A/N: It's been a long time since I have updated this story, I never forgot about it, just events in real life kept me from finishing this story, and I lost all the work I had because my computer stopped working, but I always planned to finish this story and the series, now I am back and it will be finished.
Chapter 8: And the World Trembled
After the laughter had died down, Shego went to looking out the window. A thought had hit her during the battering of Amber's misfortune. They have all been lucky through the events of the invasion. Everyone of them have had at least one close call, and now Shego wondered when their luck might run out. She watched seemly unimportant sights past by, be it trees, occasional barns, or depressing remains of former dwellings. She was too deep in thought to really notice these sights. It was the sad notion that bothered her, who if any of them would survive.
While she sat there, deep in her thoughts, she tried to listen to the conversations of the three that sat behind her. Most of what was being said, did not require her input, but what Jes or Hope said did interest her. She would listen to their conversations whenever they would share things about themselves. Shego had hoped they would develop a relationship, even in these trying times, ever since she suggested the possibly of such to Jes back at the prison.
After a while, Shego grew restless of the same sights out the window. She turned her gaze to the woman sitting beside her. While Shego studied the woman, who was concentrating on the road before them, Shego wondered how the woman survived all alone in the new world full of danger. Shego did not realize she was sitting there staring at Amber, because of her deep meditations. But apparently, Amber knew because she would occasionally cut her eyes at Shego and divert them back to the road.
Finally, Amber, while glancing again at Shego, asked, "What is it, Your Highness?"
Shego, however, said nothing and continued staring at Amber, which caused Amber to wave a hand in front of Shego's face.
The movement of the hand finally snapped Shego back to reality and caused her to question, "What…what is it?"
"You ok, Your Highness," Amber questioned tenderly, as she stopped waving her hand and continue to focus on driving down the road.
"I was wondering, Amber, what happened to you while you were alone out here," Shego inquired as she turned her gaze to the road ahead of them.
"Well, not long after I left the prison, I heard some of our military requesting for support over my radio," Amber stated as she peered into the rear-view mirror at the young couple in the seats behind her.
"They still around after all this time," Jes questioned, showing he was listening in on the women's conversation.
Amber let out a sigh, and stated, "Seems so, but anyways, I started to head their way…since I figured I might be of some…use to them."
"You ever get to them," Shego asked while she stopped looking at the windshield in front of her and turned her gaze to the woman beside her.
"No," Amber replied sadly, "I had a run in with the chimeras before I could."
Shego sighed and asked, "What happened?"
"Well…" Amber stated as she trailed off into her story.
A woman, wearing a black t-shirt and tan shorts, with an old trench coat was walking up the middle of a poorly kept gravel road while she listened to frantic pleads on a radio attached to the collar of her trench coat. As she walked at a vigorous pace, she pulled individually a pair of pistols from the holsters on her thighs and checked to see if the guns were still loaded before she returned them to their holsters. Not long after she had checked the guns, she started to past through a chest height cornfield that flank the sides of the road.
As she made it half the length of the fields, she heard an all too familiar sounds of hiss and shrieks come from within one of the fields beside her. The sounds made her freeze in her tracks, and she turned her radio off as quickly as she could. Being as quiet as she could she looked at the direction of the sounds and watched the corn stalks thrash about. She realized from the thrashing of the stalks that what was moving them was coming to the road she was on.
In an almost panic state, the woman looked around her, hoping to find a place to hide. She spotted a ditch running down the side of the road, on the same side of the thrashing corn stalks, and she saw that tall broom straw grass was growing in the ditch. Without hesitation, the woman jumped into the ditch and hid among the straw grass. After she settled into her hiding place, she made herself as comfortable as she could while kneeling in the ankle-deep water and mud.
While she peered through the tall grass and watched the road, she would glance at the thrashing corn stalks and she listened to the unnerving hisses and shrieks. A moment later, the thrashing ceased, and the woman saw overgrown lizards come into the road. They hissed and snapped at each other as they appeared in the road. The chimera stopped in the road and mingled about, as if they were enjoying the morning sunlight and were in no real hurry to venture anywhere.
The woman smiled at her luck, if the creatures had not made any sounds, they might have caught her walking down the middle of the road. They gave her time to hid and perhaps have a chance to remain undetected. She was not sure if they hunted by sight and sound alone, or with smell as well. They had not seen her, and she was upwind from the creatures. For the moment, she felt safe in her hiding spot. The woman wished, however, they would move on because her thighs were starting to ache from the kneeling she had to do in order to remain hidden. In the next moment, mother nature frowned on her, because the wind had shifted and started blowing against her back. She held her breath, at the realization of what was about to happen, as she felt the wind flutter her hair in the air.
Before she could even think of what to do next, the nearest lizard to her, head shot up, it made a sniffing sound, then shrieked before it looked right at the direction of the woman's hiding place. The other chimeras responded with shrieks of their own and the whole pack of lizards lurched toward the woman's hiding place. At the sight of the overgrown lizards slowly heading right at her, the woman looked around for an escape. She sighed at the idea of just running down the road. She knew the lizards would easily catch her. The woman then glanced at the cornfield beside her, and sighed again, before she scampered up the ditch and bolted into the very cornfield the chimeras had come out of. At the sight of the woman, before she disappeared in the cornfield, the chimeras shrieked and hissed while they gave chase to their new prey.
The woman ran down a lane between rows of corn as fast as she could go. She could hear the thrashing of stalks, the hisses, and shrieks behind her as she ran. The woman could tell the sounds were gaining on her, which caused her to run even faster. At the pace she was running, she knew she would get tired before she outran the chimeras. The cornfield seemed to go on forever with no end in sight, but finally the woman spotted the edge of the field. However, as she started getting near the end, she saw that the field would open into a timber of hard woods. She realized the woods would leave her out in the open when the lizards came out of the field. She glanced behind her on both sides, hoping she could cut across the cornfield instead. However, she saw the chimeras were thrashing stalks on both sides of her. She had no choice but run straight ahead.
As she neared the edge of the field, the sounds behind her, ceased. This bewildered the woman when she did not hear her pursuers anymore. She slowed her pace to a stop, wondering if the lizards had given up the chase. She looked and listened for signs of the lizards. She saw nothing nor heard anything, while she stood there panting, and sucking in deep breaths. She bent at the waist and put her hands on her knees, gasping for air while smiling at her luck. She, however, shot straight up and drew a kukri from her back when she heard a faint hiss near her.
She looked down the lane she was in for a moment, then she darted her eyes at the rows of corn on either side of her. She froze in place, daring not to move or make a sound. After a moment, she relaxed at not seeing or hearing anything, and she started to place her knife back. In the next instance, a chimera came flying through the stalks of corn right at the woman, slamming into her. The lizard made a painful squeal as it and the woman went flying through the rows of corn. They came to rest against the ground with such a violent impact that the woman's head bounced off the ground. The woman rolled onto her side while she held her head because of the headache she had, and the lizard thrashed around beside her. The last thing she could remember, before everything went black, was an awful smell, and her laying in something soft and warm.
"How did you survive after being knocked out," Jes questioned with amazement.
"I don't know, all I know is I either passed out from fright or from hitting my head, but when I came to, the chimera that attacked me was gone," Amber stated after she shrugged her shoulder.
"Gone," Cage questioned with astonishment.
Amber shrugged again before stating, "I can't explain it, I was laying there, out cold-in that stuff," causing everyone to snicker at her meaning about stuff, triggering Amber to growl softly before she continued the story.
The woman woke startled with a gasp, before she laid in silence where she was and listened for any sound. All she could hear was the wind rustling corn stalks. After a moment of her not hearing anything, she rolled onto her back and sat up on her elbows. She looked around with confusion. She knew she should be dead, but she was still breathing. She looked around her slowly and wondered where the lizard that attacked her was, and during her wondering look, she noticed her knife was missing. The only evidence she could see of the lizard was a pool of blood beside her and a trail of blood that lead back into the cornfield.
After she narrowed her eyes at the sight, she looked herself over. She did not see that she had any injuries, but she saw she was covered in something. After she raked some of it off her coat, she held it to her face. She smelled it and made a disgusted face, before she gagged. Once she realized what she was covered in, she flung it off her hand and, in a haste, took her coat off while she sat on the ground. She let out an annoyed groan once she realized she had it not only on her clothes but on her face and in her hair. While she was flinging the stuff off her hand that she had got off her face, she heard hisses from the cornfield.
