Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs.
More Than Lucky
Lucky. That's the word the twelve-year old medium would use to describe his situation. Really, there is no other word that fits his current state more than lucky.
Just a few years ago, he is a freak, an outcast, a loner, a weirdo. He has no (living) friends, every bully in town picks on him, even his own father doesn't want to even begin to understand his gift. But now? Now, you could say that things have gotten a little better.
Okay, a lot better.
Now, he is sitting on a worn old couch, in one of the hottest day of the summer, inside a tourist trap run by a greedy old man, situated in a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a bunch of kids that he met a few weeks ago. And he hopes he will keep meeting them till the day he dies. Maybe, even beyond.
He sweeps his gaze across the tourist trap's living room, watching the antics of seven pre-teens, remembering the events of that fateful day with silent gratitude. All eight of them met through not-so-conventional means; four of them broke down just outside a sleepy little town, two are chasing an evil mastermind to said town, and two are staying in said town when they are attacked by said evil mastermind.
Yeah, nothing conventional about that.
If a certain little girl was here too somehow, then his life would be perfect, though he knows the odds of that happening is next to nothing. She's passed on to a better place, the best place, and there is no reason why she shouldn't be. He's not complaining though, the rambunctious bunch in front of him is more than he could ever hope for.
The bunch started off with a chubby Neil Downe, his first real friend. Before arriving in this town, before the whole zombie incident, before he became a hero in his hometown, Neil was already his friend. He is the first living being to actually accept his gift and not view it as something abnormal. Instead, he finds it to be 'so cool'. To this day, the medium still can't see his friend's logic, but they remain a constant companion for each other, even as the zombie incident became old news. With a content smile, he watched Neil sitting on the floor, stacking cards on top of a pig alongside a brown haired girl.
Ah yes, the brown haired girl. One of his newer friends and quite possibly the happiest, bubbliest, most colorful and most cheerful person in this world and the next. She happily stacked more cards on top of her pet pig, who is lying on the ground with its tongue rolled out in an effort to work off the heat. Meanwhile, its owner seems undisturbed by the heat, even though she is wearing a sweater. One of the things he always wondered about the girl is her insistence to wear bright and colorful sweaters, even in conditions such as this. There's also the fact that she almost never wear the same sweater twice, which makes him wonder just how many sweaters she packed for the summer. Today, she is wearing her favorite: a sweater depicting a star with a rainbow trailing behind it. Mabel Pines, an eternally upbeat girl, always trying, and sometimes succeeding, to brighten up everyone's day with her bedazzlers, colorful sweaters and silly attitude. If not for her near-identical face structure, the medium would've thought that she and her brother are not related.
Subconsciously, the spiky haired boy shifted his gaze to the other side of the room, where a boy about his age stood, looking intently at the book he's holding in his hands before shifting his gaze to a map that is hanging on the wall in front of him. He attached a marker on the map, before shifting his gaze back to his book. The other half of the Pines twins, Dipper Pines, a boy wise beyond his age and the group's man-with-a-plan. Despite his age, Dipper is one of the smartest people that Norman has ever met, and almost a complete contrast to his twin sister. Despite this, the twins share an unbreakable bond, one that Norman has seen firsthand. If only he could say the same about his own sister.
Out of all his newer friends, Dipper is the one that he got along with the most. Outside of their mutual interest for the paranormal (which is actually shared with everyone in the group), the medium sees a kindred spirit in Dipper. He doesn't know if it comes with his ability to speak with the dead, but he can feel that Dipper is a bit of an outsider too. Unlike him however, Dipper didn't cocoon himself from the rest of the world. For Dipper, every demeaning insult, every upsetting mockery, every condescending smirk, they are all a challenge. A challenge that he gladly accepts. The group's frequent hunts is not just to satiate his curiosity, he sees it as a chance to prove those who bully him wrong. It is a trait of him that Norman admires the most, and he hopes that trait will eventually rub off on him. Dipper is the closest thing that the medium has to a brother. In fact, their closeness has prompted Mabel to call the two 'the real life Winchester brothers'. The nickname is slowly spreading within the group, with a certain psychic being the first person beside Mabel to call them that.
