Victor: Hi. It's technically Saturday morning here.

Dante: It's lonely in the warehouse without you:( Ivy and Ette abandoned me to pick up food together before we go out patrolling

V: how late is it there?

D: my phone says 9:13. Pm. You?

V: 11:13 morning. I'm not that tired, but Dorian and Maureen are half-asleep on their feet. Squirrel Girl said they slept most the day to be prepared, but I don't think it helped.

D: lol so what are you doing right now

V: they have a whole schedule. They gave me one Friday morning when we all went over to their house but I can't find it in my backpack. Maybe I left it in the warehouse? But I took a picture of theirs. Right now it says checking into hotel and going to the nearest bullet train station.

D: how's the hotel

V: haven't found it yet. I think I landed us close, because there was that park nearby that you showed on your phone. I found that. But now we're lost and it's so humid and we're asking random people on the street for English directions. I already took pictures.

V: Here's what Shizouka looks like.

D: try google translate on your phone. You can point your camera at the signs and it translates into English for you

V: okay I don't know what that is. But I'll ask them.

V: update, Dorian knows what it is. But he doesn't think Japanese to English translation works well. I guess that's progress though?

D: lol

D: Wait do you know what lol means

V: no

D: laughing out loud. You send it in a ha ha that was funny way

V: lol. My fingers are tired from tapping on my phone screen. But we're making it to the hotel. Here's a picture of a sushi bar in the street.

D: love you! Ette and Ivy got back and we're having pizza

***

Victor: Greens crashed in the hotel. I'm looking for my capsule hotel, supposedly close to the ocean. Maureen said I could just walk up to the front desk and they should have my key but I don't know how this works.

Squirrel Girl: welp sounds like fun

Wild: 👍

V: wait why does everyone in the group chat have their codename except Dante?

Frostbite: ...um

D: what?

F: why'd you type your real names into your contacts? Wait let me guess Exile's just Victor on ur phone too

D: no comment

SG: we agreed we were doing codenames in your new phones, why'd you do real names

F: yeah, why'd you do that 😂

D: ok, I admit I set up Victor's phone for him

Ms. Marvel: we all put our own contacts in Victor's phone. What's your point?

V: Exile's what Hala called me, I don't want that codename

D: I set up most of it. My point is I didn't know we were doing codenames cuz I was busy!!

W: the rest of us knew. I've got all your codenames in mine. I put myself as Wild in Victor's phone

SG: it's ok, Inferno, it's understandable that you were busy

SG: explaining how cell phones work to alien boy

MM: Victor needs a new codename then

D: what?

MM: Victor needs a new codename that isn't Exile

SG: you probably missed us talking about putting contacts as our superhero aliases because you were explaining how phones work to alien boy

MM: anyone know what a wide-angle lens is

W: ?

F: now I'm confused

MM: sorry SG and I are in her kitchen

MM: deciding what best to use

MM: wanted ur opinions

W: school project?

MM: yeah

F: no I don't know what a wide-angle lens is

SG: aren't you guys supposed to be patrolling the city

F: we are

W: nothing but a bunch of angry taxiw

W: *s

D: How's the hotel, Victor?

MM: how do you make sheets look bloody and tattered without actually ruining them

F: idk

W: ketchup?

MM: I think that ruins them

W: worth a shot

D: should we be worried Victor hasn't replied

SG: he's prolly busy

F:

SG: nice 👏

MM: ow what'd you do

F: punched his nose. He went for my gf

SG: did you record it

D: I got the last half second

W: wait what is a wide angle lens

MM: tell you tomorrow

***

Victor: now we're going to a sushi bar for lunch. I got into the capsule hotel okay, the front desk person spoke English and was very nice. I told her I'm not American.

V: is everyone asleep? Now it's nearly four here so that means it's two am there right?

V: I'm bored. I tried understanding the texts from last night. No, I don't know what a wide angled lens is. I have lots of questions but don't know how to ask them.

V: I'm bored. I tried the sushi and rice plus chopsticks were fun. More fun than Jersey City forks. Why do some earthlings use chopsticks and some use forks? Greens are still eating. Next is the bullet train, for real this time. I already found it when looking for the capsule hotel.

V: alghag; aghagha;oitha;oiah;ihai

V: I didn't go on the bullet train, flashbacks of train wreck on mushroom planet. Greens just found out bullet train has sushi on it and they regret life decisions

V: bgkahga;igoah;toiahoiahgaiga;I'm bored

SG: wow

V: 5 am?

SG: up for school project. We need good night shots. You?

V: still at bullet train station. I brought gummy snacks from sushi place. I slept for maybe an hour

V: have fun with school project

MM: not likely. Too early

SG: basically

***

Victor: hey Dante

Dante: you woke me up :)

V: I did?

