8:22 am.
There were a lot of shows left to watch on T.V.
Super Powerful Man: The Cartoon Series.
A series revolving around the animated adventures of the super hero, Super Powerful Guy.
Squirrel Man: The Valiant And Daring
The adventures of Squirrel Man, as he worked together with other characters such as the aforementioned Super Powerful Man, or even Awe-woman, or even the Bright Light.
That one was a classic.
And in reality, Kenneth Stone required not to even watch these shows here.
After all, he could watch just about anything he wanted at any time...
Heck, hardly a soul would notice.
That was just him.
However, he had to be him...
And of him, well...
Let's just say he had to watch this show now.
Well, not Squirrel Man, but...
And of it, a loud and also familiar voice struck even Mrs. Frida Stone as she was busy cooking...
She knew that sound all too well.
From the T.V. in a brilliant soprano...
"His Name Is Cake Wellingtoooooooon!"
The show that carried the name...
"His Name Is Cake Wellington."
That was Kenneth Stone's desire there and then.
The show, in and of itself, was sort of strange... would be the first thing anyone would say about it.
It was a set of adventures following the stories of the characters living by Cake Wellington Village.
A village, rescued by, living by the rules of, in awe of, and adoring, well...
... you can guess who.
The tales followed the stories of a young boy by the name of Pancake Pizza, one of the sons of a noble man in his village.
He was, in spite of his riches and wit, a kindly boy, and somewhat naive.
As for his best friend, she was called Icecream Brisket.
A pampered lass who was much braver than anything around her would lead one to believe.
Together they, and a few other friends would travel the world together, often encountering new challenges...
Rescuing people...
Sometimes even having to fight monsters...
Or just solve simple conundrums, some managing to bring intensely difficult philosophical theories across the board.
A central thing to the plot, however, was that every episode resulted in Pancake Pizza revering, calling into honor, or at times even asking for wisdom of...
You guessed it...
Cake Wellington...
A character the show had made clear was the hero, savior, protector and legend of the city.
There were songs about him...
"Wellington. Wellington. His name is Cake Wellingtoooooon."
"Wellington, Wellington, He's our frieeee eeeee eeeeeeeeennnnnd."
Not to mention such an absurd reverence for him that the people quite nearly treated him as the one who knew what to do always.
The main character, Pancake Pizza, and even his best friend, Ice Cream Brisket, both believed the same thing...
Most especially Pancake Pizza...
Who would always ponder when troubled...
"What would Cake Wellington do?"
But what was most interesting about the show was Cake Wellington himself, who never really ever showed up.
In fact, it was an ongoing question in the fanbase as to where he was, as...
The man was yet to have a single appearance in the show.
Even some viewers had already grown to assume that he was long dead...
Some would even say that perhaps the society created him because people needed someone to believe him.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
But that was all a fan theory...
Just a fan theory.
And as for the boy by the name of Kenneth Stone, well...
This show was an odd intrigue to him.
He simply...
Enjoyed it...
He wasn't ashamed of it or anything like that...
Nope.
Simple and genuine enjoyment...
That was his two cents on the show.
It's fame was almost nothing compared to those of superhero shows, but...
Yeah...
He just liked it.
And of it, he took his time to take it easy...
After all, he had at least ten minutes...
That was how much time he had before his parents took their kid to school.
8:23 am.
It was, then and there, as he began to watch it that he also began to contemplate...
After all, this was gonna be an interesting week...
And he would be lying if he said that he'd expected anything other than the opposite of boredom.
He didn't move a muscle as he watched...
He just...
Contemplated...
Getting to school?
Check.
Well, basically...
Getting ready for that thing later today...
Yep. He was up and ready...
After all, it would not be his first.
And of it, no superhero things to worry about.
No calls from them all.
None from Tiffany, none from Luke, none from Rose, and also, none from him.
Maximillian Hunter.
Now that was an interesting thought...
After all, what could the boy Kenneth Stone say about him other than...
... interesting...
Given what had happened that night, that was all he could muscle up to say.
And of that, the profound effect he'd had on their team leader, Tiffany Chang...
That was interesting as well...
At that point, Pancake Pizza had began his adventure, and of it, he took some time to reflect on the teachings of Cake Wellington.
By that time as well, his mother was just about done cleaning the plates.
In any case, Ken did ponder upon it for a moment...
Max would likely cause some kind of ruckus...
That was fully unavoidable.
He'd learned that by then.
But also, of Max...
Now that was an interesting thought.
Because then Ken did remember what he'd said that night.
First off, he was already aware of his father's death...
That much was fully apparent in his eyes...
However, of his planet's destruction...
Now that was a huge surprise.
Even still, that last thing...
