"Shill so goo." Gordon said, with his mouth full.

"'Still so good'."Abby translated, picking up her water.

Everyone agreed. We were sitting in the same booth as before, plus one person (mastermind).

"I can't believe you got this for free." Jon burped.

"Manners!" Skye told him. Then, Skye burped as well, and they both laughed.

"Tony's an old friend." Mastermind smiled. "It's a funny story, actually. When I was younger, I used to steal from this place. But when I was finally caught, Mitch came to the rescue, and we were all cool."

"So a friendship based off of stealing food." Skye laughed.

Abby laughed as well. "Gordon almost blew me up when we first met."

Gordon shrugged. "It worked. I got your attention."

"You almost killed us both!"

"Worth it!"

"How'd you meet Mitch?" Infinity asked.

"Long story." Mastermind rubbed his neck, looking awkward. "How about you two? How'd your parents meet?"

"GoldSolace's army camp." Jake said. "I think they're still there."

"My favorite council member." Infinity sighed.

I frowned. "Why aren't they at yours?"

"They... didn't exactly approve of it." Jake said.

"So they just let two kids go off on their own?"

"We ran away. Certain reasons."

"And the council gave you your own base without asking anything?"

"They don't give it directly." Jon informed.

Mastermind nodded. "You send in a paper about the location and reason, and they approve or not. No age required."

"So I can go create a base right now." I figured.

"Yes, more or less."

"Dear gods that would be a nightmare." Abby widened her eyes. "A base run by you."

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, Abby."

Jake gave her a look, and she shrugged. "Right now, at least."

"I'd so nail it!" I retorted.

"Can I help?" Infinity raised her hand.

"Yes!" We fist bumped.

"Hey!" Jake frowned. "You're helping me."

Infinity sighed. "You never let me do anything, though!"

"Because last time, you tried to declare war on pigs."

"That one guy gave me a mean look and you know it!" Infinity argued.

"I didn't know pigs could give looks." Skye raised his eyebrows.

"They can't." Jon sighed.

Gordon narrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, they can. Nasty creatures."

Then, another voice spoke in an Italian accent. "Ey, Mastermind!"

(Please read his words in an Italian accent. It's funny)

"Ey, Tony!" Mastermind opened his arms.

A guy walked up to our table. He had on a red shirt and a white apron. He didn't have the traditional chef hat, but he had an awesome mustache.

"Good to see you brought some friends!" Tony looked at us. "Excellent!"

"Yeah, this is the gang." Mastermind gestured to us.

Tony's eyes widened when he saw me. "Mama Mia! Is that Katherine Moone?"

"It's Kat. Not Katherine." I explained carefully.

"Right, right." He said, nervously. "Not to be impolite, but what are you doing here?"

"Nothing important, Tony." Mastermind gave him a look, smiling.

Tony smiled back. "Of course! A customer is a customer." He then leaned in closer. "But is it true?"

"Is what true?" Jake asked.

"That Notch is back."

Abby furrowed her eyebrows. "How'd you know?"

"It's been going around now that the sky is much more... golden. The whole city seems brighter and more cheerful. Someone started a rumor that he is back."

We all looked at each other. Finally, I spoke. "He's back."

Tony's face got a 100% brighter. "Oh mio piede sinistro (Oh my left foot)! This is great news!" He whispered. "Is it allowed to be released to the public? They should have a right to know."

We looked at each other again, then to Mastermind, since he was closer to the council. He shrugged. "I don't think they'd have a problemo with that."

We all turned and either nodded or said, "Yes."

Tony grinned. "Grazie (thank you). They will most appreciate it. So, Mastermind, which one is your girlfriend?"

Jon started choking, and Skye had to hit his back repeatedly.

"Wha— um... none?"  Mastermind said.

"Really? Three pretty girls, and you couldn't catch anyone?"

The guys bursted out laughing.

"Good luck catching me." Infinity said nonchalantly, picking up another piece of food.

"Nah." Abby shook her head. "Gordon would kill him. Well, not kill, but like, hit him. And fail."

"Hey!" Gordon protested.

Everyone looked at me. I slowly went crosseyed as an answer, since I didn't know anything, and they all laughed.

"I think you should be going." Mastermind shooed Tony anxiously.

