7 years earlier.
Planet Avalice. The streets of Shang Tu.
"Oh!"
Lilac cried out as she almost lost her balance and tumbled to the floor. She clenched the heavy paper bag tightly, hoping desperately that nothing would fall out onto the less than pristine alleyway ground.
She stumbled forward, until she gained her footing once again and stood up straight.
She sighed with relief, brushed back her hair, and held up the prize that had almost cost her and the others their meal for the night: A round, bright red Pangu Fruit, as ripe as you could get it.
'A fruit salad, covered in chocolate.' That was what Lilac's mother had always said about the Pangu Fruit, and Lilac had always shared her mother's love for the sweet treat. In a way, eating one always seemed to bring with it memories of times that she had shared with her mom. So her fondness extended beyond taste alone.
She threw the red fruit in the air, caught it, and was preparing to take a bite out of it when something caught her eye.
Sitting with her back to the wall, under the glow of a street lamp, was a young, green cat with large ears and large, green eyes that were looking longingly at the fruit in Lilac's hand. But when her green eyes met Lilac's magenta, she quickly looked down, trying to pretend that she hadn't noticed the dragon.
Lilac looked at the thin cat, then down at the fruit in her hand. Why not?
She walked over to the cat, bending down with the paper bag balanced on her hip and held out the red fruit.
"You want this?"
The cat looked up with surprise in her eyes. "W... what?" She stuttered.
"You want this?" Lilac repeated. "You look kinda hungry."
The cat seemed stunned, as though she was being offered a bar of gold. "I... I guess I can... I mean, if you don't... I can... um... sure." She reached out and grabbed the fruit. She stared at it hungrily, but bit into it rather nonchalantly, trying to express an air of coolness.
Lilac smiled. "You're in the Scarves, aren't you?"
The cat looked up from her meal, and saw that she and the dragon were wearing matching uniforms. "Uh, yeah. Kinda."
"Funny. I don't think I've seen you around."
"Uh, yeah. I've only... um... been a member for... I think a couple of weeks now. I've seen you around though!"
"Oh? You have?"
"Yeah! Totally!" The cat seemed to get passionate. "You're Sash the Dragon Girl! You've won like, a hundred karate fights!"
Lilac laughed. "You can just call me Lilac."
The cat nodded. "Yeah, sure. Totally!"
"What's your name?"
"I'm Carol."
"Carol." Lilac repeated. "That's really pretty. Nice to meet you."
Carol nodded. "Yeah, same."
"What are you doing out here?" She gestured around at the dark alley around them.
"Oh, um. Kinda a funny story." She smiled nervously and put her hand behind her head. "See, I kinda... pissed off this group of jerks and they... chased me out."
"What did you do?"
"Hey," Carol said, getting defensive, "it was just a prank. Those guys really need to learn how to take a joke! Besides, they had it comin'!"
"Calm down." Lilac said. "I'm not accusing you. Just tell me what happened."
"I... uh... I put cans of shaving cream in the exhaust pipes of their motorcycles."
Lilac laughed out loud. "That was you? You put shaving cream in the bikes of Khar and his goons?"
"Uh, yeah. I did."
"Oh, that was awesome! I heard that one of the exhaust pipes just exploded into a bunch of white foam!"
Carol grinned. "Yeah, it was pretty funny." Her face fell. "But when they found out I was the one who did it, they came after me. They beat me up and threw me out of the hideout."
Lilac furrowed her brow. "That's terrible! How long have you been out here?"
"Just a few days. It hasn't really been that bad." As she said this, she hungrily took another bite of the Pangu Fruit.
"Well," Lilac said, standing up, "I'm going to set things right! I hate it when Khar and his cronies mess with people, I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind!"
"Really?" Carol stood up excitedly. "Oh man! This is awesome! I have a friggin' dragon on my side!"
Lilac nodded. "You'd better believe it girl!"
Carol was ecstatic. "Aw, yeah! You're gonna be all like, 'You messing with her?' and they're gonna be like, 'No, please!' and you're gonna go all, 'Wow, BAM!' on them!"
Lilac laughed. "I don't think I'm going to fight them. I'm just going to talk to them."
Carol scoffed. "I don't think Baron von Butthead is gonna listen to you."
Lilac shrugged. "I don't either. But if he doesn't, I can talk to Spade and get him to make them leave you alone."
"Wait, you know Spade?"
"Yeah, I do!"
