Just a Prelude
It was a normal Wednesday afternoon. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, in the distance, one could hear the many honks and horns of cars and trains, all was normal. Yup, normal, completely, and absolutely, normal. Or, as normal as it could get within Foster's Home. There was this blue little, thing. He was, once again, making a ruckus within the house, with this young red-head hot on his heels, er, stubs. It seemed as if the blue thing's plan today dealt with abusing the mind of a certain over active girl, to gain cookies atop the refrigerator. Unfortunately, he forgot to plan the fact that said girl's hyper active mind would just create a walking talking ladder which had a pension for arson. This, of course, made the red-head very, very mad.
"Frankie!" the blue creature yelled, whilst carrying a jar of cookies, "How was I suppose to know Goo would create a fire loving ladder!?"
"Darnit Bloo!" the red-head retorted, "You know how Goo can get! It's like giving gas to fire!"
In her speed, she grabbed a broom, preparing to give Bloo a good whacking when the front door suddenly began to produce sound. Someone was knocking from the other side. Though her eyes were still blood-thirsty, Frankie would have to continue her hunt later. She shifted her gaze elsewhere, and started walking through the halls. She passed various beings, creatures it seemed, all of various shapes and sizes, all different in one way or another. Some looked like humans, others animals, while most were just to wild to describe. And yet, to all of these creatures, she didn't even bat an eyelash.
Just another normal day, in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Finally, after what felt like forever, she came to the front door. The knocks had begun to pick up tempo, and low talking could be heard. Frankie opened the door, and saw the red eyes of a black and red hedgehog. He was a pretty violent looking fellow, with back quills that shot up like demon horns. His arms were at his side, while his eyes grew into a minor squint. Standing beside him was a tall robot, one that was red and black, much like the being beside it. It easily dwarfed the hedgehog in size, and was actually casted a shade over Frankie as well. Muscular and tall, it had a disposition matching the hedgehog's in ferocity and intensity.
"Uhh," the hedgehog said, "This is Foster`s Home for Imaginary Friends, is it not?"
Frankie gazed down at the hedgehog, already believing that he was an imaginary friend himself. He seemed to play the role, it was rare for beings too look like him. Granted, she wished he didn't have to look so murderous like. But so was the way things were coming, she supposed.
"Oh," she said, "Are you to looking for a home?"
The hedgehog gazed up at robot, then turned back to Frankie. His demeanor had grown a bit defensive, as he crossed his arms in a slow manner.
"No," he said, matter-of-factly, "Me and my friend here, were refered to this place, I was wondering if we could stay for a while."
Well of course they were refered to this place, were they not Imaginary Friends?
"Aren't you two here because your imaginary?" Frankie asked, as she grew a bit flustered.
The hedgehog rolled his eyes at the remark, finding it to be quite an insult.
"Do we look imaginary to you?" he answered.
"Well, I`m sorry mr... mr... what are you?"
"I`m Shadow, Shadow the hedgehog," the being answered, while he gave a quick glance to his robotic friend, "And this is E-123 Omega. We're Agents of G.U.N."
Shadow reached behind, and withdrew a wallet. This confused Frankie, as he wore no pants, well, no pants she could see. The next second, the hedgehog opened his wallet, and showed Frankie a gold and black plated badge, his G.U.N. badge. Omega did the same, showing a gold and black plated badge which protruded from his chest like a CD player. Frankie looked over the badges, her eyes bending into awe. Never before had she seen a G.U.N. Agent. They were of the utmost of secrecy, and because of this, they were rarely ever seen. But here these two beings were, claiming that they were G.U.N. Agent's themselves. But could she really believe them? It was entirely possible that some child imagined these two, and gave them very plausible badges. Of course, that was also extremely unlikely. The badges Shadow and Omega showed her were hard to fake. Still, she had to be intelligent about this.
"G.U.N. huh?" the red-head said, as she brought her eyes away from the badges, "I thought G.U.N. agents were tall men with ripped muscles."
She smiled, believing she had just caught the hedgehog in a lie.
"Yes well," Shadow began, while showing a bit of embarrassment, "We used that for advertisement."
That wasn't good enough, not for her, anyway.
