{Author's notes: If you want to see more story (and more humour) for this
series, visit my site. You'll also find out where some of these characters
are from.}
It was night time and everyone on the A.S.H. base was currently asleep, with the possible exception of O.D.I.E., the base's only fully-robotic warrior. Several members of the A.S.H. squad were extremely tired, as the recent mission with Gremio took them all day to do, but none of the team was as tired as Skid McMarx, who found himself chasing Dr. Wily all over Endor for half of the mission.
Currently, one man lay in his room, asleep. However, it didn't look like he was sleeping very well, as he was tossing and turning constantly. It was quite obvious that he was having a nightmare. He had a full head of blonde hair and was in his 30's. Resting aside on the bedside table was a red and white bandana. A long, red pole was leaning against the dresser not too far away.
Billy Kane suddenly started moaning in his sleep. At first, it didn't sound like much, but it soon sounded like Billy was moaning someone's name.
Suddenly, Billy's eyes snapped open as he bolted upright in his bed, into a sitting position, sweating buckets. He breathed heavily, trying desperately to prevent himself from crying out, but managed to keep his shouts in, as he didn't want to wake up Tron, who slept in the room next to him.
Billy sighed to himself. "I've been having that dream for weeks now." He whispered. "I really wish that I could just dream about something else other than that."
But Billy knew better. That dream was permanently engraved in his head, as it was a memory of what had happened to him before he joined A.S.H. He knew that his sister had been dead for a good while now, but Billy still couldn't get it out of his head. Not only was Lily the only family he had left but he felt responsible for her murder. He looked away for a mere second to see if the monster responsible for countless deaths already was coming and she was attacked from behind.
Again, Billy sighed. He got out of bed dressed in his pajama pants and quickly threw on his jacket before stepping out of the door to his room.
Billy quietly walked down the hallways of the base, trying not to wake anyone up. The British man crept through the base, walking towards the dining area.
A few minutes later, Billy walked through the doorway leading into the huge dining area. Because the dining area was closed, all of the chairs were sitting on top of the different tables scattered around. Billy's destination was the room-length bay window on the far wall, overlooking the countless stars and Kerwan's moon. Billy walked around several tables until he finally arrived at the window.
Placing his hands behind his back, Billy looked out the window and sighed. Looking around at the scene before him, he saw the usual sights. A shooting star flying off in the distance as a spaceship containing detective Phoenix and his robotic partner QQQ was just taking off into lightspeed, zooming off into another galaxy. Billy quickly saw Landis going out for his usual midnight swim, doing the backstroke in space with no space suit. How he was able to do that questioned most of the A.S.H. base, but everyone had grown so used to it that they never asked him.
Looking out into space, Billy could've sworn that an image was appearing in front of his eyes. Billy realized that it was just his imagination, as the image turned out to be a giant still shot of the head and shoulders of Billy's deceased sister, Lily. He closed his eyes and sniffed, thinking about how much he missed her.
"Hey, what're you doing up at this hour, Billy?" A voice asked from behind.
Billy's eyes snapped open as he quickly wiped his eyes. Turning around, Billy saw the normally psychotic gangster Ryuji Yamazaki walking into the dining area with a glass of milk.
Even before joining A.S.H., Yamazaki and Billy had known each other, although they weren't exactly the best of friends. They had entered a fighting tournament called 'King of Fighters' on the same team on two occasions, and neither of them ended well. One year, Yamazaki broke into the office of crime boss Geese Howard, Billy's employer, and leaped at him and Billy, demanding pay. The other year, Yamazaki turned on his two teammates, one of them being Billy. The British fighter wasn't exactly thrilled when the third member of the team, Gato, deserted them, leaving Billy to face the psychotic lunatic alone.
