The Café Critic

"I-I-I'm on my way there…!" Zach replied with a panicking voice.

"You better be here after 5 minutes! If not, it's the end for you!" His boss then hung up the call after he threatened Zach.

Zach immediately went back to the living room to tell Kinx about the very bad news. Sweats are now dripping down his face.

"What happened to you, young man? Is there a problem?" Kinx asked curiously. Zach answered after a few seconds because he was busy catching his breath.

"We need to leave… The tuxedo…" Zach answered with nervousness in his voice.

Kinx stared at him – analyzing what Zach said to him. When he finally knew what he was talking about, he stood up instantly and took the tuxedo from Javier.

"We're leaving. This young man is late for his work. If anything uncontrollable happens, call me," Kinx reminded them

"Don't worry about us. We can handle this," Fernando proudly responded.

"He's right, Master. Your students can handle the rest," Macisig added.

"Yeah, we can~ We don't even need this piece of garbage to defeat them~" Lilia commented – pertaining again to Macisig.

They continued fighting each other but we decided to leave already. The time is running fast and the same goes for the beating of Zach's heart.

'Three minutes left…'

"I don't think we can still make it, old man…" Zach said weakly as they walk back to the shore.

"Who told you that? Three minutes is too much!" Kinx responded with a smile.

Kinx stopped after he talked and Zach has no idea why. Kinx then made a sphere gesture on the air using his hands and suddenly, a white circle portal appeared in front of them.

"After you, young man," Kinx stepped aside to give Zach a way towards the portal.

'Woah…! This is… This is real magic…!'

Like Kinx said, three minutes was too much for them because they arrived in just a minute.

"T-Thank you for the wait…"

The officer was already there and that's the reason why Zach's boss was pissed.

After a couple of hours, the officer was done with his job. This also means that the shop will close soon. Zach's boss approached the officer as soon as he stood up from his chair.

"Mr. Lavinn, do you want me to guide you outside?~" Zach's boss suggested – grinning from ear to ear.

But instead of giving his attention to Zach's boss, the officer stared at Zach as if he's looking through his soul. Zach freezes in an instant and just looked away when their eyes met.

"No, thanks." The officer then left the shop without any other words came out of his mouth.

"I guess we would have a great rating from him… I hope so…" Zach muttered to himself.

After the shop closed, Zach took his things to go home. Kinx was waiting for him outside all the time.

Of course, it's because he doesn't have money to buy food. Zach became his bank without him noticing it.

"Old man, you could buy some kind of noodles or bread with this. I'm sorry I can't accompany you to lunch," Zach said after giving Kinx a bit of money.

"Is that so? Don't worry about it, young man."

"I guess, this is where we part ways. Take care of yourself, old man," Zach then smiled.

Kinx laughed at his statement because it's so emotional. Zach's making it looks like Kinx is about to go to the afterlife.

"I'm pretty certain that we will meet again. Your true life is just about to begin."

Kinx then vanished instantly in thin air. Zach smiled to himself before turning his back to go home.

'That old man is really weird…'

On his way home, he bumped into the officer from their shop – Mr. Lavinn. He's still in his uniform and it seems like he's waiting for someone.

'It's impossible that he's waiting for me. You're an idiot for thinking that, Zach.'

"I guess, it's true after all," Mr. Lavinn said to Zach with a serious expression written on his face.

'What does he mean? And he's looking behind me…'

"What's true Mr. officer?" Zach asked nervously.

"You must remember this one thing I'm going to tell you." Mr. Lavinn ignored his question and gave Zach a cold glare.

'What…?'

"Stay alive," Mr. Lavinn said before he walked away – leaving Zach stunned and confused.

'What was that…? Stay alive… What does that mean…?'

Even after he got back home, his mind was full of confusion. That was the first time he felt so terrified, to the point that his body is still shaking right now.

'I felt like he knows me. The way he looked at me. His eyes were shallow…'

"Just don't think about it, Zach…" he whispered to himself.

When he reached his room, he threw himself on the bed and fell asleep right away.

When he woke up, he reached the clock above the lamp table beside his bed. After seeing the time, he jumped out of his bed straight away.

'It's 7:00 in the evening already…!'

He immediately changed his clothes to buy some food outside. He's still tired because of the trip, especially what happened to him from riding the helicopter.

'That old man is really out of his damn mind…'

[Flashback]

"Why didn't we just use the portal to go here instead of riding that luxurious helicopter?!" Zach complained as they walk to the shop.

