Dear Diary,
There's this new guy in my class. His name's Phyre Blackpaw and he's hot! I like him. No, you don't understand, diary - I really, really like him! He's got wings like I have and he's part dragon and he's got black fur with mint-green stripes and the most gorgeous smile and this really furry chest because I think he's part wolf like I am - we've got so much in common! - and he's got these really sexy dark red eyes and he's so handsome! All the girls like him, but he's gonna be mine!
I know how I'm going to do it: I'm going to make sure I look like, totally amazing when I go into school tomorrow. I've always liked my breasts and midriff so I'll make sure I show them off, and I'm getting highlights in my hair at the expensive place tonight, and then tomorrow I'll try and get him and me alone. But first of all I'm going to walk up to him after class and say, 'Hi, I'm Starla Mirage Brighteyes. I think you're hot! Why don't you take me on a date?' I mean, I would do it before class but I figure that'll look kinda desperate.
Ooh, Diary! It's going to be just perfect!
But I still gotta be quick because I saw Purity and Licious and Rayvin-Ebony looking at him in Science today. I gotta get there first.
Mwah!
Starla xx
xXx
He brushed me off for Taboo! I can't believe it - he blew me, Starla Brighteyes, out! Is he blind? I made sure I looked great! I got those low-rise jeans especially for asking guys on dates!
He must have no taste or something. I mean, I don't mean to be a bitch, Diary, but Taboo isn't all that. For a start her clothes are too slutty. I mean, I know I dress to show off but at least I can carry it off. He just doesn't realise what he could have with me.
Or is it me? Is that it, Diary? Is something wrong with me? I get asked on dates. So I must be fine. Maybe he thinks I'm ugly. I looked in the mirror for an hour when I got home, trying to work it out.
Doesn't he think I'm sexy? Doesn't he think I'm fun? I don't get it.
I don't feel like seeing anyone else today. I'm staying in my room. I don't even wanna go downstairs for dinner. I might order a pizza if I don't wanna eat what mom's cooked.
xXx
Bunnie hunkered down next to Sally and gazed into the campfire. Stray embers flew up to the Great Forest's canopy before drifting back on down and snuffing themselves harmlessly out on the grass. She noticed with a gentle smile that they still looked darker than the summer evening sky. The days were so long at this time of year.
She loved it when the Knothole Freedom Fighters got together like this and got along with just being kids. She looked around at the others and listened to the good-humoured talk. Yeah, this was the life!
Next to her, Sally unclipped NICOLE from her boot and flipped it open. "NICOLE," the ground squirrel said relaxedly, "play Song of Summer."
Song of Summer was a classic and warm tune, and a great backing track for laid-back gatherings like this. Bunnie closed her eyes and quietly hummed along to it.
NICOLE hiccupped and the song jumped. Bunnie opened her eyes and looked at NICOLE. The music carried on as before and she closed her eyes again. Another jump. Bunnie shared a look with Sally. NICOLE played fine for a few more seconds but then the song stuck completely. With a small sigh Sally picked up the machine.
"NICOLE, run diagnostic on circuits," she said.
"Running, Sally," NICOLE replied with a show of lights. Bunnie turned her attention to Sonic and Rotor.
"Nah," Sonic continued to the walrus, "all I'm sayin' is that if you wanna learn guitar you ain't gotta start with the crappy kids' tunes. You gotta play what you want, right from the start and right from the heart! That's how you keep interested."
"Yeah but," Rotor began, his voice deep and smooth, all the more so for being relaxed among his friends, "you gotta pick somethin' easy, right?"
"Yeah," Sonic admitted, "but what's the point in..." Bunnie carried on listening. That was music enough when a rabbit was with people she loved.
"Yo Sal," Sonic said, "Get NICOLE to play that riff I made the other day!" He turned proudly to the walrus. "Rote, listen to this baby!"
"I can't, Sonic," she answered. "NICOLE's malfunctioning and... it... looks like..." her speech slowed as NICOLE neared the end of the diagnostic. "Yep," she confirmed tiredly. "She needs a new chip. Well, I guess we can sort that out for tomorrow night."
"Aww, Sally-girl," Bunnie whined good-naturedly, "Can we talk about raiding later? It's too nahce to think about all that raght naow."
Sally smiled at the cyborg. "You're right, Bunnie. Forget it for now, guys..."
xXx
Starla felt so humiliated! How could Phyre have done that to her? She'd worn the best and most revealing stuff she could and gone right up to him. If he hadn't been so hot she'd think he was a dick.
