Disclaimer: Sega owns Tails, Sally, Omega, the GUN commander and Bunnie, Chintara owns Grey, Baron Von Beef Dip own Nick, Shippo's Ramen owns Levi, Ahardie owns Alex Hardie, my brother owns Matt and I own Shelby, Knife, Danny and Danni.
Chapter four: The First Storm
(Shelby)
I looked down at the unconscious fox on the ground. I knew Levi was a nervous mess when it came to girls, especially when it came to confessing to a crush but I didn't think he'd faint from a small peck on the cheek.
"Maybe I shouldn't have kissed him," I told myself as I crouched down next to him. I poked his head again but he gave no response. "Levi-kun, wake up. Levi-kun?" He didn't respond. I began to poke his head and he didn't even budge.
"This sucks," I said rather bluntly.
I turned my attention to Knife, who was on the ground and unresponsive.
"I think you went a little too far with this one," a quiet voice barely whispered.
"I don't need your opinion Hanyu," I groaned.
I looked over my shoulder to see a familiar spirit floating there. She was pure white hedgehog with two sky blue bangs hanging in her sky blue eyes, from her two bangs was a long stripe going back to the end of her spine and down the other side to her other spines. She was wearing a pale red kimono that was pale cream at the shoulders and torso. Instead of the end of a kimono was a ghost tail, further proving her spirit-nature.
"Shelby-chan, is this fox the one you've told me about?" Hanyu asked.
"Yes, he is," I replied, "And he's far braver than I thought he would be, taking on Knife like that, as a friend, I couldn't be more proud."
"Would you like me to wake him?" Hanyu asked.
"Please and thank you," I said.
Hanyu floated down to Levi's side and kneeled down next to him, placed her hands over her chest, pulled a ball of energy out of her chest, placed the ball of energy on Levi and allowed it to sink into his body. Levi's eyes slowly fluttered open but he didn't even see Hanyu, despite her leaning right over him.
"Wha-what happened?' he asked as Hanyu floated away from him.
"You fainted is what happened," I answered.
(Levi)
Shelby-chan was looming over me with a concerned look. I blinked a few times before sitting up. She smiled when I did and cocked her head in a somewhat cute fashion.
'I'm glad you're okay Levi-kun," she said.
She held her hand out to me and I eagerly grabbed it. With what I doubted was a lot of effort on her part she pulled me up and onto my feet.
"Thanks," I said.
"No problem, you're a lot lighter than most Mobians our age."
"I'm smaller than most Mobians out age, Shelby-chan."
"Touche."
"So when did I get knocked out by Knife?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Didn't Knife knock me out?"
"No."
"Then how did I end up-"
"I thanked you for helping me by kissing you on the cheek."
When the word 'kissing' passed her lips I felt myself blushing.
"Ummm, I, uhhhh…'
"I'm guessing I should have just said that Knife knocked you out?"
"Well I uh…"
I felt something land on my head. I looked up to see Shelby's arm extending towards the hand on my head. Her face was extremely pleased, tired but pleased. I blinked a few times when her ear twitched.
"The others are here," she stated before removing her hand and turning her head.
I looked to where she was to see three figures were running through the forest. When they got close enough, I could tell who they were: Princess Sally Acorn, Bunnie Rabbot and Miles "Tails" Prower.
"Mornin' guys," Shelby said.
"Morning? It's not even light out," Tails groaned.
"You know what I mean," the hedgehog sighed with a shake of her head.
As she said that I began to fidget with one of my tails, staring mostly between the ground, my feet and Tails.
"Who's this?" Sally asked as she pointed at me.
"This is Levi, he's a friend of mine," Shelby said as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders.
"Let me guess: he's from Earth too right?" the tired and obviously annoyed princess asked.
"Ding, you are correct princess, please pick your prize," Shelby said sarcastically.
"Your aunt has been making you watch TV game shows with her too much," I mumbled.