D: yeah we stayed out late in the city. Why are you up? It's like midnight there, right

V: yeah

D: so what's up

V: after we got back from the bullet train. I dropped them off outside their hotel building. We had a weird conversation in an alleyway.

D: ...about what

V: about our superhero group. And their daughter.

V: And finding love.

D: that got awkward fast and

D: what'd you say

V: nothing really. I kept thinking about you being worried about hand holding in the mall and the park and didn't know what to do.

V: but the Greens talk a lot so it was easy to not say much.

D: Squirrel Girl's parents seem nice. I think. I don't know

V: what should I do next time?

D: honestly they were probably telling you you'd be great going out with their daughter

V: what?

D: that's a thing straight people do. Don't ask.

V: why are her parents telling me they think I should be interested in Squirrel Girl?

D: I said don't ask. I don't know.

V: I don't understand

D: Also parents do this thing where they constantly ask you if you're into anybody yet. My parents did it all the time when they saw my sister anywhere near a guy. Or if they thought she was texting a guy. Or if they thought I was texting a girl

V: Why?

D: I literally don't know

V: so what do I do? With Squirrel Girl's parents?

D: probably nothing. Unless they bring it up again, then tell them to talk to Squirrel Girl, not you. I don't know. Why don't you text Squirrel Girl about it

V: I was going to. After this. It's school though.

D: Actually it's Saturday. Maybe you should sleep first though

V: oh yeah she said working on school project this morning not going to school...I'm tired.

V: And I am trying to sleep. But this capsule hotel reminds me of a very small spaceship and it smells like the shampoo store in the mall. The deodorant aisle of it. And I miss you, because you don't smell like cheap deodorant.

D: what?

V: you smell like those quilts on the floor, which are slightly like peanut butter from Squirrel Girl's attic, and you smell like smoke, but not the acrid eye-watering smoke, like something warm.

D: ...I can't decide if I should be blushing or weirded out. You memorized what I smell like?

D: actually I realized that's stupid

D: I totally know what you smell like too

D: It's like vanilla, but also these quilts rub off on you and I know that peanut butter smell ur talking about, and there's something else I can't name except it reminds me of crystal caves

V: is there a blushing emojee?

D: emoji. Yeah

V: oh. Why's it spelled with an i? Is that how you say it? I thought you said it ee.

D: English is weird

V: English is weird, I didn't learn Japanese, earth is confusing. Emoji but sounds like emojee? Where's the blushing one?

D: I think you've been awake for like 20 hours and should sleep

V: I miss you Dante

D: miss you too. Goodness it's only been like half a day since you left. I'm officially going to go crazy before you get back

V: miss you

D: you already said that

V: I don't feel like sleeping

V: miss you

V: miss you

V: miss you

D: miss you

D: miss you

V: miss you

D: miss u

D: misu

V: miss you

D: msu

D: msu

D: msu

V: you type too fast

D: msu

***

Frostbite: Victor how's Japan

Dante: he was texting me until like 1 am last night. 1 his time. I guess he's either asleep or busy

F: oh

F: ok

F: Victor r u awake yet

F: hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

V: busy. Going to Mount Fuji soon.

F: that's a volcano, right?

V: yeah. Tons of people hike it. It's inactive.

F: I sure hope so. otherwise this happen

V: I have to get ready now and portal to the hotel.

F: have fun at Mount Fuji!

V: I'm going to let the Greens hike up it, but while they're busy I'll portal to the top and take pictures.

***

V:

V: 

V:

V:

V: 

V:

V:

V:

V: I wish you guys could see this, it's a lot better than the pictures. The sky looks massive, the volcano bowl isn't that deep but there's apparently magma below the rock. Scary but awesome. The snow's all super brown, probably because it hasn't snowed in months, but still, it's snow, which I've never seen on earth before. It's too early for anyone to have made it up to the peak yet so I can walk basically wherever. But staying on the trail is easier than walking wherever and all the rocks off the trail pretty much look the same. There's the whole valley down there and it's massive and I can see the whole thing. It's both so far away and so close at the same time. I would come get all of you except I'm tired and we'd probably get stranded up here

D: :)

D: maybe in a month we can go on vacation there

F: on top of a volcano?

D: it's inactive

F:

V: where did you find those?

F: they're called gifs

V: how do I find them?

F: idk how to help you find them. On the keyboard part of your phone?

V:

***

Victor: what does idk mean?

Dante: it stands for I don't know

V: oh

D: Is this because Ivy sent it in the group chat?

V: yeah

***

Victor: I figured it out

Frostbite: 🎉

***

Victor: what's that emoji?

Dante: it's confetti shooting out of something. Like yay, congratulations

V: thanks

D: my codename could totally be dictionary dante

V: is there an emoji dictionary?

D: in my head

***

Author note: ps, I had to split this chapter into 2 parts, to accommodate all the images:) I hope you continue to enjoy it! (Also thank you google earth 🙏)