She let out another soft groan and slowly rose to her feet. As the sounds were coming closer, the woman drew her remaining kukri and she slowly stepped backwards until she was nearly out of the cornfield. While she stood at the edge of the field, she looked down the edge of the field to her left and right. She let out a soft sigh at not seeing any chimeras and she walked backwards into the area between the field and trees. She stood there, wondering what to do next. She knew the approaching lizards would see her no matter which direction she went.
While she stood where she was, she looked at her choices between the edge of the field and the woods behind her. As she looked down the edge of the field on one side of her, she saw a lone chimera run out of the field. It stopped once it was visible and looked around. At the sight of the lizard, the first thought that popped into the women's head was run away from it down the edge of the field. However, that idea was dashed away when she saw several chimeras run out of the field on the other side of her.
She sighed and knew the woods were her only option now. As she was about to bolt into the woods. she realized the lizards were not attacking her. She thought it was odd. They were just feet away, but it was as if they did not see her. She novel at the idea, while being terrified, to walk right by the group of chimeras. Before she tempted fate, she leaned to one side then the other, even once lifted herself up on the tip of her toes. The chimeras just mingled about like they did on the road. While the woman leaned back and forth, she watched the group of chimeras for any reaction. She was so focused on the group of lizards that she about jumped out of her skin when the lone chimera she forgot about had walked right by her, brushing up against her.
She drew her knife back out of fright and about attacked the lizard out of reaction, but she froze in place at the sight of the lizard walking by her to join the other lizards. The sight confused the woman, while she watched the lizards mere feet from her. As she watched them, she went wide eyed as if she realized something. She held her arms up and looked at herself. She smiled at her luck and started to walk down the edge of the field away from the lizards.
She stopped in her tracks, however, when she heard a painful shriek come from the corn field behind her. She listened to the awful sound as it made its way to the other chimeras. A moment later, the woman watched a limping lizard walk out of the field. She wondered why the creature acted injured until she saw a knife handle hanging out of its side. At the sight of the knife handle, the woman knew where her knife went, and she wanted it back. She did not get a chance at that time to get it back, because the moment the wounded lizard was to the rest of the chimera, the whole pack started running through the woods, with wounded one lagging being the group. The woman watched the lizards for a moment and started to chase after the lizards.
"Whoa…wait! You started to chase those things," Jes questioned with disbelief.
Amber nodded to the question before stating, "Yep, I wanted my knife back."
"You're the craziest girl I ever met," Cage replied jokingly.
Amber smiled at what Cage said before saying, "Well, thank you…I chased them for a while, I don't know how long I chased after them, but they were hard to keep up with."
The woman chased the lizards through the woods. She would gain on them whenever the creatures would stop to listen for sounds of prey, but strangely they paid the woman no attention. The lizards would be on the move again after they fail to hear anything. When they were on the move, the woman struggled to keep them in sight. She knew she would eventually lose sight of the creatures if they decided not to stop. She was becoming winded and the exertion from the morning was finally affecting her.
As the chase continued, the woman heard vehicle engines in the distance. The sounds seemed to be coming from the direction where the woman could see the lizards. The woman swore under her breathe at the thought of the chimeras being able to attack some unexpecting victims, while she had a chance to rid the world the creatures. She sighed when the chimeras shrieked and headed toward the engine sounds. At the sound of the creatures shrieking, the woman ran as fast as her body would let her, even though she was exhausted, and her body wanted her to rest.
While she heard the sound of something being struck violently, then the sound of a vehicle wrecking, she ran through a thicket of briars and small trees. She fought through the entanglement and as she came out of the thicket and onto a road, she heard a commotion coming from down the road. She drew her knife and headed to the source of the sounds; she was determined to save whoever these people were. Right as she was near the sounds, she saw a wrecked hummer and a man on the ground by the hummer, struggling with the chimera that had her knife stuck in it.
"The rest you all know about," Amber said while she glanced back at Shego for a moment.
"I'm glad you're here," Shego stated with a sincere tone, and she watched Amber's expression turn to happiness for a moment.
"Thank you, Your Highness, but I admit I'm glad I showed up to help the…clovers."
Cage chuckled a little before saying, "Oh, Amber, didn't know you cared."
"Don't get me wrong, I still don't trust any of you clovers, but you guys owe me one," Amber said happily before she flashed Cage a smile through the rear-view mirror, "And what's the deal? I thought the clovers could handle anything."
Cage peered back at Amber through the mirror before he said, "Yeah…about that, I should have said something back at the prison, something happened to the nanos in us. I don't know if it was the heaven's light, or Kaigan's design, but we are slowly becoming normal people again."
Amber only giggled at Cage's statement, and she started tuning the radio in the hummer. After a moment she gave up trying to find anything on the radio because she could not find any station still active. She went to entertaining herself by softly reciting any town signs they passed by.
Shego watched the woman beside her and wondered why she was acting so happy go lucky. The woman she remembered was more reserved and serious. Shego admitted to herself it was a welcome change. She was worried she would have to be the peacekeeper between Amber and the clovers after the incident back at the prison. While Shego watched the woman beside her, she saw Amber giggle softly at some of the town names, and it amused Shego how upbeat the woman was. Shego had never seen Amber act the way she was, if she did not know better, Shego would have thought Amber was enjoying their road trip, as if they were heading on a vacation somewhere.
She studied the woman for a long time, and after a while, she saw Amber not only continuing to recite town names but start to hum a tune and bob her head back and forth. Shego enjoyed Amber entertaining herself. It was entertaining to Shego to watch Amber put on a show. During her observing of Amber, Shego wondered how much fun it would been for her if she had asked Amber to be herself more when they were at the palace.
After a while, Shego saw Amber lean forward in her seat and look up through the windshield before she stated, "I hope we get to see stars, I miss seeing them," before Amber leaned back into her seat and focused on the road.
For a moment, Shego's view of the woman changed to a fuzzy image of a teenage boy looking through the windshield like Amber just did. She only blink with bewilderment at the vison. The vision disappeared after a second and Shego saw Amber focused on her driving.
What in the world was that about, Shego thought while she wondered where she seen that scene before?
After Shego's strange vision, most of the time spent, by the occupants of the lead vehicle in the convoy, having small talk. The backseat passengers talked about what the space invaders looked like, because none of them had not seen them before. Shego explained what they looked like from her past self's memory.
"So…their green skinned men and women," Cage asked.
Shego nodded at the question before stating, "Oh, yeah…but over nine foot tall."
"Man, I didn't know we be facing orcs," Cage joked half-heartily.
"I guess you could call them that," Shego replied while she peeked over her shoulder at Cage.
Cage peeped back at Shego for a second before he pressed his temple and stated, "Alright, boys, if you see any green skinned men and women…shoot on sight…yes…orcs."
After Shego hear Cage's order, she thought to herself, Guess it's a good thing I don't have green tinted skin anymore, while she looked at her reflection in the hummer's passenger side mirror. She remembered her other self was not happy about having to wear makeup to hide her green skin color. Now she look like everyone else, and she would not stand out in a crowd. Although, she missed everything that made her special, made her different, having green tinted skin as a teenager felt like a curse.
Amber peeked through the rear mirror at Cage, and smiled at his concerned look before questioning him, "Not scared of little green men, are we?"
"Well, Amber, with us losing our nanos, I'm afraid we won't be of much use if we lose them completely," Cage answered soberly.
"Oh, just don't get killed and you guys be fine," Amber stated with amusement.
Cage sighed at the thought and said, "That's what I'm worried about…I already lost some men on this venture."
"Well…you clovers get behind me, and I take care of the big bad boogey men," Amber stated with a smile on her face.
The conversation on the Lowardians suddenly ended because of a town sign they passed on the road, caused Jes to read the town's name out loud, and say, "Fort Collins…we are getting close to where Doa want us to be."
"Why, here," Amber questioned while she looked around at the scenery.
"I don't know…he said to get to Fort Collins and stay there until he shows," Jes answered as he shrugged his shoulder.
