Eventually, all the children had been put down, and Foxy had slid down his side. "They like you." She commented with a smile, looking over at him.
"I can tell." He replied with a grin.
"Have you had enough, or am I gonna have to set them on you again?" She teased gently, nudging him in the side.
He laughed then called to the kids for an answer. "Hey, Foxy said that she wants more hugs!" At once, the small herd of cheering children were racing towards her, the adults laughing.
Foxy took off like a shot towards Willy's Butte, the sun beginning to sink lower in the sky.
He laughed then went after the group, figuring that a little more playtime couldn't hurt. As he looked back over the months, he couldn't believe how much he had changed, and it was all because of the townsfolk, and Foxy. He couldn't even remember why he had been alone for so long, or why he had been miserable to others. It was as though he had died, then come back to live a completely different life, a better one. This thought hit him so hard that he braked suddenly. Had he died? His brow furrowed in confusion and thought, and he wasn't watching where he was going. He caught up to Foxy, and actually bumped into her.
"Hey!" She yelped in surprise, thinking that it was one of the children. She turned around, and saw Bus. "Bus? Hellooo, earth to Bus!" She called, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
"Huh?" He asked, and blinked rapidly, shaking his front a little. "Foxy, am I dead?" He asked, and the question took her by surprise, so much that she sat down abruptly.
"Why in the world would you ask that?"
"Because I was all miserable and grumpy before, but not any more. I know that I was out for a long time, and during that, anything could've happened. So is it true that I could've died, but come back with a completely different attitude?"
She crouched down, looking as though she was explaining something to a child. "Bus, when someone dies, there are several signs to clue one in that they're dead. One. They have no heartbeat. Next one. They aren't able to move, or get their motor started. Last one. They look like they're dead. There's no color in their eyes, they're all glassy and they don't really blink. You're not dead, trust me. I would know. I've-I… I know what it looks like when somebody's dead. As hard as you try, they don't answer you when your throat is ragged from screaming their name, and they don't move, not even a twitch. Then, you see them in the coffin, and you know it's for real, that they really are dead." She finished, her eyes distant and misting up.
He could nearly see the agony grappling for control over her normal, happy expression. He nudged her, hard, hard enough to send her back to her rear in the dirt.
That seemed to snap her out of it, and she blinked a few times.
"So I'm not dead. Thanks." He replied, nudging her up.
She nodded, then continued on to the group of children, who had sped ahead.
He charged after her, and grabbed her around the waist, making her shriek in surprise.
"Bus, let go!" She exclaimed, squirming and giggling.
He laughed, shaking his front 'no'. "Not until you cheer up."
She continued fighting, and he only tickled her more, the children watching with delight.
Harry began giggling, and Bus looked over at him. "What're you laughing at, munchkin?" He growled, and chased after him playfully, sending Harry into peals of laughter. He eventually caught him and began tickling him. Harry was able to break free, and took off. Bus grinned and decided to go after Paul, who took off like a shot. Soon, he too was caught and mercilessly tickled. Soon, it was Sara's turn, and she squealed, kicking out her back tires as he rolled her onto her roof so she couldn't get away. He laughed, then flipped her back over, watching as she took off. He was just about to go after Nikki when the little truck jumped and latched onto his side, laughing like a loon. Bus watched him, laughing too hard to respond.
"Yeah, he can climb, so be careful." Foxy warned, laughing.
Nikki began scrambling up Bus' side, and made it to his roof. "I'm king of the Bus!" He proclaimed triumphantly, his front end raised proudly. The others fell into peals of laughter, not noticing that they now had an audience.
Lightning and Doc had come down to practice, but decided to wait when they noticed the group.
"Looks like she really sorted him out." Doc chuckled, seeing Nikki take a flying leap off Bus' roof, directly into Foxy's arms.
Lightning grinned, watching the same thing. "Yeah, she did. That's just her though. Nobody can resist her, not even Sarge."
"I wouldn't go that far, rookie."
Lightning just chuckled, then went down to the track to engage in playtime. Doc sighed, and followed after the rookie.
