The Evil ~ YouTuber Fanfiction ~ (Book 1 of the Arcane Powers)

[14] awake

(Above): Dunno why. Listening to one of my favorite songs while writing this. There's two versions of this song that I absolutely love! The first one is above. The second one is uploaded by a YouTuber called Milkychan. The song is called "Battle Against a True Hero." From Undertale. Toby Fox made the original soundtrack. This fan vocal is by a YouTuber named Jenny.

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- Nick's POV

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Nick woke up, stretching and yawning.

Ross was still snoring, Shelby sitting next to him, tying some string into a lanyard. Nick wondered dimly where she got the string from. Then, he remembered the knapsack she had with her when they first met. She must've gotten the string from there. 

Cory nudged Nick's shoulder. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty."

Nick yawned. "What time is it?"

"9 am."

"Nine? In the morning?" Nick asked incredulously. 

Cory playfully punched Nick's shoulder. "Yes, Nick, it's 9 am. You and Dongus over there were the only ones asleep. We're all waiting for you."

Nick yawned again. He slowly got up from his bed of pillows. Cory leaned in and whispered. "Shelby won't let anyone wake up Ross, just so you know. She was the fourth one up."

"Who was the first one?" Nick asked.

"Jin."

"Really?" Nick said. "Don't get me wrong, but I honestly thought he'd be the last one up, being royalty and all."

"No, he said he had a hard time sleeping. Got up at around midnight, fell asleep, then woke up again."

"Okay," Nick said slowly. "Who was the second one?"

"Sky."

"Okay, I get that. Who was the third one?"

"Me," Cory said smugly.

Nick clapped mockingly. "Impressive."

"Why thank you, m'lady." Cory bowed stiffly.

Both of them ended up bursting in laughter.

"M'lady?" Nick choked out, doubling over from laughing.

Cory laughed harder.

"You two weirdos coming?"

Max was waving from the entrance to another room.

Sky, Jin, and Okward were sitting by Max, eating some dry cereal and talking quietly.

Nick got up reluctantly, following Cory to the table. Max held up a box. "Cereal?"

Nick shrugged. "Sure."

Cory plopped down on a pillow. "Yes, please."

Sky, who looked bored, twirled his finger. The air collected into fog. Jin pointed his wand at it. The fog solidified, turning into two bowls.

Cory and Nick each took one. "Impressive," Nick said.

Jin grinned. "We've been practicing."

"Yeah," Sky said, now tracing a pattern on the wooden table.

Okward cleared his throat. He pointed to a map that Nick hadn't noticed until then. "The basement is here. We believe Joel is being kept somewhere in the basement, here." He pointed.

"What's this?" Cory asked.

"It's a map of the Evil's HQ," Sky said casually.

"So," Okward said. He pulled out a red marker. "We'll start here." He marked a spot on the map. Okward pulled out a blue marker. "These are where the guards stand. The workers are all in this room." He drew dots for the guards and circled the work room. Okward used the red marker again. "We'll need to take this route to find the prisoner files. We'll need to take this route to get to the basement."

Cory leaned over. He frowned. "Actually, Okward, if you turn left here instead of going straight, it'll be less likely that we'll run into guards."

Okward raised his eyebrows. "And how do you know that?"

Cory gave Okward a look that said, Really? "I'm a wanted thief with 1000 gold on my head. You really want to question it?"

"Okay," Sky said, obviously wanting to get the breakfast meeting over with. He swiped a purple marker from somewhere. 

They've probably got a pile of markers on that side of the table, Nick thought.

Sky tossed the marker to Cory, who caught it and started correcting the paths Okward had drawn out. "But," Cory said. "We'll need to have an alternative route. Always have an alternative."

"So, in short, always have a Plan B?" Jin asked.

Cory wrinkled his nose. "What? Dude, I don't even have a Plan A, and you're asking me for a Plan B?"

"Then how are you never caught?" Sky asked, actually taking interest in the conversation for once.

"Because, even if I don't have a plan, I always have a way to go. Plans are overrated. You can't plan for every possible contingency. Something paranormal could happen at any second, and you've got to be ready for it. By making a plan, you set your path in stone, something a master thief always wants to avoid doing."

"Where did you learn this?" Max asked.

"Experience." Cory shrugged. "I've had a couple of... close calls."

Sky snorted. "Yeah, right."

Cory glared at Sky. "I've been doing it for four years. You would think I would know what I'm doing."

"Lord Aphmau will have notified the guards that a thief is part of the Seven. They'll probably change their guard posts." Sky pointed out.

Cory rolled his eyes. "That's why I only have a route. Not a plan, Sky."

"Can we just decide on a route and get this over with?" Nick pleaded. "I'm bored as heck over here."

"Fine," Okward said. "We will stick to this route for now. If any more information is discovered, we may have to alter it. Now, is anyone still asleep?"

"Ross is," someone said.

Shelby was standing in the doorway, yawning. "I got bored of watching him drool."

Cory smirked at Nick. "You wanna wake him up?"

Nick grinned. "Oh yeah."

The others followed Nick and Cory to where Ross was snoring. Cory knelt down right next to his ear and said, "Why hello there, Ross."

Ross sat straight up and screamed.

Everyone burst out in laughter. 

Ross blushed as Shelby clapped him on the back, doubling over in laughter.