Automatically, Norman shifted his gaze to the other side of the room, where a boy dressed in a full pilot-like garb is floating in midair. Yeah, you read that right, floating in midair. The boy has his legs crossed and his arms behind his head, swaying lightly from side to side to create a light breeze for himself. Razputin Aquato, Raz for short, a proud member of the Psychonauts and the co-leader of their little group. Admittedly, Raz's relationship with the others is a bit rocky at first; he looked down on the others for being kids and 'non-psychic', so Norman didn't think highly of him in return. After several hunts however, it is clear that he is a capable leader, and if not for him and his psychic powers, most of their hunts would've ended in a disaster. Plus, Norman can feel that they have something in common; he can feel that the psychic has issues with his father, and like him, Raz has sorted it out. He would still bite off more than he can chew now and then, but he's learning. Besides, his girlfriend will be there to knock some sense into him if he steps out of line, either physically, verbally, or mentally.
Lili Zanotto, Raz's girlfriend and a Psychonaut, one that is just as skilled as her boyfriend. Currently, the purple haired girl is lying down on the floor not far from Raz, using her powers to make several flowers dance in the air above her. The girl formed a small smile at the sight, and the medium can't help but form a smile of his own. Like Raz, she also had a rocky introduction with the rest, but she was a little more willing to cooperate, so hers is somewhat less rocky. To his surprise, she is also a bit of a loner. Periodically, she would take a walk through the woods to observe the plant life, and she would be cranky for a whole day if someone interrupts her. Nevertheless, she is a great help to the team, both for her psychic powers and for being one of the few people that can keep Raz in line, and a dear friend. However, there is still an uneasy tension between Lili and another girl with strangely colored hair.
Coraline Jones, the cool, sarcastic, blue-haired co-leader of the group. She is leaning back on a creaky old recliner, looking bored out her mind. The medium actually knew Coraline before the whole 'evil mastermind' incident. She's a family friend, though they have been estranged over the years. At their reunion, a few days before the 'evil mastermind' incident, Norman, at the urging of Neil, reluctantly tells her about the zombie incident. Surprisingly, like him, she also had a very interesting story to tell at their reunion. More than that, she also became a fan of anything mysterious and supernatural ever since her adventure, even more than the medium. When all eight of them came together, she subconsciously assumes the role of the leader, and later on, she officially becomes their leader, sharing the position with Raz. Though her sharp tongue and blunt attitude might put her at odds with the others from time to time, she's also brave, skillful and she always keeps her cool, all admirable traits. In fact, the medium knew a boy that admires her just for that, and for other reasons as well.
Norman's focus shifted to said boy, leaning against a wall near Coraline, sipping a can of cold soda. Wyborne Lovat, or Wybie, another new friend of his and the team's mechanic, or as the boy himself likes to call it, 'technical expert'. He charged himself with the task of maintaining the team's equipment, and considering he's still a rookie mechanic, he's doing an excellent job. More than that, working together with Mabel, he's always creating new gadgets and adding modifications for the team. Not all of them work of course, but the ones that does work is a sure advantage in their hunts. Even though his inventions might cause trouble and he's responsible for most of Coraline's outbursts, he is still a great friend in Norman's book, especially since he found out that Wybie is a fellow zombie fan. The medium's smile grew a tad bigger as he remembered about the zombie movie marathon that they planned to watch tonight.
Norman leaned back on the worn couch and closed his eyes, a happy and content smile slowly forming on his face. Throughout the years, Norman desperately yearns for a friend, and not even a close one, just at least one companion. And suddenly, after years of loneliness, life suddenly gave him seven people that grew closer to him than his own family. Maybe it's some sort of compensation for the years of social isolation or it's just his fate to suddenly run into them, whatever the reason was the boy didn't care. What he cares about are his new friends, and he is grateful for every second that he spent with them. A warm feeling grew inside him, seemingly turning the unbearable heat into a cool soothing breeze. Either Mr. Pines finally fixed the fan, which is unlikely, or simply being around their little group is enough to soothe his soul. He's gonna have to go with the latter, as cliché, corny and cheesy as that sounds.
Mystery Kids, the official name of their little group. They are far from perfect though, they've come into conflict with each other before, and it is a guarantee that it will happen again, but Norman has faith in every single one of them. No matter what happens, they will be there for each other, and whatever it is that opposes them, from rabid piranha-pigeons to a demon from another world, they will face it together.
For Norman, that's what being part of the Mystery Kids is all about.
"What's with that smile, Norman?" a familiar voice asked, bringing Norman's thoughts to a halt.
