Chapter Two; I Would Walk 500 Miles
After being introduced to the Robinsons, Will, the boy, Penny, the girl, Judy, or Doc McStuffins as he'd come to call her in his head, Maureen, the wife, and John, the military man and husband, Cyril decided he should probably introduce himself. He reached out his hand to John, who shook it firmly. "Private Cyril Akane of the Resolute Mercury Defense Platoon." John had the slightest hint of a grin on his face. "At ease, kid. You can dispense with the formalities. Nobody's anything here." Cyril nodded. John spoke up again. "Now, you say you're a Mercury pilot? I don't know much about those little ships myself." The young boy, Will, seemed to, however, as he explained exactly what they were to his dad. "Mercuries are small attack ships that surround the Resolute, being the first, and deadliest line of defence." Cyril was surprised. "You really know your stuff, bud. Yes sir, I'm a Mercury pilot. Speaking of, you've all been more than kind, but I need to go. I have some very important things on that ship that would rip a hole in my heart to lose." Cyril made an attempt to stand up, only to feel an unbearable surge of pain, nearly falling face first into the hard floor. He would have, too, if not for the Robot, who caught him at the last second. Cyril looked up at it. "Thanks big guy." He was intrigued by the robot, but he couldn't shake the feeling of horrific Déjà Vu. Like this thing had been the cause of something awful. Like it'd hurt Cyril in some way before. Maureen spoke up. "Slow down, Cyril. You're almost recovered thanks to Judy, but you need to take it slow. Perhaps Judy, Will, and Penny could drive you to your ship. I can't imagine you would ever want to walk that far while still healing. Cyril smiled. "Ma'am, for what's on that ship, I would walk around the world twice in my condition. BUT! I will take you up on that offer." Cyril looked at Will. "You remember where my ship is, kid?" Will looked hesitant. "Not... not really. Judy probably knows though." Judy didn't seem to want to help Cyril at all. But with a sharp clearing of Maureen's throat, Judy reluctantly got up and went downstairs to start the Chariot. Cyril followed, being trailed by Will. Penny decided not to go, claiming to be too tired. Cyril climbed into the Chariot passenger seat. There was a long, awkward silence between the two while Will tried to get his robot to go down the hatch. Cyril went for the comedic approach. He put on his best fake sexy face and said in a smooth voice; "How you doin'?" Judy rolled her eyes, not answering. Cyril prodded a little more. "Come on... what was it? Judy? We're gonna be stuck in a car together for hours, so we might as well TRY to get on friendlier terms." Judy relaxed a bit. Cyril kept going. "So, whatcha say McStuffins?" He was rewarded for this comment with a sharp punch in the stomach, as Judy went back to being annoyed. Cyril laughed, trying not to show that the punch kind of hurt. "Aw, come on! We were so close. I'm sorry for calling you Doc McStuffins, and I will refrain from doing so in the future." Judy turned towards him. "Do you EVER stop talking? What kind of soldier are you?" She tried to keep up her defences, but Cyril saw that she was softening up. He leaned his seat back, kicked his feet up, and said simply; "One of a kind." Judy actually giggled a bit at this. Which Cyril took notice of quickly. "Hey! I heard that! You laughed! You're warming up to me, I'm telling you. Don't worry though, I just have that effect on women. Judy smiled. "Shut up. That wasn't even that funny." Cyril closed his eyes and responded before falling asleep. "Sure it wasn't, Doc. Sure it wasn't."
—-—
It was almost sunset when Cyril was woken up by Will, shaking him awake. "Hey, Cyril. That's your name, right?" Cyril opened his eyes. "Yup, that's me. Whatcha want, bud?" Will pointed out the window. "We're here." Sure enough, spread over a field of green, was Cyril's decimated Mercury. It's once fiery red and black we're now scraped down to the base metal, grey and dirty. Pieces had flown off everywhere. Suddenly, Cyril jumped as a violent thunderclap shook the Chariot. Will looked scared. "Whatever you need to find, find it quickly. Sounds like a storm's coming." Cyril hopped out and ran over to his Mercury. None of the parts themselves were salvageable. He was after two things. His weapon, and his memory crate, where he kept his favourite mementos, in case he needed a last thing to look at before... an untimely demise. He found the bright green box pretty quickly, thankfully undamaged by the crash. He ran it back over to the Chariot. Now he just had to find his weapon. He accidentally found his Boosters, a pair of boots designed for maneuvering through zero-g environments using energy bursts from the soles of the boots. In this gravity, it would just be a jump boost, but helpful nonetheless. Then he found it. His weapon of choice. The Tesla Rifle. Designed by his friend Akihiko Shimada aboard the Resolute. Cyril hung his head for his friend, just now realizing that he would never see him again. Then he got back to his weapon. Similar in shape and size to an assault rifle, the Tesla Rifle would fire crackling, thousand volt beams of lightning. It also ran on the moisture in the air, making it not a risk of global warming. He packed his gun up in it's case. He began running back to the Chariot, only to be pelted in the leg by a stone. Cyril fell to one knee, yelling in pain. He was more horrified to realize that when Will said storm, he didn't mean a rainstorm. He meant a rockstorm. Fist sized razor sharp stones began falling from the sky. Despite being pelted and gashed multiple times, Cyril made it back to the Chariot. He jumped in the front seat, taking a deep breath. He then lay down, trying to ignore the stinging gashes that lined his right arm and torso. Judy leaned over him to check him over. He was cut up and bleeding. She closed the wall that connected the back of the Chariot and the front two seats of the Chariot, so as to not wake sleeping Will. Judy spoke quietly to Cyril. "That was pretty brave, y'know. Running through the rockstorm to get back to the Chariot? Brave. Stupid and irresponsible, but... brave. Cyril smiled, speaking in an immature, teasing, singsong voice like you'd hear on a first grade playground if a boy touched a girl's hand or something. "You're warming up to me..." Judy smiled. "You wish, pilot. Want me to take my compliments back?" Cyril responded in mock pleading. "Oh, no! Please don't! I'll do anything!" Then he smiled, closed his eyes, still tired, and fell asleep while Judy tended to his cuts.