"Tell me about it," Shelby growled through clenched teeth.
"Where'd you find him?" Tails asked with a loud yawn.
"Green, Green Island, he was being turned into the local punching bag so I got him out of there ASAP," Shelby explained, "I have no idea why though, Levi's just a big creampuff."
"Hey!"
"You know it's true, you're just sweeter than one."
I blushed at that.
"Well it's nice to meet you," Sally said, "If you're from Earth like Shelby then you probably already know about us."
"That's right," I answered.
"Howdy suga," Bunnie said with a tip of her cowboy hat, "Ah'm Bunnie, nice to meet 'cha."
"Nice to meet you too Bunnie," I said politely.
"And I'm Tails," the kitsune said although obviously tired.
I smiled an excided smile. Tails was my favorite character in the whole series.
"Nice to meet you Tails," I said happily.
"We would have called you once the sun was up but this shiner says that would be a bad idea," Shelby pointed at the wound on her head as she spoke.
"It's good that you did, we'll take them from here," Sally said as she took Nicole from her boot, "Nicole, transport these three back to the city please."
"Yes Sally," Nicole answered.
The raccoons began to glow with what I would later learn were nanobots and then vanish from sight.
'Thank you Nicole, we'll deal with them once the sun is up," Sally told the computer before turning to Shelby, "They shouldn't be bothering you for a while.'
"Thanks Sal, now if you don't mind I'm goin' back to bed," Shelby yawned.
"I think we all will be," the princess agreed.
Shelby began to walk back towards the base but a loud scream cut her off. She literally froze in place before slowly turning around. We all turned towards where the scream came from, which was the forest. The brushes moved wildly as the sounds of something, or someone came tearing through the forest. From a bush came a flash of white and flew straight into Shelby.
However she had been ready for the white flash because right before it crashed into her she dug her feet into the ground and placed her hands in front of her to catch whatever it was. When it stopped and was caught in Shelby's hands I could see that it was obviously a white bat, like Rouge except this one was male. His gloves were white and he had black combat boots. His arms and legs were covered in grey fur while his muzzle and chest were white like the rest of him. The part of him Shelby was holding back was his forehead and his flapping wings told me that he didn't realize he wasn't moving anymore.
'Hey buddy, you can stop now, you're not gonna go any further from where you are," I told him.
"Huh?" came from the bat as he looked up and saw Shelby, "What happened?"
"You flew right into my friend and she stopped you in your tracks," I explained.
"Yeah and if you could be so kind as to stop flapping your wings," Shelby growled with her voice straining. Holding him back must have been harder than it looked.
"Oh sorry," the bat said as he lowered his legs and landed on the ground.
"Damn it those wings of yours are strong," Shelby growled as she rolled her shoulders in obvious annoyance.
"Were you the one who screamed?' Sally asked, now on alert.
"Yeah, that was me," the bat nodded his head and I noticed he had pale blue eyes.
"Why?" Tails and I asked.
"Because there was this huge robot with a bunch of guns," the bat answered, "And he's headed this way!"
Almost like a movie, aloud crashing sound came from the forest. The Freedom Fighters got ready to fight and Shelby pulled back her arm as her fist began to glow with Chaos Energy. I looked around the ground and saw a bloody pocketknife, I would later learn it was the same one Shelby had used against Knife. It was better than nothing so I picked it up and got ready to fight. The bat ducked behind Shelby, the robot must have done something to scare him. Then, from the same bush the bat shot out of, a large form walked out but none of us attacked. The reason being this: we knew the robot.
"Omega!" Shelby cried happily.
The E-series robot walked out of the bush and stopped in front of Sally.
"Greetings Princess Sally," he droned, "It is good to see you."
"It's good to see you too Omega," the princess sighed as she lowered her fists.
"I am here to locate Shelby, I am here with Shadow, he should be along soon," Omega explained.
"Shadow-kun is coming?" Shelby asked in an excided voice.
