Chapter 41: Apple

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An announcement blared through the speaker," May all the competitors come to the main room, and if you have them, please bring back DL and CS. I miss them and I don't want to wreck the place looking for them."

I was confused. Who are DL and CS? Either way, I didn't care. I just made my way to the main room with Ling. Once there, I noticed that beside Nep and Muffin were a dragon and a cat snake. I ignored them as the Game Master got on the stage.

"Welcome back competitors!" he shouted," First things first, have you seen my good friends, DL and CS?"

"You have something more important than torturing us?!" One competitor shouted.

"You have friends!?" Ling yelled.

The Game Master glared at her," Anyways, it would be nice if you can bring them back. I miss them a lot. The second thing I would like to say is that we are going to have a free for all, again."

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE US DO THIS TIME!?" Timmy yelled.

"It's actually just a simple game of hide and seek." The Game Master answered," All the competitors would have to hide somewhere in the Casino. Both me and some of my friends will go try and find you. The first one out gets eliminated and the last one out gets a special reward."

Most of the competitors cheered, they thought of an easy game and the thought of a reward. I noticed that the cat-snake and the dragon turned to Nep and Muffin.

"We have to go now." The cat-snake whispered," It seems like Hanzel is worried about us. We'll be back soon though."

Nep looked sad," Alright, I'll walk you guys back."

"And one last thing!" Hanzel said," Anyone can play this round if they're entered into the competition or not."

Everyone seemed surprised by this and I could already tell Muffin was going to get Nep in one way or another. I ignored them and looked around the room, searching for someone to talk with.

"Umm, Apple?"

I turned around and saw Maple standing behind me, looking very embarrassed.

"Oh," I said, feeling slightly uncomfortable too," hi Maple! What do you need?"

"I just wanted to apologize," She said," y'know, for being a bit of a jerk."

"You don't have to, I wasn't listening either, I think we both needed some space I guess."

She looked surprised," Oh, I thought this would be a lot of me apologizing and you being annoyed at me."

"Does me apologizing work?"

"Yes." She said, giving me a huge hug.

"I'm sooury for not listening to you and being there for you." I said quietly.

"And I'm sooury for being so overprotective." I said and stood back," Now, if you'll be so kind as to answer, why did you choose to go with Simon?"

She started blushing and I could tell she knew what I meant," Oh come on! That's unfair, you caught me off guard."

I laughed," I knew it," she sighed," well, I guess I can accept it so long as he's good to you. But isn't he a drug-dealer or something?"

"No, this is a pg book. Anyways, he's a lot nicer than you think."

I shrugged," Well, not my place to judge. On the other hand, I do have something to tell you myself."

"And what's that?" She gasped," Do you have a love interest?"

I shook my head," No way, I need to show it to you though."



I took her to our original room and she looked mortified at how messy it was.

"What happened here?!" She asked, running her hand across a huge tear in the wall.

"My guess would be that this is the mess left behind after Muffin's big fight with the thief." I said," Now if you would come with me, I can show you where I'm keeping my little secret."

I could tell she was starting to get suspicious," What exactly is this?"

I smiled and walked into the bathroom," It's a surprise."

She followed me and I pulled the mirror off the wall, revealing a small tunnel. I climbed in and Maple hesitantly followed me. The tunnel emerged into a large room with a shaking pile of blankets in the corner.

"Nelson," I called," you can come out, it's me and Maple."

Nelson poked his small fox head out of the blankets.

"You brought him here?!" She shouted," He'll get hurt if anyone finds him!"

"That's why I got him a place to hide." I said.

"Mum!" Nelson shouted, running at me and giving me a hug.

"And what about me? Did you forget?" Maple said with a small smile.

He laughed and ran to Maple giving her a huge hug as well," I missed you too Aunty Maple!"

She sighed and shook her head," I can't stay mad at you two." She turned and looked at me," so what are we going to do? Do we tell everyone? Let him join in on the little hide and seek thing?"

"You guys are playing games out there?!" He shouted and pouted," Why didn't you let me join?!"

Maple and I glanced at each other," Umm, some of them are grown-up games." she said.

He shrugged," Alright, but I want to play hide and seek with you guys!"

She sighed," I mean, we can't deny him this, he's been cooped up in here the whole time." she froze for a moment," Wait, were you hiding in here the whole time?"

I grinned," Maybe."

"Please tell me he was asleep during the conversation we had."

"You're lucky," I said," he was passed out when I came here and slept through the whole thing."

"But you heard."

"The whole thing."

She sighed," We're going to have to figure this out at some point, but now, it's time to fill everyone in on what's going on."



Madoka and Reggie were ecstatic when they saw Nelson.

"He's so adorable!" Reggie shouted, picking him up in a bear hug.

"And he's so fluffy!" Madoka said, petting him excitedly," Can we keep him?"

"No." I said firmly," There's no way that's happening."

They looked disappointed but seemed content to at least be able to hold him.

Simon walked over to Maple," So, who's the new guy?"

"He's like our adopted son and I guess Apple is the mom so I'm his aunt." She said.

"Hey, Simon," I said mischievously," looks like you're an adopted uncle now."

Both of them turned beet red and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Be quiet, Apple!" Maple shouted in annoyance.

I smiled," Well, a comment like that was going to pop up sooner or later. Anyways, when did the game master say the challenge was going to start?"

As if on queue, the intercom came on," Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for our hide and seek round! It starts in three, two, one, GO!"


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The smol fluffy boi is back!

We couldn't just leave him in the hotel and Apple would have a stronk if she left her son so now he's here! There totally won't be any repercussions...

Maybe.

-Writer boi

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