The group of children squealed when Lightning and Doc rolled down, instantly swarming the two and begging them to play. "Sure. What are you all playing?"
"TACKLE LIGHTNING!" Foxy exclaimed, leaping for the racer.
"Holy crap!" He exclaimed, but it was too late. The human and the children all pounced on him, rendering him unable to move.
Doc chuckled, finding immense humor in Lightning's predicament.
"Come on, get off!" He whined, shaking his hood to try and get Foxy off. She was flung off, and landed a few feet away.
"That was awesome! Me next!"
"No, me!"
"Me next!"
"I want a try!"
"Okay, okay! One at a time, one at a time!" Lightning exclaimed, and the children cheered. Harry was first, and Lightning launched him, squealing, into the air, not too high but just enough to make him feel a rush of excitement.
Foxy caught him, then set him on the ground.
"Next!" Lightning called, and Paul hopped on.
"Throw me really high!" He exclaimed.
"Really high? Are you sure?"
"Yeahyeahyeah!"
"You sure you're sure?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Mmmm..okay, here goes!" Lightning tossed him into the air, just a little bit higher than Harry and Foxy.
He shouted with glee, his tires flailing wildly.
"Watch it, Paul! Don't knock me out!" Foxy called, and he instantly stopped flailing.
"Mwahaha, that was fun!" He exclaimed, bouncing in her grasp.
Foxy laughed, and set him down.
He was instantly spinning around, doing donuts. "WHOOOO!" He exclaimed, making the others laugh.
"Next!" Lightning called, and Sara hopped on.
"Not too high." She told him, and he nodded. He tossed her about as high as he had tossed Harry, and Foxy caught her. "That was fun!" She exclaimed with a giggle.
"Oooh, oooh, my turn! My turn!" Nikki exclaimed, and Lightning flung him into the air. He did a flip, and Foxy caught him wrong side up, his rear bumper facing towards her face.
"If you fart…" She warned, and he began giggling. There was a sound that sounded suspiciously like a fart, and Foxy's face contorted into one of disgust. She dropped Nikki instantly, and began fanning the air in front of her. "Nikki, ugh! What did you eat?!"
The others began laughing hysterically, but none more then Nikki. He was nearly falling all over himself, giggling too hard to respond.
Lightning was a close second, tears leaking out the corners of his windshield as he pounded a tire against the ground.
"Ya jinxed it, Foxy."
"Want to smell another one?!" Nikki squealed, and Foxy recoiled. Too late. He had already released another stink bomb, and the others lost it.
"Ughhh…." She replied, her facial expression hysterical as she tried to fan away the fumes of Nikki's farts.
Bus was lying on the ground, his sides shaking with his snickers.
"Here, you think it's so funny, have some!" She squealed, and began fanning the smell towards Bus.
"Blegh!" He instantly got a whiff of it, his tongue flopping out, one eye squinting shut.
Doc was chuckling quietly, far enough away not to get a blast.
Lightning was on his roof in the dirt, giggling like a five-year-old, kicking his back tires out. Watching him, it wasn't long before Foxy was doing the equivalent, on her back as she hugged her sides. Finally, panting slightly and giggling weakly, she sat up. "All right, Lightning, it isn't that funny anymore." She told him, and he instantly grinned stupidly with a suppressed snicker, still on his roof.
He looked so absolutely ridiculous that Foxy began laughing again. This of course made him laugh even harder.
She sank down to the ground again, leaning against his side.
Finally, the two regained some amount of control, long enough for her to flip him back over with an extremely loud THUMP. "Sheezus, Lightning!" She exclaimed, and he began giggling again.
He couldn't help it.
She covered her face with her hands, trying not to laugh but failing miserably. Her hands fell away from her eyes, revealing hysterical tears sparkling in the corners. She was still trying not to laugh, and pressed a fist against her mouth.
This only seemed to egg him on, and his giggling became quiet laughter.
She just shook her head, giving up to his laughter. Soon, the two had managed to get themselves under control, and Foxy looked to him alertly.