However, all that rivalry was put aside when Electro invaded Southtown and started killing everyone he laid eyes on. During the fight with Electro, the battle that most of the fighters in Southtown went up against the lightning-powered super villain, a stray bolt of lightning struck Yamazaki in the face. He and Billy were the only fighters in the group that survived the battle. Even Geese Howard, the most vile man in the city, fell before Electro's onslaught. As quick as he could, Billy got Yamazaki some help, which turned out to be the doctors for the A.S.H. base. Yamazaki survived, but a small part of his face, going from his right eye all the way to his right ear, was now robotic.
Since then, Yamazaki realized that there were better things to fight for rather than money. He agreed to fight alongside A.S.H. and is now a member of the psycho team, consisting of him, Landis and Iggy Koopa.
"I should be asking you the same question." Billy replied.
Yamazaki lifted his glass into the air to show it to Billy. "I was thirsty." He said simply as he walked over towards Billy. "Is Landis out there swimming again?"
Billy smirked. "Isn't he always?" He quizzed.
The cyborg chuckled. "I guess." He said as he took another sip of his milk. He turned his head towards Billy again. "You never really answered my question. What ARE you doing up?"
Billy looked down, closed his eyes and sighed. "I had that dream again." He said.
"Not the one about the squirrels and the acorns again." Yamazaki moaned.
Billy shook his head angrily. "No! It was the Southtown memory again."
Yamazaki suddenly realized what Billy was talking about and sighed. "Billy, you don't have to blame yourself over it." He said. "You didn't know where that freak was. I was there, remember?"
The Britain man cast the psycho a glare. "Yeah, but you were practically rolling on the ground, complaining from the lightning bolt in the face." He accused. "How would you know what was going on?"
Yamazaki shrugged. "Just instincts, I guess." He replied. He then sighed. "You've really got to get your mind off of that dream, Billy."
"How?" Billy asked. "I miss her! She was all I had left and she was taken from me in an instant!"
Yamazaki looked at Billy, surprisingly serious for once. "If Lily was here now, would she want you to spend the rest of your life mourning her?" He asked.
Billy paused, not able to come up with an answer. He exhaled once. "No. I guess not." He said in defeat.
"Hey." The cyborg psycho said, pointing out the window, straight at the planet Kerwan below. "Why don't you take some time off and go to Kerwan for the day tomorrow?" He asked. "I'm sure that the base can manage without you for at least a day."
Billy was silent for a few seconds before a slight smile came upon his face. "Thanks, Yamazaki." He said. "I might just do that."
Yamazaki nodded with a smirk. "No prob, Bob." He said as he finished his glass of milk. He turned back towards Billy. "I'm gonna go back to bed. See ya tomorrow."
The blonde man nodded as Yamazaki turned around and walked out of the dining area.
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Morning came and the halls of the A.S.H. base were once again filled with the many inhabitants. While most of the inhabitants were fighters, a good number of the occupants of the base weren't fighting members, such as Prof. E. Gadd, Eike the librarian, Plum, the admiral's niece and, of course, the group of reformed Goombas.
Billy walked down the hallways, hands in his pockets. He had left his staff back in his room, feeling that he didn't need it today. His only worry was that Captain Churro the discoloured Tweeter would eat it.
The young man walked up to the admiral's office and knocked on the door gently. He knew how high-strung Admiral Arbuckle was, and wanted to make sure that he didn't knock on the door too hard.
"Come in." A voice on the other side of the door said.
Hearing permission, Billy grabbed the handle of the door and opened it, walking into the office. Admiral Arbuckle was sitting at his desk, sorting a handful of papers.
"Ah, Billy!" Jon said as he saw Billy come into the room. "Good morning to you!"
"You to, sir." Billy replied.
"So what brings you to my office today?" The admiral asked.
Billy sighed. "I woke up in the middle of the night because of the Southtown memory again." He said. "Yamazaki said that it would be a good idea to get some fresh air." He sighed. "Sir, I'm here to ask your permission to take the day off and go for a walk of Kerwan. I'll be back in the evening."
Jon pondered this for a few seconds before looking back up at Billy and smiling warmly. "Of course, Billy." He said. "You done a lot during the past few weeks and I really think that you DO need some time to clear you head."