Carol became even more excited. "That's awesome! What's he like?"
"Oh, I don't know, he's pretty cool. He's really cute if that's what you mean." She ended with a grin.
"Ew, no! I totally didn't mean that!" Carol stuck out her tongue in disgust.
Lilac laughed. "You're not into guys?"
"Ew, no way! Never!"
"It's okay, neither am I."
"Okay, good."
"What do you like?"
"Uh," she shrugged. "I dunno. Movies. Awesome stuff. You know."
Lilac smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I get that."
The two girls were interrupted by a sudden loud grumbling. Carol clutched her stomach in embarrassment. "Oh, uh." She grinned sheepishly. "You wouldn't happen to have anything else in that bag?"
Lilac laughed. "Come on. Let's get back to the hideout and give you a proper meal."
"Okay, that sounds awesome!" She dashed over to the dragon's side and the two began to walk through the silent streets.
By the time the two girls had journeyed through the streets of Shang Tu and entered the drainage tunnels in the bowels of the city, the young wildcat had grown on Lilac immensely. She liked her positive attitude and the enthusiasm in her voice.
And she was so, bouncy. The way she talked, the way she moved: It was filled with such a massive amount of energy that she seemed to be almost bursting at the seams. Whenever she got excited, she would throw her arms out in the air or she would jump up and down. Lilac had never met someone so energetic before.
"So Carol," Lilac said as they walked the dim tunnels underneath the city. "What made you want to join the Scarves?"
"Um, I dunno. I guess I technically didn't want to. Well, I did want to, but I didn't want to... um. I dunno, it's complicated."
"You can tell me." Lilac said with a warm smile.
"Okay, um. My family were all a bunch of ninjas..."
"What?"
"Well, no. I mean like, all'a my ancestors and stuff were. I mean, ninjas, you know."
"Okay." Lilac said with a nod.
"Yeah. So, my dad was an awesome ninja, and he taught my mom, and when he died, mom taught my sister and me."
"Sister?"
"Yeah. So, everything was good and stuff 'till, one day, my sister disappeared. Just, poof."
"What happened?"
Carol shrugged. "I dunno. I went out and looked for her for forever, but I never found a trace. Eventually, I gave up and went home, but Mom..." Her face took on a strange look. "She was never too happy that I couldn't find my sis, and one day, she got so mad that she just threw me out and told me to never come back.
"Oh Carol, I'm so sorry."
"It's all good. I've gotten over it." Despite her words, her face betrayed a deep sadness, and a resentment that Lilac could sense immediately.
"So, what did you do after that?"
"I just wandered around, trying to find a place to live, when this guy came up to me. He said he was with the Red Scarves, and I could join if I wanted to."
"And this was a few weeks ago?"
"No, it was a few months ago. I said no at first, just 'cause I wasn't big on the whole gang thing. But a few weeks ago, I changed my mind and hooked up with them."
"Wow." Lilac said. "You've been through a lot."
Carol shrugged. "It doesn't matter, I'm okay. I mean, it makes me sad and stuff, but I'm not like, really depressed."
"That's good."
"Yeah..."
The girls walked through the dim tunnels in silence until Carol once again spoke up. "So, what's your story then?"
Lilac thought for a minute. "Well, I lived on the outskirts of Shuigang when I was younger. My mom took care of me, because my dad was never around."
"What happened to him?"
Lilac shrugged. "I don't know, I never knew him. Mom said he was still alive, but she would never tell me where he was."
"Oh. Okay."
Lilac continued. "So, it was just me and my mom for a long time. Everything was alright until Spade came along."
"You knew Spade back then?"
Lilac nodded. "Yeah. I met him one day outside the Shuigang palace, and almost every day after that, we would hook up and cause trouble all throughout the city." She smiled. "I can't tell you how many times we almost got arrested. It felt so awesome to have a cool friend like Spade."
"What happened next?"
"Well, one day Spade came up to me and told me he was leaving Shuigang and joining the Red Scarves. He wanted me to come with, but I couldn't leave Mom behind, so I said no. He left, and I stayed with Mom for a few more years. Everything was fine, until one day, Mom got really sick."
Lilac paused and bit her lip as sad memories came flooding into her mind. "The doctors tried to save her, but she only lived a few days after that."
"Dang. That sucks."