"Well Sha-"
Frankie's sentence was cut short by an explosion coming from the house. Shadow, Frankie, and Omega gazed into the house at a hall bursting with flames. The fire had apparently begun to spread and crackle, destroying the halls it currently sat in. Frankie had completely forgot what she was doing, and instantly ran with her broom to the flames. Then, with a temper, the red-head began to try to fan out the flames.
"Shadow! Omega! Could you two do me favor, and call the fire department?" Frankie yelled.
"Ugh 'call the fire department'," Shadow mockingly repeated, "C'mon Omega, let`s stop this fire from spreading."
"Affirmative!" Omega's voice boomed with a certain dullness.
The two walked into the house together, side-by-side, like men on a mission. Making their way to the fire, they analyzed the flames that threatened to consume the home. Frankie's ploy of fanning out the flames was of course, not working, as many imaginary friends ran out the hall as smog began to cover the ceiling. Shadow walked up near Frankie, grabbed her broom, then said with a certain cockiness,
"Allow me."
The hedgehog positioned the broom like a bat, and swung it with so much force, it produced gale force winds, effectively blowing away most of the flames. The next second Omega's hands receded into his arms, and fans replaced them as he walked forward. After a short start-up period, the fans produced 20 mph winds, which diminished the remaining flames. It also had the unfortunate side effect of blowing away anything that caught in its path.
The hall was left black and red, with very little patches of the original detail left. Frankie sat on the floor, awestruck by the actions of the two G.U.N. Agents. After regaining her composure, she ran immediately to the hedgehog, her face filled with giddy excitement.
"You guys, you just stopped all the flames." she stated.
"It's easy." Shadow responded as he dropped the broom, "We're G.U.N. Agents, remember?"
There was then a sudden sound. A loud, tree snapping sound in fact. Shadow gazed up, and noticed the ceiling beginning to crumble. It shook for two seconds, then bursted with debris. In that instant, Shadow yelled out a command.
"Chaos! Control!" he roared out, to which time suddenly stopped.
Everywhere, that is. All of it. Time just ceased flowing.
Shadow looked around. The second floor had nearly collapsed on them all, the support beams even began to fall. If he hadn't stopped time, he and Frankie would`ve been in bad shape. Omega would`ve been fine though.
The hedgehog then grabbed Frankie's frozen body, and pushed Omega's out of the danger zone. Next, with the snap of a finger, time resumed. The ceiling collapsed onto the bottom floor, and caused an earthing shaking rattle. Smoke cleared from the halls, and proceeded to fill the rest of the house. Frankie had begun to scream, not realizing that she was now safe and sound. She hadn't stopped screaming, until Shadow nudged her a couple of times, which calmed her down. She then looked at him, then toward the shattered hall.
"How`d we-" she asked stunned.
"Chaos Control." the hedgehog answered.
His eyes rolled over toward the destroyed hall. Standing next, he crossed his arms, while his robotic friend walked near him.
"Could you tell me what caused this?" Shadow asked as he brought his gaze back to the red-head.
Frankie then remembered Bloo and his failed attempt to get the cookies. And just like that, her rage returned.
"Darnit!" She yelled, "When I get my hands on that blue punk, I`ll, I`ll!"
Nudging her again, Shadow calmed the girl's rage.
"Hey," he called, "Could you please tell me what caused this?"
"Uh, an arsonist ladder!"
"... An... arsonist ladder?" the hedgehog repeated in bemusement.
"It was an imaginary friend someone created." Frankie answered as she noticed the hedgehog's confusion.
Shadow shook his head in disbelief, before he began to walk toward the ruined hall. Stopping at the very edge, he peered deeply into the dark, smokey halls.
"Oh, and Miss Foster, look out for that, Bloo, you speak of..." he stated, as he began to trek inside.
"Miss Foster?" Frankie responded in amusement, "Oh, Shadow I`m not Miss Foster, I`m Frankie."
"Well, Miss Frankie, look out for our arsonist." he stated, gazing to her.
Shadow then signaled with his fingers for Omega to follow him. His hand reached away toward his pants, and when it returned, he held a handgun within. Frankie pulled back in shock and fear. Deep down inside, she wanted to stop him, but something got the better of her. They were G.U.N. Soldiers, after all.