As they traveled to their destination, the convoy snaked its way down a two-lane road that was flanked by vast abandoned fields, old decayed remains of homes and barns, disrepair fenced pastures and scopes of trees dotted wherever there was no open space. The occupants of the lead vehicle, except the driver, looked around at the large open areas with rolling hills and knee-high grass. The lack of human presence was evident for everyone while the convoy traveled down the neglected rural road. After a while, a small rural city came into view the moment the convoy came over a small hill.
The convoy made its way to the outskirts of the town, using the apparent main street of the city-town road they were on. They could see to the other side of the rural city because the main street ran the entire length of the city, and they saw brick and mortar building of varies stories high lined the street, with abandoned, rusted cars parks on the side of the street, along with evidence of nature's attempts to reclaim the city. Grass and weeds sprouted along the sidewalks and in the street itself, while vines and vegetation grew on the buildings.
At the other end of the street stood an old four-story building, with white walls and a black shingled roof, with a bell tower steeple sitting on the building's roof. All along the side of the road, the town was decorated for the Christmas holiday. The streetlights were sheathed in sun bleached garnish, and damaged Christmas light designs hung just below the streetlights.
At the sight of a motel located just on the outskirts of the city, Amber stopped the convoy abruptly beside it. The other occupants wondered why Amber had stopped so suddenly. She was silent and staring intently at the motel while she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. The motel was a sad sight, along with the crumbled decay evident in the city, parts of the motel had already succumbed to the elements, with most of the office having received major damage.
After a moment, Amber asked, "So…what you guys think? We might as well find somewhere to settle in at if we're going to be waiting for a while."
"Well, it be nice to sleep in actual beds instead on the ground," Cage replied, which got agreeing nods from everyone else.
While Amber steered the convoy into the parking lot of the motel, she stated, "I hope they still have running water," which got everyone in the vehicle to bust out in laughter. Amber, however, made an annoyed groan because what everyone else was laughing about.
The moment the convoy had stopped in the parking lot, Amber quickly exited the vehicle she was in and headed straight to the nearest motel room. As everyone else filed out of the vehicles, they watched Amber heading to the room as if she was on a mission. As soon as she was to the room, she said, "Knock, knock," and kicked the door in, and entered the room. After Amber went into the room, everyone outside heard things being thrown against a wall, then amazingly water being ran. A moment later, they heard an excited squeal come from the room.
"I never knew anyone get that excited to take a bath," Jes leaned in and said to Cage.
"Well…if anyone definitely needs one right now, it be her," Cage replied with a smile.
A moment after hearing the squeal, they heard footsteps in rapid succession coming back to the door, and Amber came bursting out of the room with an excited look on her face. When Amber was in sight of everyone, they saw she had stripped down to only her shirt and shorts.
The moment Amber was outside again, she started doing a silly dance, and said, "They got hot water, whoop…whoop!"
She only danced for a moment before she started back into the room. As she turned to return to her room, she took her shirt off in front of everyone, nearly exposing herself to everybody in the parking lot. The only view everyone got was of her naked backside.
The sight of Amber's bare backside caused Shego to stammer out, "Amber," while she waved a hand at all the wide-eyed men with her.
At hearing her name, Amber stopped and said while she peeked over her shoulder at everyone, "What!? Like they never seen a naked woman before," hinting to everybody she knew what she about did.
Her statement caused Jes to raise a hand and state, "I haven't," which promptly caused Shego and Hope both to slap him in the back of the head.
Amber giggled at Jes being slapped before she said, "And boys if I catch any of you trying to sneak a peek…I will cut it off," while she fluttered her eyes at the men.
After Amber's threat to the men, she ran back into the room, while she used an arm to shield herself. Once she was inside, she shut the door behind her, only for it to slowly open again. They heard Amber say, "Oh, bloody hell," and the door slammed shut. The group heard furniture being slid across the floor and the door being jammed shut. They watched Amber check the door to see if it would open before an excited laugh and relaxing sigh came from the room.
Once the room became silent, Cage stated, "Alright, shows over, time to unpack and settle in."
The clovers went about unpacking the vehicles and carrying everything they brought with them into varies unoccupied rooms. Shego, Hope, and Jes watched the activity for a moment, before Hope and Jes settled into a pair of motel chairs that were outside. Shego looked around for a moment and decided she would tour the city. Her real intentions were to find something else to wear. The suit she had on from the prison was of little use to her now and she hoped looking less important would be a benefit to her.
As Shego was about to leave and explore she overheard Jes say, "We could share a room."
His statement caused Shego to look at the couple and stated, "No, Hope stays in my room."
"But," was all Jes could state, before he went silent at the look Shego was giving him.
"It's alright, boy. I share a room with you," Cage stated with a smile before he went back to directing the clovers.
"With that settled, I'm going to explore for a bit," Shego said as she walked toward the road.
Her statement caused Cage to watch her walk away for a bit before he asked, "Do you want an escort?"
Shego brushed off the question with a wave of her hand as she continued her walk while she said, "No thanks. I'll manage…besides I want some alone time."
Shego walked to the road and down the sidewalk in the direction of the old white building in the distance. She looked through the intact and broken windows for the stores and building as she passed by them. Whenever she passed by a sign above a store that caught her attention, she read it softly aloud. She wondered what the city was like back in its hay day. The stillness was unnerving to her, she was used to the sounds of a city. But in this place, there was none, except the occasional squeak of a store sign being moved by the wind, and the ever-distancing sounds of activity at the motel.
She walked slowly down the sidewalk taking in the sights like a tourist. Every intersection she came to, she instinctively would look for oncoming traffic, which she should have known that she would never see. After walking for a moment, Shego realized the town was larger than she thought. At every intersection, she saw the side roads traveled for a long distance, and the scenes where like the main road she was on. Buildings and store fronts that varied in story heights. However, at one intersection, she saw the road lead to a large brick courthouse. She studied the building for a moment, and she wondered how many people lived at this place before the world changed and she was reborn in it.
After leaving the crossroads the courthouse was on, Shego came to a bridge that suspended over a river that ran through the middle of the city. She stopped on the bridge and watched the rushing water as it washed over submerged rocks. The sight of nature, undisturbed by man, calmed Shego. She enjoyed the sight and would not have mind staying there longer. She sighed at the idea of pressing on and continued her walk. Right as she left the bridge behind her, she spotted a corner store advertising women dresses. She smiled at the idea and wonder if she could even find a descent dress in the store after it had been abandoned for so long.
She walked right up to the store's front door and laughing a little before she flamed up her hands and said, "Knock, knock." She stared at the glass for a moment before she unlit her hands and tried to open the door. She smiled at the door freely opening and she entered the store. Shego looked around the inside of the store and studied the items of clothing on display. Nature had been unkind to the women's clothing store. The roof had caved in at varies parts for the store, and sunlight shown through, allowing Shego to see the interior with natural light.
As she surveyed the interior, a jumpsuit in the far corner caught her eye. As she neared the jumpsuit, she smiled at the sight of it. The green and black pattern suit reminded her of the one she wore so long ago. She did not have to search the store for any other choices, she had already decided on what she wanted. Strangely, to Shego, the suit looked as if it was untouched by the decades it was exposed to the elements.
After Shego changed, she left the suit she was wearing from before on the cashier counter as payment for her new outfit and she left the store. She was smiling as she left, the excitement of being Shego again filled her with joy. She never thought the day would come that she could truly claim that name. She did not have the powers her former self was gifted with, now she had the powers thanks to Amber. All that was left was the look that everyone knew her for, and by luck she had that now.
With feeling of the pure joy, Shego decided it was time to head back to the hotel. As she near the bridge again, she heard a man's voice singing "Going Home," by Mary Fahl. She crept up within sight of the bridge and saw a man with a grey t shirt and blue jeans, while geared for war, standing on the bridge and he was singing the song while he looked down at the river. Shego knew who he was immediately, the shaved head of Cage told her who it was, but she wondered why he was wearing different clothes. She settled on the idea that he changed clothes for the same reason she did. Without fear of threat, Shego heading straight to the bridge, while wondering why Cage was there.
As Shego neared Cage, he watched her while he finished his song. He smiled at Shego and sighed as he went back to looking at the river.