"Arrivederci (goodbye)!" Tony waved without looking back.

"That was embarrassing for you." Jake cleared his throat when Tony left.

"Little bit."

"Don't worry dude." Gordon reached toward him. "I'll teach you all about the birds and the bees. You'll get one soon."

"I'll pass."

~<>~

"I'm booored." I groaned. We were walking around aimlessly in the city.

Everyone groaned as well.

"And annoying." Infinity covered her non-existing ears.

"You're one to talk." Jake mumbled.

"I will drop kick you, little man!"

"I'm taller than you!"

"Sibling love." Skye chuckled.

"Shut up!" They both yelled at him, and he shrunk away.

A few minutes later, Abby spoke. "Where are we supposed to go now? We've seen most of the Inner City."

Mastermind shrugged, as if saying 'beats me'. "I dunno. He told me to give you guys a tour, but I don't know what else."

"Can we go see th— OW!" Gordon started, but I punched him in the shoulder.

"Can we go back?" I said, excitedly. I really wanted to interrupt an important meeting.

"We can. But I don't know if we should."

"Let's go!" I ran toward the town hall, with my hands in the air.

When I got there, I waited at the door for everyone to catch up. Everyone was out of breath, except Mastermind and Infinity. Mastermind was a cyborg, and I don't even know what Infinity was.

"You like to run a lot." Skye breathed out.

"She does that." Jake nodded, and stood upright.

"I'll wait." I assured them.

A little bit later, we walked in. The lobby place was the same as usual. Lydia was in her corner typing away on her computer (and, with a facepalm, the author realizes that the characters should have had no idea what a computer is, but she would just go with it and need to stop typing to herself).

"Hello!" Infinity said.

Lydia looked up and smiled as we walked up to her. "Hello everyone!"

"Do you know where Charlie is?" I asked.

"He went out shopping." She sighed. "What a good guy. So charming."

"WE'RE NOT DOING THIS AGAIN." I slammed my hand on the counter.

"Do you know where the 'meeting room' is?" Jake asked.

She winced. "I don't know if I should tell you."

"Oh come on." Without breaking eye contact with Lydia, Jake grabbed Infinity and pulled her into view. "Look at this face."

When Infinity didn't do anything, Jake cleared his throat. Then, she said, "Ohhhh...." and made a super kawaii face with big sparkly eyes and a cute smile.

Lydia stared her down. Finally, she gave in. "Okay okay just quit with the face!"

Jake pushed Infinity away. "Works every time."

"We never lose. It never fails." Infinity nodded.

"Remind me not to be on the other side of that." Skye whispered to Jon, and Jon laughed.

Lydia sighed. "You kids. Okay, it's on the tenth floor. Only room, but still a hallway there." She then narrowed her eyes. "You aren't going to try to crash their meeting, are you?"

"Whaaaaaat?" I said in a high voice. Then, I waved it away. "Psh. We're just gonna wait until it's over. Just needed to know where to wait."

She and I had the longest stare down. Then, her glare turned to a grin. "Okay! Take care!"

"Quickly before she finds out our evil plans!" Gordon said loudly.

We all walked quickly toward the elevator before she could say anything.

"That was a close one." Skye said.

Abby asked, "Are we really gonna interrupt it?"

"No no no." I closed my eyes and shook my head quickly. "We're just going to sneak into the background and observe."

We got up to the floor. The elevator opened up to a hallway similar to the one on the council floor, except there were no decorations. There was an iron door, but it had an item frame on it so we couldn't see inside. It was locked from the inside.

(Pretend iron doors have locks on them)

"Those sneaky creepers." I glared at the door.

Jon pushed me lightly. "Step aside."

He knelt down so we weren't able to see what he doing. All we heard was clicks and "almost"s. After a minute, he declared, "Done."

"Woah!" Gordon said.

"Jon, why do you know how to open a locked door?" Skye asked him accusingly.

Jon shrugged as an answer. Then, he stepped aside for me to go first.

I held my breath, and opened the door lightly.

A loud screech came from it. And everyone in the room most likely heard it.

~<>~

The most boring cliffhanger ever. Heheh.

Question: Do you prefer melee weapons or ranged?

Rock on, my little rebels.