Billy smiled in return and nodded once. "Thank you, sir." He turned around and prepared to walk out of the door again.
"Oh, Billy?" Admiral Arbuckle said.
Billy looked over his shoulder. "Yes, sir?"
"I know that you're supposed to be taking time off, but I need to ask for a favour." Jon replied. "If you get the time, I'd like you to visit Big Al and see if he knows anything of interest."
Billy nodded. "Not a problem, sir." He replied. "And thanks again."
With that, Billy walked out of the admiral's office and continued walking down the hallways of the base, walking past the different people also part of the base.
Billy continued walking until he arrived at another door, one that had a sign that read 'Transporter Room' on it. Smirking to himself, Billy pushed open the door and went inside. Inside was a moderately big room with a big, clear, glass chamber in the middle of it. Sitting at the side of the room, at a control panel, was a young man with blonde hair, dressed in a striped shirt and brown vest. He wore a floppy, red cap on his head and there were freckles on his cheeks. A green parrot was resting on his shoulder.
This was Scott, a former trader. He joined the same war as Reed, Kathy, Eike and Cecile and his job was to run the trading shop to help the castle make more money. After the war, Scott set off on a journey to find some rare items to trade for some money so he could open a bigger and better trade shop one day. His green parrot, Waurenhyte, had learnt to speak on his own long ago, without Scott's help.
Scott eventually found himself on Katina in search of some rare minerals. However, this was just before Erode's forces invaded the planet. Scott was rescued by a team from A.S.H. and offered to join the base in thanks. Because he isn't much of a fighter, his current job is to run the transporter that would take a strike team down to Kerwan.
"Morning, Billy!" Scott greeted cheerfully. "You taking a trip down to Kerwan?"
Billy nodded. "That I am, Scott." He said as he walked towards the transport chamber.
"Have a good trip!" Waurenhyte called from Scott's shoulder.
"Thanks, buddy." Billy said as he entered the chamber. He stood in the center circle on the floor and looked at the young man at the controls. "Beam me down, Scotty!"
Scott sighed as he pulled a lever down, activating the transporter. "We're SO gonna get sued for that."
"Ain't that the truth." Waurenhyte agreed as he watched Billy vanish into thin air.
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When the white light cleared away, Billy was able to see again. Looking around, he saw that he was on Kerwan's surface on a clear, sunny day. He also saw that he was on the ground surface of the planet, while the platforms leading to Big Al's Robo Shack were high above the streets. While there were many, many hovercars floating close to the streets on the ground, there were just as many flying high above the streets, around the streets of the sky.
The reason that the A.S.H. base floats above Kerwan isn't just because the planet is a constant target for Erode's forces. The other reason is because A.S.H. has several allies on the planet.
First of all, there's Big Al. He runs a Robo Shack high above the streets and has helped Prof. E. Gadd with several robotic inventions, including the original designs for O.D.I.E. While he may be considered a nerd when it comes to robotics, Al's proven to be a valuable source of info when it comes to locating Erode's henchmen. Al has flying camera probes flying all over the planet and can locate am emergency in a flash. In fact, he usually reports the emergency to A.S.H. a good while before the leader of the planet does.
Second, there's Heavy D!. He used to be part of a three-man team called the USA Sports Team. Heavy D! and his friends Lucky Glauber and Brian Battler entered the King of Fighters tournament in 1994, but didn't get very far. The team was one of the most unique in the competition, because all three of the members fought differently. Heavy D! used boxing moves, Lucky combined basketball with karate and Brian used his brute strength combined with football techniques. Years after getting rejected from entering the tournament countless times, the team finally disbanded. This proved to be just in time, as Erode's forces invaded shortly after all three of the team left Southtown. To make a long story short, Heavy D! lost contact with his friends and ended up on Kerwan. When he heard of A.S.H., he decided that he would help out from the sidelines. Like Big Al, Heavy D! provides info for A.S.H., but this type of info is the super-secret kind, such as secret hideouts for gangsters or henchmen of Erode. No one questions how he gets this information.
