"Here now, the one and only, Steve Cobs!"
The crowd looked at the stage, waiting for the CEO to appear and talk about the newest devices.
Gold watched from the crowd. Sure, it looked unprofessional, given that they were the mayor, but he would be given unnecessary attention left and right.
Instead of a blond, middle-aged man in a turtleneck, what emerged from the door were 3 people, who were a sight for sore eyes—or at least for Gold, the rest of the crowd delivered a bunch of confused noises—and a boy who was unfamiliar to him.
"I know you are all confused," Fan said, "but we'll tell you everything."
"Steve Cobs isn't as good as you all think. He's been... preparing stuff for an alien invasion," He continued.
The crowd then erupted into laughter.
Gold took off his hoodie, and tied it along his waist. They raised their hand, "They're telling the truth!"
"And they got Oltekio's mayor into this stand-up?" A bystander said, "Now I've seen everything!"
"No, and this isn't a stand-up comedy," He clarified. They climbed up to the stage. "Continue, please."
Fan gripped the microphone, "Okay, let's begin from the start. Cobs somehow discovered the planet of the Shimmers, an alien race of eggs. He probably created those MePhone3GS mascots for this, and they got to the planet so that they could use- exploit the... the light of their eggs, which are life-forms of themselves? I have no idea how to explain this..." He stroked his chin.
"But, what I have an idea on is how he treated his products." He took the microphone off of the stand, "I was- I was part of a reality show, you probably know- Inanimate Insanity, but- but it was hosted by MePhone4- well, not really a MePhone4, more like a mascot- but- but that's besides the point. The point is, is that he apparently was built, just to do tasks, and was treated like- like he was just a machine, and nothing else."
"Okay, but how do we know that that's the truth?" A bystander asked.
"When's the last time you heard a billionaire being actually ethical?" Fan asked.
They scratched their head, "Touché."
"A-anyways, let me continue, so-"
Fan rambled on and on about the misdeeds of Meeple, and by the time he was done, he could chug down 3 full water bottles and still not be hydrated enough.
After the rant, Gold took out his phone and called the police to arrest Cobs.
"Wait, we did hurt him a lot, aren't we gonna be arrested for like, battery?" Suitcase asked.
"Oh, right," Gold realised, "I could just... pardon you all."
The two stared at each other awkwardly, then continued drinking their sodas
—————————————————————————————————————
Fan boarded the yacht, excited to meet his friends again as he felt like he and the group were gone for months on end.
The yacht had a cozy couch area for people to sit in, and a table for meals. The group and Fan laid down on the couch, and took their phones out.
His heart was beating like it was palpitating, the excitement of seeing his friends again filling his body. However, they weren't gonna be there for another hour, so he resorted to scrolling through social media to see the people's reactions to his speech.
The posts were mixed, either being happy that someone finally spoke out, or being mad that someone didn't deal with this privately. He got out of the app, and watched a video essay.
The hour-long video sped by like seconds as he approached his home island. When the credits rolled on the video, the ship then stopped, and Fan giddily got up from his seat to run over to the exit.
The other two followed him to the door, and upon opening it, the beach was there, and a path which led to an unlit campfire.
Knife jumped from the exit door onto the ground, followed by Suitcase and Fan.
They walked along the path, and when they got closer, the main camp revealed itself.
Fan ran to the camp and saw Test Tube. She looked at him, and then ran back to him.
Test Tube wrapped her arms around him, "You're back!" She exclaimed.
"Yep! And we killed it!" Fan replied.
"I just can't believe that you and the others are still here..."
The two were wrapped in a warm embrace, ignoring everything that was happening. Fan let go and looked at Test Tube.
"Testy, can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah, what?"
"Who cooked those low-class un-spicy chicken nuggets?"
The scientist got surprised, then scratched her hair, "Well, OJ made them with what we had left in the freezer, and Paintbrush's explosive hair temper-thing."
"Where is he?"
She pointed at the former hotel manager, who was talking with Paper. He ran over to him.
—————————————————————————————————————
Suitcase looked at Knife. "So, uh, I guess we... gamers have to- uh, get this bread?" She said while holding in a laugh.
"I guess, see ya." Knife walked off to the main camp area.
She walked into the camp, trying to find Balloon. It felt like finding a needle in a haystack, there were a lot of people standing around and talking. Eventually, she found her first friend in the competition.
"Hey! It's me!"
Balloon turned around, "You're here! I'm so glad that you're alive!"
"Thanks! It was no biggie."
"Heh," He looked at the floor, "Anyways, wanna do something fun together?"
"Sure! What is it?"
He brought out a volleyball, "The others have already signed up, we just need you, Knife and Fan."
Suitcase turned around, "I'll go get them." She then ran towards her other friends, and talked with them.
—————————————————————————————————————
The former Hotel OJ residents sat down in a circle around a campfire, roasting s'mores, and having a camping-themed toast to the three who saved the world.
Fan told them everything, from the initial boat ride to their fight against Cobs, it felt like a tall tale.
When the party died down, the three laid down in a field.
"The planets of those stars wouldn't have been saved without us," Fan commented, "I'm beginning to wonder- what would've happened if we couldn't stop him?"
"Well, we did, and that's all that matters, right?" Knife quipped.
"Even if you weren't joking, that still would be true," Suitcase reasoned.
Knife softly laughed, "You're right. But don't let that get to your head."
Suitcase laughed, then looked at the sky, "No, no I won't."
A/N: I realised while writing this that i'm more of a plotter/planner than a pantser, and i will remake this someday.
For now, I will just write oneshots and hone my craft!
Thanks to the people who proofread chapters 8-15, you have my gratitude. And thanks to the people who supported me!
A/N: WOAH! #1 on #ii2! I'd like to thank my playlist, Google docs app, that sudden burst of motivation I got while writing chapter 8, and that notes app outline that was never that followed.
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The Beginning Of The End
Fanfic*beep* *beep* *beep* The fire alarm rang. Now, it was usual for it to sound early in the morning, as the Cherries pranked them every week with that. But it was unusual for it to sound at 4 in the morning. OJ got up from his bed to tell them off, bu...
