I hate editing my own work, but in this case, it has been totally necessary. This thing has more holes than a minefield, so I'm going through it with a comb, finding and removing all the weird bits, and hopefully making it a reasonably good story. I hope.
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Chapter Five: Family Reunion
Bunny awoke the next morning from a restless sleep. Now that she knew Rokusho was still alive, she had barely slept at all, most of the time thinking 'What if he doesn't recognize me? What if it really isn't Rokusho after all?' Because of it, she had awoken at 6:00 and decided that trying to sleep any longer was futile. So she got up, dressed and walked into the dark living room, where it was still quiet. At 7:00, Mrs. Tenryou came into the kitchen to start breakfast, and a few minutes later, Ikki walked drowsily out of his room, dressed, but definitely not awake completely. When he had gained sufficient consciousness, he looked across the table at Bunny.
"What are you doing today?" He asked while attempting to suppress a yawn.
"I should probably look around for an apartment. I wouldn't want to wear out my welcome. Plus I have that appointment with Dr. Aki that he had rescheduled."
"Nonsense." Cut in Ikki's mother. "We love having you here. It's so nice to have company." Bunny managed a complacent smile.
"Nevertheless, I should look at least. Do you have a newspaper?" She looked around, not seeing one around the house. Mrs. Tenryou looked thoughtful.
"You know, I don't think so. Ikki's father reads it, but he's on a business trip, so we don't have any recent ones around. No matter. I need to do some grocery shopping today, so you can come with me, and pick one up." Ikki looked confused.
"Why are you worrying about an apartment? Shouldn't you be looking for Rokusho?"
"If I go looking around the city for him, I'll just get lost. Either he'll find me or We'll find him later today."
Mrs. Tenryou looked at the clock.
"You should get going Ikki, you'll be late!" Ikki quickly finished off his food, picked up his bag, and ran out the door.
"Bye Mom! See you Bunny!" And then he disappeared around the corner. After he had gone, a voice came from Ikki's bedroom.
"Psst! Is he gone?" Metabee's head poked around the doorframe. Quicksilver gave him a funny look, or at least if she was capable of making facial expressions.
"Why are you hiding Metabee?" She asked.
"I didn't feel like going with him today." He said simply.
"While you three watch TV, I'll clean up a bit, and then we'll go."
"I'd like to help, Mrs. Tenryou, if you don't mind. Frankly, I just need something to occupy myself." Said Bunny.
"Alright, if you want." The two women began the task of putting the house into order, while Quicksilver and Metabee positioned themselves on the couch for some quality television time. An hour later, the house was in no less than excellent shape, and Bunny and Ikki's mother prepared to leave.
"Do you want me to come with you Bunny?" asked Quicksilver. She got up off the couch. Metabee jumped up as well.
"I'll come too!!" Metabee cried enthusiastically.
"Are you sure?" Asked Bunny, "You might miss some crucial plot developments." She teased, referring to his soap operas.
"No problem! Brass is taping them for me, cause our VCR's still busted." Bunny looked at him questioningly.
"If you weren't going to watch TV, why bother staying home? She asked suspiciously. Metabee almost looked embarrassed.
"Actually," He began, "I stayed behind because I was going to go look for Rokusho on my own. If I didn't find him, then I would of kept looking when everyone else showed up." Quicksilver clapped her hands together.
"That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard." She said giddily. She became serious. "I have an idea! While you two are shopping, Metabee and I will look around for Rokusho. With the both of us, it'll double our chances of finding him!" Bunny then smiled in a way that made her eyes sparkle, something that hadn't happened for a long time.
"Great idea!" agreed Metabee, "Me and Silver will find him in no time!" Quicksilver gave the medabot equivalent of a blush at the newly acquired nickname.
"Ask Brass too. If you're gonna look, you might as well have as many in on it as you can." Added Bunny
"Good. It'll be good for you to be outside anyway. Let's get going shall we?" Said Ikki's mom sweetly.
Metabee, followed by Quicksilver, rushed out the door toward the school, to fetch Brass, and then they would scour the city for Rokusho. Mrs. Tenryou and Bunny got into the small family car, and puttered (what a great word) off toward the local grocery establishment.
* * *
While Bunny and Mrs. T were getting groceries (there were in the checkout line at that very moment, if you want specifics), Metabee, Quicksilver, Brass, Nutranurse and Sumilodon were scouring the city high and low for a certain medabot. How did they get a hold of Sumilodon and Neutranurse you ask? Lets just say that technology is a wonderful thing, that and Quicksilver had been given Karin's cell number the day before.