"Affirmative."
Shelby looked almost ready to start jumping up and down and act all girly, something she almost never did.
"We have a message for Shelby," Omega continued.
"From who?" I asked.
"Commander Towers."
Shelby's excited face froze and then slowly melted away into a scowl.
"Never mind then," she growled.
"Wait, you guys know this robot?" the bat asked.
"Yeah, this is E-123, codenamed: Omega," I answered.
"Tell Towers I want nothing to do with him!" Shelby snapped at Omega.
"Then why did he go after me?" the bat yelled at me.
"We simply wished to ask if you knew where we could find Shelby the Hedgehog," the robot stated.
"There ya go," I said.
"Omega, where are you?"
We all turned towards that same bush the bat and Omega came out of and saw Shadow the Hedgehog came out of it, obviously annoyed.
"Omega, we're never gonna find Okaa-san if you keep-"
Shadow was cut short when he saw all of us, especially Shelby.
"Okaa-san!" Shadow cried happily.
"Shadow-kun!" Shelby cried just as happily.
Shadow almost disappeared except for the burst of wind that all of us. When the wind stopped what I saw shocked me: Shadow was holding Shelby in one of the biggest hugs I've ever seen. Then what Shadow had said sank in.
"Shelby-chan, did Shadow just call you what I think he called you?" I asked weakly.
"Why, do you know what Okaa-san means?" Shadow asked.
"He does actually," Shelby smirked.
The look on Shadow's face was that of pure horror.
"What does it mean?" Sally asked me, "I always thought Okaa-san was just a nickname."
I leaned over to whisper it in her ear when I heard the sound of a gun cocking. I slowly turned my head to look straight into the barrel of Shadow's shotgun.
"You tell her and I'll blow your brains out," Shadow hissed in a voice colder than ice. I think he may have scared the bat as well.
"Shadow, put the gun down now," Shelby ordered him like a mother would when scolding a troublemaking child.
"But Okaa-san he-"
"Can be trusted, he's one of my best friends, Shadow."
Shelby spoke very calmly and very maturely despite Shadow's obvious anger and distrust.
"Shadow, the gun, now."
Shadow lowered the gun and I scrambled away from him and ducked behind Shelby. Shadow continued to glare at me but Shelby got between us and gave Shadow a look. I didn't see the look but from the expression on Shadow's face I could tell she was not pleased with Shadow.
"Shadow, this is Levi-kun, he's a very dear friend and he's trustworthy, right Levi?"
"Y-Yeah, I won't tell what Okaa-san means," I quickly said so Shadow wouldn't go after me.
"So you guys want nothing to do with me?" the bat asked.
"No, we just wanted to know if you knew where we could find Okaa-san," Shadow explained.
"Hey, we never got your name," Shelby told the bat, no longer in "mom mode".
"Before asking a person their name it's polite to give your own first," the bat stated, obviously a bit scared of us.
"Good point, I'm Shelby, the fox behind me is Levi, the black and red hedgehog who dropped your gun over his knee is Shadow, the robot is Omega, the chipmunk is Princess Sally Acorn, the cyborg is Bunnie Decoolete the Rabbot and the other fox is Tails," Shelby introduced.
"I'm Andrew Anderson, but call me Grey," the bat said as he cocked his head.
"Okaa-san, we have a message for you from commander Towers," Shadow said.
Shelby was scowling again.
"I already told Omega that I don't wanna hear it," she growled, "I want nothing to do with that bastard."
I was shocked by Shelby's sudden language. She never spoke like that unless she was extremely angry. Whoever this Towers guy was she obviously didn't like him.
"Shelby-chan, who's this Towers guy?" I dared ask.
"The G.U.N. commander."
"The guy with the white hair and different colored eyes?!" I asked in shock.
"That's him."
My jaw dropped, this was the G.U.N. commander from the game Shadow the Hedgehog and if Shelby hated him then there had to be a reason for it.
