Chapter 69: Back To Work And Hanging Out

It was the very next day and I was already in the training facility at Hyperdrive City, preparing myself for my next adventure. That stagnant start from Mushroom Kingdom got me doing this last night and I was hoping to improve my strength. And to be honest with you, there was nobody in the training facility.

I was alone by myself. And let's just say…

*CLING*

I was trying to kick an extra gear. Against a sparring partner. Which is a dummy.

I was trying to scrum into the dummy using all of my force with my sword. With me trying to gain the advantage, the dummy was starting to lose control of his sword…

*POW*

He tried to kick my leg…

*WOOSH*

And feeling the impact of the kick, it made me react to it a little, but the sword was coming towards my throat and I quickly got out of the way in time to avoid being hit.

I then proceeded to block his sword attacks with my own sword. We proceeded to attack each other with our own swords. It went on for several minutes until I was able to find an opening.

*SLICE SOUND*

I was able to cut his shoulder and he kneeled down on the floor bleeding and I was able to kick him down on the floor and quickly used my magic to create holy swords to finish the dummy on a high note.

*STAB*

And the swords pierced the dummy trying to escape the swords as they fell rapidly, erasing the dummy from existence. I reacted pretty hard to that nasty stab as it was very gruesome even though it wasn't red blood.

"Wow. That was very painful. At least it will go away." I said to myself.

But I didn't stop there. I kept going with the training. I went ahead and fought more dummies as I was starting to push myself. I was trying to get myself some good results from this training facility. There were so many action-packed battles that even though I was tired, I was still pushing to be better as I didn't want to slouch. At one point in these battles, I kicked an enemy as hard as I could in the chin using magic in my foot and it sent him stumbling as fast as he could and I sliced his throat, erasing him into existence instantly. I was in awe after that.

"OMG! Did that just happen?! No way!" I shouted, looking surprised at what I did.

It was shocking to me. I stopped training after that. I really wanted to keep showcasing my skills, but after all those battles, I had to stop. Just so that I can take a break from this. It was still insane how I was able to kick an enemy in the head and slash him in the throat after that. I was still speechless.

I went to a nearby bathroom to wash my hands in order to get all the icky stuff off my hands. And as I was doing, I was looking at myself in the mirror, I looked sweaty after training. I went through a lot to look like this. But! It is work in progress.

After I got done washing my hands and drying them, I used my shirt to remove the sweat off of my face.

I exited the training facility and walked outside, hoping to find something to do for the day. I couldn't even find some of my friends as I walked along the way…

"Hey, Kaze!"

Until now. And she was approaching me in an instant.

"Oh, Alexis. Hello there." I said to her.

"Are you doing ok? You need something?" Alexis asked.

"No, I'm ok. I just got back from the training facility. I needed to improve myself after what happened in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Oh. I guess you weren't kidding about that. Infinite sure was a tough customer, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was. His powers aren't anything I have seen before. Even the common ability to teleport 24/7. It was getting annoying." I said.

"But it is likely that this next villain won't have the same course of action, so you can breathe easily on that."

"R-Right." I gained a sweatdrop on that one. "Anyway, where are your siblings? Are they busy?"

"Yeah. Super busy. Scarlett is currently studying her magic, trying to get better in battles, Darius is… hanging out with his buddies, Kris is playing his video games and Zack is working on another invention. I just have… nothing to do. I'm figuring out something to do, so the least I could do is just walk around Hyperdrive City, clearing my head."

"I see. I guess you and I are on the same wavelength then."

"That's true. Hey, you want to hang out right now? Not that I have anything planned?" Alexis asked.

"Oh? Is it ok for me?" I asked.

"You said you were bored, right? There's so much to do in Hyperdrive City, so I'll leave it in your hands on where you wanna go."

"But… I don't really know what there is to do. All I've been to was the Laboratory, the buffet, your base, and Roller Rocket Racing. Isn't there a bookstore somewhere?"

"Yeah, there is. I knew you were into that." Alexis said.

"I mean, there's nothing wrong with reading books. It's a lot of things that made me the person that I am if I gave it a chance."

"But be honest. Aren't books about magic the only thing that you're hooked to?"

"Yes and no. I am a person that likes to read supernatural things and that feeling will never go away, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna buy into other genres as well. I mean, it is starting to become understandable as to why you feel that way though. It's because of how I look."

"Yeah. Especially a couple of cartoon characters as well. Well… speaking of how you look, I didn't want to bring it up now since you are not into these things… but you were trending recently. Social media was talking about you in the Royal Rally."

"W-What?!" I asked, looking shocked.

