Chapter 46: Cleaning the Green Station

A/N: Well now. It's been over three weeks. Do I have another excuse for the delay?

Well, I mean... I was gonna get this chapter out sooner, but...

Games got updated. I started playing new ones. And then the past few days I've been feeling miserable. Exhaustion, a constant headache, inability to sleep, and just a general feeling of crappiness.

Sometimes, I literally feel halfway to death.

...Yet I thought I should put something out for you guys, cause it's been awhile and leaving this story alone for awhile makes me guilty.

We ended up at a yellow holographic wall, which showed a checkmark as I stepped closer. It confused me for a second, as I had no idea why it might've been doing that, but then I remembered that I bought two tickets.

With that thought, I gave one of them to the kid, and to test it out I attempted to walk through the holograph. Sure enough, it disappeared and I walked right through it, ending up right back at the main station.

I motioned for the kid to follow, and we made our way to The Empress' jewelry store.

The two cats from earlier walked by us on the way there, and when we stepped inside, she was examining two Time Pieces, likely the ones that we just collected.

We walked toward her, and she put them away and grinned intimidatingly.

"You're back? And you collected two more Time Pieces for me... good," She said, then tossed two stacks of cash at me, which I caught.

Looking at the amount of money... we were gonna be rich after this.

"Our little arrangement is working out well. See that it continues to," She stated, "And since it's going so well, you shouldn't have any trouble buying some metro passes. You won't get around much without them, after all."

"We've already bought a couple," I said, holding up the yellow pass. "We fully searched the Yellow Overpass station and got all the Time Pieces there. Any idea where to go next?"

"If you're certain there's none left there..." She muttered, "Search around the Green Clean station. You shouldn't have any trouble finding it."

'Green Clean' station, huh?

Something told me it wouldn't be as 'clean' as its name suggested.

I nodded and turned to leave. "Come on, kid."

We left, and it seemed fairly certain that the large amount of green neon lights coming from above us signalled where we were supposed to go.

"We gotta get them back," The kid grumbled, "Maybe we could steal them back. I don't wanna make her mad, but it's Time Pieces we're dealing with. We gotta get them back somehow! Who knows what she would do with them?"

"Yeah," I said, "Only if we absolutely have to. I think that cat would go to hel-heck and back to get revenge if she knew we betrayed her."

"We could try talking to her," She suggested again.

"I find it hard to believe she'd give them back to us out of pity. I don't think she feels pity for anyone," I pondered, "...but I dunno. Who knows, maybe we can work for her or something. Have her pay them back to us for being good workers."

"I dunno," She said.

"But

"But we should get going. Talking and messing around can wait," I reccomended.

She nodded in agreement.

Now that we'd agreed on this, I walked over to the entrance to the Green Clean station and looked up at it.

How were we gonna get up there?

I took a few steps back and slipped in a puddle of goop, getting it all over me.

Then a robotic meow came from the wall.

"Oh."

I felt something bump into me, then I was launched into the air. I dove for the entrance and landed in it, and found myself clean.

I looked down at the kid, who was staring up at me blankly.

"Well don't just stand there!" I shouted with a grin.

A few seconds later and she was bounced up as well.

"Let's see what's hiding here," The kid said, then closed her eyes.

I waited patiently, and she suddenly clapped her hands.

"What's the situation?" I asked.

"Same thing," She said, "One's in a manhole, the other's up near the top."

"I guess you'll be grabbing the manhole one again? Cause I won't be able to," I asked.

She nodded with a "mhm" sound.

"Well, good luck," I said.

"You too, bye!" She said, then ran over to a rumbi somehow attached to the wall and bounced out of sight.

I shook my head. I didn't really like the idea of her being by herself in this place, but we didn't really have a choice.

Also, we were the Empress' goons. If something happened, she wouldn't like it.

I bounced off of the same rumbi, then walked over to another rumbi sticking out of the wall. Wasn't quite sure how they'd managed to do that, but at this point I decided to stop questioning things.

A small bit of bouncing later, and I found myself standing next to another ticket vendor, which was good to see. This time, there was a lineup in front of it, but it wasn't big. It was like two or three cats, I probably wouldn't be a long waiting time.

So instead of being rude and butting to the front like some jerk, I went to the back and waited. Sure enough, the lineup went by quickly, and I bought a couple more metro passes, these ones being green.

However, the change in colour made me curious.

"How many different metro passes are there?" I asked.

"There are exactly four, one for each of the stations in this metro," The vendor replied, "You'll find the other vendors in the other stations."

"Alright, thanks," I said, then walked away.

Remembering what the kid said, I reckoned that I'd probably have to get as high up as possible.

I looked up and saw a couple more rumbis sticking to walls that could get me higher, and hopped up and onto the first one.

