Three swim meets in one week, I am pooped, especially since (not to brag) I practically won the second one for my team by beating out another kid in my key event, the 100 yard breastroke.
But, ah, never mind all of that, let's get back to the story!
Enjoy!
"So, what is it you need me to do?" Anna plopped a seat on the couch, looking at her friend with happy eyes.
Two more figures hobbled into the room, both looking like they just got off of a boat. The dark blue and bright silver one, tattooed with 'JB-284' on its arm, turned away.
"My apologies Julie, I didn't know you were indecent…" His head down, and back turned, JB-284 silently made more apologies.
"Oh I wish I were a human, Julie I've never seen you like THIS before! That's just kind of sexy…" The green one smirked as he said it. Julie shifted and hid herself as the green one finished. "Now, now, how am I different than XT? And how am I different than a computer? It was a generalization, if I were a human, I'd want to mate with you now."
"LANCE! Can't you see you're bothering her?" The blue one and Anna said in unison, Anna launching a pillow at his face, bursting it into oblivion.
"Sorry, that's what male humans do, right?"
"Pl-please Lance, don't look at me like that, ok? What would XT think?"
"Xavier's a wimp!"
"LANCE!" Anna launched another cushion, pushing in back a bit. Then Lance, being the hothead he was, lunged at Anna, and the blue one tried to stop him, and another family tussle began.
In the small amount of feuding time, Julie snuck off and got a dress and undergarments on as quickly as she could. With pink underwear and a baby blue dress, barely attractive or seductive, she strode into the room to see Anna tugging Lnce off the blue one.
"Guys? I'm back." All three of them looked at her blankly, as if trying to recall their positions.
"Hi Julie! Nice to meet you here!"
"You're in my house…" Anna began to look around, as did the two boys.
"Golly! Look at that! So, wait… why am I here?"
"I need your help Anna…" Julie pleaded.
"With?"
"Messing with my boyfriend."
"Ah! Count me in! What do you need of me?" Anna's panels flashed with the promise of adventure.
"Can you take me to him? Wherever he is?" Julie's eyes begged more than her tone or hands.
"Of course! Hop in sister!" Anna's chest opened up, and a cast was formed, ready to intake Julie.
Julie stepped inside, and Anna locked herself around her, every curve fitting perfectly.
"I like it in here… it is always a bit…"
"More feminine?"
"Yeah, than XT… he is all angular, you're curvier."
"Thank you! Now, you know what to do by now?" This had all become routine the last couple of times Julie needed help.
"Yep, thanks Anna."
"Anything to go against XT is in favor of me! Except causing misery…" Anna grumbled as Julie walked their co-op body outdoors, the blue and silver figure at Julie's side trying to hold her hand.
I wonder if Anna will ever get it… Julie smiled, thinking as she looked at the blue one's expression and timid actions. Julie, in Anna's body, jumped the moment she walked outside, and the blue one jumped with her, Lance following shortly behind.
"Julie! You jumped too soon! You can't easily take a fall of that magnitude! James help?" The blue one, now known as James, grabbed Julie's waist and tapped a small button on his side.
Gently, the two were pushed by a miniature jetpack onto a bronze ship floating above Julie's house. "It has been a long time since I last set foot aboard the Resonance, has anything changed?" Julie questioned, taking a seat next to two other figures, one a slight image of XT, and the other, a smaller, cuter robot.
"Julie?" The short one chirped.
"Hello Lily, how are you?" Julie asked in a motherly tone.
"HAPPY! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! JULIE'S HERE! Guess what Lance? JULIE'S HERE!" Lily's eye twitched with excitement at the last into the small, SU-V sized spacecraft.
"Yes, cutie, I know that." Lance innocently replied.
"Can we please get this show on the road? I want to fly, like now." A gruff voice growled over the speakers.
"Gannon's in a lovely mood I see." Anna's eyes, mimicking Julie's blinked.
"Yeah, nothing too out of the ordinary." James added.
"Qaeto! Zunei eta!" The semblance of XT hummed.
