xChapter 42 - Is This The End, Or The Beginning?

In a small dusty room in the basement of The East Side Express is Vanessa Deli, she's sitting on an old red couch which is behind a glass table. On that table are two objects. One is Mesto-Presto's black bag, which Graham took by accident, and the other is a wooden box with a metal lock on it. The box that Graham & Blanko dug up from Starlight High not too long ago.

As she contemplates what could possibly be inside that wooden box, she hears the door leading to the room unlock, and the person who enters the room is Marcus Veridan.

"MARCUS?!" Vanessa asks shocked, "Wh-what are you doing here? How did you even get in here!"

"Oh y'know, I'm in the business of performing miracles," Marcus replies cheekily.

"You are?" Vanessa asks confused.

"Uh…kinda," Marcus says, "look I came all this way since I had a question for you."

"Which is?"

"Why? Why did you do all of that? Why did you burn down the school and make a scene at the Gala!" Marcus asks.

"The school thing was an accident, we were just trying to get this box, as for the gala, that was just a distraction, but it was also my idea," Vanessa says, "After what the MSA did, whenever I see them try and pretend to be so nice… I just get so mad! Y'know, after that whole stunt I did they're probably gonna hunt me down."

"That isn't true though!" Marcus begins to say, "They're actually campaigning for you to get off on a light sentence."

"They are?" Vanessa asks confused, "But I was so sure that they'd be- URGH this doesn't make any sense!"

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly did the MSA do?" Marcus asks.

"It… It was seven years ago, back then I was living with my family in public housing, however the housing we were staying at closed down so the MSA could open up a new business there. They got their business, I lost my home," Vanessa says.

"I….I'm sorry to hear that," Marcus says, "I hope you know that there are people out there who care about you."

Vanessa smiles softly and replies, "Yeah, you too."

However, her face turns serious when they hear the door open. From the doorway steps Andy Nibble, who's entering the room with a smirk on his face.

"Yo Vanny, you got the goods?" Andy asks.

Vanessa nods as she grabs the wooden box and tosses it at Andy, he catches it.

"Good good," Andy says as he sees Marcus in the room, "and you must be the friend of those guys outside."

Marcus looks at Andy Nibble and despite not even being able to see Andy's eyes since it's hidden under his bucket hat, Marcus can tell that this man is someone he does not want to mess with.

"I'd like to apologize for the trouble that we caused you and your friends today and two months ago," Andy says with a smile on his face, "Y'see, Gabriel got a bit…carried away trying to get this."

Marcus looks at the wooden box in Andy's hand and despite wanting to ask questions, no words come out of Marcus' mouth.

"It's something we've been trying to find for a long time, so he was a bit desperate, but don't worry, we're all done messing with your school, so you don't need to worry about us," Andy says as he begins to show Marcus back the way he came, with Vanessa following.

As Andy, Marcus, & Vanessa exit into the hallway and then the main area in the basement, they see that standing in the room is Mesto, Ronnie, Alex, Elizabeth, Graham, Blanko, and a now conscious yet bruised Mister Amnestor. Mesto-Presto & Amnestor are holding the unconscious Hunter Huntingson who's still knocked out from Andy's choke.

Andy walks over to Mesto and hands him his black bag, "You said this is your's?"

Mesto grabs the bag, looks inside, and a look of relief fills his face.

"Yeah we took that by mistake, sorry about all of that," Andy says.

"Don't mention it," Mesto says, still cautious.

Andy's attention turns to Mister Amnestor and he walks over while taking out his wallet, "I'm sorry for Graham hurting you, how much money do you want?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Amnestor says.

"I see, well then since we've gotten all of that taken care of, I think it's time for you all to leave," Andy says politely.

"Can I just tell Va-" Alex begins to say but is cut off by Andy.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Andy states coldly.

Alex looks over to Vanessa before sighing and saying, "If you ever wanna catch up, then you can stop by the high school."

As The Miracle Clinic, Amnestor, Mesto, & the unconscious Hunter whose getting dragged by the two older men of the group make their way upstairs, Andy turns his attention to his three subordinates; Blanko Deck, Graham Dirt, & Vanessa Deli.