"Okaa-san would you listen to it for me and Omega, Towers said he'd fire both of us if you don't listen," Shadow almost seemed to beg.
"…Fine, but only for you two, I still hate that bastard's guts."
Omega walked up to Shelby and a panel in his chest flipped open to reveal a screen. The screen turned on and showed static for a few seconds before the face of the G.U.N. commander appeared.
"Shelby Elizabeth Workman the Hedgehog, this is commander Abraham Towers speaking," came from the speakers on both side of the screen, "I offer you the chance to leave the Mobians and join G.U.N. as an agent. We will provide you with more than those filthy Mobians can offer you. We will not take no for an answer."
"I love to disappoint this guy," Shelby said before punching the screen, causing it to crack and show static again, "Sorry 'bout that Omega."
"You really do not like that guy do you?" Grey asked.
"Not in the least," Shelby answered, "I'd love to do all sorts of terrible things to him."
"After watching that I don't blame you," I agreed.
"Shadow, Omega, you guys tell Towers to go and take a hike, I want nothing to do with him or G.U.N. and I never will," Shelby stated in one breath.
"Right, we'll make sure he gets the message," Shadow nodded.
"You better," Shelby growled, obviously still mad.
"Something happen between you two, he you're old boyfriend or somethin'?" Grey asked out of the blue.
"WHAT?! No, Towers is over fifty, I'm only sixteen!" Shelby yelled.
"Sorry, sorry! Tone down the volume, I've got sensitive ears!" Grey yelled.
I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Grey had obviously made a big mistake in upsetting Shelby.
"Shadow, we must report back to Commander Towers," Omega droned.
"Yeah. Okaa-san, I'll be back as soon as I can," Shadow said.
"I know you will be," Shelby nodded before kissing Shadow's forehead.
Shadow and Omega were headed back into the woods when the fight was shattered by another scream.
"Now what?" I asked.
The scream came from deeper in the forest and the sound of branches breaking was heard right after it.
"We better investigate," Shelby groaned, obviously wanting to go back to bed.
"Uh, isn't it common sense to run away from screams?" I asked.
"Yeah but I don't have common sense at this ungodly hour," Shelby growled.
"Good point," I agreed.
So with our common sense being left behind we headed into the woods to find the source of the scream. It was about fifteen minutes into the woods when we came upon the area where the scream seemed to have originated.
"Whoever screamed should be around here somewhere," Sally stated as she climbed a tree to get a better look.
"Yeah well let's hurry and find him, I wanna go back to bed," I groaned.
"So do I," Shelby agreed, "Omega, got anything on yer heat sensors?"
"Affirmative, live form located twenty feet from here," Omega droned again.
"Which direction?" Shelby asked.
Omega raised one of his claws and pointed behind her. Shelby walked in said direction and I followed her. Shelby pushed her way through a bush and stopped roughly about where Omega said the person would be.
"There's nobody here Omega!" she yelled.
"Look up."
We looked at each other before looking up and my jaw dropped again. Hanging from a tree was a teenage boy about our age and he wasn't a Mobian, he was a human. He had dark brown hair, a grey t-shirt, brown pants and a black trench coat. Even though he was twenty feet in the air I could tell he had amber eyes.
"Omega it would have been nice to know he was also twenty feet in the air too!" Shelby called.
"You did not ask that."
One of Shelby's veins twitched at that before she turned to look at the teenage boy again. She squinted at first before calling up him,
"Alex, is that you?"
"Shelby is that you?" the boy called back down in a British accent.
"No, it's Bugs Bunny, of course it's me ya big palooka!" Shelby called back up.
'Well, what are you doing back here?"
"The Iron Queen happened, what are you doing hanging up in a tree?"
"I was being attacked and got outnumbered so I needed to make a quick escape," the boy, Alex, answered.
"Is Eve with you?"
'Yep."
"Can you get down on your or do you need help?'