He opened his eyes, finding the female half of the Pines twins standing in front of him with a curious smile. Neil is standing just behind her, also with a curious look. In fact, everyone's attention has been diverted to the medium. Dipper tore away from the map and tucked his book in his vest, Raz cuts off his psychic powers and landed gracefully on the ground, Lili stood up while the flowers floated back to its vase, Coraline stretched and got up from the recliner and Wybie takes a big gulp from his soda as he tore away from the wall. The medium realized that he's been wearing that silly smile the whole time.
"Oh… uhhhh…" he chuckled nervously. Norman never really liked being the center of attention, all of the stares he got always made him uncomfortable, and the stares that he is receiving right now is making him very uncomfortable. He nervously scratched the back of his neck as the others shot him a curious gaze. However, Norman reassured himself, the people in front of him are his friends, the ones that he just thought about earlier, no reason to be nervous in front of them.
He brought his hand down and took a deep breath, his features returning to the smile he wore moments ago. "I was just thinking about how lucky I am to meet you guys. To make such amazing friends." he spoke out proudly, his smile growing with each sentence. "Thanks guys, for being my friend."
A warm smile formed on everyone's faces as those words are spoken out. Except for Mabel. The girl's features shifted into what has got to be the most adorable look anyone can muster. "Awww, that's the sweetest thing ever!" she squealed, her face beaming brightly. Out of nowhere, she pulled Norman into a bear hug. Norman laughed, but not his usual nervous chuckle; it was a genuine joyful laughter. "And I'm really glad I get to be friends with you too!" Mabel exclaimed with joy.
"Same thing here!" Neil exclaimed just as happily. "Though, it did take an evil dentist for us to meet each other." he sheepishly pointed out through an awkward smile.
"Well, he's got a point," Dipper spoke up, "If you take Loboto out of the equation, chances are we never could've met each other." He looked at his feet for a moment, contemplating something, before looking up with a smile. "So, I sure am glad we ran into that psycho." he stated.
"So, you're saying that Loboto breaking out of jail and spreading his weirdo debris all over the country is a good thing?" Raz stepped in, wearing a mischievous smirk pointed at Dipper.
"Says the guy who practically begged for that case when Sasha announced it." Lili remarked, hands on her hips.
Raz barked out a laugh. "Glad I did that. If I didn't, we never would've met you guys, and I really don't want that to happen."
"For once, Raz is right." Lili smiled. "It's really fun hanging out with all of you."
"I'm just as happy as the rest of you to meet each other, but I would've preferred if there is no evil dentist at all." Wybie said, pausing to take a sip of soda. "I like to make friends, but I don't really like if it comes hand in hand with near-death experiences."
"Is there any other way?" Coraline chimed in, giving Wybie a light nudge. "Evil dentist or not, we met each other. And I have to admit, I chalked up the day we met as one of the best day of my life." the blue-haired girl showed a rare honest smile. "That morning when I woke up, I thought this day is gonna be boring all the way," she paused to chuckle, "you all definitely proved me wrong."
Everyone laughed, and Norman's smile grew even bigger and brighter.
They are the Mystery Kids. They will always be together. And they all know it.
So, what's the word when a boy that can see ghosts and his chubby friend meets complete polar-opposite twins, a psychic couple, a blue-haired sassmaster and a nerdy mechanic?
Luck?
No, it's not luck.
Luck doesn't even begin to cover it.
Whassup, peeps? Been a while since I posted anything, huh? Well, worry not, for I am alive and well, just very busy lately. So, this is my very first one-shot and my very first fluff-centered fic. TBH, the ending was supposed to be the MK gearing up for a hunt, but I decided to focus on the fluff. It's good practice for me.
So, I wrote this to celebrate me joining the MK team (YAY!) and to keep the Mystery Kids hype going. Unfortunately, some of you might know that the release for episode 2 has been delayed for a whole lotta reasons. But, that means I can tell you the old release date. It was supposed to be released at September 27 to celebrate the premiere of The Boxtrolls (Can't wait to see that movie!). But alas, it is not to be.
To all of you who are disappointed you don't get to see the MK badassly gearing up, do not worry, I'm saving that for another fic. To keep the MK hype up, I'm planning to do a series of one-shots about the Kids, where I might give you a glimpse of what we come up with in the dark bowels of the MK Writers Team.
That's all for now, until next time folks!
As always, enjoy and please review!
XV IMAGINARY LEX XV