For a moment, no one said anything, then Shego stated, "My, you have a beautiful voice. And I said I didn't need an escort."
"Thank you, your highness, and sorry but our freedom hinge on you staying alive, and when I saw you go into that woman's store, I stayed within sight so you weren't disturbed, and had your privacy while you tried clothes" Cage sincerely replied before glancing at Shego for a moment.
"I understand, but did you ever try to make a career out of singing," Shego questioned as she propped herself on the bridge's guardrail.
Cage smiled at the question before stating, "No. I unfortunately I loved drugs more than singing."
"Oh," was all Shego could manage to say at the revelation.
Cage smiled again at Shego's reaction then said, "Not a single addict has ever woke up one day and just decides, you know what I feel being addicted to…whatever it is they got addicted to. That was no different for me."
"Why did you," Shego questioned.
"Well, it was my stupid choice when I was a teenager. See, my parents tried to raise me right and they meant well, even took me to church, which was where it was discovered I could sing, once I was part of the choir. But my parents were strict, when I became a teen, I rebelled and snuck out the house. I started running around with the wrong crowd and it was those people that introduced me to drugs. Course I went from using them to selling them to support my habit. And that's what got me in trouble with the law and then the day I got arrested I understood why my parents were like they were. They were being parents and watching out for me."
"How did your parents take that," Shego asked before she glanced at Cage, who she saw looked depressed.
After a moment, Cage said in a weak voice, "The worse day of my life was when they lead me out of the courtroom. As I passed by my mom, she broke down crying. I made up my mind that day if I was given a chance, I would do things that would make my parents proud of me."
"Let me guess, you never got that chance because of Kaigan."
"Yes, I was given a three-year sentence since it was my first offense, I had only served a year when he took over. He strolled into the prison one day and gave everyone two options, join him or die. Well, it wasn't a hard choice for me, although I didn't know what I signed up for. Your Highness, not all clovers were bloody thirsting monsters, a lot were just like my men and me, made bad choices in life, we are not completely innocent of doing bad things, but Kaigan had the clovers brainwashed too and the things we did do wasn't by choice."
Shego patted Cage on the shoulder, and said, "Well, Cage, maybe now you get to make your parents proud," before she started back to the hotel, "and Cage, I want you and the clovers to answer to Amber."
"Why her," Cage questioned with astonishment.
"Because I have known her a long time and I trust her. It's difficult for me to trust people that remind me of the ones that killed my son."
Cage nodded to the answer and said, "Very well your highness, maybe she will stop hating us eventually."
"She might someday. And Cage, I was wondering, since you have met Doa before, if there's anything you could tell me about him?"
"Sorry your highness, when he came to us, he was already the demon…"Cage said before he trailed off into thought, then he continued by saying, "There was one thing…his voice."
"What about his voice," Shego questioned, hoping some kind of detail would help her figure out who the demon was.
"Well…its hard to explain. When he spoke to us his voice would change tone and his voice would cut out, his voice sounded on most robotic."
Shego only narrowed her eyes at what Cage had shared, before she said, "So you telling me Doa is a robot?"
"No, he's human. His gloves didn't cover his finger tips, he had human hands…well groomed human hands."
"Well ok, now I'm heading back, you plan to escort me there," Shego stated as she left, realizing Cage did not know more than she did on Doa's identity.
Cage shook his head at the question and said, "No, your highness, but before you go, I have something else to say."
"And that is," Shego asked after she stopped because of Cage's statement.
"You may never fully trust me, but I swear to you, if I so much hear a hint of one of my men wanting to harm Amber, the kids, or you…I will personally put that man in the ground."
Shego stared at Cage for a moment before she finally said, "I will hold you to that promise, and trust you to do what you said you will do."
Shego watch Cage roman salute her and she smiled at him before she headed back to the motel. As she retraced her steps, she wondered how she was going to get Amber to agree to be nice to the clovers. She knew she could just order Amber to, but she wanted Amber to see that the clovers with them are not the same type she herself had experienced in the past. Even though it was odd to her, the same group of people that the world had feared for so long, was also made up individuals that like Cage, who made bad choices in life. She knew people deserved a second chance, even her former self did bad things in her life and the people still gave her second chances. Right as she neared the motel, Shego realized that she above everyone else there knew everyone deserved redemption.
As she walked into the hotel parking lot, she saw the clovers were moving about and she realized they too had changed clothes. They now looked like regular people, some even had baseball cap on, but all of them were walking around geared for war with guns and varies weapons on them. After she watched the clovers for moment, she thought about seeing what Amber was up to. As she walked to Amber's room, she saw somebody had set up a tent in the parking lot for the motel, and whoever it was had set a table and two chairs under the tent.
Beside the table was a pile of handheld electronics and all of them looked destroyed and broke apart for some reason. While she studied the sight, she noticed someone had also opened the hoods to some of the vehicles in the parking lot, and wires, parts of the vehicles motors were hanging out of the engine compartment. It was a strange sight for her and as she near Amber's room, she saw all kinds of electronic components were on the table and were wired together in a haphazard manner. She could not figure out what someone was attempting, and she was not about to try and figure it out
When she came to the room Amber had went in, she saw the motel door was open. She peeked into the room and saw no one. She called Amber by name and did not get a response. After a moment, Shego entered the room and looked around. During her exploring of the room, she saw all the weapons Amber was carrying were on one of the beds and a black plastic bag, laying on the bed beside the weapons, filled with something. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened the bag, only to be assaulted by a horrible smell that she remembered from when Amber first got in the hummer. While fighting off gags, Shego looked in the bag and saw the all the clothes Amber had on before were in the bag.
At the sight of the clothes, Shego gasped at the realization of Amber perhaps running around in the nude. It was the only conclusion she could come up with, because the woman already shown she was not concerned over nearly exposing herself and the only clothes she had were in the bag, Right as Shego decided to go find Amber, and perhaps save what dignity she could for the woman, Shego spotted part of a small red notebook under the bag. She narrowed her eyes at the book, and she knew she should not pry. She, however, for the moment forgot about finding Amber, and instead picked up the book, staring at it for a moment before she started flipping through pages.
Shego was amazed at the entries, because there were so many. None really stood out to her, most she glanced at where just day to day entries of what Amber did that day, some were just jotted down as "nothing new today." However, Shego found one entry that interested her.
Today, I caught Jacob talking to himself again. Although this time, it was different. I went to his room to tell him about his shift change. When I got there, he was at his desk talking to himself, which isn't new, but today when he turned to look at me, I saw he was pressing his temple with two fingers. When he saw me standing there, he immediately stopped pressing his temple and tried to act like nothing happened. I had to ask what he was doing, because only people I seen press their temple like he was doing were super soldiers of old or clovers, although his eyes weren't milky like them. Course he said he was just talking to himself and I dropped the issue. Although the sight was weird, I never pressured him to explain what I saw.
The mention of the pressing of the temple in the journal intrigued Shego. An idea of false hope filled her. She questioned the possibly and the more she thought about it, the more excited she got over the possibly. She reread the journal entry and hoped against reality that Jacob was him. It would be a major let down if it was proven wrong, but she held on to the idea of it being true. She made up her mind to ask Amber about Jacob when she saw her next.
While she studied the journal, Shego was snapped back to reality when she heard a clover walk by the door saying, "That's the craziest thing I ever saw, that woman looks good like that."
She gasped at his meaning and ran to the door, dropping the journal in the floor. The moment she was to the door, she peered out and saw the clover that spoke was walking with another man. Before they got too far from her, she spoke up and asked, "Who are you talking about?"
The clovers stopped walking and looked back at Shego before one them said, "The burette lady that killed the lizards back on the road."
"Where is she," Shego asked while trying her best not to show any anxiety.
"Oh, she around the end of the motel. She's back there practicing martial arts with the other lady. It's the craziest thing I ever seen. They back there doing that in dresses," the other clover answered before they continued their walk.
Shego narrowed her eyes and questioned softly to herself, "Dresses," before she headed to where the clovers told her Amber was at.
