[Chapter Cover]
I giggled and kept running, nearly tripping over a picnic blanket laid out on the grass.
Sitting on the blanket was a grumpy-looking old man named Mr. Brit and next to him was Miss Thula. She was a scary alien lady who literally had a sharp knife tied to the end of her short braid! She was softly rocking a tiny baby in her arms, smiling like the happiest mom in the world while Mr. Brit tickled the baby's chin.
We ran past a stone bench where Jason was sitting.
Jason was a Greek hero who fought in the past, but right now, he was wearing a grumpy face and a boring brown jacket with patches on the elbows. His walking cane was resting against the bench. He had a huge stack of paper on his lap, and he was scribbling on them really hard with a red marker.
"Gotcha!" I yelled, hiding behind Jason's bench as Zoe ran past.
Jason sighed super loud, dropping his shoulders, and he lowered his red marker. "Hey. Watch the papers, kids. These are very important history tests."
"What are you doing, Mr. Jason?" Zoe asked, peeking over the bench.
"I'm giving everyone F's," Jason grumbled. "Mr. John said since I don't want to go on dangerous missions for a whole year because my... uh... my royal jewels got damaged. So I got a job as a History teacher at this college."
"Is it fun?" I asked.
"No," Jason groaned, rubbing his eyes like he had a massive headache. "These kids are writing about the Roman Empire and the Spartans. I was literally there! I drank wine with those guys! These kids think the Spartans were these super cool muscle guys, but they were actually just really smelly and ate terrible black soup! And they think Julius Caesar was a tough guy, but he actually cried when he drank too much and complained about his sandals hurting his toes! The textbooks are all crap!"
Zoe giggled. "You're a grumpy teacher!"
"I'm gonna throw my spear at the principal," Jason muttered. He went back to his red marker and drew a giant red X over a whole page.
We left grumpy Jason alone and ran toward the drink table.
Mr. Sebas was standing behind it. He was the fancy butler who always wore perfectly clean suits, and stood perfectly straight, like he had a ruler taped to his back.
But right now, he was talking to Mary's two sons, Sam and Dean.
Satoru was going to be their new stepdad today! So they were both wearing nice wedding clothes, but Dean, the older one, was wearing a leather jacket over his shirt that looked a little too big for him. Sam, the younger one, had floppy hair and was holding a little notebook and a pencil.
They were both staring at Mr. Sebas with wide eyes.
"So, let me get this straight," Dean said, leaning over the table, trying to look super tough. "You guys fought actual demons? Like, horns, fire, straight out of the books?"
"That is correct, young master Dean," Sebas said politely, flawlessly wiping a glass with a white towel.
"And you didn't use rock salt?" Sam asked, looking super confused as he scribbled something in his notebook. "No holy water? You didn't draw a magic trap on the floor? What about Latin? Did you read the exorcism rites like those in TV shows?"
"No, young master Sam," Sebas replied, with his golden eyes were completely calm. "I found that simply punching them very, very hard usually turns them into dust instantly."
Dean stared at Sebas with his mouth hanging wide open and slowly turned to his brother. "Sammy, remind me to start doing more push-ups."
"You just... punch them?" Sam asked, blinking super-fast. "What if they possess someone?"
"Then I punch them slightly softer," Sebas nodded.
I giggled and hid behind Ship.
Sebas was super strong.
Johnny told me a really funny story about how he took Sebas to meet the guy who 'created' him in a video game. The guy's name was TouchMeNot. When the poor guy took off his video game helmet and saw his magic butler standing in his real-life living room, bowing and calling him 'Lord', the guy's brain broke. He foamed at the mouth and fainted on his carpet!
'Why are all his stories so weird now? He's not fun like he used to.'
Suddenly, the wind in the garden stopped blowing and the birds in the trees went completely quiet.
Zoe and Ship stopped running and grabbed my hands. Sam and Dean both stiffened up as they dropped their tough-guy act and backed away from the center of the grass, looking terrified.
A glowing, green circle ripped open in the middle of the garden and a scary bug-man stepped out.