"Uhhhh…"
"I'll take that as "I need some help". Hang on ya palooka I'm coming!"
What happened next shocked me: the muscles on Shelby's back began moving in a strange way when two things tore out of her back. Those two things were a pair of bat wings. I took a few steps away. This had to be one of the powers she didn't get around to telling me. She flapped her wings and began to fly towards Alex. She grabbed him and slowly floated back to the ground.
"Hope you don't mind be saved by me for a change," she laughed.
"Nah, it's a nice change," Alex smirked.
When Shelby placed Alex on the ground he looked down at me, blinked and asked,
"Who's he?"
"That's Levi, he's one of my closest buds," Shelby said proudly.
"Is he from Earth?" Alex asked.
"Yep, he already knows I've been here before, I haven't told him any details though," Shelby said.
"Shelby-chan, you know this guy?!" I asked as I pointed at him.
"Yeah, Levi, this is Alex Hardie, he was here the last time I was here," Shelby said.
Alex looked down at me in what was obvious distrust.
"Alex, don't stare!" Shelby snapped.
"Sorry," he said.
"Don't mind him, he's always like this when he meets someone new," Shelby explained as she pushed Alex out of her way.
"Hey!"
"Alex if you don't shut up and leave Levi-kun alone I'm gonna let you have it," Shelby stated firmly.
"You can't threaten me!" Alex snapped.
"I believe I just did and if you don't leave Levi-kun alone, I'm gonna find a way to kill immortals so I can kill you!"
"Immortals?" I asked.
"Alex is immortal, created from the two essences Rage and Oblivion and he's paranoid about anyone knowing," Shelby smirked.
"Shelby!"
"What? I trust Levi."
"Yeah well I don't!"
"Sucks to be you then."
"Why you little-"
"Why me little what?"
"Come here you!"
Much to my shock (when will my shock end?) blades sprouted from Alex's fingers, surprisingly devoid of blood. He began slashing at Shelby, whose eyes were now emerald green, and she was dodging each slash with surprising ease. That must have been the Sonic genes kicking in.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, Alex, I thought you were faster than this!" Shelby taunted.
"Hold still and I'll shred ya!" Alex yelled.
Shelby blew him a raspberry before doing a back flip (since when could she do that?) and using her wings, jumped up into a tree. Alex glared up at her and yelled,
"Get down here!"
"Not happening!" Shelby snapped.
"If you don't come down, I'll come up!"
From Alex's back, black tentacles sprout out and they wrapped themselves around the tree and began to climb it. My jaw, which was probably detached from my skull by now, was hanging open. What in the world was going on?
(Alex)
Damn that Shelby, she just loves to get under my skin!
"What's wrong Alex, losing your touch?" she called before jumping into another tree.
"Come here you!" I yelled.
"Careful, you might break somethin'!" she taunted.
Being honest, I wasn't angry, just annoyed. She was almost the opposite of what she was when we first met for the first time. Back then, two years ago, three this coming winter, she was a bit of a coward and doubted herself a great deal. Now it was like she had become a reflection of her former self.
"Come on Alex I'm getting bored here!" Shelby laughed as she jumped back.
Despite it being the middle of the night she seemed happy, happier and more energetic than she had been. Her eyes, which were dull and sad when we first met, were now bright and alert and would probably be more so once the sun came up.
"Alex-kun, if you don't pick up the pace I'm gonna-"
The branch she had landed on suddenly snapped under her feet and she fell. I had learned from before that if she fell on her back her wings couldn't hold her up because they were curved with the ends pointing in front of her, they weren't meant to hold her up on her back. Unless she managed to roll over on her stomach while falling and opened her wings like parachutes she would hit the ground.
"Shelby-chan!" I heard someone yell.