Sumilodon and Quicksilver had begun an amiable conversation and were having a good time of it, when Metabee decided that Sumilodon was being a little more friendly than he liked, so, when Quicksilver turned to speak with Brass, he shot Sumilodon a death glare which, in no uncertain terms stated 'Back off if you know what's good for you.' Luckily, Sumilodon got the message and wisely backed off and talked to Nutranurse instead. Quicksilver was completely unaware of the exchange between the two.
So they were all over the place looking for Rokusho, and they found him, sitting, no less, underneath a giant oak tree, which the author had conveniently placed in a strategic location knowing that Rokusho loves sitting under or near gigantic trees, in the middle of strangely, located forests.
Metabee called out to him. "Hey Rokusho!! Over here!!" Rokusho looked up and saw four medabots coming towards him. He could see the small outline of a fifth medabot, but it was covered in shadows and moving too slowly for him to identify it. Rokusho rose from his sitting position to greet his young friends.
"Good morning." He greeted. "What brings you out here this morning?"
"We came looking for you actually." Said Sumilodon. (Hey he speaks!! Cool!) Rokusho looked puzzled.
"Why?" Brass was practically jumping with excitement.
"We have a surprise for you." She pointed off in the direction of the slowly approaching Quicksilver. Rokusho looked toward the still shadowed medabot, but the outline was becoming clearer. Pointed ears, delicate looking limbs, and colours could be seen. Silver with turquoise-blue accents. Rokusho's circuits gave a jump and he felt like he would stop functioning of shock right then.
"Quicksilver." He had dreamed of this moment for so long, and now that it was actually happening, he couldn't believe it was real.
"Rokusho." Quicksilver, who had given up hope of ever finding him again, was filled with an indescribable feeling that she felt was going to burst at any moment. The two just stood in front of each other for several minutes, neither saying a word, but each instinctively knowing what the other was thinking. Brass, Neutranurse and Sumilodon seemed to understand this and stepped back to give them some privacy.
Metabee on the other hand, didn't know what the Hell was going on and said so.
"KIYKIYKIY!!" He yelled. "You haven't seen each other for years, and you're just gonna stand there?! Say something to each other."
Quicksilver moved first, and suddenly Rokusho found himself to be enveloped in a warp speed medabot bear hug, which he returned when he had recovered from his own shock.
"I missed you so much Rokusho!!" cried Quicksilver. "I thought you were gone, and I'd given up on ever seeing you again!"
"I to had given up hope of seeing you as well, but it appears Fate has finally decide to give us a reprieve from our suffering."
"Bunny will be so happy!! We'll be together again!"
"As will I." Metabee did a double take.
"Hey! You knew Bunny was here?" Rokusho released Quicksilver and turned to his young and brash friend.
"Yes I did. I've been watching her for two days now." Metabee was fuming again.
"Then why didn't you say anything?!!"
"At first I wasn't sure whether it was her," He began logically. "But then I saw her with Quicksilver and then I was positive. I was simply waiting for the right moment to approach them, where we could be alone. But now that you're here," he said indicating Quicksilver, "All that is left is to go see little Elizabeth." He looked around. "Why isn't she with you now?" he gently reprimanded Quicksilver. Quicksilver managed to look admonished.
"She's looking for an apartment with Mrs. Tenryou. Bunny is hardly the terror she was a child. She's grown up quite a bit."
Rokusho sighed. "I know. I wish I hadn't missed these years with the two of you. There's so much I want to know." Metabee let out what sounded like a war cry. Why? I don't know.
"Let's go then!! The sooner we get there, the more time you have to talk!" He ran off in the general direction of the school, and the rest ran after him, Quicksilver keeping a slower pace to run with Rokusho.
'Soon we'll be a family again.' She thought. 'Now maybe we can stop wandering.'
* * * *
A four o'clock, they were all (people as well as Medabots) gathered in Lotus Park, minus one person of course.
"Where's Bunny?" asked Erika. "She was supposed to be here." Without a word, Rokusho went to the nearest tree, and leaped up into it. He climbed to the very top, and peered out from among the branches, searching the nearby landscape.
"Hey, didn't she say she had that appointment with Dr. Aki this morning? And she was looking for a place to live." asked Ikki. Except for Quicksilver and Metabee, everyone else looked confused.
"That must be it. She's just running a little late." Metabee reassured Quicksilver.
"Exactly how long are we going to wait around?" asked Koji impatiently, glancing at his watch. Metabee glared at the snobby little rich kid. (I really don't like Koji. Don't ask why, I just don't.)
"As long as it takes!!" he yelled. Karin stepped in before a fight could start.
"I'm willing to wait around for a while. This is important." Koji's attitude suddenly made a full 180-degree turn.
"I am too!" he said quickly. Thinking fast, he tried to justify his words before Karin. "I just meant, that maybe we…ah…should go look for her instead." 'Good save' he thought to himself.