"Xenophon! Watch your tongue there! We've a human girl in our presence…" Lance commanded. The neuter-gendered robot responded by sticking a metal red object out of his mouth, letting it flap up and down, and made a distinct fart like noise with his mouth, grinning wickedly.
Julie never ceased to be amused that this was XT's family. (A/N: YAY! THEA's back!)
"Time to go. Safety harnesses will be activated." Gannon's voice spoke softly, for him, to his passengers and a set of metal brackets bound them all to the walls of the craft.
"Anyone want to listen to some music?" Lance offered sincerely.
"No." Everyone responded.
"Cool!" The green antagonize responded in addition to turning on his personal heavy metal rock collection. By the time the ship began to move, everyone was groaning.
The Resonance darted upwards like a fish through the water, and began accelerating forwards. The moment a certain speed was reached, Gannon spun the ship into a roll, and the ship dematerialized into a burst of white light. This was the last thing Julie saw before she felt her own body battered and beaten and broken by the distortion of space and time around her.
Sarah had made her way into the city. She'd been searching everywhere, always measuring every square inch for him. Now in town, she'd ask random people about Stephen.
"Have you seen a hedgehog about as tall as me? Maybe taller? Kind of cute? Anyone?" No responses came to her, an occasional no, maybe, but never a real answer.
"I know!" Sarah's mind, half hysteric, began talking aloud, "I'll search in abandoned houses! He may be upset that he hurt us and he had no better place to hide away in! He HAS to be there!" Sarah's expression lightened and she zoomed off to the run-down half of the town.
Empty house after empty house, Sarah's mind kept repeating. He'll be in the next one. She kept telling herself the same thing over and over again, slowly beginning to think and realize the truth that he was gone.
"Ok! Stephen? Stephen! Can you hear me?" She slowed down as she spoke, rushing around like a mindless machine.
"Please? Stephen? Come out!" She begged, tears forming in her eyes again. He's not here…
"STEPHEN!" She cried out one last time, eyes blurred with tears as she opened the next door.
She saw something grey in the corner of this house and her hopes soared. When she dove at it, and closed her eyes, hoping to hug Stephen again, the floor gave in, and she fell down with the trench coat held up by a mop that she thought was her best friend.
She hit the floor hard, and then looked at the mop.
"Stephen…" She sobbed hopelessly, slowly becoming a wail as she repeated his name laying down on the ground in a tangled mess from the fall.
"Mom, I think it is just a bit too loose…" Daisy commented as Cosmo and the tailor fitted the dress to Daisy's unusual body structure.
"Hold on, he's fixing something…" Cosmo informed as she watched the tailor, massive compared to the small, childlike creatures in front of him.
"Done, I think. Feel alright Ms. Prower?"
"Yes sir! Is it able to be bought now?" Daisy squeaked excitedly.
"It most certainly is. It will cost you a lot though…"
"No money is a problem," Tails stepped in, dressed in a jet black tuxedo, "I can pay anything." Tails pulled out a debit card and waited for the man to ring up the wedding dress and his own suit.
"You know, did you just go through a bit of court trouble, Mr. Prower?"
"Yes, but, I don't like to think about that too much. Thank you for your services…" Tails took his family away from the store and together, they all piled into the Green Storm, and jetted off.
"Call Brunis, ok? We don't want to have him se you dressed like THAT yet." Cosmo recommended to her daughter.
"Good idea!" She agreed as she flipped out her small phone, texting.
"We're coming home, so, either hide, or go out somewhere to not see me. I love you."
Five seconds after Daisy hit send, a message appeared of her phone.
"Sarah went missing, I'll find her within a few hours, I promise. Love you baby, Brunis."
Daisy smiled warmly and began texting a response.
Brunis ran into the city like a tank, massive and unstoppable. He'd followed not only Sarah's scent, but also her foot prints and logical guessing; he'd be a good hunter if he wanted to be.
She had come into the city a while ago, or it seemed that way, as her foot prints and scent were screwed up due to her speed, and from the looks of it, she had stopped at houses in the run-down and dangerous section of the city for whatever reason.
"Ok, be safe Brunis, and don't be late, ok?" He read the text and grinned.