I jumped to the ground to be ready to catch Shelby (and maybe give her a nooige) but before I could even reach the tree she had fallen out of Levi beat me there. Shelby landed on him with a cloud of dust kicking up when she hit. When I went to investigate I saw them Levi was clinging to Shelby, probably caused by instinct, and both of them were cringing in pain.
"Ow, that hurt," Shelby groaned as she sat up.
"I second that," Levi groaned as well.
"Ah! I'm so sorry Levi-kun!" Shelby cried as she jumped off Levi.
"It's okay," he groaned softly as he sat up, "Ow."
"Cripes, you both okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Levi said as he scratched his cheek.
"A little sore but I'm okay," Shelby nodded.
I sighed in relief. The last thing I needed was to worry about two injured mortals.
"Um Shelby-chan, why didn't you use your wings stop falling?" Levi asked somewhat nervously. He obviously didn't know about the wings.
"Let's talk about it later, like when the sun is up?" Shelby asked, showing how tired she was in her voice.
"Hey!"
I turned to see Princess Sally, Bunnie, Tails, Shadow, Omega and a bat I didn't recognize come running through the forest.
"Alex?' Sally asked as she skidded to a halt.
'Hey there princess," I smiled with a wave.
"Well Ah'll be a puppy dog, longtime no see," Bunnie said as she raised her hat.
"Hi Bunnie," I replied probably with a too happy look on my face.
"*Yawn* Hi Alex, long time no see," Tails yawned.
"Hey there Tails," I smirked.
As usual, Shadow and Omega didn't talk to me.
"So, why are you guys up at this terrible time of night? I doubt you were even aware o my arrival," I smirked.
"Knife and his two followers decided to give us an unwanted wake up call," Shelby groaned with tears running down her cheeks, it was like she was in one of those anime she likes. Was that a new ability she gained?
"They woke us up by throwing rocks at our window," Levi said before letting out a loud yawn.
"Wait, "our"? You guys were sleeping in the same room?" I asked.
"Yeah, we were… Wait a minute where the hell are Matt and Nick, didn't they wake up from all the noise?!" Shelby snapped as she looked around wildly.
"I don't think they woke up," Levi said.
"Those jerks! We're getting turned into hamburger meat while they're sawing logs!"
"So much for being tired," Levi chuckled.
"Nah, once she vents that energy will disappear," I said, remembering a few past incidents.
"Lil Suga, maybe you shouldn't get so mad, ya'll are bleein' after all," Bunnie said as she tried to calm down Shelby.
"No way, I'm gonna get those two lazy bums for this! And I thought I could rely on them!" Shelby yowled.
"Wait, what do you mean Shelby's bleeding?" I asked.
"Aunt Bunnie's talkin' about the cut on Aunt Shelby's forehead," Tails explained with another yawn.
I pushed Levi out of my way, grabbed Shelby by the arm and checked her forehead. In the faint moonlight I could barely see afresh wound between her left eye and ear.
"Alex, it's nothing, I'm fine, really," she said before I could.
"How'd you get it exactly?" I asked.
"Danni hit me with a tree branch, I'm fine," Shelby explained, "It could have been worse."
"Knife tried to bash her head in with a rock," Levi added.
"What?!" I asked.
"I stopped him," Levi quickly said.
I didn't respond to Levi, I was more concerned about Shelby.
"Alex, stop worrying, I may be mortal but not all head wounds will kill us," Shelby chuckled.
"That doesn't help," I said.
"Alright, I'll prove to you I'm fine," she stated with a determined voice.
"How do you plan on doing that?" I asked.
"Like this: HIYA!"
The next thing I knew I was being thrown over a hedgehog's shoulder. It didn't hurt but it did surprise me. So yeah, she was fine.
"Yeah, that's one of the reasons why she's letting me sleep in the same as her, she could kick my butt," Levi said as he loomed over me.
"Yeah but that didn't hurt me, I'm immortal and indestructible," I replied.
Levi looked a bit bewildered.
"If you want proof I can-"
"DON'T DO THE TONGUE THING!"