Lilac sighed sadly. "Yeah. After she died, I didn't know what to do. I was worried if anybody came for me, they would find out about some of the things I had done with Spade and send me to jail. I was scared, so I just ran. I didn't really have any friends to stay with, so I left Shuigang and tried to find Spade. Eventually, I found him and the Scarves, they took me in, and that's why I'm here now."
"Wow." Carol remained silent for a minute. "So, um, are you and Spade still like, best friends?"
"Well, no. Not really. I mean, we still talk, and we've gone on a bunch of jobs together, but it's never been the same as it used to be. We're not as close."
"How come?"
"I don't know. It's just..." Lilac thought for a second. "He's different than he used to be. I don't know why, but he's changed since he joined the Scarves, and it always made me uncomfortable."
"Oh, don't worry about that. Guys always act weird around girls, cause they're all scared of getting cooties."
"W... what?"
Carol grinned. "Cooties. It's this thing that every girl has, and if a boy gets infected with it, he turns into a girl too. And all of them are scared of it because guys are too stupid to realize that being a girl rocks."
"I don't..." Lilac began to laugh uncontrollably. "Where did you hear that?"
"Oh come on! Everyone knows about cooties."
"Well I don't." Lilac said, still laughing. "I think I'd remember something that crazy."
"It isn't crazy, it's... well, I don't know, but it's not crazy."
Lilac smiled. "Yeah, sure."
Carol rolled her eyes. "You're no fun."
The dragon laughed. "Well I'm pretty sure Spade isn't scared of getting 'cooties'."
"Well what's wrong with him then?"
"I told you, I don't know." Lilac paused for a minute. "Although, it does honestly worry me a bit. I'm not sure what could have happened to him, but..."
She stopped when she suddenly caught sight of Carol's face. The cat was staring intensely ahead of them deep into the dark of the tunnels, and her ears were perked up as though she was trying to hear the slightest of noises.
"Carol? What's wrong?"
"Thought I heard something."
"What?" Lilac followed the eyes of the young wildcat, but could see nothing in the black of the tunnels.
She was about to ask the wildcat what it was she heard, when they were suddenly ambushed by a horde of shadowy figures.
Before either of the girls had time to react, they were both surrounded by the mysterious attackers.
Three of them went for Carol, one of them backhanding her across the face. The young cat cried out as she was thrown backwards onto the ground.
"No!" Lilac cried. She dropped the heavy paper bag, spilling it's contents across the ground, and dashed towards her new friend's attackers. One of them threw a kick towards the dragon, trying to stop her in her tracks. But Lilac twisted around, dodging the kick and grabbing the leg of the attacker, using her momentum to flip him around onto his back.
These guys are Scarves. She thought.
"Hold it!" She yelled, trying to stop the other five ambushers. "What the heck are you doing?"
They ignored her, one of the ninjas holding Carol down on the ground, while the remaining four surrounded the dragon, preparing to attack.
Lilac bent down, preparing to defend herself, when the ninja she had thrown to the ground suddenly used his arms to jump up and delivered a swift surprise kick from behind.
She cried out in pain as she stumbled forward, unable to fight back as two of the ninjas dashed towards her. One of them threw a vicious punch into her face, sending her spinning towards the ground.
Her head swam from the powerful attack, and her vision was filled with yellow stars. Before she knew what had happened, her arms were tied with a strong rope, and she was forced up to her knees.
She coughed, and tasted blood in her mouth. "Carol!" She cried. She tried to turn her head, and caught a glimpse of the wildcat being tied up like she was.
"Get offa me you bozos!" She yelled, trying to fight against her captor. She managed to slip out for a second and gave the ninja a wicked scratch across his face. He cried out and stumbled backwards, clutching his bleeding face.
Before she could take advantage of the opportunity, she was overwhelmed by three more ninjas, who forced her to the ground and beat her across the face.
"No!" Lilac yelled, and tried to help, but she was stopped by the ninja behind her, who made sure she was unable to stand.
Carol was tied up securely, and dragged over to where Lilac knelt. She was struggling fiercely, but could do nothing against the three ninjas holding her down.
"Carol!" She yelled. "Calm down! Don't struggle!"
"Don't struggle? These jerks are trying to kill us!"
"Shut it!" One of the ninjas yelled. "Don't cause trouble, and we won't kill you."
Carol responded by spitting in his face. The ninja slapped her across her cheek.
"Carol! Stop!" Lilac turned to their captors. "What do you want?"
"What we want," said one of the ninjas. "Is for this pile of filth to stay where she belongs!"