He made eye contact with her, and the two instantly looked away, giggling again.
Foxy tried to stop, but it was futile. "All right, are we good now?" She asked, and her voice wavered.
Lightning nodded, not looking at her.
"Lightning…"
He turned to look at her, and had to suppress another snicker. He swallowed it back down, and nodded without another sound.
"Okay, good."
"You guys are weird." Mariana replied, looking from one to the other.
"Thanks, I try." Foxy replied, then tossed her to Lightning. "I think it's her turn."
He nodded, and flung her into the air. She squealed, and Foxy caught her.
Mariana blew a raspberry at Foxy, then giggled.
Foxy smiled, and set her down.
Next up was Jack, and she sailed through the air with an excited shout. Foxy caught her, and a tight hug was delivered. Jack squirmed to get down, and Foxy let her. "Now, my turn!" Foxy exclaimed, and Lightning grinned. She ran at him, her arms flapping wildly, and the two began laughing again. "Okay, seriously though." She replied, and he smirked.
"How do you ask nicely?"
She put on a puppy-dog pout, and the eyes to match. "Pwease?" She asked, her tail curling around her ankle, her ears back.
He snickered, and scooped her up.
"Yeah! Thanks, Light!"
"Sure thing, Foxy." He gave her a grin, and chucked her with a bit more force than was necessary towards Doc.
She shrieked in surprise as she sailed high into the sky, then began descending quickly.
Doc was watching her descent carefully, and at the last second caught her in his tires.
"Thanks, Doc." She grinned, and he chuckled.
"Sure thing, Foxy."
"Mind tossing me over to Lightning?"
He shook his hood, then lined up his shot. He sent her sailing towards Lightning, her hair streaming out behind her.
She had a large, demented grin on her face, and she looked positively wild as she came towards his hood.
His expression of horror wasn't lost on the others, and she landed squarely on his hood. "Great shot, Doc!" She called with a grin and a thumbs up.
He chuckled and nodded.
"You looked like that creepy lady from the movie about the spotted dogs!" Harry exclaimed, and Foxy grinned.
"Cruella De Ville. Did I really?"
Lightning nodded, having gotten over his fright.
"Sweet." She replied, and slid off his hood.
Nikki scrambled up her legs, up her back, then finally took his position on her shoulder.
"I told you he could climb." Foxy replied, looking over at Bus with a smug expression.
Bus' bumper had nearly fallen off as he watched Nikki climb up Foxy like a tree trunk. "Can any of them do it?"
"I dunno. None of them ever have. Wait, why are we even discussing this? What is this, climb-the-Foxy?" Nikki giggled, and she instantly frowned in disgust. "You farted again, didn't you?" She asked, and all she got was an evil laugh. "Nikki…" She scolded, and the others laughed. "Why do you only fart on me?"
"'Cause. It's funny." He replied with a large toothy grin.
Foxy sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Of course it is."
"It is!" Lightning replied, snickering.
"Hey, shut it. Don't egg him on, otherwise, you'll be the one smelling it, not me. Gahh, whew, that one had a bit of a linger to it, Nikki."
The little truck was draped limply over her shoulder, giggling too hard to respond.
Lightning was grinning stupidly and snickering, along with Bus.
Doc seemed to be the only one not laughing, at least not outright. He was chuckling and shaking his hood. "You two make quite a pair." He replied, and Foxy laughed.
"Thanks. But he's the brains behind this operation. Or should I say, the sounds and smells." She started giggling at that, along with the rest of the group.
"You really should be a comedian, Foxy. I think you'd be really good at it."
"I'm not all that funny in real life. I've got to have the right circumstances for it to be funny. Either that, or just have a show about all the random crap that spews from my mouth."
"Ew?"
"Not literal crap. I meant like the random stuff I seem to always be saying. Like… Ohh, crap. I forgot." She replied with a sigh.
This chapter has got to be one of my favorites to type, just because it's one of those scenarios that you just want to jump in and be a part of. ^^