That was yelled by Shelby and the Freedom Fighters, only Sally, Nicole, Iris and Shelby knew about the incident, info must have been leaked. The bat and Levi both had their hands of their ears and looked a bit disturbed. They were the only clueless ones at the time.
'Ugh, alright, I won't show," I groaned, "But it does make me hungry thinking about it."
"ALEX!"
I laughed to myself at their reaction, they hated that trick so much.
"Alex-kun," Shelby said in a sneaky voice, the one she used when she wanted something.
"Yes, what is it?" I asked.
"…HUG ATTACK!"
She stuck herself to me like glue and I might as well have melted. I hated it when she did that, hugging me always made me melt like a big piece of butter and the one hugging me was the heat that did the melting.
"Alex-kun, please don't do the tongue thing, it's SO scary!" she squealed as if she were a cat.
'You're not fooling me, you're not that big of a coward," I stated as I struggled to keep myself together.
"But Levi-kun won't be able to take it, I barely could!"
Damn, now she was starting to go "innocent little girl asking for an ice cream cone" on me. I'd have to get her for it later, maybe show her the tongue thing twice.
"Shelby, if you don't stop-"
BOOM!
I suddenly became aware of the storm clouds that were starting to roll in. I seriously hoped they weren't ominous, I had learned in the past that these things could lead to all sorts of things.
"Um, I think it's time we got inside before it rains," Shelby suggested.
"I second it," I said happily.
I loved it when she read my mind sometimes.
"I agree, let's get back to the city," Sally told the other Freedom Fighters.
"Levi and I are gonna go back to our base," Shelby added, "Hey Alex, you want a roof over your head or would you prefer a cave?"
"Hm, a cave does sound nice…"
"But it doesn't have heating, running water, hot showers and a hot spring."
"We have a hot spring?" Levi asked.
"There are a couple things I didn't get around to showing you," she explained as she rubbed the back of her head.
BOOM!
"Okay, that sounded a little too close!" Shelby yelled as she jumped into the air.
I snickered as her fur stood on end. Her fear of storms was always amusing, especially when she jumped in fright.
"Um, can I, uh…"
The bat was stuttering madly and fidgeting with his thumbs.
"What is it Grey?" Shelby asked knowingly.
"Well um… I was just wondering if I could stay with you two, I-I mean, I can tell that this storm is gonna be bad and I don't have anywhere to go," the bat, "Grey", stuttered.
"Hm, well I don't think-"
"Sure why not?" Shelby cut me off.
"Really?" Grey asked with his ears now perked.
"Shelby!" I snapped.
"What? He looks harmless enough, my instincts aren't going off," she stated, completely calm.
Damn it, her instincts, she always listened to those, logic and her heart more than anything else, you could never sway her from the decision she comes to after listening to all of them… well maybe not never.
"Shelby-chan, let's get going, I'm getting this weird feeling we're not alone," Levi said as he tugged on her arm.
"We're not, we need to get back to the base," Shelby stated tensely, she obviously sensed something that I didn't, "We'll talk later Sally, Grey, you can come with us and I don't think Alex needs to be invited."
"No I don't," I said with a shake of my head, "What's going on exactly?"
"No time to explain," Sally said, "I'll call this afternoon Shelby. Freedom Fighters move."
Sally led Bunnie, Tails, Shadow and Omega away. They knew something was wrong and so did Shelby. Whatever it was, they obviously scared and tense about whatever it was. It had to be a mortal thing.
"Let's move, I've got a bad feeling," Shelby ordered sternly as she began to walk away, whatever they were sensing it was obviously dangerous.
Levi and Grey looked at each other and followed Shelby. I hung back, wanting to study the two other males, especially Levi. Shelby said they were sleeping in the same room. If this fox did anything I would make sure he regretted ever meeting Shelby. As what looked like a large house appeared through the trees, Shelby stopped suddenly.
