So, the idea for this story came from the creation of its lead character. I made her drawing, but I didn't want to up and show her off as just a drawing, since I felt her relationship would be squandered if I up and showed it first, so I decided to touch on it heavier for a story. The She-Ra universe is owned by Mattel, while I own Fizzler, Blinks, and various incidental characters. Please enjoy!
The blazing sun of the planet was muffled by industrial smog, as it always was. The cold steel of buildings shadowed over the town, as they always did. The few places that remained natural, the forests, the swamps, the plains, still hung around like they always had, even if they were still overshadowed by what used to be considered the tyrannical new. Despite this, in moments, this whole world would be far behind her.
A weary sigh broke out through the air, as a young woman walked out of the door of one of the smaller buildings. She was slim, almost to the point of gangliness. Wearing a black jacket with cream details that went to her elbows, drab olive green pants that cuffed at her knees, and shiny black shoes, she could feel the wind tickle her exposed extremities, chilling her to the bone, but she ignored it. Under her arm was a mustard-colored helmet with a purple visor attached to it. Lifting it up, the redhead plopped it over her head, feeling the sides squeeze her sticking-out ears into her temple area, a feeling she would never get used to, as she snapped the chinstrap together.
As the slapping of rubber soles hitting concrete filled the empty air, the young woman walked over towards a small vehicle rested under a steel canopy attached to the side of the building. A scooter-looking vehicle, with a small trunk in the back and a sidecar connected to the right of it, along with a large touchscreen on the dashboard. Popping the trunk revealed a small duffel bag, which she quickly unzipped and shifted through one more time. Extra clothing, a few essentials, and what looked like a curling iron handle attached to a purse handle.
"Good." She said to herself in a raspy whisper, as she zipped the bag back up and shut the trunk with a comforting click.
Walking over to the sidecar of the vehicle, a tinny-sounding purring pricked her ears up. Snuggled up in the seat was a silver feline-like creature with black paws and tail tip. He was asleep on the seat, curled up on a scarf, a pair of gloves, and a belt.
"Good boy, Blinks." She said, petting the head of the creature's smooth skin, slowly alerting him with a small "mrph" sound. "Now please, be an even gooder boy and do a little scooty-scooty away from my stuff for me, please?"
Grudgingly, Blinks lifted his head up, letting the objects be grabbed from under him. Once that was done, he quickly plopped back down.
"You're a doll, sweetheart." The woman said, grinning, revealing her large buck teeth, as she gave her pet another rub on the head. She wrapped the scarf around her neck, pulled one of her gloves on, and snapped the belt around her, revealing a small satchel on the side of it that she adjusted to sit on her hip. "Let's see if I've got all of these straight, at least…"
Snapping open the satchel, she quickly rummaged through it with her ungloved hand. Rustling around through the compartments, she felt a section filled with what felt like a large amount of beads, one section filled with a thin plastic card and a fairly thick folded pile of paper…and then the last section. It felt like a piece of laminated paper. Square. Small.
Before she could fully react to what she was touching, a digital beeping noise filled the air. Hastily snapping the bag shut and pulling the other glove on, she rushed to the seat of the scooter, quickly checking the text on the dashboard, and then pushing a simulated button on the touchscreen, which had the emblem of a speaker on it. The beeping quickly subsided, as the message "answering" blinked onto the screen in place of the speaker.
"Hello?" She asked out, her voice sounding a bit shaky from set-to-well-up tears.
"Oh, good! We made it before you left!" A deep masculine voice said through the device. Even with an adult sound to the voice, it still rang "high school jock" in its tone.
"Ty-Marr!" She grinned, quickly wiping her face with the back of her hand. "So you did care enough to call! Wait, you said 'we'?"
"Lorell-Leerai's here somewhere." Ty-Marr explained. "Probably trying to get one of the youngins out of trouble, you know how they are!"
"I honestly don't." The redhead sighed, but in a way that sounded like lightheartedness was dancing through her voice.
"I'm here! I'm here." A feminine voice suddenly called out from the other end. Nasally, with inflections that sounded like a Valley girl grown up. "So, this is it, is it? Your big day?"
