Pikatwig: Something I've decided upon, is that every chapter of this story will have the word "lost" in it.
KKD: It should've been obvious by now if they weren't able to figure it out from the trend you made with previous chapters.
Pikatwig: ...valid point. Anyway, cue the disclaimers.
KKD: We own nothing except the idea to merge the multiple worlds of Sonic and Megaman, as well as the resulting fusion characters. The rest belong to SEGA, Archie, Capcom, and their respective owners.
The room was seemingly made out of some sort of metal. In it was what looked like man with blue eyes in a blue and white eskimo costume, but there was something different about him that made him look more like a machine… which was tough to explain unless you knew what to look for. He has a small blush and was looking at someone who looked like Roll.
"Whatever. I'm just glad you're safe Roll." he said, and Roll simply gave him a genuinely confused look. "Um… Thanks Ice Man. It was nice of all of you to come rescue me," she replied.
The machine, Ice Man, gave an annoyed sigh, as another robot, who was clearly a robot with white limbs and a matching torso, large orange boots, gauntlets, something resembling underwear, an orange head with blue eyes, a pair of large silver shears or scissors on top of his head, and each section of his body connected by some pale green joints, quickly figured it out, and then, rubbing salt into the wound told Ice Man "Hear that? She's thanking ALL of us."
Ice Man growled and simply replied "I heard her! Don't rub it in!"
"SHUT UP!" Miles shouted, suddenly waking up from a dream, but having a rather confused look on his face.
"You okay bro? We gotta go, mom will be at the airport soon, so we need to hurry!" Kota told his brother.
"Huh? Oh, y-yea. Right, let's hurry," Miles nodded, rushing to get ready. He got his jacket, which looked similar to that parka from his dream and thus, the two walked out the door.
They took in the outside scenery and smiled, as Miles noticed someone in a construction suit walk by.
"You okay bro?" Kota asked as he saw Miles looking off elsewhere. "Bro? You okay?"
"Huh? Sorry, just lost my train of thought." he replied as the guy had a symbol on his suit that read Geo-Tech and he asked them "Souma Kota and Souma Miles?"
"Yea?" Kota nodded.
"I work with Geo-Tech, and I simply had to give you this letter since I was on my way to work and it was past here," he said, handing him the letter.
"Uh… why deliver this to us?" Kota asked.
He shrugged, and took the letter, it being from a colleague of their mom.
"Let's hurry up so we can get mom," Miles insisted as Kota opened the letter.
"Oh… it's from Roll and Dai's father," Kota said in surprise.
"Let's see… 'Dear Kota and Miles. I'm sorry to say but your mom and I are taking a while to get it finished, it's a top priority we get it completed, I'm sorry to say, but your mom won't be home for a long while. I'm sorry. We can't tell you anything except it's called Project: Soul. Well, give me best regards to my kids, and tell them I miss them a lot. From, Dr. Light,'" Kota read aloud.
"... mom won't be back?" Miles said, on the verge of tears.
"...Hey, this sounds important, Miles, you know when it's that case, Mom has to be on the clock for the project 24/7 until the project is done," Kota reminded.
Miles sighed, and then simply looked at Kota and said "I had an… odd dream."
"How odd?"
Miles sighed and began to think about it, but he replied "It was… weird; I dreamt of talking to Roll after apparently saving her, but… other guys were there, and… ugh, it was confusing."
Kota nodded understanding he was confused. Miles then simply said "What do you think this 'Project: Soul" thing is anyway?"
"No idea, but whatever it is, their boss must want it finished!" Kota figured.
"...So… do we have to go home now?" Miles asked.
"We are right in front of our house, but I think maybe we should tell Dai and Roll that we got the message," Kota pointed out.
"Oh… right."
Meanwhile some miles away from the city, Dr. Souma, who was wearing a purple poofy skirt with a sleeveless white top, green leggings, black high heel shoes and a black lab coat, was working on some notes for the design of Project: Soul, and then her partner walked in, who wore an outfit similar to her scientist's outfit, which was essentially beige slacks, black shoes, and a white lab coat over a t-shirt, which in this case was violet, and his head was covered mostly by some graying black hair, with streaks of red, similar designs in his growing beard, and his brown eyes.