"What is it Shelby-chan?" Levi asked nervously.
Shelby's quills were beginning to rise. That was never a good sign.
"Move!" she snapped suddenly.
"W-What?" Levi stuttered.
"Run hurry!"
Levi tripped, got up and ran like his tails were on fire. Grey ran and then started to fly towards the door. Shelby was right behind them and I was running next to her.
"What's going on?' I asked.
"Demon!" Shelby replied.
"Demon? Who's Demon?" I asked.
"Not someone named Demon, an actual demon!" she yelled back.
"Say what?!"
I looked over my shoulder and could barely see a black creature chasing us. It had no eyes that I could see but it was obviously frightening, even to me. I had never gone up against a demon before, other than my own of course, so I wasn't tempted to try and fight it, especially with three mortals being too close.
"Calcifa, get up the barrier!" Shelby yelled at the house.
"Who are you talking to?" I asked.
"You'll see."
When we were ten feet away from the house, I sensed running through something extremely powerful. Levi and Grey couldn't stop in time and crashed into the wall while Shelby made a small jump and made a 180 turn so she was looking at the demon, I slowed down and turned around, ready to fight. The demon hit something that shined bright blue, an energy field or sorts. With it hitting the energy field, I could see it's body now and it looked like something out of a Hayao Miyazaki film. It had a huge oval-shaped head on a small stick-thin neck and had about six to ten legs on its body, which were throwing the demon against the energy field. Probably the most disgusting thing about the demon was that it was dripping black goop that was starting to form puddles in the grass. The creature opened its huge mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth and let out an unearthly screech. We all covered our ears and flinched at the sound. Nails on a chalkboard were like wind chimes compared to this noise.
"Calcifa, do somethin'!" Shelby yelled.
"Alright, alright!" an echoing voice answered.
"Listen to me carefully!" Shelby yelled over the noise, "When I give the signal, jump as high as you can and get on the roof! If you don't, you'll regret it!"
I looked around, trying to find out what the heck she was talking about. At the very base of the house, where it connected with the dirt and grass, blue energy was gathering. Something was about to release an energy attack!
"JUMP NOW!"
Shelby jumped first, followed by Levi, Grey and myself. The look on Levi's face was priceless. He obviously was new to being a Mobain and being able to jump as high as we did. Shelby landed on the roof followed by Grey and then me, Levi missed. Shelby dived the roof and caught Levi by the wrist before he hit the ground. Grey and I were at her sides, looking down, Levi was also looking at the ground. The energy that had been building up was so bright now that it could blind someone if they looked at it long enough. The energy was then released like a ripple and passed unharmed by the energy field and then hit the demon, sending it flying into the forest.
"Nicely done Calcifa!" Shelby called as she pulled Levi onto the roof.
"Huh, great, can I go back to sleep now?" the echoing voice asked.
"Sure."
The voice vanished and I looked into the direction where the demon vanished. Just what was going on?
"Shelby-chan what was that thing?" Levi asked.
"It was a demon," Shelby answered coldly, "It smelled us and probably wanted to make us its next meal."
"A d-d-demon?!" Levi exclaimed.
'Yes," Shelby nodded, "They're getting braver, they rarely ever go close to a house with a cherry blossom branch in or on it."
"A cherry blossom branch?" Grey asked.
"They repel demons better than anything else, even a small twig will protect a house this size. I went and got a few handfuls of decent sized branches the other day and placed them in a jar with water, they work best if you keep them alive."
"Where'd you learn that?" I asked.
"Chaos and Tikal told me," Shelby lied.
She was a terrible liar but I was the only one who noticed since Levi and Grey were a bit freaked out.
"Let's get inside, I don't wanna get caught in the rain," Shelby said as she stood up and walked to an open window.
I looked to the forest again, something very wrong was happening but I didn't know what.
"Alex, hurry up!" Shelby called from the window.
"I'm coming!" I called right before a roll of thunder was heard.