Finally, there's a trio of robotic soldiers called the Shrub Patrol. They were involved in a war, fighting alongside a trio of mismatched individuals. The leader of the team was an Australian human named Roman, who was a master with weapons. The second was a Scottish mole named Jonsey, the explosives expert of the team. Thirdly, there was the tea-drinking, British robot named Q, the powerhouse. Originally, the three robots weren't programmed to fight, but rather to tend to the gardening. A quick adjustment in the circuit board was all it took to turn the three emotionless greenhouse robots into robotic war heroes that were extremely talented with guns. However, the memory of protecting the plants was still in the heads of all three. Rather than fight to win the war, the Shrub Patrol fought to protect the smallest of flowers. The only way Roman could get them to help out was to tell them that every soldier on the opposing army ate salad. Now, all three members of the Shrub Patrol guard the streets of Kerwan, protecting the plants from any harm. They're weirder than Erode's army of Stormtroopers, but they're valuable allies.
Billy looked up at the platforms floating high in the air. "I guess I'd better go see Big Al first." He said to himself. "That'll get my only chore done quickly."
Billy walked towards a circular platform at the side of one of the buildings and stepped on. No sooner did he step on completely when the platform started lifting itself from the ground, shooting high into the air up to the floating platforms.
The trip quickly came to an end, as Billy soon found himself up on the floating platforms. Billy stepped off, onto a bridge connecting the tops of two building, where the platforms were. The young man started walking across the bridge, looking down to the giant statue of a man holding a wrench above his head. This statue was positioned just above the entrance to Big Al's Robo Shack.
Billy continued walking along the winding paths to Big Al's place, walking past the many flowers that the Shrub Patrol had planted. The staff-wielder bit his lip, hoping that he wouldn't run into any of the whacked-out robots during his trek. Every time anyone passes, they're forced to say that stupid password, and Billy thought that he had already said it way too many times.
Sadly, his wish wasn't granted. He saw the leader of the Shrub Patrol marching around on a straight path, making his rounds. Suddenly, the robot saw Billy coming and jerked to attention, pulling out his gun and aiming it at Billy's head.
"Freeze, scumbag!" The leader of the Shrub Patrol ordered. "What's the password?!"
Billy sighed as he raised his fist into the air. "Death to the salad eaters." He moaned.
The robot shoved his own fist into the air. "Death to the salad eaters!!!" He cried. He lowered his gun and stood aside. "You may pass."
Billy nodded as he continued walking.
Sooner than later, Billy arrived at the entrance to Big Al's shop. Walking inside, Billy saw the large, orange, fuzzy, four-fingered creature standing behind the counter of his shop. Al's extra large shirt that said the name of his store was just large enough to cover his fairly large stomach, and the white lab coat was also just big enough, but it had to be unbuttoned for Al to wear. Resting on his head was a strange-looking headset with a miniature microscope attached. Currently, Al was working on the head of a Stormtrooper. He had informed everyone not to worry about it, as he was trying to use old Stormtrooper parts combined with used parts from hovercars or old machines in order to make the ultimate robotic warrior to fight Dr. Erode.
Hearing someone enter his shop, Big Al looked up from his current project and stared at the door, where Billy was just walking through. He brightened. "Billy! It's good to see you!" He said as Billy walked over to the counter. "Pretty much the only people that come in here nowadays are the Shrub Patrol." He leaned against the counter. "Well, what can I do for you?"
Looking back and forth, Billy looked at Al. "The admiral asked me to come here. He wants to know if you've seen anything suspicious lately." He said.
"Besides the Shrub Patrol?" Big Al joked, earning a light chuckle from Billy. He suddenly turned deadly serious. "You're not gonna like this, Billy, but one of my probes picked up a floating figure in green flying around the planet."