But the day after she felt a little better. It was hot and sunny so she decided to take the day off school and fly. Flying was her guilty pleasure - if anyone knew that she actually liked to be on her own and fly then she'd have to commit suicide or something. Even she wondered if it made her a little weird.
But Starla knew she was a good flier, so flight always made her feel better.
She looked around at the park, at the rolling grass and the flowers and the trees. Nobody from school was around so she opened her wings. To fly good she had to hold off from getting off the ground right away. Instead she flapped just a little, which made her wing muscles warm up and feel more sensitive and move better. The anticipation grew as she felt the breeze go through her fur and clothes and feathers and hair (which she had to tie up so it didn't get in her eyes).
A strong wind came up the side of the hill and she beat her way up and soared away from the dirt. And away from certain stuck-up guys who thought she wasn't good enough.
The wind whistled in her ears and her face fur blew this way and that. Her primaries and the air pushed against each other.
Stupid Phyre.
One particular thing about flying always made her feel better when she felt angry. Dives. Fast dives! So that was what she did.
First she got as high as she could, up until the air got too cold and stung her eyes and the wind started to pull her about too much. Cycling her wings just to stay this high she blinked away her cold-tears and looked at the town below. Tiny people in all different colours, the glamorous streets and shopping precincts and the edge of town where the old people lived when they got just too old for anyone to care about them any more.
Just looking at that little bit of town made her feel bored.
You'll be there one day, warned a voice at the back of her mind. The idea scared her.
Shut up! she thought back and tried to forget the whole thing, including the fact that she'd just had a conversation with herself. Freak-o.
She pulled in her arms and legs, narrowed her wings into little triangles... and fell into a fast dive.
The air tore past, so cold it made her nose freeze, so hard it felt like it was cutting into her flesh. Her stomach went weird as she dropped towards town. It felt good to fall this hard when she was angry. What if I did it even more extreme than this? In one slick move she tightened her wings even more and dipped straight down into an extra-quick fall.
Fear! It chased the anger totally away for a second.
Dust.
What?
She smelt dust just then. Or it smelled like it, anyhow.
Dust, up here?
But thinking about it was interrupting her stunt so to make the fear spike again, she tucked into a ball and somersaulted.
She saw the empty sky above her as part of the tumble. Except it wasn't empty. A ring of light! Before Starla knew what it was it sucked her in and swallowed her.
The dusty smell came again and she worked out where she knew it from. That place, between worlds. Damnit! How'd she get here?
Twisting, she looked for another ring of light. That was how she had got out of this place last time, by flying through a second ring, and it had taken her to another world. A world where there the animals were all of just one species per person and mostly brown and grey like mud and rocks, except for a cool blue guy who was pure hedgehog. A world where she'd been the brightest and most glamorous girl around and the other girls were jealous of her. A world that was at war with a fat human.
There! She saw it! A hoop of light. She tilted her wings and glided for it.
xXx
The warm day encouraged the Freedom Fighters to go outside to discuss their chip-stealing mission. In the meadow beside the village they could enjoy the breeze while they talked and be sure of total privacy.
For now there was nothing Bunnie could add to the conversation, so she glanced discreetly into the distance as Sonic and Sally bickered. She was about to look back at the pair when she noticed something further out in the field. Her heart sank and her hackles rose.
"Oh- that's just... Great!" she moaned. The others had a look.
Rotor palmed his face. "Oh brother," he said through gritted teeth. "Not again."
Approaching Knothole, picking her way through the clumps of thick grass, was none other than Starla Brighteyes. Bunnie watched the hybrid approach and felt her mood sharpen: last time she and Starla had met they'd clashed. Big time.
xXx
Sally was surprised to see the alien female again - she thought they'd sent her back for good last time. She watched Starla for a moment. Small white stars - an exotic element from Starla's world - flowed like water from the hybrid's body.
Sally thought quickly. None of the others would feel friendly towards Starla. She decided to do everything she could to keep things amicable.
Had Starla returned on purpose or was this another accident? She prepared to greet the alien with a pleasant smile on her face.
xXx
Starla looked at the group. They were all there: hunky Sonic, that bitch Sally, funny Rotor, the guy with the accent... and Bunnie. She could already see Bunnie's envy in her sour expression and tight shoulders. The rabbit who'd been so jealous last time that she'd hit Starla.
Sally looked like she was straining to be polite. Obviously she was stuck between being arrogant and feeling jealous.