Right as she turned the corner of the motel, she saw two woman in dresses, fighting each other with martial arts. She stopped in her tracks and watched the women. It amazed her to see Amber in a light blue, modest, sleeveless, knee high dress, and she noticed Amber change her hairstyle to more of a balayage style. She had never seen the woman dressed like she was, she was used to the sight of Amber in military garb for whatever the occasion was for, but Amber looked like she was ready to have a night out on the town while she practiced martial arts with Hope.
As the women fought in front of her, Shego was amazed at their skills. She witnessed the skills of one of them by accident back at the prison, the other she thought did not know any martial arts. Shego was especially amazed at Hope's abilities, she was able to keep up with Amber with every kick or punch, even block Amber's attacks with ease, which caused Shego to admire how well Amber has taught Hope.
While Shego watched the women, she noticed Jes was sitting in an old couch that was up against the side of the motel and saw he was watching the women too. Jes, after a moment, realized Shego was there and motioned her to the couch with him. She smiled at the gesture and neared him.
After Shego sat on the couch, Jes said, "I been sitting here trying to figure out what their doing, it's like their playing a game, ever so often one of them holler out a number."
"Oh," was all Shego stated before Amber said a number and Hope laughed at hearing the number, which caused Jes to wave a hand at the women, proving his point.
After a moment, Amber back away from Hope and questioned, "Well," before she lifted her hands at Hope. Hope laughed at the question and went into a Hap Ki Do stance. Amber laughed at the sight of what Hope did and said, "So, that's how it going to be," before Amber went into a dragon style Kung Fu stance, and the women started pacing slowly in a circle while they held their stances.
Shego watched them walk in their circle for a moment, but a second later her sight got blurry, and in the next moment she was standing in a large poorly lit room with a large fan in the center of the ceiling. She gasped at the sight because she knew exactly where she was. She looked around the room and wondered why she was there, but her vision was directed to a sound beside her.
When she snapped her look to the sound, she saw two figures circling each other and they were in the martial arts stances just like Amber and Hope were. Both figured were covered in a smooth metal from head to toe. One was pewter grey with glowing red eyes while the other was black with red pins stripes and glowing blue eyes. She knew who both the figures were, and she continued to watch them move in a circle with a bewildered look etched across her face.
Right as the black figure turned in the circle so it was facing Shego, it stopped and turned its head to one side while it looked at her. It asked, in a hissing sinister voice, "Are you ok, Your Highness?"
The moment the black figure asked its question, the pewter grey figure looked over it's shoulder at Shego. Upon seeing both figures looking at Shego, she blinked her eyes and the figures slowly faded away. The black figure slowly turned into Amber looking at her with a concern look, and the grey figure turned into Hope looking over her shoulder at her. Shego peeked back and forth at the women looking back at her for a second before she blinked again and slightly shook her head.
After Shego did not answer the question, Amber took a step closer to her and asked again, "Are you ok, Your Highness."
Hearing the question, Shego snapped back to reality and stated, "I'm just shocked to see you in a dress," while she tried her best to hide her concern over the image she just saw.
"Oh, I found this in a dresser, in my room," was Amber's reply happily before she lifted her arms up high and began to twirl in place while she asked, "Do you like?"
Shego smiled at the display and said, "You look good…although it's odd to see you dressed like that."
"Well, it feels weird to me, but I might as well get use to it if I ever plan to live a civilian life someday," Amber said while she stopped twirling, "And speaking of odd, I need to show you something I found while you were away," and she started walking to the parking lot.
After Shego had rose to walk with Amber, Hope took her place by Jes. At seeing this, Amber stopped by the couch and watched the couple for a moment. Shego saw Amber make a face and wondered what the woman was thinking. Shego was not left to speculate long.
"Can I trust you two to be alone together ," Amber asked the couple.
"Yes, Amber," Jes said to the question.
Amber glanced at Shego for a second before she said, "Well, kid, since Hope's well-being is my responsibly, if anything happens that I don't approve of…I make sure you never have children."
At hearing the threat, Jes stammered out, "Shego," as if he expected Shego to take his side.
Shego, however, shook her head at Jes and said, "I agree with her, and I might help her. So, we expect you to be a perfect gentleman. Do you understand?"
"I…understand," Jes replied in defeat.
After it seemed the issue was resolved and the outcome satisfied Amber, the women started walking to where Amber only knew their destination. Shego realized during their short walk that they were heading straight to the tent she saw earlier, and she knew then it was Amber that had set up the site. Although she still could not figure out what Amber was trying to build, she knew Amber would explain what she was up to.
Before the women got to the tent, Amber said, "While you were gone, I had the clovers bring me whatever electronics they found during their patrols. I needed a radio to find out how things were going in the world, since I lost mine back in the cornfield, I had to make a radio."
"How did you know how to make one," Shego questioned.
"Well, one of my first jobs in the military was in communications, I had a superior officer take the time to teach me how I could make a radio in the field," Amber explained as they got to the tent.
Shego watched Amber sat in one of the chairs before she asked Amber, "So how are things in the world?"
Amber took a deep breath and bite her lower lip before she said, "I managed to get in touch with the military, thought maybe I could get them to send us support, they're in a tough spot…there's not much left of them. I told them to hunker down somewhere safe and try to help the civilians wherever they could…Your Highness, you are talking to the over all commander of the entire military."
"What you mean over all commander?" Shego asked with concern.
"I am only because I'm the highest-ranking officer to be accounted for, the others are either dead or missing. And after I managed to get in contact with Jacob, just to see how things were going at the prison, from what he told me, we won't have a military in the next day or two," Amber explained sadly.
"Why's that? What he say to you," Shego questioned while she sat down beside Amber, because of the worried fears of what Amber had already told her.
Amber sighed and said, "According to Jacob, I'm not the only lucky one today, he said not long after you guys left, the Lowardians attacked the prison, which means they're on the planet now."
"But I thought you said that place was safe," Shego questioned Amber while she narrowed her eyes at the woman.
Upon seeing Shego's look, Amber explained, "And I thought it was, Jacob said he overheard a Lowardian and what might have been the one Jes called the Great Blue One talking about losing a signal as they came down to the surface. If that's true, then that means someone at the prison was broadcasting something intentionally or unknowingly that lead the Lowardians to the prison. Jacob said he thinks he was the only survivor of the attack," before she started turning dials on the table.
"I see. So, where's Jacob now," Shego questioned while she again started to wonder who he was.
At hearing the question, Amber stopped turning the dials while she said, "I told him where we were, he said if he found a working vehicle he might get to us by dark, but if not, he will hold up somewhere for the night and try to make it to us in the morning."
After Amber's words, Shego thought since they were talking about the man, she would find out what he looked like, so she asked, "Amber, what does Jacob look like?"
"Why you want to know for," Amber asked while looking suspiciously at Shego.
At seeing how Amber was looking at her, Shego tried to explain, "Well, I just realized I have never seen his face, even back at the palace I never saw him with his helmet off," while hoping she did not have to reveal she looked at Amber's diary.
At hearing Shego's explanation, Amber's look faded into a look of gathering thoughts as she said, "Oh, well I'm not sure how to exactly describe his looks, I guess he's about our age…"
"Our age," Shego interrupted and asked.
She knew they were close in age, but the thought of how old Amber was popped in her head because she could never recall when or if Amber or anyone had revealed the woman's age. It had at that moment became a great mystery, and Shego hoped her question would cause Amber to reveal the answer.
"Women are good at guessing other women's age. I know we're are close in age, if anything I'm a bit older," was all Amber said however to the interruption.
"But you don't look like it," Shego stated with hope to force Amber to tell her age.
Amber shrugged her shoulders at the statement and said, "Guess I just aged well, but anyways, Jacob's is about our age, maybe younger, I can't tell you what his hair color is because ever since I knew him, he kept his head shaved, but he has brown eyes," without her answering the question of her age, but instead continued to describe what Jacob looked like.
"Oh, well was that all you had to tell me," Shego said while hiding her defeated feelings over Amber not revealing her age and Jacob not having the eye color she hoped for.
"Actually, no. While I was skipping through the frequencies, I found something rather strange," Amber answered with excitement.
'What you mean strange?"
Shego watched Amber turn the dials again, and a moment later, the song "Hello" by Lionel Richie started to play over the speakers. She narrowed her eyes at the song and listened to it for a short time. While the song played, Shego looked at the woman beside her and she saw Amber had propped an elbow on the table and was holding her head in a hand while she looked at Shego with a dreamy look.