Billy's eyes snapped open. "A flying figure in green?!" He whispered. "You mean that it's-"
Al interrupted with a nod. "Electro."
Billy couldn't believe what he was hearing. The very man he despised the most was possibly flying around Kerwan doing who-knows-what. Slowly, he nodded at Big Al. "Thanks, Al." He said as he started turning around. "I'll see you around."
With that, Billy left Big Al's Robo Shack, still in shock. He had only come to Kerwan to relax for the day! How was he able to relax now that he knew that Electro was on the same planet as him?
After leaving Al's shop, Billy walked towards the nearest elevator platform that was going down. Stepping on it, the young man was carried down towards the ground, which was hundreds of feet below.
After the platform arrived on the ground, Billy stepped off and started walking down the sidewalk, staring off into space. Every time he thought about Electro, he was reminded of that awful day in Southtown.
(Flashback)
Three lone figures ran down the streets of Southtown, running past the dead bodies and burning buildings. Well, two of them were running. The male of the two was aiding the third person in running, the injured man's arm draped across his shoulder.
"Billy, we couldn't just leave them back there!" A young, blonde woman, Lily Kane, insisted as she ran alongside her brother. "Some of them might still be alive!"
"I'm sorry, Lily." Billy replied, finding it hard to run while giving Yamazaki assistance for walking. "But there's no way any of them could survive that."
"I did." Yamazaki said painfully through his teeth as a lot of the right side of his face was bleeding heavily.
"That bolt just nicked your face." Billy shook his head. "Everyone else took the lightning head-on."
"Where do we go, anyway?" Lily asked, looking around fearfully. "What if he finds us?!"
"Don't worry, Lily." Billy assured. "I won't let anything happen to you."
Billy, Lily and Yamazaki ran down the streets, hoping that they could find a place to hide from Electro so they could be spared. Eventually, Billy came upon an alleyway.
"Quick! In here!" Billy instructed his sister as he pulled Yamazaki into the alley. Lily followed.
After entering the alleyway, Billy propped Yamazaki against the wall and turned from his sister and looked out of the alley, looking back and forth to see if the monster responsible for the countless deaths was coming at all.
As Billy looked out of the alley, Yamazaki looked back in Lily's direction. Once he did, his uninjured eye sprang open. "BILLY!" He cried, pointing in Lily's direction.
Billy spun around and stared in the direction Yamazaki was pointing, and saw a scene that would haunt him for years to come. Electro, a man dressed in a green outfit as well as a yellow mask, was floating high above the ground, Lily in his arms. One arm was wrapped around her waist and the other was clamped over her mouth.
"LILY!" Bill cried as he pointed his staff at Electro. "Let her go, you creep!"
Electro smirked evilly. "Dr. Erode's plans must not fail." He said. "You are a fighter that could prove to be a problem for his plans. I've been ordered to make your confidence drop like a rock."
Electro slowly removed his hand from Lily's mouth and placed it against her stomach.
Billy's eyes sprang open, realizing what Electro was about to do. "NO! Please, don't! She's all I have left!!" He begged.
Electro's evil smirk increased. "You say that like I would care."
Billy looked into the eyes of his sister, watching the tears of fear rolling down her face. Billy knew that he couldn't attack the madman. Not only was he out of reach for the physical attacks but all projectiles would strike Lily instead.
Suddenly, Electro focused all of his attention on his hand on Lily's stomach. Bolts of deadly lightning shot from his hand, all of them striking Lily in the stomach. The poor girl screamed in pain and agony as she felt herself become engulfed in electricity.
Billy's world went in slow motion as he watched his only sister get struck with more electricity than all of the other fallen fighters combined. "NO!!!" He screamed.
Once the electricity stopped, Electro released Lily from under his arm, allowing her motionless body to fall towards the ground. Billy rushed over and caught her before she hit the ground.
Up in the air, Electro laughed evilly. "You promised to protect her all of your life, and yet when her time of need finally comes, you can do nothing." He smirked. "Let's see how confident you are now!"