...
The pitch black halls caused shivers to move down the hedgehog's spine. There were some small fires still burning, but Omega quickly diminished them with a swipe of his claw. As the smell of fire tickled his nose, the hedgehog felt memories trickle into his mind. Fire always gave him the chills, ever since the Ark incident.
"Omega," he said, "Can you find out where he is?"
"Scanning... Scanning... Scanning... Scanning..." the robot stated at first, "Negative! Said target does not exist!"
"Of course he doesn't exist," Shadow stated, as he glanced away, "He's an imaginary friend. Or, imaginary felon."
When the noise of chuckles entered their ears, the two leaned up against the wall in unison. Gazing around the corner, Shadow saw a ladder with a match. Yes, a ladder, was holding a match. It had eyes on the rung two steps away from the top, and hands on its sides. Lastly, this ladder had feet. It was official. Imaginary friends were something the hedgehog never wanted to be apart of.
"MAN!" the ladder said, "I love the flames!"
Now, a moment like this would need an extra case of finesse and refinement. A volatile situation could easily go up in flames, and when speaking of this living ladder, that was entirely possibly.
"Hey you!" Shadow yelled, his gun aimed at the arsonist, "Let go of that match!"
Or, if you're Shadow, you could do that.
"Oh really?" the ladder yelled back, its voice this cocky and ear-splitting octave, "What kind of peace-loving friend are you!"
With a blank expression, Shadow fired his gun, which blasted the match right out of the ladder's hand. It was an impressive shot, and showed a lot for Shadow's patience. He could have easily killed the ladder but he didn't.
"We aren't friends," the hedgehog stated, "And we aren't peace-loving."
Omega then stepped forward.
"Preparing to dispose of opposition." the robot's voice boomed.
"Go ahead Omega."
With footstep after footstep, the violent machine made his way toward the ladder, which proceeded to cower in fear.
...
Bloo was hiding in a closet fearful of Frankie, and what she would do to him. His mind was already going over the various sorts of torture she would invoke upon him. In his hands, err, nubs a jar of cookies he so dangerously obtained. He would peer out the door every 8 seconds for the next minute or two, waiting ever so desperately for Frankie's sixth-sense to kick in. That was, until something caught his eye. These two beings walked out from the ruined hall, carrying a tall, overall wearing black girl, and the arsonist ladder. Bloo's eyes widened in awe, as he analyzed these two. A demonic looking hedgehog, as well as a robotic menace.
He wondered who the hedgehog and robot was, that was until Frankie called out to them.
"Shadow! Omega!... Goo...?"
Shadow had found Goo hiding within the sink cabinet, assembly to hide from the ladder she made. In order to make her more co-operable, the hedgehog wrapped tape around her mouth. The ladder was being carried by Omega, who apparently had striken the wooden being unconscious. Frankie walked over to the G.U.N. Agents, while gazing down toward the beaten ladder.
"Is he..." she inquired while her voice trailed off.
"No, he's not dead." Shadow said flatly, as he dropped Goo to the ground.
Frankie took a good look at the ladder, who had a black eyes, and two broken stairs. It looked as if it had been beaten senseless, only to be reawaken, and then beaten again. Frankie placed a finger on her bottom lip, as she analyzed the pain the imaginary being must have went through. Her face turned into anger upon realizing what the two agents did to the arsonist ladder.
"Are you two crazy!?" the red-head barked, "You just don't go and beat up imaginary friends! Arsonist or not!"
Shadow's eyes slowly slanted down, showing that he was growing a bit annoyed.
"What are you yelling at me for!?" he retorted,"If it weren't for me, this house would be rubble!"
"Well did you have to be so violent!?" she yelled back.
"Look, I only use violence when necessary, and Omega was the one who attacked this ladder! Besides, why does it matter!? He was an arsonist!"
"Do you beat every thing to death!?"
"Listen here," Shadow said, pointing his index finger directly at Frankie,"I do, what is needed to be done, even if that includes beating my targets. Understand!?"
"Why are you two even here!?" she blurted through her rage.
"That's a good question, c'mon Omega!"