The look Amber was giving Shego caused Shego remember the feelings the woman had for her, which caused Shego to say, "Amber, did you set this up to try and woo me?"
Her words, however, seemed to have hurt Amber, and she showed that it did because her dreamy look melted into complete sorrow. Amber stopped leaning on the table and looked at the homemade radio before her while she sank into the chair. After a moment, without saying a word, Amber sighed and started looking at her feet.
Shego, realizing she had hurt the woman's feelings, attempted to explain, "Amber, I thought…"
She, however, was interrupted by Amber saying, "No, your highness, the only way I could have set this up, would have been if I knew a DJ, I could have called on…Mars," before she looked back at Shego.
"Look, Amber, I…what you mean Mars," Shego said while she caught what Amber said.
"This…this frequency is coming from Mars," Amber explained while she pointed at the speaker.
"How are you picking up something from Mars," Shego asked with astonishment.
"This frequency is for the listening post the world governments manage to setup after the last Lowardian attack," Amber simply explained, revealing to Shego that the woman knew more about things than she thought.
"How do you know that?"
"It was explained to me when I worked in communications."
"So why is an earth song being picked up on Mars?"
"Well, when I first discovered it. I knew it was odd, we were to monitor this frequency ever so often and no one ever heard anything, not even static," Amber stated while she reached for a single dial on the table.
"This is strange."
"And that's not even half of it, it gets even weirder," Amber stated while she looked at Shego from the corner of her eyes.
Shego could only asked, "What you mean," while she heard the song being played had looped and started again.
"Just the fact I was hearing this song was strange, so I listened to the song for a while, and as I listen to it, I heard something else."
"And what was that?"
Amber turned the dial she had her hand on, causing the music to slowly fade and caused it to be replaced by audio sounds of static, crackling, popping.
Amber stated, "This," and pointed at the speaker while the sounds continued in random patterns.
While Shego looked at Amber with wonder, Amber said, "Now I know what you are thinking, this could be anything, even nothing, but once I discovered the song was masking these sounds, I realized after I listened to the sounds for a while, there is no set pattern and they seem random,"
Shego listened to the sounds with genuine focus and realize what Amber was meaning, the sounds were constant, but there was no set pattern. Never did the sounds patterns repeat, sometimes it was a long series of the sounds, other times it was one or two of the sounds between pauses. Shego's only reaction to the sounds was narrowing her eyes in wonder.
After a moment of the sounds being played over the speaker, Amber said "This, your highness, is communications."
"How do you know that," Shego question with suspicion upon hearing Amber's revelation.
Amber only smiled at how Shego sounded and Amber said, "Well, at first I didn't but after listening to these sounds, I wondered if they were communications, so I humored myself and I got on the mike and said, 'Hello? Is Anyone there?' Nothing happened, I then thought maybe if I sounded desperate, I could get a response. So, I did, and said over the mike who we were, what was happening, and asked if they could help us."
"Then what happened," Shego asked while she realized Amber was speaking with confidence in what she was sharing to her, and Shego started believing the truth about the song and sounds she, herself was hearing.
Amber took a deep breathe at hearing the question and sounded excited when she said, "Nothing at first, but after a moment the song and the sounds stopped, there wasn't even static over the speaker, I first thought I might had a loose wire, but right as I went to check the connections, I heard two different patterns of these sounds in rapid succession as if something important was being discussed, then the speakers went silent again."
"And," was all Shego could ask because Amber's seemly delight in her discovery was showing on the her face.
"A second later, I swear to you, a man speaking English came over that speaker and said, 'We know…we be there soon…stay alive,' then the music and sounds started again. All I can take from this is whoever or whatever broadcasting this song and making these sounds, knows what's going on here, is heading here, and if I'm assuming right, is coming to help us."
"Who are we," Shego questioned with amazement.
Amber only shrug her shoulders at the question and said, "All I know is, whoever they are, I would love to see the faces on those green skins when they show up."
Shego, however, became depressed at a thought that came to her, causing her to state, "I know who it won't be," as a tear ran down her cheek
"Oh? Who will that be," Amber inquired while she looked over her homemade radio.
"It won't be Mal," Shego stated before she broke down into tears and covered her face in her hands.
Shego only was crying for a moment before she felt a pair of arms embrace her. At the feeling of the arms, she peeked through her fingers at the sight of Amber holding her. In her grief, she could only manage to say, "No, Amber," and tried to get out of the embrace.
Amber, however, shook her head at Shego objection, and said, "No, your highness. I made the mistake of thinking what we had was more than just friendship. I won't make that mistake again. Right now, you need a friend and…a hug," causing Shego to smile sadly and relax in the embrace while Amber pulled Shego to her.
The women stayed in the embrace while Shego cried softly. She allowed the bottled-up anguish she had hidden for so long, surface. As quietly as she could, she mourned at the pain that she thought she was tough enough to endure. She did not know if she had finally reached her limit of enduring or if it was the tenderness of Amber holding her, but she felt the intensely of the agony, and she did not try to fight the need to cry. After a time of sorrow and tears, Shego finally started to feel better and wiped her eyes while Amber released her from her arms.
While Shego still sniffled a bit, she said, "Thank you, Amber."
Amber smiled at the statement, and asked, "Can I ask you something?"
"Well, that depends," Shego replied before she looked at the woman beside her.
"I just want to know, what's the deal with this Mal guy," Amber questioned while she returned Shego's gaze.
Shego smiled at hearing the pet name and said, "I'm the only one that can call him that."
"Oh, sorry, but that's the only name I know to call him by…I mean I could call him other names, but it might make you mad," Amber explained with a grin.
Shego shook her head Amber's expression before she said, "No, whatever you called him, he probably deserved to be called."
"Still what's the deal with the…jerk," Amber questioned, causing Shego to laugh at what she called the man, knowing she could have done better, or worse at the insult.
After Shego stopped laughing, she asked. "Your really want to know?" Amber's only response was a nod, which caused Shego to say, "Well, it's hard to describe their relationship…"
"Wait!? Their," Amber interrupted with confusion.
Shego smiled at Amber's confused look before she said, "That's right, you don't know."
"Know what?"
"That I'm a clone of the woman was about to talk about," Shego explained before she sighed and said, "I'm an exact copy of her, I have her memories, I think and feel like her. The only difference is I'm not her."
"Oh, have you tried to be her," Amber stated while what Shego just told her, did not seem to bother her.
"It's not that easy, Amber. At first, after Mal had saved me, I thought I was her, but he helped me realize I wasn't her," Shego explained with sadness because of the memories that surfaced from that time.
"Well, if I woke up one day, and realized I was an exact copy of someone else, I would just continue to be that person because I was still that person," Amber said, which caused Shego to narrow her eyes at the woman for a second.
Shego was not sure if what Amber said was for her, or if the woman was speaking from experience for herself. Just the fleeting thought of Amber being a clone, made Shego wonder, mostly because the woman acted calm over the revelation that she was talking to a clone. She knew most people, even in the time she was in, would be disturbed at the discovery of a clone among them, but with Amber to act like it was not anything new, was odd to Shego.
While Shego let the idea of Amber being a clone fade from her mind, Shego sighed and said, "I'll try. It's hard to describe Mal and…my relationship…" as she trailed off into the story about the love of her life.
Shego settled on describing their relationship as odd compared to other couples, while she used their story to show what she meant. Shego told about the odd event of how the couple met, and how they feel in love. She told about their time together as teens, the things they experienced together, and how they went they own ways only to run into each other again years later. She expressed how she felt at hearing the love of her life's name after he learned who he really was, described the feelings she felt when she thought he was dead again without knowing it was him until he revealed he was still alive by stating her pet name for him.
While she talked about how he walked out after revealing he was still alive, she glanced at Amber and saw she had propped herself upon the table again and was looking at Shego with a dreamy look. Shego smiled at the look and told about how they met again and feel in love again, marrying and living their lives together until she died. After Shego had finished her story, she sighed at the happy and sad memories, she was thankful to enjoy the memories, even if they were never her experiences, and for once she understood what Amber meant about being the person, she thought she was. She enjoyed the idea; it would been easier for her to be the person she was instead of pretending to be someone else she was not. From that point on, she decided she would be the person she remembered being, and never remind herself that she was just a clone, but instead tell herself she was Shego.