"I don't think the Big Boss will be pleased that you just let them go, sir," Graham states.

Andy chuckles and says, "That man only cares for those in the gang, of course he'll think that, besides what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Blanko looks at Andy and asks, "So what are we to do?"

"Good question Blanko," Andy states as he walks closer to the three, "I've gotten some intel that if you turn yourselves in you're just going to be charged with a few weeks of community service, and don't worry No. 3 will be able to scrub this off your record. So it's like none of this ever happened. Y'all understand?"

"Yes," Vanessa says.

"Alright, you're all dismissed," Andy says.

Vanessa, Blanko, & Graham all nod as they start to make their way up the stairs. However, as they do so, Andy looks at the wooden box in his hand.

"Now then, let's see what secret you've been hiding," Andy says as he breaks the box open with a hand chop.

As Andy stares at the contents of the box, his eyes are filled with pure shock.

____________________

In Amnestor's car, Aken Amnestor sits in the driver's seat, Mesto sits in the front passenger seat, and all of the kids, even the unconscious Hunter, are all squished in the back.

"Everyone ready to head back?" Amnestor asks.

"Yes," Ronnie manages to say as Amnestor starts to drive.

"This…is the worst," Elizabeth manages to say in the crammed back of the car.

"Yeah, not so funny now, huh?" Alex retorts.

As they do so, Hunter finally wakes back up.

"Uh, what happened?" Hunter asks.

"You're gonna hate this but, we're done in The East," Mesto says before something outside catches his eyes.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Hunter yells and begins to try and escape from the car, however, he really can't since it's just that cramped back there.

After a while of driving, Amnestor & the others finally make it back to the north side, where he parks his black sedan by the district's park.

"Why are we here?" Ronnie asks as they step outside.

"You'll see," Amnestor says knowingly.

As the club steps outside they look and see several of their classmates and friends in the park. Christopher is the first to notice them arriving and he rushes over to Alex, giving him the biggest bear hug in the world.

"As if I wasn't crushed already," Alex says.

"How'd this happen?" Elizabeth asks as Carli, Crunch, & Suzy come by him to chat.

"I'm glad you asked," Cameron says as he finally makes it over to the group followed by Hamster, Bennet the hamster, & Selina Gulvonac, "since I didn't go with you guys, I figured why not host a party here when you guys get back!"

Ronnie smirks as he says, "Dude you shouldn't have!"

"Party?" Ray Ramirez says as he walks by with fellow teachers Sam Penningberg & Zesti Champion, "Don't you mean school event?"

"Uh- you see- well-" Cameron begins to say but Penningberg chuckles.

"It's alright kiddo, Ray's just messing with you," Penningberg explains.

"No I'm not, if this isn't a school event that means I'm not getting paid, and if I'm not getting paid then why did I even come-" Ray starts to say but Miss Zesti Champion covers his mouth.

"Sorry about that, our teaching assistant is just a bit cranky," Zesti tells the kids while Ray tries to yell profanities with a hand over his mouth.

As the festivities continue, Marcus stands a bit back from the group, not wanting to intrude, however, that's when several of them come over to him.

"What are you doing all by yourself, Marcus?" Ronnie asks.

"Oh- I-, you guys looked like you were having fun and I didn't want to get in the way," Marcus explains.

"Get in the way?" Alex questions, "Pfft, dude why would you think that? You're here because we like spending time with you."

"Yeah Alex is right, if anyone is in the way it's me," Elizabeth says.

"Hey enough with the self-depreciation," Ronnie says, "let's just have a good time together, okay?"

Marcus smiles as he walks over to the festivities and says, "Right!"

As everyone continues to have fun, Mesto starts to head to work with a smile on his face. All the while Hunter looks up towards the sky as it starts to get a bit dark out and the stars become visible. As he does so he wonders if this is really over or if this is just the start of something far worse. As Hunter leaves he figures only time will tell.

See You Next Chapter!~