"Maybe we should go look for her." Agreed Ikki.
"She's pretty new around here, so she may have gotten lost around town." Added Erika.
Suddenly they heard a voice from a distance away.
"Hey guys!!! Sorry I'm late!!" They turned toward the voice, and lo! There was Bunny running at an almost breakneck speed towards them. Rokusho jumped down from the tree, and stood beside Quicksilver, waiting for Bunny to spot him.
'Good.' Thought Bunny. 'They haven't left yet. There's Karin, Erika, Ikki, Koji, their medabots, Quicksilver, and…HOLY FUCK!!!'(I say this when I'm really surprised by something.) About twenty feet away from the group, she grinded to a halt, falling ungracefully onto her butt in surprise. Everyone else ran toward her, some smiling, others concerned. Quicksilver ran faster than the rest (well duh!), jumping into her best friends arms, hugging her.
"Look who we found!" she cried excitedly. Everyone moved out of the way, and Rokusho stepped forward, standing in front of the two he had searched for, for so long.
Time seemed to stand still and all sound ceased, and the three just stared at each other, as if not quite believing that this was truly happening. Then, as if struck by lightning, Rokusho moved forward and embraced his family. The silence broke, and the air was filled with laughter, crying, and half-heard questions.
Bunny had been late, because after finding a suitable apartment, she had returned to Medabot Corp. to see Dr. Aki. She has a job there now, working with Miss Caviar on whatever it is that Miss Caviar does. Our young friends wisely departed, to leave the three to catch up on 15 years of lost time. After it had become dark, they made their way to Ikki's where they would spend their final night, before moving to their new home. Rokusho suggested that they go back to Medabot Corp. and surprise Baton, who still had no idea about anything that had occurred during the last few days.
* * * In the same undisclosed location as last time. * *
"Is everything ready to proceed?" asked a raspy voiced shadow from within a television set.
"Yes, oh evil one." Answered the one known as Shrimplips. "Through our reconnaissance, we have devised a flawless plan in which we will be able to capture the subjects without anyone noticing. * Snicker * for a while at least."
"Excellent, excellent. For once, you have proven yourselves not completely worthless. Proceed with the operation as soon as you are prepared. Deliver them both to me." The light from the TV set blinked out, leaving the room in a perpetual darkness.
"So…what's the plan?" WHACK!! "Ow, what was that for?"
"Stop being such an idiot, Squidguts." Rebuked Shrimplips.
"Actually, I want to know the plan too, you haven't told us anything yet." Interjected Seaslug.
"Oh, right. Well, I actually haven't come up with a plan yet, but I wasn't about to tell the boss that." Shrimplips to his fellow Rubber-Robos.
"What's reconnaissance mean?" WHACK! "Ow. Sorry."
"We'll follow them around for a while, and wait for them to establish a routine. Once we do that, I'll be able to come up with a plan for kidnapping without anyone else seeing." Reasoned the minute Shrimplips.
"That sounds easy enough. We'll just have to work out the timing." Praised Gillgirl.
When he was finished, there was a profound silence, and then the sound of malevolent laughter could be heard outside. The laughter grew distant as a dark figure that had been listening moved quickly towards a great building where two people were waiting for him. He had to warn them, for the plan had been set into motion and would take place within the next few days. The Phantom Renegade knew he had to warn Rokusho so he could keep an eye on Bunny and Quicksilver. He didn't know what they were planning, but he could bet that it wasn't good.
Inside a secret room at the Medabot HQ, hushed voices could barely be heard.
"I can understand why they would want Quicksilver, but why Elizabeth? What use is she to them?"
"I'm not sure Rokusho." Answered Dr. Aki. "But it must mean that Dr. Meta-Evil knows something we don't."
"We should all keep an eye on the both of them. We must always make sure they are not alone at any time." Spoke the Phantom. Dr. Aki thought about it.
"That won't be a problem while she's here at work or at home, but it's the time in between that worries me."
"I'll take care of that." Rokusho said. "I can go with them to and from work."
"And I will patrol around her block for any Rubber-Robos that might be around and get rid of them." Agreed the Phantom.
With the plan relatively resolved Rokusho departed. The Phantom left as well, saying he had some things to take care of elsewhere. That left Dr. Aki to ponder.
'Why do they want Elizabeth?' he thought. 'What do you know Meta-Evil, that we don't? It has to be something related to Dr. Hushi's research, but what could Elizabeth possibly know? She was still a child at the time.' Dr. Aki continued to ponder in the darkness.
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I still hate editing, but my story is starting to sound believable, so that's one thing. Now that I know how to edit properly, maybe I can start on my Yu-Gi-Oh Story next…maybe, or not. I have a lot of work to do.