Starla thought back to the time Bunnie had hit her and decided to ignore the rabbit completely. Sally looked friendlier, but Starla didn't want to talk to her. She knew who she did want to speak to. As she came up to the group she looked at Sonic from under her lashes and pulled her hair out of its bun. She shook it loose and it tumbled down over her shoulders. "Hi Sonic," she said with a seductive smile, and tilted her head so her hair fell over one eye. If Phyre hadn't wanted to make use of her charms then Sonic could instead!
Sally answered. "Hi Starla. We... weren't expecting to see you again. Are you ok?"
Starla looked disdainfully at Sally for a moment - she hadn't spoken to her! Clearly the winged female had to make a point, so she stung as hard as she could: "Better than you, girl."
Everyone's eyes went wide. Well, except for the guy with the accent, who looked like he was trying to work out what she meant. Bunnie started to step forward, but Sally lifted her hand to stop her. The accent guy saw that and looked at Starla as if she'd just robbed a bank or something. With a hard glare Bunnie folded her arms and gazed into the distance.
"...Starla..." Ha! Sally was stuck on that one!
Starla smirked as she waited for the princess to work out how to answer. She glanced at Sonic to share the joke with him.
Sonic looked angry. But before Starla could work out why he wasn't impressed (guys liked being fought over, didn't they?) Sally answered.
"I guess you've only just got here?"
"Back with a vengeance, I guess you could say!" Starla flicked her hair, pleased at her wit. She planted her hands on her hips and waited for Sally's answer. If she could even think of one.
"So I'm guessing you don't have anywhere to live right now."
That stopped Starla in her tracks. And made her really angry.
"Do you want to stay in the same hut as before?"
Oh. My. God. You seriously better not be threatening me. Seriously! Starla started thinking about where else she could stay. ...What if she said she'd stay with Sonic?
"I guess it's an option," she answered through gritted teeth, a warning to Sally that if she went through with this threat she'd go and live with Sonic in revenge. "but I could always find somewhere else..." She left that hanging.
Sally sighed a little. "Starla, if you want the hut all you need to do is ask."
Starla felt naked then. Devious bitch.
"Starla." Sonic's voice was low and level. Stop being difficult, it said. "Take the hut."
Starla didn't know what to say so instead she just nodded and stormed off to the hut with a flounce.
xXx
The hut had been too small before and it was no bigger this time. She sneered and went through into the bathroom to check herself in the mirror.
They were all such dicks! What was with, Sonic? She smoothed her fur, wondered for a moment whether that'd been the problem, and then decided that it probably hadn't. Sonic wasn't really like that. Which was odd, because he was good-looking enough to be.
It was Sally's fault. She'd poisoned Sonic's mind against her. Well, Starla knew ways to get a guy's interest back! She checked her eyeliner and decided she had what it took.
Then something occurred to her: she hadn't paid any attention to Rotor. It'd been funny playing with him last time... But that was old, she decided as she pulled her stomach in and turned sideways to admire the view. The game was over. But if Sonic and Sally were going to act weird then he'd be good for a laugh. Had he even noticed his weight? Nobody back where she came from would ever let that happen to them!
She decided to go back and have another try. Her hair in perfect order, she smiled at her reflection and left the bathroom.
xXx
She found them again and caught them debating furiously between themselves. As she got closer she heard Bunnie whisper, "Well, Ah don't wanna talk to her - you can be nahce to her all you want, Sally-girl, but Ah'm stayin'-" Then she caught Starla's eye, folded her arms and looked away.
Starla looked from her to Rotor, who looked away too and tightened his jaw. She tilted her head in confusion. Why would he be like that? Maybe he's just sulky all the time, she decided. Well, if he was going to be like that she'd talk to somebody else. What was his deal, anyway?
"So," Starla said to the group to move on and make sure she looked assertive. "What's going down?"
Sally swapped a glance with Rotor and said, "We were just talking about how to get you back to your universe as soon as we can."
Starla felt her face fall. "But I just got here!"
Sally sighed. "Your friends must miss you! You shouldn't worry them, Starla, however much you like it here."
Starla blinked at her. Was Sally really so insecure she had to get rid of her? "They're not my keepers, Sally. Just sayin'." Then she looked at Sonic again. She had to win him from the princess! "And anyway, what's the rush? I can just hang out here a while."
Sally thought for a second, then sighed and said, "Okay Starla, if you're sure. Rotor will make you up a bottle of hydrogen gas tonight like he did last time-"
Starla glanced at Rotor again, whose expression hasn't changed. So boring, she thought and looked back at her jealous little enemy.
"-but we have a problem with NICOLE. We need to go to Robotropolis tomorrow and get a chip to repair her. So we'd have to have kept you waiting a day or so anyway."