At that point, Pancake Pizza and Icecream Brisket were having a small argument.
Icecream Brisket did not want to go adventuring for fear of getting her hair wet, and Pancake Pizza was getting upset with her.
Ah, His Name Is Cake Wellington...
That last thing being the fact that Ken heard him say it out loud.
"I'm the only one in the world like me."
That was... interesting...
After all, the boy by the name of Kenneth Stone did not know what he meant by that.
Now that thought did perplex him...
Perplex him enough that he stopped watching T.V internally, and was now just thinking...
"What did Max mean by that?" he thought.
8:27 am.
Being in a house with other people is a whole different experience.
It's kind of like living as a flying dandelion seed.
You never really know when something will knock you somewhere else...
But you should know... that it is inevitable.
Frida: Something wrong, sweetie?
She hadn't yet walked out of the kitchen into Ken's full view...
But for that brief moment of contemplation, this teen boy's mother could sense that he was not really watching the show.
Moms, amirite?
Ken: Yes, I'm fine mom.
Frida: Ok, dear.
The "Ok, dear"s of a mother.
Who has heard better lies?
However, the woman by the name of Frida Stone had learned...
... that at times it was best to leave such issues to him.
After all, this was her genius son Ken...
The one who had to, eventually, grow up.
And of that, well...
Ken continued to watch the show, soon deciding...
Ken: (thinking: Well, whatever happens, happens...)
After all, while it did bother him, it didn't bother him that much...
And he continued to enjoy the show.
He could, of course, just watch this with his bionics, buuuuut...
He'd rather do this and avoid reruns.
After all, it gave him something to do for those extra special 10 minutes.
8:31 am.
Each episode of "His Name Is Cake Wellington" was about 10 minutes long...
Just as Ken needed.
And it aired just perfectly in this 10 minute time period.
In fact, it was just as Pancake Pizza and Icecream Brisket were on their way home, having learned the importance of forgiveness...
One of the many virtues taught by Cake Wellington a long time ago...
That he heard it.
The drop of a suitcase on the ground.
That was it.
His father was ready to go.
And thereof, time was up.
Well, not exactly...
Ken knew he would have at most two more minutes before his father finally came downstairs.
And of that, he simply double-checked his things.
Everything was ready, obviously...
And of his room, well...
Locking it was entirely unnecessary.
His mother had already left to go upstairs so as to help her husband with just about anything he would have needed.
Leaving him alone for what was a whole two minutes... or less.
Even still, what would he have to do... other than wait.
8:33 am.
His father was unusually late today.
He came downstairs in something of a slight hurry.
Frida Stone was right behind him...
And he said...
Gordon: Y'ready, son?
Ken: Hmph.
He nodded his head, grabbed his backpack, and with the remote, turned off the T.V.
Gordon: Good.
And of that, he turned to his wife...
Gordon: I'll see you later baby.
Frida: Oh, dear.
He bent his head over her to kiss her while she pretentiously moved her head back a bit...
Yeah, Ken was not having fun this morning.
He simply turned his head away...
Refusing to even look.
And of it, Gordon Stone did kiss his wife on the forehead goodbye.
This was also part of their morning routine...
One that Ken had never gotten used to.
8:34 am.
Gordon: Alright son, let's get a move on.
His father would open the door and the pair would get out, but not before his mother would...
Frida: Goodbye, Kenny. Study hard and study well.
... wish him goodbye.
She always did this...
Making sure to wish them both a great day and to say farewell.
Yet another part of their program.
And of it, well...
Frida Stone would stay behind...
And what she would do, that was up to her.
As for Gordon Stone and Kenneth Stone...
They got to what turned out to be many a thing.
The car ride to school.
8:36 am.
This car ride could be many things.
Quiet, or loud, or somewhere in between.
But this time...
Gordon: Now remember, we gotta pick up Rover from the vet later today. Ok?
Rover.
That would be their family dog.
The dog that had just so happened to be in the vet for over a week...
But by now...
Ken: Hmph.
Those were their car rides...
Often times, Gordon Stone would tell a story...
Other times, he would crack a joke...
But most of the time, Kenneth Stone was silent.
8:43 am.
And of that, the boy by the name of Kenneth Stone had made it.
Gordon: Have a good day, son!
Ken: You too, dad!
He waved back to his father as he drove off into the freeway...
Leaving him, one of the first people to actually dare to enter the school gates...
Walking in at 8:43 am.
It is a strange thing...
Being one of the earliest kids to get to school...
Lars: Mornin' kid.
Ken: Morning...
After all, what could one say...
About a student who gets to school before most anyone?
And of it, he had time to kill...
After all, it was him, and then Tiffany most likely...
He sighed...
All the while as he headed to his classroom.