thanks for keeping in touch with me." I texted back.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
I went back over to Lucas who sent me a message. It said…
"Ok. That's good. You heard about Gemma missing out on the title ceremony?" He texted.
"I heard about it. But luckily, she invited me to her title ceremony, and I'm the first to be entered in." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Hell's bells, that's awesome! She's like a big sister to you." He texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
I got another text from Xavier. But I was gonna get to him in a second as I continued the conversation with Lucas.
"Well, we only met a few weeks ago so I don't say she's like a big sister to me yet. But she is very kind." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Yeah, we all know that. I'm pretty sure Xavier's doing fine. I reckon not."
"That was partially his fault. He jinxed the whole match, making Candace lose. I have a feeling everyone is outright disgusted with him."
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"A lot of people don't know him. So he's fine for now, but he was that serious on the bet. I just won, so I hope it stays that way." Lucas texted back.
"Have you spoken to him since?" I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Yeah. We are past that now." Lucas texted.
"I see. It's good that you guys protected your friendship." I texted back.
I decided to head out of Lucas's messages and head into Xavier's message and he said…
"No problem. What are you doing? Snuggling with your books?"
I facepalmed after reading that.
"No. I'm lying down in my bed." I texted back.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Oh. That's a rarity. Did you have a long day or something?" Xavier texted back.
"Yeah, you could say that. Are you still upset about what happened a few nights ago?" I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Not really. I'm past it. I'm still a Candace stan, so I'm fine with whatever results there are because I still believe Candace is better than Gemma."
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
Both Lucas and Xavier texted me at the same time but I wanted to stick with Xavier for a second.
"Oh. Alright, that's good to hear. I meant to tell you that Gemma invited me to her title ceremony. And I'll be the first to enter it." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Shut the front door! Are you serious? Tell me it's a hoax!" He texted.
"It's not a hoax. She texted me minutes ago and said that." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"This is insane, Kaze. I mean, I'm happy for you and all, but my goodness, to be the first one in her title ceremony is unreal. And you voted for Candace last time, yet she still invited you."
"I can still invite you, you know?" I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Yeah, but I have to work on that day. I won't be able to have time to do that."
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Look, I'll talk to you about it later. I have to eat with my family."
"Ok. You do that. I'll talk to you soon." I texted.
I then headed back over to Lucas to continue our conversation. He then proceeded to say…
"Well I've known him since we were kids. I did not want to leave his side and neither did he. We were perfect together even though he's the one that is crazy all the time."
"I see. I wish I had that type of bond. Although I should've done that as a kid." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Well, we'll make the bond work. You just gotta keep networking with us. The bond that you'll receive will be strong if you keep communicating and entertaining us. I guarantee it." He texted back.
He's not wrong. I'm pretty sure Blue will say the same thing as well.
"Ok. I'll do my best to keep in touch." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"Yeah. You do that. I'll talk to you soon. I have to help my mother with something."
"Ok. Thanks for checking on me." I texted.
NOTIFICATION CHIME*
"No problem. Anything for a friend."
I really got friends that watch over me. My reputation is really starting to mushroom.
…
"So… *sigh* Looks like I'm all out of options. I'll just read a book." I said as I got off my bed and grabbed the book that I bought from the library.
Xavier made me want to read a book. I really am a book lover.
Author's Note: Kaze is now back home after her first mission with her new partners. But bad news already hits as Gemma's title ceremony was today and Gemma herself has missed it because she wanted to help Kaze find the rest of the stones. But the bad news has already been cleared up with Gemma still wanting to help Kaze despite her fans being worried about her.
No new information from me. This is all I got for now, so if you guys are enjoying this story, make sure you Follow/Favorite/Review this story and I'll see you in the next chapter.