"Good morning Dr. Light, we should hurry…" Dr. Souma sighed.
"Indeedly so," Dr. Light agreed as he started to get to work.
He looked over part of the designs, and simply looked at the diamond shard of sorts and then began to fiddle with it a bit.
"Let's see…" he pondered, examining the shard and such.
Dr. Souma sighed, and then saw a small glow that was blue, despite the gem was green…
Back with Kota and Miles, they arrived back at Roll and Dai's place, Kota knocking on the door, which was answered by Dai. "What's up?"
"News about our parents," Kota answered, showing the letter they got.
He was in a small bit of shock by the contents as he read the letter while Roll just walked downstairs.
"So… our dad is still busy?" Roll asked.
"Yep, and so is Kota and Miles' mom," Dai confirmed.
Roll read over it, and then she began to tear up.
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Kota assured.
Roll then sighed and rubbed the tears away, and then looked at Dai and said "Well, mind if I go with the two of them?"
"...Sure," Dai nodded, a bit surprised, but later thinking the company could do her some good. "Hmm," Dai said as he walked away and then Roll left with the two boys, she then noticed that Miles was holding her hand.
"Miles-kun, uh… can you please let go?" Roll told him.
"Not like you're dating anyone, so nobody will mind," Miles replied.
"...I guess."
Kota simply gave an annoyed look, and then they arrived at their house, and they relaxed, and Miles had let go of Roll.
"Well, here we are," Kota smiled.
Meanwhile, back at the Wily Egg, it was a quiet moment as more troops were being made, while Dr. Egg Wily was on the phone. "So… Dr. Souma right?"
"Yes, Dr. Egg Wily," Dr. Souma nodded over the phone, the evil doctor glad she got his name correct.
"So how is work with the Soul Driver going?" he asked.
"We're making some progress with the power source for it, doctor, just today it finally reacted when Dr. Light examined it, but how, why, and to what are still a mystery."
Dr. Egg Wily smiled, and then said "You're a great worker Dr. Souma, I'm going to trust you to get the Soul Driver completed."
"Thank you doctor," she nodded.
With that, Dr. Egg Wily hung up, and then wobbled around a bit, and seemingly fell asleep…
The location was seemingly blank, with a gray sky, and a checkerboard like ground, and two people walked in. Dr. Eggman was one of them, then followed in by Dr. Wily.
"Dr. Wily I presume?" Eggman asked.
"A pleasure, Dr. Eggman! Your theories were brilliant! Imagine- crafting an entire dimensions through use of Chaos Energy, what did you call it? A Zone?" Dr. Wily replied, as he extended a hand for Eggman to shake.
"Indeed! You manipulated the Chaos Emerald expertely! Are you sure you haven't done this before?" Eggman replied shaking Wily's hand.
"Haha, oh stop!" Wily replied as they stopped and looked at the sky. "Ah, it's thrilling to set foot here in this new 'Skull Secret Zone'!"
"Heh heh, indeed! Except it's the 'Egg Pocket Zone'."
"No… Skull Secret Zone!"
"Egg Pocket Zone!"
"Skull Secret!"
"Egg Pocket!"
"SKULL! SECRET!"
"EGG! POCKET!"
"SKULL-"
"EGG-!"
Then, genius struck the two. "Skull Egg Zone!" they shouted in unison.
"...a past reality?" Dr. Egg Wily asked himself as he got up.
"Dr! You okay?" ServOrb asked rushing in after hearing a fall.
"I'll be fine, you get back to work, understand?!" Dr. Egg Wily snapped.
"Sir, yes sir!" ServOrb saluted before running off.
Back on Earth, Dai was preparing dinner; his sister's favorite, takoyaki, in hopes of making her relax after the news of their dad.
"Man… she's gonna enjoy this," Dai muttered to himself. He looked at his scarf which was wrapped around his neck, when Roll walked in, and she sat down. "Hi," she sighed.
Dai looked at his sister and sighed. 'I hope she remembers… like me.' he thought.
He sighed and leaned onto a table, and looked at some of his dents, as Roll walked to his side.
"You're hurt!" she said with worry.
"It's nothing," he insisted. "I'll be just fine! I just need time…"
Roll then kinda glared at him, and she continued. "OR, you let me repair and refuel you here. Just me, okay? Promise. It saves you time you could be spending helping our brother,"
He just sighed at that and nodded, "...all right. Just for you,"
Dai only sighed after seeing that memory flash before his eyes.