"Why? I just figured you wanted to ride a helicopter hahahaha!" Kinx replied, laughing.

'Yeah... at first. But he should have asked me first because that's not what I expected to happen.'

'I didn't expect that ride to be a catastrophe that could end my life just by breathing!'

[End of flashback]

"I wonder if they're still open at this hour," Zach muttered to himself.

He's talking about the store where he usually buys all the foods he eats every day. They are closing at 6:00 p.m. so it must be closed now.

"Oh, Zach! You came at the right time. We are just about to close," the store owner, Aling Marites, excitedly greeted Zach as soon as she saw him.

Aling Marites is like a mother figure to Zach. Sometimes when he's short of money, she's there to the rescue. A woman with a pure and kind heart.

Although Zach doesn't care about other people who have nothing to do with him, Junjun and Aling Marites are the only exception.

In fact, Aling Marites offered Zach to help her manage the store and she will give him twice the pay he gets from his current job. But Zach rejected her, saying it's too much and it will just affect Aling Marites' income.

"Did you have a bunch of customers again today, 'nay Marites?" Zach playfully asked before sitting on a chair in front of the window of the store.

"Of course, I have! They just can't stand my delicious cooking~!" Aling Marites cheerfully replied, giggling like a small child.

"Oh, really? Hahaha, I bet you didn't let them taste your pinakbet," Zach teased her again before laughing.

Aling Marites then pointed the spatula at Zach with an embarrassed face while her other hand was on her hips.

"Hey, I'm still learning to cook it! Of course, I wouldn't let anyone eat it!" she replied with her brows furrowed.

"If that's what you said, I have no choice but to believe it," Zach whispered then shrugged his shoulders.

"Enough with the nonsense! What do you want to eat? I kept your favorite food for you."

"Really? You're really the best, 'nay Marites. Mang Kanor must be proud of you," Zach happily responded. Aling Marites smiled.

"Of course, he is~ Is there anything else that you want? Ensaymada?" Aling Marites questioned.

"Yeah, one—make it two, please. I bet Junjun is… He is…" Zach stared down on the floor as if he remembered something. The young boy's name just came out of his mouth after hearing the word "ensaymada", then everything came back to him.

"So you already knew about what happened to the kid," Aling Marites said with sadness in her voice.

"You know, you became a good big brother to him. I saw how you cared for him. I was always watching you two. And that's why I know, Junjun is glad right now," she added.

"No... You're wrong... I wasn't there for him… It's all my fault…" Zach's tears then started falling on the ground. All the emotions he hid before are continuously revealing themselves. For the second time, he fell apart.

"I didn't help him… He's just a chil-" Aling Marites hit Zach on the head with her spatula that made him stop talking. She glared at him before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Stop putting all the blames on yourself. Yeah, part of it is your fault. You're the older one and yet you didn't do anything to stop him," she said in a serious tone.

"However, you're not the one who took his life. You cared for him, you loved him, and you wanted to help him. These just prove that you don't want any of that to happen," she added, looking at Zach with concern in her eyes.

"But still…"

"Listen to me, Zach. No matter how many times you flip the world or alter every existing reality. Even if you have superpowers or even if you pray countless times…" Aling Marites lifted Zach's chin when he looked down again. She smiled. A smile of understanding and warmth.

"You can't save everyone, Zach."

At that moment, the thorns that are piercing Zach's heart broke into tiny pieces. The truth that he wanted to escape from, turned out to be the only way for him to break free.

'I hate to admit it… But she's right…'

"A single person can't save everyone but everyone can save anyone. Remember that," she said with a smile before giving the food to Zach.

"Thank you…" Zach replied, wiping off his tears.

"I want to remind you one more thing. You must not use your hand to take revenge," Aling Marites said, preparing her things to leave.

After Zach finished eating, he somehow felt a little better after talking to her. She made him realized one thing and that helped him a lot in accepting things.

When he got home, he immediately went to his room to sleep, hoping that perhaps tomorrow would be a perfect day for him to start again.

<-------------------->

"The plan has already begun, my lord."

Inside a cave full of darkness and misery, there lies a felonious and horrendous group of criminals. Bloodthirsty beasts who have no resentment nor mercy.

The rising infamous underground syndicate – the Poisonous Scavengers.

"How about the others?"

"Everything's settled now, my lord."

"Splendid. How long will it take to be completed?"

"Our plan should be completed exactly after 10 years, my lord."

"That's just enough time…"

"This world will soon become part of our kingdom."