Lilac recognized the voice. "Khar? What are you talking about?"
The tallest ninja took off his hood to reveal the face of Soran Khar, a handsome, yet bulky crocodile with sharp teeth and unsettling green eyes.
Khar ignored her question, walking over to the ninja who had been clawed by Carol. "You okay?" He asked.
The ninja nodded. "It'll heal."
Khar nodded, then turned back around to Lilac and Carol. "You know," He said to Lilac. "I know I should be surprised that you're trying to help this gutter trash, but frankly, I'm not. You just always have to be Little Miss Heropants, don't you?"
Lilac heard Carol snicker. "What did he call you?"
"Shut it." The ninja behind her snarled.
"What do you want Khar?" Lilac demanded. "What're you trying to do?"
"I already told you." Khar growled. "I'm trying to keep filth like that out of the Scarves." He pointed to Carol.
"What are you talking about? She pulled a prank on you! That's no reason to leave her out to die!"
"A prank!?" He yelled. "You call my sister a prank?"
"W... what?"
"What did she tell you?"
"I..." Lilac turned to Carol, who was looking at the ground with shame in her eyes. "She said she put some shaving cream in your motorcycles."
Khar growled. "Oh, that was irritating all right, and she deserved a beating for it. But I'm not the kind of guy to kill someone for that."
He walked over to the wildcat, who shrunk back in fear. "No, I kill people when they abandon their partners on a job, and leave her to the cops!"
"Wait, do you mean Sira?"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Carol yelled. "I didn't mean to run away, I just got scared!"
"Oh, boo hoo!" Khar snarled. "You got scared. I shouldn't really be surprised; rats are naturally cowards!"
"Stop!" Lilac yelled. "Carol, tell the truth. Were you the one who got Sira arrested?"
Carol refused to look at Lilac, her face expressing a deep guilt.
"You lied to me." Lilac said.
"You see?" Khar said. "She's nothing but a pile of sewer scum! She deserves to rot out on the streets for what she's done! Wouldn't you agree?"
Lilac looked at the broken young cat with a heavy heart, her mind racing furiously.
What's the right thing to do?
She turned towards the angry crocodile defiantly. "No." She said.
Both Khar and Carol looked at her with surprise. "What?" Khar asked fiercely.
"I said no. Carol made a mistake Khar, and that mistake got your sister arrested. But that doesn't give you the right to do whatever you feel like!"
"Oh really?" He said with a wicked smile. "Cause I think it does. But of course, Sash Lilac the Dragon Girl," He said with contempt bubbling in his voice. "is too self-righteous to see that. What do you think boys?" He said, turning to the five ninjas. "Should we be the ones to finally set Miss Heropants straight?"
Four of the ninjas nodded, but one looked apprehensive. "Khar." He said. "You sure about this? I mean, the dragon is really close to Spade, and I don't want to get him upset."
"Don't worry." He said. "We can tell that pampered prince that she went traitor. You know how he feels about turncoats."
"Wait, what are you going to do?" Lilac asked.
Khar turned towards his prisoners, his green eyes narrowing. "We're going to make sure no one sees you filth again."
"No, please." Carol whimpered.
"Stop!" Lilac yelled. "You can't!"
Khar bared down on the defenseless girls, fists clenched and teeth bared.
"Hello? You in there?"
Lilac jumped out of her trance with a start. "Wha'?"
She looked up to see Sonic casually laying on top of the red pod, looking down at her. "You okay?"
"Oh, you're back. Sorry, I was thinking about something."
Sonic grinned. "You were like, totally zoned out. If you hadn't been drooling, I might have thought you were dead."
Lilac felt her face and, to her horror, found a trail of saliva on her cheek. "Oh no." She muttered and wiped the spit off. I'm just begging him to make fun of me, aren't I?
Sonic laughed, and jumped down to the spot she was sitting on. "What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing." She responded curtly.
Sonic merely shrugged. "Fine, have it your way."
Lilac looked at the hedgehog and sighed. I've gotta stop being so rude to him.
"I was thinking back a few years ago, when I first met Carol."
"Oh really?"
Lilac nodded. "We met in an alley in Shang Tu. She was in a bit of trouble, and I helped her out."
"Shang Tu?" Sonic said with a coy grin. "I thought you said you were from 'Avalice'?"
Oh no. "Oh, um... well... Shang Tu is a city on Avalice, I mean... Avalice is the place that Shang Tu is in... Avalice is a... you know..."