"Yep." She said, sounding a bit pensive. "But it was one that had to happen, you know I've been working for this since…you know."
"We don't really get it, but we're giving you our support entirely." Lorell-Leerai said, the chipperness that came out of her voice at first sounding like it was drained.
Soon, a hush filled the conversation, as the woman bit her lip with her top teeth, with the sounds of wind whipping through the air and the muffled screams of joy of young children on the other side of the line breaking the silence, but just enough from keeping it too awkward.
"…So, I finally figured out a codename for the mission!" The young woman said, suddenly breaking up the silence in a voice that sounded almost falsely chipper.
"Ooh! Which one did you go with?" Lorell-Leerai asked, her mood switching back to a genuine chipperness. "You went with "Fizzy", didn't you? We've got the same mindset, you and me!"
"Honey, I think she went with "Sizzler", like my suggestion." Ty-Marr responded back over the line.
"Actually, I kind of went with both!" The woman responded, rubbing the back of her neck, even though she knew they couldn't see it.
"So…you went with…Sizzy?" Lorell-Leerai asked, her voice steeped in obvious confusion.
"…Fizz-Sizz…?" Ty-Marr asked, mirroring his wife's confusion in his voice.
"…Close! I went with Fizzler." She responded to the two of them, trying not to choke on laughter at their suggestions. "I mean, it just…felt like "me". Do you think he'll like it? I mean…when I finally tell him it?"
"I mean, he's still him, and you're still you." Lorell-Leerai said. "At least, I think that's still the case."
"It's more important that you like it than he does." Ty-Mar added, almost sounding wearing, as if he had said something like this multiple times.
"…I'm gonna hold onto hope that he's going to like it! I mean, he likes me! He still has to!" Fizzler cut in, suddenly sounding defensive.
"Either way, we're wishing you the best!" Lorell-Leerai said, the chipperness slowly returning to her voice.
"I can't thank you guys enough." Fizzler responded, grinning. "Thank you guys…for everything."
"We should be thanking you for everything!" Ty-Marr responded back, also sounding like he was grinning.
"Let's just say "thanks and welcome" in both cases." Fizzler quickly said, suddenly growing antsy. "I'm really sorry to be cutting this short, but I think my window's going to be closing soon to start heading out."
"Ah, we getcha." Ty-Marr said, sounding a bit apologetic. "Welp, here's a "thanks and welcome"…from both of us! And we're wishing you the best!"
"Bye-bye…Fizzler!" Lorrell-Leerai said, sounding off, while also sounding like she was trying to get used to the name.
"I hope to see you guys at some point again!" Fizzler responded, starting to hover her finger over the "hang up" button on the screen.
"Bye!" Ty-Marr and Lorrell-Leerai's voices said in sync.
"Bye!" Fizzler echoed, pressing the hang up button. She could swear she heard the two of them attempting to say "bye" one more time, but she quickly cut them off before one of their oh-so-common phone chains could be started.
"Glad I got out of that." She sighed in relief, turning towards Blinks. "All right, buddy; it's time for us to get this show on the road!"
Before Fizzler could rev up the scooter, the ringtone suddenly started to play again, as the touchscreen lit back up. She quickly looked at the screen, as her face grew grim.
"Aw, cripes." She sighed. "Not HER…"
Crossing her arms with an indignant huff, she let the ringtone play itself out multiple times. Eventually, the click of another voice came on.
"Hi!" Fizzler's voice, crackly and faded from the answering machine spoke. "You've reached the newly-codenamed Fizzler! I'm probably out fulfilling the destiny that I've been working on my entire life and can't get to you right now, so please leave a message after the beep! Bye-bye!"
After a few moments of white noise, the classic "beep" of the machine intoned, as a voice clicked on. Feminine, but high-pitched and nasally, as if you could hear the condescending nature coming out of it.
"Ugh, I hate that nickname…" The voice said, in a hushed tone that made it sound like she was trying to make sure Fizzler couldn't hear her. She then cleared her throat, speaking in more obvious "listen to me" tones. "Okay, "Fizzler". It's me, Strikk-Nenn. So, I've heard you're on your little adventure now, are you? Probably won't see us for ages, so guess I better make this count! I'm…I'm…"
As some mumbling was heard on the phone, Fizzler's eye rolled behind the visor of her helmet. Sheesh, not this prattle again…
"…I'm sorry." Strikk-Nenn final responded, after what seemed like countless mumbling. "For the years. And years. And years and years and years of putting you down over this stupid thing. I guess…better late than never, am I right?"