"Yeah. I'm not kidding. Everybody kept calling you a hottie, stunning, cute, beautiful, all of the above. The men got a crush on you. It's real, Kaze. You are attracting everyone."

"Oooogh." I covered my whole face as I was blushing really hard. I didn't really want to say anything.

"I mean, it's a good thing though, Kaze. You are pretty cool, nice, beautiful. You're almost similar to Candace. And even Candace isn't affected by it. Everyone loves that about you."

"I get it, but this has reached a whole new level. This isn't what I signed up for." I whined.

"Come on, you're acting like a baby. A lot of people wish to become famous. Everybody wants to become famous. You should say it's really good for yourself."

"But I don't wish to be famous like that." I said. "All I ever wish to be is somebody that is a heroine. Not some fashionista like Candace. I like how I look and all, but it's only because I thought I look… nice."

"Nice? Or cute?" Alexis asked with a sweatdrop.

"N-No! I don't want to say that! Then that would mean…"

"That would mean that you might be part of the next generation of beauties, Kaze. It's written all over your face, girl."

Is this really true? Am I all… that… beautiful?

"Ok, look. I'll keep it a secret for now since I knew this would be bothering you a lot. But at some point of time, these people like who you are so if I were you, I could at least feel appreciated the next time people acknowledge and compliment you."

"*sigh* I'll… take what you say." I said as I gave in.

I don't want to, but it's unfair to not feel at least appreciated isn't it?

"Good! Now let's say we go to the bookstore. Just to soothe your soul."

"That would be necessary."

After putting an end to that conversation, I was now following Alexis to the bookstore which was not far from where we met according to her. The reason why I brought up the bookstore was because I wanted to see what type of books they have. This world knows a lot of history so I have a feeling there are books that are worth my interest.

"Are you sure there aren't any buildings that you like to go to?" Alexis asked. "There are sports buildings, arcades, phone stores… well, there's gotta be something that you are into."

"Well… hangouts do appear to be fun. What do you do in your free time?" I asked.

"I go to clothing stores, um… what else… I go to the phone store to get new phone cases… I… go to… Roller Rocket Racing… and… that's really all I go to. Usually the other stores are where my siblings go the most."

"If it's something fun you want to do, I'm open to doing whatever. Well… I guess I have to override my decision to not do Roller Rocket Racing."

"Are you sure? I want to make you sure you get to do something while you're here. Being bored doesn't feel fun at all."

"I know. Which is why I'm saying we can do both the arcade and Roller Rocket Racing. Just to get ourselves free from scrambling to find things to do in our own time. It's only us, so we can use this time to have fun."

"Well, someone's extremely interested." Alexis asked, looking shocked. "Say no more. After the bookstore, we can do business on the fun stuff. You really just accepted the arcade and Royal Rocket– I mean Roller Rocket Racing in a flash."

"I had to, honestly. I read 7 chapters worth a ton of pages yesterday. It was time I had to buy into this stuff."

"What a bookworm, man." Alexis whispered with a facepalm.

"You should want to read books too, Alexis." I said. "As much as you hate it, it helps you in the long run."

"You may be right, but I just feel uninterested every once in a while. All I think about it's just the shocking stuff and not what is really going on."

"Then maybe someday I can help make recommendations on how you can do that. It's just that you have to read what you learned. Taking notes can be another good course of action."

By the way, I should've brought this up a long time ago… I also like to take notes while reading. Teachers from my schools tell me that taking notes while reading is really important. So I often do just that.

"That is good advice, but I'll take it into consideration another time. I don't want to hold you up in heading to the bookstore, so let's get a move on."

"Ok. Let's go."

We then proceeded to walk further into Hyperdrive City. Along the way, there were robots walking into the sidewalks along with actual people walking with them. And I was starting to hint that Dr. Lotus was the one who created these robots.

So it's not just Cordelia. It's other robots in this world that act normal. I can't believe this world is so futuristic. Almost as if it's not supposed to be real.

Me and Alexis didn't chat for much longer as we were now approaching the bookstore. And even that store is more futuristic than the bookstore we have in the United Kingdom.

"Here it is. "MaStorypiece". The store that holds the best books this world has to offer." Alexis said.

"I can tell this has a lot of potential to be the best store." I said.

I might wanna come here often. Well, I have to see how it looks on the inside first. I can't judge until I view the whole thing.

"I heard Scarlett say that numerous times." Alexis said with a sweatdrop. "But what's surprising is that ever since you first stepped here, I haven't heard her bring it up one time."

"So this store has books from our world as well?" I asked.

