After some time of talking, Ace said goodbye to the group, saying that he would come back later to participate in a new mission, but he would have to go back to his hometown for work. "Can't we go with you? Your hometown seems like a great place to visit!" Yuto, the most excited, didn't miss the opportunity to try to go with Ace, even though everyone was also curious about his hometown.
"Who knows, maybe one day, but for now, it's better not to. My hometown isn't very friendly to foreigners...without the documents and other things, you'd be expelled and even arrested." He wasn't lying in his answers, even though he didn't say anything about being from another world, but he still gave plausible reasons why he couldn't take anyone. "I understand, many cities or tribes are like that, they don't allow outsiders to enter, but that's okay, we'll be waiting for you, and in the meantime...we'd better train, I don't want the goblins' situation to happen again." The group's fighter, Karina, said in a defeated tone, The group agreed to get stronger.
"And when you come back, I want a fight, you and me punching each other!" He extended his arm towards Ace, who laughed, nodding and starting to walk away towards the forest. Seeing that he was alone, he disappeared to return to the real world.
———
"Water Stone, huh? I already know what to do with you, but for now I need to get back to work." Although he wanted to start the project immediately, he still needed to work in the real world, and he was even a little excited to face Rita's monsters. Ace went to the bathroom to take off his clothes and take a shower. He had a few hours until he returned to work. With a clearer mind, he decided to open the system tab, seeing the notifications again.
[Popularity: 150]
[Fanarts: 12 (new)]
[NSFW: 2 (new)]
[Warning, except for popularity, the rest will be reset every day to organization. The user will still be able to see the old fanart.]
Ace sighed, already knowing what these last ones would be about. Seeing that he was in the world of Goblin Slayer a while ago and interfered in the fateful episode 1, he was afraid of what could come from the monstrosity of the minds of the Internet artists. He decided to see about the portals that would use popularity to open.
[Random New World: 200]
[One Piece: 1500]
[Dragon Ball: 9000]
[Fairy Tail: 10000]
[Kamen...etc.]
He sighed seeing the rest. It was very expensive to choose a specific world, but choosing a random one was at least cheap. Leaving the bathroom, he turned off the shower, starting to dry himself and get dressed, now going to his work.
———
Ace loved working at the music store after all, after all, he could play any song without paying anything. Besides being able to listen to his favorite songs that happened to be from the 90s, he adjusted his glasses while drawing on his small notepad a shark-shaped arm cannon. "Welcome, how can I help you?" Ace, hearing the company, put his notepad in his chest pocket, looking at the newcomers, his expression softened when he saw that it was Zack and Jason.
"Hey Ace! We came here to pick up that new release I told you about, plus I and the guys are planning to go to the amusement park. Do you want to come along?" Zack danced to the song that Ace had left playing in the store, 'Escolha seu caminho' by Racionais, a Brazilian band that Ace loves so much, after all, being Brazilian, he came into contact with the band quite early. Zack was always cheerful, making Jason and Ace just share a laugh. "Sure, here it is." The song that Zack requested was All Apologies by Nirvana. "By the way, Ace, can you pass me the song that's playing there? I can't understand a thing they're singing, but I liked the song." Hearing Zack's interest, Ace seemed excited, keeping a smile on his face.
"Just talking about Brazil makes you excited, huh? That never changes, haha." Jason joked about the situation, leaving Ace a little embarrassed, who coughed to hide it. He knew that Brazil wasn't exactly a bed of roses, but he loved that place, and if it weren't for all the circumstances and his new friends, he would go back.
Seeing Ace's reaction, the group kept smiling as they talked about music. Soon, it was time to close. Zack and Jason decided to stay with Ace until the store closed, talking about music and everything that was going on at school. The trio headed towards the amusement park to spend some time together.
"I can already see Kimberly, it looks like she just got here too. Hey, Kimberly!" Ace announced their presence, catching Kimberly's attention, who went over to greet the group. Billy didn't take long to arrive as well.
"Ace, you need to come out more often. It's rare to see you around. You usually only show up when we call." Hearing Kimberly's words, the rest of the group agreed, only making Ace sigh, but he was happy, showing it by his smile. "You're right, you guys. I'll stop by the Youth Center more often." So they went back to enjoying the day at the park. Ace never missed a second trip to buy popcorn. Everyone in the group knew how much he loved popcorn.
"By the way, Ace... we know you have your own style, but is this the only type of clothing you have? We've never seen you in anything different." Ace raised his finger to protest Jason's words, but he couldn't find anything to say. "Noted, next paycheck I'll buy clothes, and that way I'll also have an excuse to call you guys to hang out." The whole group was enjoying the day, Ace and Zack taking advantage of it to dance on stilts. "Don't forget to maintain your center of gravity!" Billy said to the two who were dancing in sync.
After Billy's words, it didn't take long for Zack to start tripping and falling right on top of Jason, who was holding him. "Hey, careful there, princess, don't leave your prince without arms." Zack didn't miss the opportunity to use Ace's joke against Jason. "Oh, my hero!" He said dramatically as he placed his hand over his forehead. Ace and Zack took off their stilts, joining the group to go in another direction, although Ace felt danger nearby, but all he saw were just people walking and laughing.
'Dammit, I don't like this at all…' He seemed apprehensive, he kept his guard up and was attentive but also enjoyed the time with friends. They would go to each place in the park, and now they were watching a clown doing tricks. Ace felt uncomfortable around that clown, he felt a familiarity, so he kept his attention.
"Hey guys! This is Sylvia. Sylvia, let me introduce my friends. This is Jason, Zack, Ace, Billy, and Kimberly!" Trini approached the group, introducing her cousin, and everyone greeted the group. "Who would like to try to do tricks with the eggs, huh?" The clown made an offer to the group that Billy readily accepted, in the distance, the problematic duo of Bulk and Skull approached. "Look what we have here. Did you read the sign? No idiots around here, besides, they put the temporary on you today." Bulk was eating cotton candy until he was hit on the head by an egg, soon after Skull and Bulk again. "Ha! I only got hit once!" Skull said excitedly until he was hit by a last egg.
"Hey, cousin Trini...can I stay here and see the clown?" Little Sylvia said to Trini, who refused the offer. After the group left, Ace followed them but was still tense. After the group joined in a game of building a human pyramid, Trini saw Sylvia being taken and went after her.
"Let's wait for her over there on the stairs." Ace spoke to the group, who agreed, just sitting there while someone approached soon after. It was Trini with a cardboard box of Sylvia. Chaos began to set in instantly. This time a big change happened in addition to the clowns attacking earlier, they were accompanied by a monster that never existed in the episode and another clown who carried bowling pins with blades. Everyone started to run away.
"Ace, you need to escape! Aagh!" Jason tried to warn Ace but was hit by one of the foot soldiers. Another clown went towards Jason to attack. Ace ran to defend him, but a powder fell on him, making him turn into a cardboard box identical to Sylvia. "Ace!" Zack looked furious, jumping at the clown and kicking him with everything he had, making him get out of the way. "Trini. I need you to take Sylvia and Ace to Alpha. We'll take care of it from here!" Trini just ran, taking the two cardboard boxes, now teleporting away. Zack still looked furious.