"Hey Dai-nii, are you okay?" Roll asked, walking over to his side.
"Yea," Dai nodded, serving dinner for the two of them.
"You made my favorite, thanks Dai-nii," Roll smiled.
"Anything for you, sis," he smiled back. They began to eat, and were simply happy to be with each-other.
"Hey Dai-nii, just asking, would you be okay if I started dating?" Roll asked.
"Uh..." Dai started, not sure about it yet. "Why bring that up?" he asked back.
"Because I'm… sure I'm starting to have warm feelings for Kota… and I want to try dating him once," she answered.
"I see," Dai sighed. Roll began to look a little nervous, and then looked at her brother with pleading eyes. "Well... the answer... is yes. Because I trust Kota… to a point."
"Arigatou, Nii-San!" she smiled just as the phone rang, and Roll rushed to answer it. "Moshi-moshi?"
-Hey Roll, it's Kota. Is it okay if I can take you out... you know, for a date?- the person on the other end asked.
"I would LOVE to go on a date with you Kota-kun!"
-Great! But, uh... can I talk to your bro for a minute?-
Roll nodded and then said "Bro, Kota needs to talk to you."
With that, Dai took the phone.
"Hey Kota," Dai answered.
-Hey man. Could you do me a favor and watch Miles while I'm on my date with your sister?- Kota asked.
"Uh, sure," Dai replied.
-Thanks man.-
Dai then handed the phone back to his sister and they talked about going out later that night. After a little while, 9:30pm rolled around and a knock came from the door, and it was Kota and Miles.
"Alrighty, I'm ready!" Roll said with a smile, as she walked down and over to Kota.
"We'll be back in a couple of hours," Kota told Dai, and then he looked at Miles. "Behave, okay?"
"I'll do my best, Kota," Miles nodded, and thus Kota and Roll left, leaving Miles and Dai to stand by the doorway. Dai motioned for him to walk in and Miles closed the door as he walked in.
"So… hi," Miles said.
"Yo," Dai waved.
Miles looked at his duffel bag and then at Dai. "So… what do you wanna do kid?" Dai asked as Miles opened his duffel bag.
He then pulled out a stuffed toy.
"What's with the toy?" Dai asked.
"Kota told me to pack a few things, and I thought I'd bring a toy if you were busy with something," Miles informed as Dai got a look at the toy.
This toy was that of a female pony, which would be hard to miss with the cowgirl hat she wore. Her coat was a light brilliant gamboge (a shade of orange), in contrast to her pale, light grayish olive (shade of yellow). What stood out to one were her moderate sap green eyes and three red apple cutie mark on her hind quarters.
"Little… girly," Dai said.
"Don't mock me… I like AJ," Miles responded.
"AJ?" Dai said confused.
"Applejack… that's her name," Miles answered. Dai simply looked a little confused at it, and then simply asked "Where'd you get it?"
"It was a gift from my mom for Christmas," Miles replied. "It's just so soft, and cute, with a wonderful shade of orange… and not only that, she's a great farmgirl and always honest with people."
Dai simply sat down and then looked at Miles. "So… it's important to you because it's from your mom?"
"Yea, that's true, but it's also because at times… Applejack reminds me of mom as a person, strong and independent, but has a soft side and is always willing to be honest when she has to be," Miles sighed, petting the mane.
"Never took you to have a girly side Miles," Dai replied.
"Urusei!" Miles pouted, hugging the Applejack stuffed toy close to his chest.
Dai gave a small sigh, and then saw sticking out of the duffle bag was a paper, with a small unfinished drawing on it. "Sorry if I offended you dude, I didn't mean to. Picking on kids is a disgusting weakness," Dai told Miles.
"...It's okay… I've had been the source of ridicule for a long time," Miles sighed as Dai actually hugged him to comfort the younger boy.
"Thanks Dai… I hardly ever see my mom and I never knew my dad, so… the only family I have is Kota, and yet… I feel like you're… an older brother like Kota… maybe even older for some reason… no offense."
"None taken kid, you're not so bad yourself, despite… kinda being pushy, you're really not so bad. I really like kids." Dai told Miles.