Shadow started for the door, but was stopped by a short, browned-haired kid. The boy gazed at the hedgehog, his eyes bending up into awe. He broke eye-contact next so he could run to the ruined hall. He stared at it for a while in disbelief, before running over to Frankie in disbelief.
"Frankie!" he said, confusion written upon his face, "What happened here!?"
Frankie looked at him for a second or two, before her faced to to one of anger.
"Let me guess," the boy said, "Bloo?"
"And Goo!" she finished, "I swear, how does she even get in here!?"
In disappointment, the boy rolled his eyes. This must have been a common occurrence in his life.
"But Frankie, how'd did Bloo and Goo do something like this?"
"It's a long story Mac," Frankie sighed, "A long story..."
"Ugh! Where is Bloo?" the boy, Mac, asked.
"I don`t know," Frankie answered, "He ran before I could catch him."
"Miss Francias!"
The call could be heard clearly through the mansion. Hopping down from an adjacent hall was this rabbit. He was an old fellow, one wearing a monocle, top-hat, as well as the vest and clothing of a British aristocrat. He had, apparently, just heard of the raging flame that spread through the halls earlier, and was of course blatant about his rage.
"Miss Francias!" the rabbit began again, his voice so respectful yet antagonizing at the same time,"It has come to my attention, that you allowed a fire to spread through the house!"
"I allowed a fire to spread!?" she answered in disbelief, "You honestly believe I caused all of this!? You stupid rabbit! It wasn't me, it was-"
"Me." Shadow answered, breaking the ensuing feud.
Both Frankie and the hare gazed at the odd hedgehog.
"You heard me Mr. Mr...?"
"Herriman," the rabbit answered, "Mr. Herriman. And who, find sir, are you?"
"I'm Shadow, my friend and I wanted to stay at your home."
Slowly, Herriman stared at Omega. The menacing robot sent chills down his spine, causing him to step back for safety.
"I do say," Herriman said, "Imaginary friends get more and more menacing."
"Darn it!" Shadow yelled, "I'm not imaginary! Neither is Omega! We are 100% real hedgehog and robot."
"100% real hedgehog and robot who set this home ablaze!" Herriman retorted.
"Look I apologize!" Shadow answered.
"And you beat up this poor ladder!"
"Yeah, about that..."
"And you subdued Goo!"
"I`m not sorry for that."
"Well '100% real hedgehog' if you believe for just one second that you can come in, set the house on fire, beat up an imaginary friend, and be allowed to stay, then you have another thing coming. I`m calling the police."
"Oh please Herriman," Frankie said, growing annoyed by the rabbit's words, "Shadow didn't start the fire, that ladder did. Goo created another imaginary friend, and it had a pension for fire."
"She created an arsonist?" Herriman inquired, though he wasn't really that surprised.
"And if it hadn't been for Shadow and Omega," Frankie continued, "This whole house would probably be on fire by now."
Herriman gazed at Shadow, who returned his look, with a menacing glare. It was loosening up though.
"And, Sir Shadow, why do you wish to stay at Foster`s Home, if you aren't an imaginary friend?"
"It's... G.U.N. business." the hedgehog answered as he crossed his arms.
"G.U.N?" Herriman questioned, "You mean, the Guardian Units of Nations, G.U.N?"
"Yes, that G.U.N. My friend and I are agents from G.U.N."
"Wow," Mac said, "G.U.N. agents, I would never thought I'd ever meet a G.U.N. agent face to face."
"Well," Herriman began, "If you wish to stay at Foster's Home or not, It is not in my power, It's in Ms. Foster's power."
"You mean," Shadow said, "Thee Ms. Foster?"
"Correct, follow me."
Shadow watched as Herriman toiled with his monocle ever so briefly, setting it in place. Turning around, he began hopping off on his own bunny feet. The black and red hedgehog stepped forward to follow, but stopped quickly. Gazing around himself, he saw the many eyes of various imaginary friends, all gazing upon him, and his robotic ally. There were many gazes of admiration, and equal amounts of fear.
Fear. He was used to it by now.
Turning around, he started following Herriman, with Omega at his side.
"Yeouch..." Goo murmured as she struggled to her butt, "Ugh. My head hurts..."