With that, Electro flew higher into the air, taking off into the dark sky, away from Southtown.
Tears ran down Billy's eyes as he kneeled down and rested his sister's body on the ground. "No..." He whispered. "Lily, you can't do this...I'm not supposed to outlive you..."
Lily coughed weakly, showing that she was still alive, but barely. "B- Billy..." She whispered.
Billy grasped his sister's weak hand. "What is it?" He asked softly.
Lily smiled weakly. "Th-Thank you...F-For everything...You've d-d-done for m- me." She managed.
The elder sibling shook his head furiously. "Lily, I let you down...I was supposed to protect you..." He whimpered. "I'm a failure to you."
Lily shook her head weakly. "If it w-w-weren't for y-you...I w-would've d- died long ago..." Lily slowly reached up and placed her hand against Billy's face. "I l-l-love you, Billy."
Billy cried harder, realizing that Lily wasn't blaming him for what just happened. "...I love you too, sis..." He said. The mere sight of this tearful scene was enough to reduce Yamazaki to tears, which were only coming out of his good eye.
Billy slowly wrapped his arms around his sister, knowing that it would be the last time. Suddenly, he felt Lily's grip weaken, then go slack. Tears of disbelief running down his face, Billy slowly and gently released Lily, who fell back on the ground, her eyes closed in eternal slumber. Even though she was killed in a terribly violent way, she was amazingly peaceful.
The lone Kane sibling slowly held onto his sister and cried harder than ever before. Just the thought that he, the older sibling, would outlive her was heartbreaking for him.
All those still alive in Southtown, which wasn't that many, suddenly heard an agonized scream pierce through the night, the source of it being Billy Kane.
(End Flashback)
Billy sighed as a lone tear ran down his face. That whole incident was months ago, yet he still remembered it like it was yesterday. Electro was right in saying that his confidence dropped like a rock that night, but it was soon reaching new heights, as Billy was fueled with anger and felt the need to take vengeance on Electro.
WHAM!
The next thing Billy knew, he was on the ground. He quickly saw a woman his age also on the ground, many books scattered everywhere. She wore a red and white dress and her long, red hair went well past her shoulders. It didn't take Billy long to realize that he had been so wrapped up in his memories that he didn't notice this woman walking towards him, and the two of them had collided.
"Oh, gosh!" Billy said as he scrambled to pick up the woman's books. "I'm so sorry! I was so wrapped up in my thinking that I didn't see you coming!"
"Oh, that's quite alright." The woman assured as she started picking up her many books that she had dropped. "I had so many books that I couldn't see where I was going."
After picking up all of the woman's books, Billy quickly saw that she was carrying far too many. "Miss, you're carrying too many books. Please, let me help you take these to your destination." He offered.
"Oh, would you do that?" The woman asked hopefully.
"Of course." Billy replied.
"Great! I'm taking these home and I only live a couple of blocks away." The woman replied as she picked up half of the books while Billy picked up the other half.
"Sounds good to me." Billy replied as he and the woman started walking down the sidewalk in the direction she was going. He turned to the woman. "First meetings usually merit introductions." He said. "The name's Billy Kane."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Billy." The woman replied with a smile. "I'm Malon Romani."
"Hey, I noticed that you're a human." Billy observed. "You're not from Kerwan, are you?"
Malon shook her head. "No. I'm actually from Hyrule." She replied.
Billy's face fell, suddenly remembering the news regarding the land of Hyrule. "Hyrule? I heard about the big massacre from Erode's forces. I'm sorry that all happened." He said.
"It's quite alright." Malon replied. "The people of Kerwan welcomed me as well as any other survivors from Hyrule with open arms. I never knew people could be so nice to strangers!"
Billy chuckled. "Yeah. I know."
Malon turned towards Billy. "You do?"
The elder Kane sibling nodded. "I lived in Southtown." He explained simply.
The redhead's eyes widened. "Isn't that where all that chaos ensued, leaving a lot of the city dead?"