"Noted." Fizzler dryly said under her breath.
"So, I take it in the best of your heart to forgive m-"
Before Strikk-Nenn could continue, the click of the answering machine's time limit cut her off, as the number "1" blinked onto the screen next to the logo of a tape recorder.
"Good riddance, thought she'd never shut up!" Fizzler said, as she started to rev up the scooter. "All righty, Blinks! We're on our way for the adventure of a lifetime!"
Soon, the wheels of the vehicle started to roll, driving off the canopy's concrete onto the dusty ground. The two of them were off. However, after a block of driving, another sound came through…and this time it wasn't the ringtone.
"HOLD IT!"
Deep-voiced, metallic, and threatening in tone that yell was. Sighing, Fizzler slammed on the breaks, causing her and her pet to lurch forwards, the annoyed sound from Blinks being a tell-tale sign for the both of them. Soon, the clanking of metal footsteps, along with the creaking of joints, filled the air, as whoever yelled walked towards them, stopping when they reached the front of the car. Looking up, Fizzler gave a nervous grin to who was there. Silver and black. Heavily armored. Two eyes in the void of the helmet.
A Horde Trooper.
At least, they looked like a Horde Trooper? They were much more angular than what was recognized. Slimmer, older-looking. Of course, there was also the fact the standard yellow eyes were replaced with glowing green ones, and the fact that the Horde insignia was ripped off and replaced with a sheet of metal that didn't exactly match the metal casing on the robot, but still a Horde Trooper nonetheless.
"Is…there a problem, sir?" Fizzler asked, still nervously grinning.
"So." The Horde Trooper said, his voice still sounding as threatening as if he wasn't bothering to yell. "It's finally come to this, has it?"
"…I suppose it has." Fizzler responded, clenching onto the handles of the scooter.
"After all this time."
"All this time."
"Well then." The Horde Trooper said, still eyeing Fizzler down. Suddenly, his demeanor went softer. His eyes went downwards, and he loosened his stance. "Can't believe you're really doing it, kid."
"I'm feeling exactly the same." Fizzler said, her guise also loosening as well. "I've built up to this moment, and I'm finally taking it!"
"You've really grown since then." The Horde Trooper added. "You've changed a lot; I'm just sorry it had to be through…well, that."
"This is it, though!" Fizzler said, sounding insistent. "When I finish this, I'll finally be able to prove all I've been doing isn't for nothing! This is my destiny completed!"
"You're certainly driven, I'll give you that." The Horde Trooper said, sounding like he was chuckling. "Good luck out there, kid."
"Thank you." Fizzler grinned, as the Horde Trooper put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Go out there and prove yourself, kid." The Horde Trooper said, patting Fizzler's shoulder. "You and the…little runt over there."
"We will!" Fizzler said, as Blinks flopped down in disdain.
"Oh, and if you can, maybe give those newbies a little what for?" The Horde Trooper asked. "Freaking punks think they can just up and replace us…"
"I'll…see what I can do?" Fizzler nervously responded, becoming more aware that the Horde Trooper was now inavertedly squeezing her shoulder in rage now.
"That's what I like to hear, kid!" The Horde Trooper said, sounding jovial under his threatening appearance, as he released Fizzler's shoulder. "Go get 'em, tiger!"
Giving a determined nod in return, Fizzler then pressed a button on the console, as the Horde Trooper backed up, his eyes giving off the emotion of a tired, yet earnest, smile. Suddenly, a thick glass dome surrounded both passengers of the scooter, as the wheels flipped to the sides. As pulses of energy blasted down, the scooter started to propel itself upwards, as Fizzler drove it as if she was still on the ground. Soon, the scooter was a speck in the sky, as it rocketed into space.
"Good kid, that girl." The Horde Trooper said to himself, giving a weary sigh. "Hope she finds him, if only for her own sake."