A little bit of bouncing, and I landed on top of a ledge.

Off in the corner, I noticed a blue wooden springboard covering what seemed to be a tunnel leading down. I stepped down on the springboard with all my might, but it would hardly move.

"Well, damn. If only the kid were here," I grumbled.

"May I be of assistance?"

I turned around to see the Badge Seller standing there.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here," I muttered.

"I know every place in this planet," He responded, "The child is not here?"

I nodded.

"Well... in that case, if I might ask... has anything changed since we last talked? Has there been any changes with... him?" He asked.

Odd question...

"Uh... not really. Before we talked, he told me that you were the one I shouldn't trust," I explained, "But he helped me get down from a place where I was stuck today."

He seemed deep in thought.

"Hm. I suppose that's for the better. Perhaps he's had a change of heart. I wouldn't count on it, though," He thought aloud, "But... on another note, I have acquired another badge for you, and I am willing to give it to you for free."

"Oh?" I said, "What is it?"

He smiled ever so slightly. "It's a badge I like to call... the Megaton badge," He said.

I grinned. "That's a good name," I said, "I'm gonna guess that it allows me to do a move with lots of force behind it?"

"Yes, it will allow you to slam the ground with your baton with enough force to create a small shockwave. You could use it to bounce off of those blue springboards, or for combat," He said, tossing it toward me.

I looked at it. It showed a hooded figure in a state of slamming the ground with an indiscernable weapon hard enough to crack the ground.

"Cool, that's just what I needed. Thanks, Badge Seller," I thanked.

"But of course, for my best customer," He said, "Before I depart, have you tried using the Shadow Badge yet?"

Oh right! I spent a fortune on that thing just to completely ignore it!

"Aha, nope. I've completely forgotten about it," I laughed.

"Well, do try using it sometime soon. Perhaps I could assist you with it," He said, "It is an Ultra Badge, after all. You will want some help if it... ah... misbehaves."

"Well that's not foreboding at all," I muttered sarcastically, "But I've got bigger fish to fry right now."

"Of course. Find me in Subcon Forest when you have the time and I can assist you with learning to control the badge," He advised.

"Alright, I'll do that. Thanks again," I thanked him again.

He nodded, and I turned around. "Good luck with the Time Pieces... and the Empress," He said forebodingly. I turned around, and he was gone.

"Why do people like being so ominous here?" I grumbled, replacing the Whirlwind Badge with the new badge.

I then walked over to the blue pad again.

"Here goes," I muttered, then hoisted the baton over my head.

I struck downward, and as I swung, it felt like the baton suddenly weighed 100x more, and it slammed into the springboard with enough force to not only open it, but it also broke some of it off.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to be careful with this," I said, then re-attatched the Whirlwind Badge.

Now that that was done with, I decided to get a move on. The kid had probably already collected her Time Piece and was likely waiting for me.

I looked on the wall to see a rumbi driving back and forth across it... which meant they weren't attached to the wall... but anyway, I waited for it to come close then jumped onto it, launching me off toward a platform.

I caught the ledge of said platform and scrambled on top of it, then did a bit of hopping and bird-dodging to get across some platforms and over to yet another rumbi.

I scanned the trajectory and saw that it would launch me right on top of a train if I timed it right, and looking around, I could see that doing so would lead me right to the Time Piece.

So, I waited for my chance, bounced off of the robotic vacuum cleaner, landed on the train, then jumped over to the Time Piece and grabbed it.

"That's number three... or four. Either or," I muttered.

I looked over the edge and saw the Green Clean station not far below, so I jumped down and landed gracefully as a sudden burst of air cushioned my fall.

"Took you long enough!"

I turned around to see the kid impatiently standing there holding a Time Piece.

"The Badge Seller interrupted me, okay?" I said, "Not my fault!"

"Well that was boring," She complained, "I hope the next station only has one so we can stick together."

"Well, how many do you think are left?" I asked.

"I dunno," She said, "Like two to four?"

"Oh, and before I forget..." I muttered, then tossed her a green metro pass.

"Cool," She said, "This one is green, so there's one for each station!"

"Yep," I said, "I wonder when..."

I heard footsteps.

"...the cats are coming..." I finished.

I turned around to face them.

This time, the lanky cat didn't even say anything. He just motioned for us to give him the Time Pieces.

I sighed and gave it to him, and so did the kid.

As the cats walked away, I shook my head.

This was turning out to be one giant mess for us.

We'd have to figure out some way to get them back.

"Well, let's go talk to The Empress again, I guess," I muttered miserably, "Then maybe we can take a bit of a break."

The kid nodded.

Then it seemed like a plan.

I was beginning to get tired of the assault of neon anyway.