Miles just smiled at that, feeling more comforted as he willingly showed Dai his stuffed pony for him to get a closer look, which he did, mostly out of curiosity about the toy.
"My mom always gets good pay from Geo-Tech, so she always gets us great Christmas presents. She got Kota some comic books, and I got this," Miles informed.
"It does look pretty cute. ...What did you call it again?"
"Applejack, or AJ for short," Miles answered.
Dai gave a small look at Miles and then turned away. "You said you were ridiculed at school, how so?" Dai asked Miles.
"Well… most people always called me girly since I liked the show AJ came from, My Little Pony. Thing is… it's a girl's show, so most every guy shoved me around calling me girly, and some even wanted me to do girly things or wear girly clothes… it was embarrassing," Miles sighed. "
"Do the girls stand up for you?" Dai inquired, getting interested.
"Yea… some of the girls did… at least most of them did, and they were even curious about what my favorite pony was, which as you could probably tell was AJ. But… some of them picked on me anyway, it was mostly tomboys seeing as they were into what most of the boys were, and not what the girls were." Miles sighed, and then hugged his toy.
Dai gave a sigh, and then looked at him. "You ever tell Kota or your mom about this?"
"No… I never get a chance to tell my mom, and I can't tell Kota 'cause… I'm worried… he'll laugh at me, too," Miles answered. "He walked in on me watching the show once, and he only took me to the movie because mom was to sick to do it herself."
"I see." Dai nodded at him.
"Also… I'll tell you something I haven't told anyone Dai, because I think I can trust you to keep a secret," Miles began.
"You can trust me. Just let me know what it is," Dai told him.
"I… I had a… sort of… crush on AJ," Miles sighed.
"Really?" Dai asked.
"Yea," Miles nodded.
Dai then looked at Miles. "Don't worry Miles, I won't tell anyone. So… do you still have that crush or no?"
"A little bit…" Miles admitted, as he looked at the toy. "I've always had trouble, because… I know that Roll would never be with me, and then…"
"And then what?" Dai asked.
"For some reason, I kinda like Mari." Miles added.
"Really?"
"Just a little, so anyway, do you think I'm girly at all?" Miles asked.
"Not at all man."
Miles gave a smile, and then looked at the toy with a smile, and then pet the mane again. "So Miles, want to watch anything on TV?" Dai asked, handing him the remote.
"Sure. You okay if we watch My Little Pony?" Miles asked.
"If it's on, and wait… 'we'? We who?" Dai nodded.
"I was curious if you wanted to watch with me," Miles replied.
"Maybe in a little bit, I have a few things I need to do," Dai replied as he walked near a door leading to the laundry room. "If you need anything, let me know."
"Thank you, Dai," he smiled.
Back with Roll and Kota, they were having a good time on their date, going to an amusement park, due to a dancing area at it.
"You're an amazing dancer, Kota," Roll smiled as they were currently dancing.
"So are you, where'd you learn to dance so good?" Kota asked.
"My dad taught me. How about you?"
"I took lessons when I was younger, so, how did you let Dai allow you to go on a date with me?" she asked.
"Well… I asked him, and after a moment, he chose to let me go out with you, but we're still not a couple, okay?" Roll replied.
"Yea, I'm cool with that," Kota smiled.
Roll giggled and then said "So… how's Miles doing getting over his childhood crush on me?"
"He's getting better at that," Kota noted.
Roll smiled, and then looked at him, then Kota asked "How are things going with Dai?"
She began to think about it as they sat down, and then she replied "Good. He's been getting a good paycheck as of late, so it helps us. But what's your brother up to, I'm a little curious since I don't see him as often."
"Well, he's his usual self, coming up with various drinks, modifying his schedule as needed, inventing all kinds of gizmos, the usual stuff," Kota answered.
"Kota, do you think that you're lucky to be an older brother?" Roll asked.
"I guess, but I haven't really thought about it," Kota admitted.
Roll giggled a little bit, and then she looked at him with a smile.
"What?" Kota asked, with a bit of a smile.
"You're really neat Kota… and who knows, maybe in the future, we'll make a great couple," Roll replied.
"I hope so," Kota nodded.
Back with Miles, he was watching his show while Dai was in the kitchen.