"Okay Sally, that's fine by me," she answered and gave Sonic a winning smile. He rolled his eyes and looked away.
Why did everyone keep doing that?
"Okay. Now that's sorted, let's get back to our mission plan," Sally said and the others came into a circle together. Sonic said something to do with SWATbots or something and Starla lost interest. Instead she left to look around the village.
xXx
Starla unlocked the hut and went in again. It probably wasn't normal to want to be on her own for the second time in a day, but everyone's behaviour was kinda freaking her out. She sat down on the side of the bed and gazed at the floorboards.
She didn't understand it. She looked awesome and she'd arrived with a bang. She knew the Freedom Fighters had got kinda pissed before she'd gone home last time, but surely they understood that she hadn't done anything wrong? She'd been happy to forget all about Sonic's frostiness and the girls' jealousy, so why couldn't they?
It was all too weird.
She looked at the bookshelf. Maybe she should try and forget about it. She got up and picked a book with a bright red cover, and sat back down with it. The words were all in alien writing. It bothered her. She didn't know why, but the fact that she couldn't understand a single word made her nervous.
To calm her fear she turned the page. If she could find pictures then maybe she could work out what it was about and it wouldn't be so scary? No pictures, just alien squiggles. She turned another page. None there either.
She started to get a cold sweat and turned them more quickly. Writing, writing, writing. Shaking a little she bent the rest of the pages and flicked through really fast. Not a single picture.
"Oh, it's not fair!" she wailed and threw the book away. It landed upside-down beside the bed. It wasn't fair!
Starla Mirage Brighteyes flung herself down on the bed and hid her face.
xXx
She got up a while later and looked around. The hut was too small. What if she did ask Sonic if she could stay over at his? The thought made her shiver. If she lived with him he wouldn't be able to resist! So, full of hormones for the blue guy, she left the hut to find him. She even let the door hang open without shutting it properly. After all, she wasn't coming back, right?
As she walked along she saw a female otter washing her laundry in Knothole's river. The brown female looked up as Starla passed. Starla craned her neck to see what the otter was washing, but all that got was a furrowed brow and the cold shoulder. Weirded out, Starla hurried on.
Only a few steps further she heard a quiet grunting sound. Which... If she listened carefully, sounded kinda like Sonic. It was Sonic, she just knew it! She tracked the sound, totally excited and curious about what he was doing.
Down on a sandy part of the river bank she saw Sonic doing sit-ups. He was so damn hot!
She brushed her hair over her shoulder in preparation to say hi. Wait 'til he sees me! she thought, He'll forget all about Sally! Look out, Sonic: this time Starla's ready! She puffed out her guy-magnet chest and glided down to the sand.
But as she got closer she started to get nervous. He'd been acting so strange, what if he did it again? But she squashed the feeling to the back of her mind: he'd like her! After all, he'd been totally into her when they'd first met.
"Hello," she said sweetly.
He jerked with surprise, looked up at her and dropped his arms to the ground. He frowned and sighed. "Hey, Starla," he replied, his tone flat as if he was disappointed. "How's it goin'?"
Now for Starla's seduction! "Great," she purred and sat down beside him. She gazed into his eyes. They were dark... and yet bright at the same time. She imagined getting lost in them. She let her tail unfurl and flicked the end to make him look at it. When he looked back at her face he could take the whistlestop tour and see her legs, her flat stomach, her rack...
He noticed the tail-flick but just looked uncomfortable and shifted a little away from her. She knew how to deal with that: she leaned back casually on one of her hands and waited for him to make the first move. But he didn't. She began to worry again. Kiss me. Kiss me, She thought.
He looked back at her. "So... what do you want?"
Do it, she thought, and dipped in to kiss him on the lips.
He growled and scooted backwards, then wiped his mouth and shot her an angry glare.
"Starla, what the heck?"
What?! she thought in disbelief. How could he not like that? Damnit, he was just like Phyre!
"Didn't you want me to kiss you?" she asked plaintively. Was her figure invisible on this planet or something?
"No! I didn't!"
Now Starla was getting upset. She inched closer. "But why not?"
"Look- will you just get away from me?" Sonic snapped and stood up. He looked like if she approached again he'd leave.
It was so unfair! Starla's could feel that she was about to cry so before Sonic could see it she got up with as much dignity as she could manage and flew away.
She looked for some distraction and after, like, forever she found it. Or rather, she saw it's fat belly and big clawed feet sticking out from under the workshop sink.
TO BE CONTINUED...
DISCLAIMER: "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions. Permission to reproduce this specific material may be granted by the author so long as you email first. © 2013 Velvet D'Coolette.