After Shego finished her tale, Amber said, "My, from the way you described him, if I was into men, I might have tried to steal him from you."
Shego laughed at the notion, and her laughter caused Amber to question, "What? You don't think I could?"
Shego shook her head at the question and said, "You be wasting your time, his heart belongs to one woman, and no other could ever have it."
"Oh," was all Amber said before she peeked past the tent above them and saw it was late into the evening, before she asked tenderly, "Are you going to be ok?"
"Yeah, I think so," Shego stated with a sigh.
"Well, ok, I feel like going and exploring this place, since this place seemed to be decorated for the right time of the year, I wonder if I could find something I hadn't had in a long time, before it gets dark," Amber said as she rose and started to leave.
Shego watched her leave her side before she said, "Amber, I got a couple things to say before you go."
"What's that, your highness," Amber questioned while she stood just outside the tent.
"Well, will you please try to get along with the clovers," Shego asked while she turned in her chair to look at the woman.
Amber sighed at the request, and Shego knew she was having trouble responding to it, but Amber finally did by saying, "If you want me to, Your Highness, then I will try my best to be nice."
"That's all I'm asking, and Amber I want you to stop calling me….your highness."
"Very well. What am I to call you from now on," Amber stated while she stood at attention when she heard the request.
Shego smiled at the way Amber was acting, before she said, "You don't have to be so formal around me anymore, stop seeing me as your employer, your boss, or even the ruler of this world, we are friends now and that's how I want it to be between us."
Shego watched as Amber relaxed at the idea and smile before she asked, "Still, what am I to call you."
"Just call me…Shelia," Shego answered while she smiled at the name.
Amber turned her head to the side at the name before she said, "Ok, now if you excuse me…Shelia, I'm going to explore," and smiled at the name herself as if she enjoyed calling Shego that.
Shego watched the woman walk away, and saw she even had a skip in her step while she started humming to herself. Right as Amber was to the office for the motel, she stopped and looked at the rubble there, and looked back at Shego while she said, "Somebody might want to do something about these rebar sticking out, before someone gets hurt on them," before she continued her walk.
Shego saw right before Amber disappeared around the corner of the office, Amber started skipping down the sidewalk. Shego could only shake her head at the woman's silliness before she turned in her seat. While she listened to the faded music and sounds on the radio, Shego narrowed her eyes at the speaker with a wondering look.
Before it got dark, Cage had returned and managed to set up a fire in a spot, in the motel parking lot, which was bare earth. He, along with several clovers, went about scavenging wooden furniture from the motel rooms to be used for fuel to burn in the fire. Shego finally joined Cage and the young couple by the fire after she grew tired of the continuous looped song and not understanding what the sounds were saying. After dark fell, Shego wondered where Amber was while she sat by the fire and tried a dinner of military rations the clovers brought with them.
While she picked at the food with a fork, Cage finally asked, "Where is Amber at?"
"I don't know, she went exploring the town, said she wanted to find something…but I thought she be back by now," Shego replied while she gave up on trying the food.
After a moment of silence, a woman's voice questioned from out of the darkness, "You think it's safe to be sitting by a fire at night while an alien invasion is going on?"
At hearing the voice, Cage out of reaction grab his gun and stood, and Shego looked behind her at the source of the voice. Shego smiled at the silhouette of a woman in a blue dress, while the flames flickered and cast light on Amber.
At the realization of it being Amber, Cage relaxed and sat back in his motel chair while he said, "Yes, Amber. I have men out on watch. They let me know if they see or hear anything."
"Well, in that case…" was all Amber said, but she seemed farther away, before everyone heard something being dragged across the parking lot asphalt.
A moment later, everyone saw Amber walking into the light of the fire, dragging a motel chair with her, before she put the chair beside Shego and sat down. Shego smiled at the idea of Amber wanting to sit by her. Even though she never wanted a romantic relationship with the woman, the events from earlier in the day, caused Shego to enjoy her company. If either of them got anything out of their relationship, it be that they knew they had each other and never really be alone.
After a moment of silence, Shego asked, "Find what you were looking for," before she realized a small white stick of some kind was sticking out of Amber's mouth.
"Yep," was all Amber replied happily, before she grasped the white stick and pulled a lollipop out of her mouth, "chocolate toffy filled, candy cane suckers," while she showed the sucker to Shego and asked, "You want one?"
"How old is that thing," Shego questioned jokingly.
Amber shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know, but their still good," before she said loud enough for everyone at the fire to hear her, "I got a whole bag in my room if anyone wants one, " and after no one would take the offer of one of Amber's suckers, she replied, "Suit yourselves, just more for me," before she went back to enjoying her sucker.
Not long after Amber went back to enjoying the candy on a stick, she spoke up again and said, "Cage, could you tell any clovers that's not busy in the morning, to meet me here?"
Cage looked at Shego for a second before he glanced at Amber and said, "Can I ask what for?"
"Well, while I was out, I got a surprise for you clovers," Amber replied happily.
Cage narrowed his eyes at how Amber sounded and asked, "What kind of surprise?"
"It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, now would it," Amber explained cheerfully.
Cage continued to look at Amber with a wondering look before he glanced at Shego, who lowered her eyes at him, causing him to sigh and say, "I pass the word, Amber."
Amber politely said, "Thank you, Cage," before she fell silent again and enjoyed her sucker.
After a moment of silent, Shego heard the woman beside her humming softly, and she would occasionally snicker quietly to herself. She watch the woman alongside her, stare at the dancing flames while she enjoyed her sucker and entertain herself. It amazed Shego, even though the threats they are currently facing, that Amber was not bothered by what was happening in the world. She seemed to have a carefree attitude about the whole situation, which Shego wished she had, but Shego wondered if it was the too many brushes with death the woman has had in short of time or if she was actually like she was in secret all the time, and projected a professional persona whenever it was needed.
After Shego finally got curious enough to ask, she questioned Amber, "What's so funny," after the woman's soft laughter had died down for a moment.
"Oh, I was just thinking about the last time I sat by a fire, was kinda like this, friends and family were there, and…the one I loved as well," Amber answered before she giggled again.
"You know, come to think about it, I think the last time I sat by a fire it was with the same type of people," Shego stated before she smiled at the memory.
"Bet it didn't turn out like mine did," Amber said nearly at a whisper, hinting she wanted only Shego to hear her.
Shego smiled at Amber's meaning, and said, "Well…that depends. So, what happened?"
Shego watched Amber look at the people at the fire and around them, as if she was making sure no one was close enough to them to hear, before she said just above a whisper, "Well, the one I loved whispered to me she wanted to be alone with me, I didn't know what she meant until she told me, I was nervous about whole thing, was something new, but it turned out ok," before Amber sighed and sank into her seat.
Shego laughed softly for a second, causing Amber to look at her with concern before Shego said, "After the last time I sat by a fire, was the first time Mal and I got to…know each other."
"Oh really, how did that turn out," Amber questioned while a smile etched across her face.
"Well…it was awkward, we had no clue what we were doing, but we managed," Shego stated in a near whisper.
After Shego's statement, she heard Amber sigh, before she said, "Wish I knew what he was like."
"Why is that, Amber?"
"Well, I was just thinking if I could pretend to be him for you sometimes, maybe you wouldn't be depressed so much over him," Amber explained, which caused Shego to admire the woman's desire to help her feel better.
"It would take a lot of convincing from you to make me think you were Mal, first you would have to change your eye color," Shego stated with sympathy because she knew the woman wanted to help.
Amber only sighed at the statement, before she asked, "What's wrong with my eye color?"
"Nothing wrong with your eye color, they're just the wrong color. Mal had these sky-blue eyes that I loved…course after his experiment, I never saw them again. I wish I could have seen them again after we got back together…but there was nothing that could be done."
"Well…there's no way I can change my eye color," Amber stated in defeat.
Shego smiled at Amber, before saying, "Well, if you could I might look past the fact you're a woman, if you ever pretended to be him."