It was Meruem, the Ant King. His green armor looked like it was made of solid rock, and had a dangerous spiked tail swishing slowly behind him. He looked like a monster from Power Rangers.
But he wasn't doing anything scary. He was just walking super, super slow and placing his feet on the grass really carefully.
Because holding his scary green hand was a small girl.
She had messy white hair, walked with a wooden stick, and had her eyes closed.
Sebas immediately stepped away from the drink table and bowed really, really low. "Lord Meruem. Lady Komugi. Welcome. As I've offered before, if you want, I can use my magic to fix Lady's eyes right now."
Meruem looked down at the blind girl and his scary bug face got really soft.
Komugi smiled and shook her head. "No thank you, kind sir. The King and I play our board games in the dark. It's how I see him best. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Meruem gently squeezed her hand. "As you wish."
They walked past the tables and when they got close to me, Komugi stopped. She tilted her head, like she was listening to a song.
"Oh," Komugi said softly. "There's a very bright and happy light standing right here."
"I'm Angy," I said, stepping forward bravely.
"I am Komugi," she smiled, holding out her hand. I took it carefully. "The King told me about you. He said you have a very smart brain. Would you like to learn how to play Gungi after the party?"
"I would love to!" I smiled.
Meruem looked down at me. His scary bug face smiled a bit, I didn't think his mouth could even do that, and gave me this slow, polite nod. Then he carefully walked Komugi to her chair.
"Alright, everyone! Take your seats!" Mr. Neel yelled, clapping his hands. "The TV show is canceled, but we are still on a schedule! Sit down!"
Zoe ran back to Zack and sit next to the other guests. Sam and Dean quickly squeezed into a wooden bench in the front, looking very confused but super excited about all the monsters and aliens present.
Johnny walked over to me and kneeled down in the grass so we were eye-to-eye. He fixed the blue ribbon on my dress and smiled.
"You ready, kiddo?" Johnny asked.
"I'm ready, Johnny," I beamed.
Ship trotted up next to me. He had a soft red velvet pillow balanced perfectly on his metal head, and two shiny gold rings were sitting on it.
Pretty, soft music started playing from speakers hidden in the trees.
I took a deep breath, grabbed a little basket of red and blue flower petals, and started walking down the middle of the grass. Ship walked right beside me, matching my steps as I threw the petals in the air, feeling a warm bubble of happiness in my chest.
Standing at the front was Satoru.
He used to be Pepsiman, the guy in the giant metal suit! But now he was a normal human. He was wearing a black tuxedo, but he was sweating a lot. He kept shifting his weight from foot to foot, and his left eye was twitching super fast. He looked like he was about to take a really hard spelling test.
But then, he froze and his mouth dropped open.
I turned around and saw Mary, Sam and Dean's mom, was walking down the aisle.
She looked like a real-life fairy princess. Her white dress dragged softly across the grass, and her blonde hair was wavy and pretty. She didn't look like a superhero who punched bad guys anymore.
She just looked happy.
When she reached the front, Satoru gently held her hands, his own fingers shaking.
A green alien guy with a cape started talking, but I didn't really pay attention to the boring official stuff. I just watched Satoru and Mary.
"I was trapped in a metal suit for seven years," Satoru said. His voice cracked, and tears started falling down his human face. "I thought I was just a joke. A walking soda machine. But you didn't see a joke, Mary. You saw me. You pulled me out of the dark and saved me before the magic wish ever did. Even now when I can speak so much, I'm still left speechless by your kindness and I promise to spend the rest of my life protecting you, and Sam, and Dean. I love you so much."
Mary was crying too and squeezing his hands tight.
"You're my hero, Satoru," Mary whispered. "Not that metal suit. You. You stood between my family and the end of the world and never flinched. I'm never letting you go."
Ship trotted up and presented the rings on his head.
They put the rings on each other's fingers, and the green alien guy told them they could kiss.
When they kissed, the whole garden exploded with noise!
Jason whistled super loud. Neel clapped his hands. Nolan nodded like a proud dad. Sam and Dean cheered loudly from the front row, throwing streamers.
"Ship! Shipppppp!"
Ship barked happily and shot a bunch of green, sparkly fireworks out of his back, right up into the blue sky!