Billy again nodded. "I was one of the few survivors that got out without a scratch." He replied.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Malon said.
The two were silent for a few seconds before Billy decided that it would be best to change the subject. "Do you have a job here, Malon?" He asked.
Malon nodded with a smirk. "Oh, yes. I work at the Kerwan Library for most of the week. It's not much, but it's just me that I have to pay the rent in my apartment for." She stated. "How about you?"
"I may not get paid for my job, but I DO get a roof over my head." Billy explained. "I'm a member of the All Star Heroes."
Malon's eyes snapped open as she looked at Billy. "All Star Heroes?! You work for A.S.H.?!" She asked. "Billy, I've heard so much about this base and the many members of it determined to rid the universe of erode and his henchmen! I don't know why I didn't know that you were a member of the base!"
Billy shrugged. "I guess that's because the only missions I've had coming to Kerwan was at night." He replied.
Malon nodded. "I guess. I've only been keeping track of the amount of people coming to Kerwan on missions."
"How many have you counted so far?" Billy asked curiously.
"About forty." Malon replied. "Why? Do you have more fighters than that?"
"Certainly!" Billy replied. "There's more than two hundred men living in the base and that doesn't include the women! I don't know exactly how many we have, but I think it's at least three hundred."
Malon's eyes went wide in amazement. "Wow! I had no idea the base was so big!"
"And get this: We still haven't filled all of the rooms in the base." Billy replied with a whisper. "We're always recruiting more help."
Billy and Malon continued walking for another block until they arrived at Malon's home, which turned out to be an apartment. After they arrived at the front door, Billy opened it for Malon.
"Thanks for your help, Billy." Malon said with a smile. "You're very kind."
Billy nodded. "Not a problem, Maln. I'm always glad to help."
Just as Malon was about to enter the apartment, Billy stopped her.
"Malon, wait a minute." Billy said. "I want to make up for knocking you over earlier." He bit his lip. "You wanna go out for lunch sometime?"
Malon turned to look at Billy, her eyes wide. "Really?! You want to have lunch with ME?" She asked. "Sure! I'd love to!"
"Hey, great!" Billy said. "How does Thursday sound?"
The redhead nodded. "Sure! I don't work that day, so I'm free."
"Okay, so I'll pick you up here around lunchtime and we can go to a diner from there?" Billy asked.
"Sounds like a plan." Malon nodded. "Okay! I'll see you Thursday!"
"Okay!" Billy said. He suddenly remembered that he was still holding half of Malon's books. "Say, Malon? You want me to carry these books the rest of the way for you?"
Malon shook her head with a smile. "Thanks Billy, but no thanks." She said. "I can manage on my own."
Billy shrugged. "If you say so." He said as he carefully handed Malon the rest of her books.
"I'll see you later, Billy." Malon said as she started walking off.
"For sure, Malon." Billy said. "I'll see you Thursday."
As Billy walked away from the apartment, he started thinking. He couldn't believe it! This was the first date he had ever been going on, and it was with a woman he had only known for a matter of minutes! Well, he was sure looking forward to it, as he wanted to get to know Malon more.
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Later that evening, Billy was walking down the hallways of the A.S.H. base again. He had just appeared back in the Transporter room and was walking to the dining area to have supper. One thing that everyone noticed was that he was a lot more cheerful than normal.
"Hoy, Billy!" A young voice said from behind.
Billy turned around and saw two young girls walking over to him, both of them blonde. One's blonde hair was bundled up into two very short ponytails and she held a telescope in one hand. The other's blonde hair went well past her shoulder, reaching her back.
The one with the telescope was Aryll, younger sister of a heroic boy named Link, who had sacrificed himself to get her off of their island as Erode's forces wreaked havoc everywhere. He had also given her the Master Sword and instructed her to use it to take down Erode's forces in the future. Aryll was now a surprisingly skilled warrior for someone her age.