"Yup. A lot of books are available here. We've been browsing through thousands of worlds to get copies of books for everyone to read. This is all according to Scarlett."

"That's pretty cool. You must feel pretty lucky to come to this world."

"That's true. It's really reality when it's not supposed to be. These types of stores are the reason why I feel happy living here."

"Yeah, I don't blame you for saying that. It's almost like you can do anything for free. Not that you actually can."

"Let's head inside. I bet you're gonna love it once you step in."

"Ok."

We then went inside this place called "MaStorypiece" and when we went inside… It looked like we were in a spacecraft. But regardless of that, everything was well organized and there were shelters filled with books everywhere. They were even placed very neatly, it made me want to not touch anything and just look at it.

I wish I could grab one of these books.

"Wow… there is a lot you can find in this place." I said as I was exploring the place.

"Yeah. I know Scarlett would never want to leave here. She takes her time to explore and find interesting stories."

"Indeed. They know how to keep things neat here. Almost every book is recognizable. Well… not a lot because these types of books might be from different worlds I assume." I said with a sweatdrop as I was looking at the different types of books.

"If you want to see the books from your world, they're on the second floor. I can take you there." Alexis said.

"That's ok. I can explore the place and see what type of books they have."

"You sure?"

"Certainly. When it comes to books, I am never afraid to try out new stories created by different authors. Not that they have to be supernatural stories."

"Well, alright. I won't stop you."

We then took a look around the store to see what types of books that they had for a couple of minutes. And already coming here is an amazing experience as I was seeing new books from different worlds. Even I saw books that came from my country. There were books from other countries as well. Medieval stories, Stories about people's lives, Video game stories, and others. This is really a place that book lovers might wanna go to.

This is the place where book lovers like Klug, Ciel and Akuma might want to consider. Even Io, Toule and Primm. I'll probably get them to explore this place. Someday. I'm not too sure.

"Do you want me to recommend some books that I would read, Alexis?" I asked.

"Um… sure. I guess recommendations wouldn't hurt."

Alexis said.

"So the "Percy Jackson" books are what I would read. Those are very VERY good. I read "Fableheaven", "Artemis Fowl", "Inkheart" and "Keeper of the Lost Cities". Those are all what I read. There are other books that I read but those types of books are my favorite."

"All of those are what Scarlett would read. Did you pick up one of those books when you first came to our house?"

"Artemis Fowl. I wasted no time picking that one up. That reminds me, I know we both are into the "Hunger Games", but I haven't told Blue about the other novels or books she read."

"The three of you have extreme tastes. Talking about these books and novels are going to be long-lasting."

"If it were to happen sooner or later, then I agree. But that depends on who wants to talk about them first."

"Right. So… is there any other book you want to see?" Alexis asked me.

"Well… I think that's about it for me. I had fun exploring the place for the first time." I said.

"I'm glad this place got you excited. If it didn't, then we would've made some massive changes to persuade you."

"This is actually great. Every book I've seen has been amazing and I'm so glad the classic books were in stock. It's like I can never go back to this place. But I'll save the excitement for another day. I can see why this place is called "MaStorypiece"."

"You know it. It's honestly surprising that Scarlett doesn't work here. She could've been a valuable resource looking for things since she's really intelligent."

"Indeed. When I think about her and this place, I think about Ciel working here in general."

"Ciel? Who is that?" Alexis asked.

"Ciel. The angel. Light-Blue hair… glasses… green eyes. She's like Scarlett."

"Oh… I think… Wait, was that who that was? The girl with the glasses? Light-Blue hair? I've seen her before… I just thought she looked… unamused."

"I-I wouldn't say that she's unamused. It's just that she's normally quiet. Her and Scarlett would definitely be elite because they do their homework all too well."

"Yeah. But why do you think of that person when it comes to this place?"

"She works at a library. And she's a workhorse there. And with the help of Scarlett, they could both see eye-to-eye just before you know it."

"Huh. I guess she might make a new friend then."

"That's why I really want to see her again. Just to talk about the things that we like. We didn't talk about that the first time I stepped into Primp Town."

"I hear you. There are others that you want to see back in Primp Town, huh?"

"Yeah. It's been almost 2 weeks since I last saw them." I said. "It feels like it's been forever. But I want to put all of that to rest for now. I don't want to bore you with lots of details about books and things of that nature."

"O-Ok. That's fine. If that's all, then let's head out."

"Ok, let's go."

We both were out of MaStorypiece without having to buy anything and were now outside walking to wherever we wish to go. Which is either the arcade or Roller Rocket Racing.