I ran over to Johnny, and he scooped me up, lifting me high onto his shoulders so I could see the fireworks better.
The rest of the party was the most fun I ever had.
There was so much food, and everyone was dancing. Sam and Dean actually tried to teach Sebas how to break-dance. It was super funny because Sebas was too stiff and kept bowing politely to the beat of the music. Satoru and Mary danced in the middle of the garden, looking at each other like nobody else was there.
When it started getting dark and the glowing vines lit up the big House, Mary walked up to the front with her big bunch of white flowers.
"Alright, ladies!" Mary laughed, holding the flowers over her head. "Line up!"
Telia, Zoe, Komugi, and a few other ladies walked onto the grass. Mary turned around and closed her eyes.
"One! Two! Three!"
She threw the flowers high into the air.
Way in the back, sitting alone on a wooden stage, was Nakime. She had long black hair with beautiful pink eyes, and still playing her wooden guitar thing called a biwa.
Nakime didn't even look up at the flowers.
She just raised her wooden stick and plucked one string on her guitar.
TWANG.
The flowers completely vanished from the sky!
A second later, a little glowing square door opened in the air, and they magically dropped right into Nakime's lap!
All the ladies on the grass looked super confused. Nakime stopped playing her guitar and then her pale face turned super, super red, all the way to the tips of her ears.
She picked up the flowers, stood up, and walked across the grass.
Johnny was standing near the drink table, holding a glass bottle of beer and getting a bit fidgety seeing Nakime holding the bouquet.
Nakime walked right up to him.
"Hey, Nakime," Johnny smiled. "Using power to win a wedding game is totally cheating."
Nakime didn't laugh. She just held the flowers really tight against her chest and stood on her tiptoes, leaned in, and whispered something right into Johnny's ear.
Johnny suddnly froze.
He went stiff like a statue. The glass bottle of beer slipped right out of his hand, hit the stone patio and shattered into pieces, splashing beer all over his nice shoes.
Johnny slowly pulled his head back. His eyes were wide like he had just seen a ghost, looked at Nakime's red face, and then he slowly, very slowly looked down at her stomach.
"I'm... what?" Johnny croaked. His voice sounded squeaky. "You're... what?!"
Nakime nodded. A beautiful smile spread across her face, and she gently placed a hand over her tummy.
I was just standing a few feet away, eating a piece of chocolate cake.
I may be ten-year-old but I was always good at guessing games and put the puzzle pieces together. The wedding flowers, the secret whisper and the hand on the tummy?!
The plate of cake slipped out of my hands and fell in the dirt.
"AUNTY?!" I shrieked.
My voice was so loud the music stopped playing for a second.
"Nooooo! I'm just ten years old!" I yelled, stomping my foot on the grass. "I can't be an aunty! I haven't even gone to middle school yet!!"
Satoru burst out laughing so hard he spilled his drink. Jason fell right off his stone bench, howling and Mr. Neel instantly pulled out his glowing screen and started shouting at Maulers about buying baby clothes in bulk.
Johnny finally snapped out of it.
He let out a loud, watery laugh. Tears spilled out of his eyes, and he grabbed Nakime, spinning her around in a massive hug.
I stood there, pouting with my arms crossed, while Ship happily ate my dropped cake off the grass.
But as I looked at Johnny, laughing and hugging his girlfriend, my pout on its own turned into a smile.
I looked around and saw the alien king holding hands with the blind girl. I looked at the scary butler dancing with Sam and Dean and looked at Satoru kissing Mary.
My new family was totally a crazy mess.
But as I looked up at the pretty, blue sky, I smiled.
I wouldn't trade them for anything else in the whole wide world.
"Wait! I get to decide the Baby's name, right? Right?!"
[A/N]:
And with that, All In (Vincible) comes to an end.
It's hard to say goodbye to a story that has been a part of my life for so long. There were a lot of ups, downs, late nights, and more ideas than I ever expected when I first started writing it.
Thank you to everyone who read it, supported it, laughed with it, and stayed until the very end.
I'll always have a soft spot for this story.
Thank you for coming along for the ride.