GW: Chapter 3 of the story is here. This is where we meet some friends of the Collins' and some signs of trouble.
Signs of Trouble
Later that evening, Nemo and Nita were moping up on the roof where five others sat with them.
The first had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and wearing a white and green school girl uniform, white socks, and brown shoes. This is Kagome Higurashi.
The second, third, fourth, and fifth kids were girls. One had long orange hair tied in a red bow and pink eyes, one had black hair in a horned style and green eyes, the fourth girl had blonde hair in ponytails and blue eyes, and the last one had long white hair and white eyes. They wore the same dress style except the colors were red, green, blue, and white. They were the Powerpuff Girls Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, and Belle.
In Belle's arms was a green dog with his tongue hanging out. This was Gir, a robot in disguise and Belle's pet.
"Don't take it too badly, you guys. It could've been worse," Kagome reassured her two glum friends.
"How could it be worse?" Nita sighed. "You didn't go to juvie," Buttercup shrugged.
"Shh, Aeris, Roy, and the others are saying something," Nemo told her friends as they listened in.
"I don't know how you do it, Aeris," Roy said. "Running an inn and raising criminals…I mean, kids like Nemo and Nita."
"He's so sensitive," Belle said with an eye-roll as they kept listening.
"Running it?" Aeris sighed. "I'm at the end of my chain, you guys. Ever since their parents died and Cloud left, it's been one thing after another."
"But, at least they're smart," Iris said, trying to defend her pals. "They built their first surfer when they were eleven and seven years old!"
"See, they're not berating you," Blossom said as Nemo and Nita smiled at the memory.
"But, they're slipping in school, constantly in trouble, and when I try to talk to them, they're like strangers to me," Aeris sighed.
"Sounds like Ed," Al teased, getting a "Hey!" from Ed.
"I don't know, you guys, I've tried everything…"
"Guys, look!" Bubbles said as she pointed towards the distance. The friends looked to see a ship falling from the sky.
"Big ship goes boom!" Gir shouted randomly as the ship crashed on the dock.
"Weird that no one else heard it," Nemo muttered as the girls dropped from the roof and hurried to the ship.
"Hey, is there anyone in there!?" Nita called. "Are you okay!?" Before Nemo could tap on the window, a moose with glasses and wearing a scout uniform pressed against the window.
"Holy crap!" Buttercup yelled as the others yelped. The window opened and the moose fell out, holding a small chest to his…well, chest.
"He's after me!" the animal said, grabbing onto a freaked out Nemo. "He's everywhere, can you see him. Eyes like hard stones and the tattoo revealing his true nature!"
"Uh, I think you're a bit whacked out, mister," Nita said, unsure if this man was sane in the head. "He's funny and smelly!" Gir giggled.
"He's after my chest. That horrible Homunculus and his band of cutthroats." He lifted the chest up on his hunched back, "But they'll have to pry it from Lumpus' cold, dead fingers before l--ahh!" Lumpus dropped the chest and began coughing.
"Aw man! Why does this always happen?" Blossom said.
"Uh, come on, give me your arm." Nemo took the moose's arm, chest stuck in his fist, and lifted him up. "That's it."
"My…chest. Slinkman?" Lumpus said in a soft delirious voice as he was carried up to the inn.
"Your mom's gonna love this," Belle said sarcastically.
"You think so?" Nemo shot back sarcastically.
Then, the rain began to fall.
Back in the inn, Aeris flipped a switch on the window to change the blinds. It went from the outside rainfall to New York, then to the outback of Australia, and finally to Traverse Town at night.
"Thanks for listening, you guys," Aeris sighed.
'No problem. There's a charge though," Bunnie kidded, getting whacked from Alfons. "Ouch!"
"It helps," the woman sighed as she sat down. Roy and the others packed up their things and were ready to leave. Then, they turned and Roy laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's all gonna be okay," Alfons said. "You'll see."
"I keep dreaming one day," Aeris said, opening her holographic locket that showed images of Nemo and Nita playing as toddlers. "I'll open that door... and there they'll be just the way they were."
It switched to when they were toddlers, playing with a little top. "A smiling, happy little pair of girls, holding a new pet..." It switched to show them both holding onto a really big octopus, whose tentacles kept getting into their faces, "and begging me to let them keep it." Roy opened the front door to reveal Nemo holding up Lumpus with her little sister and friends behind her.
"Nemo! What on Earth?" Aeris gasped
"Aeris, he's hurt! Bad," Nemo said as she set Lumpus on the ground, his chest not too far away.
"Hi, Mrs. Strife! Everybody," Belle said cheerfully as Kagome and Bubbles waved shyly at Ed and Al, making the two boys blush a bit.
"My chest," Lumpus said, reaching for it. "He'll be comin' soon." He began pressing the dials on it to make it open. When it opened, he pulled out a round thing wrapped in cloth.
"Can't let them find this," he said.
"Who's coming?" Nita asked. Lumpus grabbed the Collins' sisters and pulled them down.
"The Homunculus," he whispered into their ears. "Beware…the Homunculus." As Lumpus slowly slid down to the floor, Nita was able to grab the ball. Those were his last words as he lay with his eyes closed on the ground, unmoving.
Lights came through the window from outside. Outside, a ship was floating down in front of the inn.
Blossom edged over to the window to peek through the screen.
She was able to see through the darkness many figures coming towards the inn.
"Quick; we gotta go!" Blossom said. Nemo grabbed the hand of her little sister and everyone but Bunnie began rushing up the stairs. Bunnie looked at the door, but ran when a spear pierced through the door.
"See ya'!" Bunnie said, following her companions. Other blasts of different kinds crashed through the window and sparked a small fire in the kitchen. Roy reached a window and pushed it open. He looked down to see a Charizard waiting below. It looked up at him and groaned.
"Stay! Don't move, okay?" Roy said
"I don't think he's going anywhere, you idiot!" Ed said.
Down stairs, the group was looking throughout the whole inn. "Where is it?" one asked
"It's got to be here somewhere!" Another yelled. Nemo, Nita, Kagome, and the PPG were able to see the shadow of a person pointing at the stairs.
"Let me at 'em!" Buttercup growled, but Blossom and Belle held her back.
"Don't worry," Iris assured. "Like the midget said, the Pokemon's not gonna move. Now, we jump on the count of three. One..."
"A MIDGET!!" Ed shouted angrily, but was held by his brother
"Three!" Nita said, pushing the alchemists, the rocket engineer, the mechanic, and their mom out and, along with her sister and friends, jumping after them. When they landed on Charizard, Alfons grabbed the reigns.
"Mush, or whatever you say to make a Charizard move!" he said.
The Pokemon then took off into the air. Aeris looked back at the inn to see it all on fire. She sighed and put her head in her hands.
Nemo and Nita watched this, but then turned their attention back to the ball. Nita unwound the string and brushed the cloth off of it. In her hands was a shinning metal orb with buttons and lines all across it.
"What the heck is that?" Belle asked, getting shrugs from her friends.
"Who knows, except that those guys wanted it," Nemo said softly.
GW: Well, looks like the inn is gone and the Collins' obtained a weird object.
Nita: Home-wrecker!
Kagome: Read and review 'til next time!