"I'll be fine, don't worry. And I'll be there in a bit, I think I might've found her..."
Brunis slowed his speed down as he came to the next house. A green headband, the same kind Sarah would wear to match her jacket, was hanging off of the door's handle.
Brunis's eyes bulged and he jumped into the room immediately, only later noticing the absence of floor. However, unlike the previous victim to this faulty building, he landed on his feet perfectly.
In the corner of the room, a disheveled, miserable hedgehog lay, partially mangled from her fall, and sobbing still.
Brunis's expression changed again, and he gracefully strode over to little Sarah Rose. Kneeling down to her as if she was a princess, he looked her over one more time. Sensing she needed some form of comfort, he gently hoisted her off of the ground and sat down himself, cradling her body like he would a baby. (A/N: No, this doesn't mean there will be a Sarah and Brunis relationship to those of you who think that way. Sarah just needs someone to be there for her, and Brunis knows he can do that.)
"You can just call me big brother Brunis, ok?" He patted her back as she let out more salt water than Brunis thought people could withhold.
"Any reason you ran off?" He asked, still gently, "you're parents are worried sick."
"There has to-" Sarah gasped for a well needed breath, "be good in-"another deep inhalation of dusty air, "him."
"Stephen? Oh Sarah… you'll make more friends-"
"NO I WON'T! Ok? Stephen is…" Sarah found her will to speak diminishing rapidly.
Brunis was silent, and then begged the question. "You like him, don't you?"
Sarah's face, buried into Big Brother's chest, nodded.
"He can't be gone… I've got to find him… I…" Sarah silenced again.
Brunis broke the silent barrier between them with an interjection, "you're our ring bearer."
"Wh-what?"
"Daisy and I need you at the wedding, to bring our rings forwards and let us use them on each other. No one else really can do this… Brian's already got a position in this wedding, and because this is secret, we've got a limited amount of people to use, you being one of them. I, we, really need you. Is it that much to ask?" Brunis warmly pleaded.
"No… it isn't… and I shouldn't be such a pain… but, I'll only go if we all find Stephen later… I-"
"It's a deal." Brunis said, knowing that Sarah would've found a way to embarrass herself had she continued talking. "Do you want me to carry you? Or do you want to walk?"
"I'm exhausted…" Sarah groaned, becoming limp in Brunis's arms.
"Ok then, we'll be home soon."
"Thanks Brunis… Daisy's a lucky girl." Sarah sighed as she fell into a trancelike state.
"I know she is…" Brunis mumbled as he walked elegantly out of the house and back towards the house he helped build.
"AHA!" Damian cheered proudly as he held up a small device.
"Aha what?" Richard demanded, eying him skeptically.
"Aha! I created the device to get this ship powered! Bokkun, send ULv2.0 to the operating room, I'll be there after we capture or destroy Sonic's family and Tails' family."
"Aye-aye sir!" The little purple figure began to type on a keyboard and then pulled Stephen's entire set up on the wall off, and began leading him elsewhere.
"As for this…" Damian chuckled as he held up his box, "you're going into use now…"
Damian hooked up a variety of cords to the box, and then grabbed, with a modified, rubber padded, anti-radioactive claw, the Arcanium crystal he'd pulled from Quasar's chest. Placing the jewel into the box, he began tightening a few clamps to it, and then closed the box. With the press of a single button, the ship's lights surged with energy, more than they had been built for. The engines burst with power, and the frame of the ship began to shake and rumble.
In seconds, they were high above the ocean, sitting gently atop a cloud in the bright sunny day.
"Now! Set a course for Sonic the Hedgehog's house! FULL SPEED AHEAD!"
Damian and Richard both stared at the computer screen and the window viewing the ground beneath them as the massive battle ship lurched forward in the air, swooping closer sweet revenge.
I don't know why, but that seemed short. (Yeah, to any of you who don't sense it, that Climax is at our noses, I am so excited! I FINALLY get to write this thing out in the computer. [I went insane at school and wrote tidbits of it because the ideas were so awesome to me... it was weird though, I can't stand my hand writing, I suck at it.])
I hope it turns out as nicely as it is in my head...
More coming soon...