The women fell silent for a moment while they watched the fire before them. Shego heard the young couple at the fire, laugh about something. Right as she as about look at the couple, she saw Amber rise in her chair and stare at them. She saw Amber slowly pull her sucker out while continuing to stare at the couple.
Right as Amber as about to say something, Shego whispered, "Don't, Amber. Let them have their moment. Who knows what tomorrow may bring."
Her words caused Amber to freeze in place for a moment, before she sank back in her seat and went back to enjoying her sucker. Shego smiled at the ability to change the woman's whole mindset. Although, she felt Amber was being overprotective of Hope, she knew the woman was just watching out for Hope, just like she had done for so many years. It was a quality Shego admired about the woman, she would at the best of her ability carry out every task she was assigned.
After some time of silent and enjoying the fire, Shego remembered something from her past, and she said, "You know, Amber. I beginning to think you could actually be like Mal."
"Why you think that," Amber replied while she glanced at Shego.
"Oh, it's just how you are with Hope, Mal was the same way with…Sheena. While I was sick and, in the hospitals, Sheena would tell me about how her dad would be judgmental over any boy she was interested in," Shego explained while smiling at the memories.
Amber remained silent for a moment after Shego's words, but finally said, "Maybe he saw things she was too young to see," which caused Shego to narrow her eyes at the woman.
At seeing the look Shego was giving Amber, Amber said, "Hey, I'm not defending the guy. Matter fact, if he showed up right now, I be the first in line to kick his tail. I'm just stating a possibility."
"You may very well be the only one that could," Shego replied while she thought about the idea of seeing the two individuals fight with their martial arts knowledge.
After Shego's statement, the women feel silent again and stared at the flames before them. Shego did not how long she sat there in silence; time was not calculated while she thought about her past. All the events in her life, even her former self's life, could not prepare her for what was going on in the world. Finally, the flames and being lost in her thoughts caused Shego to become drowsy, and she told Amber good night while she beckoned Hope to follow her as she headed to bed.
Hope however protested being forced to leave Jes, which caused Amber to say, "Go on, Hope. I keep the kid company," before she winked at Jes. Her wink and possible reference to company, caused Hope to look at her with anger, and Jes to look concerned.
Amber laughed at the couples looks before she said, "Not that kind of company! Hope, you should know better."
Amber's words seemed to calm Hope's fears and she reluctantly left Jes' side and followed Shego to their room. The three still at the fire watched the women walk into the shroud of darkness before they returned their looks to the fire.
After a moment, Amber spoke up and said, "May I ask the two of you to do something for me?"
"And what would that be," Cage questioned without taking his eyes off the fire.
Amber sighed and said, "I want the both of you to promise you will keep them safe if something happens to me."
"We'll try our best," Jes replied before he looked from the fire to Amber.
Amber shook her head at the reply and said, "I don't want you to try, I want you to keep them safe."
"We will, Amber," Cage answered before he glanced up at Amber.
Cage's words seemed to satisfied Amber's request because she went silent and went back to staring at the fire, while the men with her did as well.
A blue skinned man looked through a pair binoculars while he observed a fire in the distance. He would occasionally peek beside him at the green skinned man who was observing the fire as well with binocular. The two men were studying three people by the fire, two were men and the other was a woman. They watched the three people staring at the fire and doing nothing else of importance.
After a moment of looking through the binoculars again, the blue man asked, "Is the signal coming from those humans?"
"No, Your Highness, the signal is coming from the woods behind us," the green man said while he peeked at a device in his hand, which showed the areas geography and a single dot on its map, "I have teams searching the woods for him now. Should we attack these humans?"
"Yes, it might lure…" Calamous began to say but he trailed of in speech when he saw the woman sitting at the fire, slowly raise her head and seemly started to look right at him.
He narrowed his eyes at the sight while he watched the woman and he questioned, "Can they see us?"
The Lowardian beside him replied, "No, Your Highness, humans can not see in the dark."
"Are you sure? That female by the fire acts like she's looking right at us," Calamous asked while he glanced away from the binoculars in his hand.
"Which female, Your Highness," the Lowardian question while he strained his eyes to locate the woman Calamous was talking about.
Calamous groaned in annoyance before saying, "The only one by the fire."
"I'm sorry, sir, but the only female I see is looking at the fire," the Lowardian explained beside him.
Calamous only narrowed his eyes at the green skinned man's statement before he looked through his binoculars. The moment he saw the woman again, he saw she still was looking seemly right at him. Calamous narrowed his eyes at the sight, and to his amazement, he saw the woman wink at him. Before he even question what he just saw, he watched the color of the woman's eyes glow golden in color just for a second before the glow disappeared and the woman's eyes were normal looking again. Right as Calamous was about to question the Lowardian beside him about the strange sight, the binoculars in Calamous' hands began to shake. A second after it started to shake, the binoculars broke into hundreds of pieces and fell at Calamous' feet. Calamous watched the binocular break and fall to his feet in bewilderment, before he looked right at the fire in the distance.
"Sir…are you ok," the Lowardian beside Calamous questioned after hearing the commotion of the binoculars beside him.
Calamous was transfixed at what just happened, but hearing the question, he asked while sounding shocked, "What…what do you mean?"
"Sir, your nose," was all the Lowardian said while he looked at Calamous.
Calamous narrowed his eyes at the Lowardian, confused at what the Lowardian said, before he felt something start to drip onto his lip. Out of reaction, Calamous felt of his lip, and to his amazement when he looked at his finger, he saw his own blood. He went wide eyed at the sight and he shot his look back at the fire while he snatched the binoculars from the Lowardian beside him. When he saw the people around the fire again, they all were staring at the fire, even the woman. Calamous narrowed his eyes at the sight and wondered if he imagined everything he just witnessed until he thought he saw a smirk briefly appeared on the woman's face.
"Should we attack those human," the Lowardian questioned again while he stared at Calamous.
Calamous shook his head to the question before he said, "No, wait until first light, we don't know what we are dealing with."
"Very well, Your Highness," was all the green man said before he started to leave Calamous.
"Commander get in touch with Admiral Wardom and have him inform the High Council that their long sought-after revenge will come tomorrow," Calamous said while he watched the Lowardian walking toward the massive Lowardian camp.
"Yes, sir," was all the Lowardian replied as he descended the hill, heading to the camp.
"And commander, inform the mortar teams, if they see that female by the fire, in the open tomorrow…target her," Calamous commanded before he peeked back at the fire with his naked eyes.
After word had reached Lowardia of the impending victory over Earth, the Lowardian home world went into a world wide celebration. Every where on the planet there was dancing, native music playing, and feasting. The festivals started off slow and built momentum until it became a feverish pitch, the saturnalia was never ending and animated.
As the new holiday for the Lowardians went into the night, the world wide event did not show any signs of slowing down. The capital of the planet saw most of the festivities as the entire population of the city were in the streets, celebrating the removal of their greatest shame. However, late into the night, the celebrations at the capital came to an abrupt stop when the speakers that were being used to play the native music, stopped playing music and after a moment static, popping, and crackling sounds started to be hear over the speakers. After a long, eerie silence amongst the crowds, the sounds stopped playing and "Santa came to town," started playing on the speakers.
The Lowardians were bewildered to hear an unknown song play over the speakers, and they questioned what was going on as the song played. The moment the song stopped playing, the city was lit up by a bright white light, and to the horror of the Lowardians, a large beam of white energy shot from the heavens and struck their High Council building at the center of the capital, turning the building into rubble and fire. As the Lowardians gasped at the sight, many look to the sky and to their amazement, a massive fleet of ships started to fill the skies over the capital. They did not recognize the ships that made up the fleet, and the sheer number of ship frightened them.
While the Lowardians studied the grey, partisan spearhead shaped ships, they saw swarms of small craft of similar shape and color, start to leave the ships and descend toward the city. The Lowardians started to run down the streets in horror at the sight of the crafts heading right at the crowds, of once celebrators, as if the crafts were about to strafe the crowds.
A/N 2: I thought of something to try at the end of chapters. It is basically a teaser to following chapters.
"Keep them safe…until they arrive"
"Inform the fleet to prepare for the fight of their lives."
"Relax, ma'am, I'm one of the good guys"
Next Chapter: Here Comes the Cavalry?