"You want something to eat?" Dai asked.
Miles thought about it for a moment, and then replied "Sure, I'm getting hungry."
"So what would you like to eat?" Dai asked.
Miles got up and then looked around for a moment, and simply said "Something with apples in it. Surprise me on what exactly."
"Why apples? ...Oh, I get it, horses like apples and-"
"No, I've always liked apples, but it also had something to do with Applejack's job in My Little Pony," Miles admitted.
Dai simply chuckled a little, as he got started, and simply saw Miles walk back into the living room to watch his show.
"It does look like a good show just by watching from here," Dai admitted, as Miles was in the middle of drawing a tiny picture, which was kinda clumsily made. "Whatcha drawing kid?"
"AJ," he answered, showing it to Dai.
"...So Miles, you enjoying being here?" Dai asked.
"Yea," Miles answered. Dai gave a light smile as he walked back over to continue his work on something for Miles to eat. Miles in the meantime, continued watching the show with a smile.
"So Miles, what is Applejack like in the show?" Dai asked out of curiosity.
"Just like I said, she's honest, strong, independent, brave, reliable, mature, and very hardworking, even if she's a bit headstrong," Miles answered.
Dai nodded, and then looked at Miles, who simply smiled, even though the show was over for the time being. "So, what was your reaction to getting that plush of your favorite character on Christmas Morning?" Dai inquired.
"Well, to put it short, I. Was. Ecstatic." Miles answered.
Dai then walked over with a plate of pasta with apple juice on it.
"Thanks," Miles smiled, as he tasted it, and enjoyed it. "You really are amazing Dai-kun, arigato. You're the best babysitter ever."
"...Thanks. That means a lot to me," Dai smiled, as he sat across from Miles, eating his own plate of pasta. "So Miles, has your mom always known you liked the show?"
"She found out one day, and she was really okay with it." Miles replied.
"I see… then… how'd the other kids at your school find out?" Dai asked.
"Well… they found out thanks to my bookbag having the theme of the show on it," Miles sighed.
Dai gave a small look at him, and then simply smiled, and then in came Kota and Roll.
"Hi Dai-kun," Roll smiled.
"Oh, hi sis," Dai waved.
"Roll, Kota-nii! Back so soon?" Miles gasped.
"We've been gone almost two hours Miles," Kota replied.
"Oh… right," Miles nodded as Kota saw Miles' Applejack doll.
"So you brought your Christmas gift with you?" Kota noted.
"Uh… yea…" Miles nodded, not sure what to say now.
Roll simply smiled at both Miles and Dai, she simply knew that Miles enjoyed his time there by his smile, and then left for her room. "Well, see you later Dai-kun," Miles smiled.
"Yea, see ya later Miles-kun," Dai waved as Miles and Kota left.
Kota then looked at his brother and asked "Did you have a good time?"
"I sure did," Miles nodded, and soon they arrived at home, and Kota then saw he was tired, and was ready to fall asleep.
"I think it's time for you to go to sleep now," Kota smiled as he helped Miles upstairs and tucking him in bed with his Applejack doll.
"Goodnight Kota-kun…" Miles said as his brother waved goodnight to him as Miles fell asleep.
KKD: Wow. That was great.
Pikatwig: Sure was. So, what did you think of Miles having a toy of AJ?
KKD: It was very cute. It also points something out to me and the fans. We all know you're a fan of Powerpuff Girls, but now… looks like you've entered Brony-dom.
Pikatwig: ...Yep. Well, what was your favorite part of the chapter?
KKD: It's tough to say. I liked Kota's moment at the amusement park, but I also liked Miles admitting he liked MLP.
Pikatwig: I like how it ended to be honest.
KKD: Ha. Honest. Funny, that's what Applejack represents in MLP. Honesty that is.
Pikatwig: And she's my favorite.
KKD: I noticed.
Pikatwig: So yea, aibou do you like the interactions between Miles and Dai in this chapter?
KKD: Very nice.
Pikatwig: It's also sweet because Miles is partially Tails, and Dai is partially Knuckles.
KKD: Yea, I can see that.
Pikatwig: Well, anything else you wanna say?
KKD: Nope. I'd say it's time to close this thing out. Until next time, Jaa ne!
Pikatwig: Just Live More!