…

Or both. We did go to one place, but I felt like that was just too short so we decided to hangout a little more.

"Ok. So you wanna go to Roller Rocket Racing? Arcade? Both?" Alexis asked.

"We can do both. Since you brought me to MaStorypiece. And allowed me to explore the place. So we can go to both places. I don't mind that."

"Cool. Then how about Roller Rocket Racing? So I can finally kick your ass and get my redemption after the first race?"

"Ah, so you wish to talk tough, huh?" I asked while smirking. "Very well. We'll be sure to bring up this "redemption" talk after I blow you away."

"You're so on!"

*1 HOUR LATER*

Ok… L-Let's just say… We actually need to talk… redemption.

"Woo! It really looks like that first win was a fluke after all, British girl!"

"So this is how I get treated after your first and only win?"

Yes. Alexis beat me in our second battle in Roller Rocket Racing. It was on the same track that we went to when we first arrived. And this race was as bad as it was the first time. I got blown away. Horribly. Alexis was in the lead for almost the entire race and I couldn't find a way to keep up. Other racers participated. I just couldn't keep up with her after that because I was getting pummeled with items. I was placed 5th.

"I mean, it was my family that helped you! They love cheating so I just had to do this alone just so that I can show you how awesome I truly look. And look what happened! It all paid off!"

"Well, you are that competitive. So kudos to you." I said. "Have you been doing this all the time?"

"Yeah. I've been racing with my siblings and random people so I have lots of experience. And it's carried over to here. It's just that my siblings give me problems every time we race. They won't let a beautiful girl like me have a chance."

"Maybe that's why I didn't see you race like how you did out there the first time. Maybe your siblings are not afraid to give you a bad name."

"That's only them, not me!" Alexis shouted. "I give everybody fair competition! When people want to go above and beyond and do everything in their power to defeat me, all bets are off!"

"Knowing how bold you are, I can see the growth in you." I said.

"Yup. It's really all in a good day's work. Anyway, now that you got your ass kicked like I said, how about we go to the arcade now?"

She really loves to talk tough after all of that.

"Sure. Only then I'll be able to get something out of this."

"We'll see."

*ANOTHER HOUR LATER*

"Well, that was fun. You had me dumbfounded in that Pac-Man game, Kaze." Alexis said.

"Well… that's what happens when you have so much experience playing this game after all." I said.

We just got out of this arcade called, "Dreamy Gamer" where there were so many games and arcades in there. They cost money, but Alexis used her own to receive a card that had money for us to play the games. It was my first time experiencing that. We played a couple of games and arcades along the way. Skeeball, Connect 4, Basketball (I demolished her by the way. She was pissed off. Don't tell her I said that.), A racing arcade, which was called Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (Which was another racing game that I got treated unfairly on. Blame Alexis.), and Pac-Man to top it off. All of it was fun. I'm glad I was able to do something instead of doing nothing at this time of day.

"I can see it. For a bookworm, you sure are something special. You have a lot of poise."

"You had a lot of poise yourself. Especially in that Connect 4 game." I said.

"Connect 4? Even Mario Kart, dummy! You know you got destroyed in that one!"

"I got treated unfairly twice! I can't say that you were poised in that game!"

"I was in the zone! You saw it! You saw me blow everyone away! Including you!"

"Hmph! Another person that loves annoying me." I said with an annoyed look.

"*snicker*"

She's going to see a whole new me next game.

"*Whistle*"

After hearing Alexis laugh at me, some person whistled loudly, and it was a girl sitting on the bench, holding a gaming device. She had dark skin, possibly darker than Darius's skin. She had black pigtails that looked long and straight, beating Alexis in terms of length, and green eyes. She had on a black shirt with an… Xbox logo? I would be thinking it's a gaming console that Kris plays. She also wore black pants, and black and green Nike sneakers. She looked probably annoyed.

"Oh, Meghan! My bad! How did you come ALL the way from the arcade to here?!" Alexis asked.

"You would take your time doing you. I couldn't afford to wait for you to show up, so… this is all I can do. But you somehow walked by me and didn't notice me."

"Well, I'm sorry. An important somebody just caught my attention and we just… decided to link up and do something."

"You never change, Alexis." The girl said with a facepalm.

"A-Anyway, Meghan, I'm just gonna get straight to it and introduce you to Kaze." Alexis said.

"You don't need to introduce her. I know who she is, in fact." The girl said.

"H-Huh?!" We both looked confused.

"Kris told me about her. The girl that's from the United Kingdom. Coming here to find the cause of this apocalypse project. I know who you are, Kaze Matsuzaki. Surprising, huh?" The girl said with a smile.