Her stutterings were thankfully interrupted by the dull roar of a distant engine. The two heroes looked to the sky and saw the blue Tornado beginning it's descent to the ground.
"Tails is back."
"I wonder if he saw anything." Lilac said. "You didn't, did you?"
Sonic shook his head. "I didn't find anyone. Your friends must have been traveling for quite a bit."
"They took Carol's motorcycle, so they could get pretty far pretty fast."
Sonic smiled. "You didn't say she had a motorcycle."
"Yeah. It's the only way she can keep up with me when I'm moving."
"It can keep up with you?" He chuckled. "Impressive bike."
Lilac looked at him questioningly. Did he just compliment me?
She tried to read his face, but he was staring up at the Tornado as it's yellow pilot prepared to touch down.
"C'mon." He said, gesturing to Lilac. "Let's see what he found."
Lilac nodded, and the two jogged over to the fox and his blue plane.
"Hey Tails." Lilac said. "Did you see them?"
One look at the fox's face made her heart sink. "Sorry Lilac, I couldn't find anyone." He looked at Sonic. "You didn't have any luck?"
"Nope. Couldn't find anything."
Lilac sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry you guys have to do this. You shouldn't have to find the people you're trying to help."
Tails smiled. "It's really no problem."
"Yeah." Sonic said. "We've got nothing better to do."
Lilac glared at him, but didn't get angry. She was starting to learn that the hedgehog's wisecracks weren't meant with any ill will. "Well, even still, I hope we find them soon, so we can get the ship fixed and I can get out of your hair."
"Oh, but we've been having so much fun talking, haven't we?" Sonic said with a sly grin. He turned to Tails. "In fact, she was telling me a bit about where she's from, and it sounds like a pretty sweet place."
Lilac gulped. She wasn't sure what to think of the strange tone his voice had taken.
Tails noticed it too. "Sonic," he said. "What're you..."
"But," Sonic interrupted, turning back to Lilac. "You've been here for a while, so let me ask you; what do you think of Mobius so far?"
Mobius. Lilac thought. That must be what this place is called.
Lilac, not noticing the questioning look Tails was giving his friend, shrugged and looked around. "I dunno, it's pretty nice. I haven't been able to see that much of it, but..."
She stopped short as she caught sight of Sonic and Tails. The hedgehog was looking at her as a hunter does when he corners his prey, and Tails looked as though she had grown an extra head.
"Uh... guys?" Lilac asked. "You okay?"
"You..." Tails stuttered. "You're an alien?"
Lilac was stunned. "Wh... what? N... no... I'm not! I..."
Sonic just smiled smugly. "Yeah." He said. "Mobius is a pretty nice planet. I'm glad you're enjoying your visit."
"P... planet?"
Sonic just laughed, enjoying his little trick.
"So, are you?" Tails asked excitedly. "Are you really from another planet?"
"I... I..." The cornered dragon put her hand behind her head. "I... well... kinda, I guess."
"And you made it all the way here. That means..." The fox's face took on the same expression that a toddler gets in a toy store. Without a word, he dashed as fast as he could towards the red pod, intensely eager to study a piece of alien technology.
Lilac turned towards the hedgehog with a sheepish smile. "So, uh... how'd you know?"
Sonic laughed. "Are you kidding me? 'I'm not exactly from around here', 'My home's really far away.' Those are the most cliched 'I'm an alien' phrases of all time. You might as well be holding up a sign when you say stuff like that."
"But I..." Lilac shook her head and sighed. "Okay fine. I guess that was kinda obvious. I'm just not used to being the alien."
The two remained silent for a minute. "So, uh." Lilac said. "You don't mind?"
Sonic shrugged. "Why would I? You haven't tried to eat us yet, so you seem pretty cool."
"Uh, thanks?"
"And besides." He said with a grin. "It's pretty sweet to finally meet someone who's almost as fast as me. I don't think anyone else on this boring planet can even come close to keeping up with you."
Another compliment? Lilac thought. "Um, thanks."
Sonic nodded. "Well then Alien Girl, let's find your friends and get you off this boring planet!"
Lilac smiled. "Yeah! Let's roll!"
Sonic grinned broadly. "Now you're talkin'!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The first section of this chapter was inspired by a short comic, drawn by Wahahui. Check her out on Deviantart, she's an extremely talented artist who draws awesome anime-styled art.