…

…

"Y-Yes. I'm surprised he told you who I am." I said with a sweatdrop.

"He had the impudence to give away our secrets to people!" Alexis said with a facepalm.

T-Tell me about it!

"W-What's wrong with it? Any friend of yours can be a friend of mine, yes?"

"Th-That's true, but he just talked about the apocalypse when he shouldn't be giving away any information about it! It's ours to talk about and ours alone!"

"Damn, then he should've kept quiet. Keep it short, simple and straight to the point."

"Bingo!" Alexis shouted. "*sigh* S-Sorry, Kaze. I didn't mean to keep you waiting. This is Meghan. Like Kris… or Zack, I'm not sure how to put this… She's a tech geek. Games, Technology, you name it. She's a prowess in both. She has a knack for understanding video games, unlike most girls like myself. Technology…

…

…

…

I forgot what she's all about." Alexis said with a sweatdrop.

"You forgot what I do in terms of technology?" The girl named Meghan said while facepalming.

"You know more than me. Explaining technology isn't my forté."

"Well… that's reasonable. And also reasonable to not explain everything about me because I can do that myself. But, you should know something for all I care. Anyway… I'm still a novice at it, but I work on programming, I fix TVs, consoles. I can do all that cool stuff. I suck at making new inventions however. That one gets me hard. You can say I'm… kinda like Zack."

"Oh. That's good to hear."

"By the way, I did see you play insane in that Pac-Man game. You played almost at my level, to be honest."

"Well, I had experience playing that game. It's one of my favorites."

"She was in the zone, Meghan! We were both taking turns and I couldn't complete levels any higher than 6! I was totally lost!"

"Oh really? Then that says a lot about your game, girl." Meghan said, while a cheeky smile.

"Oh, you're the one to talk, coward." Alexis said with a pout.

"Is that the only game you love, Kaze? Are there others that you're into?"

"Well… only Pac-Man. I don't get into any other games besides that." I said.

"R-Really? I thought you would be good at other games as well." Meghan asked, looking surprised.

"She's into books." Alexis said. "But when she plays Pac-Man, it's a different type of environment."

"I see. Anyway, how's your family doing, Alexis? It's honestly rare to see you here, anyway."

"They're fine. They're all busy today so I was just trying my best to find something to do."

"I didn't think Darius would be that busy." Meghan said.

"He's doing his own thing. Hanging out with his friends."

"Right…"

I then proceeded to look at my phone and looked at the time. I was out for 3 hours as the time read 11:18 AM.

"Ok. I gotta head back. I don't think I should be outside for that long." I said.

"Oh, you gotta head home?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah, I should want to go home every once in a while as I don't want to worry my mother."

"Oh ok. Then I won't stop you. At least I was glad to get you another friend in Meghan." Alexis said.

"Yeah. I may not do the same things that you do, but you seem like a cool person to talk to." Meghan said.

"Thank you. Same to you. I was going to say the same thing actually."

Another friend. I'm doing big things recently.

I then pulled out my telecator to create a portal straight back home.

"Ok. I'll see you around, you two." I said as I waved at them.

"See ya, Kaze." Alexis said.

"Take care, Kaze." Meghan said.

I went inside the portal and was teleported back home where I was going to see my mother. Of course my plan the whole day was to prepare for my next adventure but after I train, I would be out of options, so I'm glad Alexis and I were able to do something for a change. As in hang out.

This morning so far has been… wild. I'll say that. She was the one who decided to spark a friendly rivalry and I had no hesitation to make things fierce. Her confidence was off the charts today. So I can applaud her for that.

…

…

…

You know… confidence is one thing I could work on. I don't think I was confident when I was fighting Infinite. So I'll see what I can do to boost that.

Author's Note: After the Mushroom Kingdom adventure, Kaze continues to work hard to achieve her number one goal: To become the best heroine the universe has to offer. AND it's the morning after the adventure. So she's not wasting any time to get better.

I know this was too long to write, but this chapter was a toughie as it can be tricky to write side-chapters with the same character's POV. But there may be plans to write other character's POVs. Just to get out of this slump and experience what other people are doing. So stay tuned for that.

Finally, another OC. Yes, I know. It's a lot. It's a lot of characters. But Hyperdrive City and the United Kingdom are two different worlds. And they need characters. So I have to add them. And Meghan's one of them. I had to.

That's all I got for now. If you guys are enjoying this story, y'all know what to do: follow/favorite/review this story, and I'll see you in the next chapter.