The second girl was Cecile, captain of the guards of Budehuc Castle. This was mainly because she was the only guard. Still, Cecile did her job well. This, of course, was before Erode's forces invaded and burned Budehuc to the ground, taking the lives of several of the castle staff. Cecile, with Eike the librarian, came across a team from A.S.H. Cecile would be a fighter, but she lost all of her armour and weapons in Budehuc's fire. So instead, she helps Eike in the library.
"Hey, Aryll. Cecile." Billy said as the two girls came to a halt in front of him.
"How'd you enjoy your day off?" Cecile asked.
Billy nodded. "Great. I even met a girl and am going to take her out to lunch on Thursday." He replied with a smirk.
Both girls' eyes twinkled in excitement. "Really?!" Aryll asked. "You've finally got a date?!"
Billy chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah. I've never really had the guts to ask a girl out on a date before."
"Well, I hope everything turns out alright." Cecile said.
"Thanks, girls." Billy said. "Listen, I have to run and report to the admiral."
Aryll and Cecile nodded and said goodbye as they walked off, leaving Billy to walk off in the other direction, towards the admiral's office.
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Admiral Arbuckle sat at his desk, listening as Billy told him what Big Al had found out.
"So Electro has been sighted, huh?" Jon asked as Billy finished. "Billy, I'd be careful on this date of yours if I were you." He said. "The last thing you'd want is to have this guy break in on your date."
Billy nodded. "I'll be careful, sir. But this date isn't until Thursday. That's two days from now."
"I know." Jon replied. "Don't worry, Billy. I'll send a team to search Kerwan and see if anyone can find Electro."
"Thank you, sir." Billy replied.
With that, Billy left the office and started working his way back towards the dining area to have supper.
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Billy stuck a piece of his Meat Loaf into his mouth as he hummed a song cheerfully. Everyone else at his table noticed this.
"Hey, Billy? You've been pretty cheerful since you've come back from Kerwan." Jr. Troopa observed.
"He's right." Dr. Donez added. "What happened down there, anyway?"
Billy smirked at the others. "I met a girl down there." He explained. "I'm taking her out to lunch on Thursday."
"Really?! That's great!" Sonar, the small, orange Shyguy, said. "You've finally met someone!"
Skid McMarx gave Billy a good slap on the back. "Way to go, dude! I knew this could happen sometime!"
"What's her name?" Jr. Troopa asked, leaning closer.
"Malon Romani." Billy replied. "She was one of the survivors of the Hyrule massacre."
"Ouch." Dr. Donez said. "Must be hard on her."
Billy shrugged. "That's what I said, but all she did was say that Kerwan welcomed her with open arms. I'm guessing that she doesn't want to talk about it." He said.
The others nodded in understanding.
"Well, we hope that you have a great time." Sonar said.
Billy sighed. "That's what I'm hoping, but Big Al says that Electro's hanging around on Kerwan."
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Two days went by like a snail on a treadmill for Billy. He wanted to see Malon again so bad that he was almost tempted to go back down to Kerwan and see her. The one drawback about this whole thing was that Admiral Arbuckle sent a team to Kerwan to see if Electro was anywhere, and no one could find him, even after searching the whole planet.
Billy was dressed in his normal blue jacket and denim jeans, but decided to leave the bandana off his head at the last minute. Billy noticed that it was getting close to lunchtime, and Malon would be waiting for him by the time he arrived to pick her up.
Billy left his room and walked down the hallways of the A.S.H. base, going towards the Transporter Room.
It was a short trip for Billy to reach the Transporter Room. He greeted Scott again and said that he wanted to go down to Kerwan again.
Scott smirked. "No problem, Billy." He said. "You have a date or something?"
Billy raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know that?" He asked.
"You're not wearing you bandana." Scott pointed out.
"He's blonde!" Waurenhyte said in astonishment.
Scott chuckled. "We've never seen you without it." He stated simply.
Billy also chuckled. "That would do it, I guess."
"Hey, you'd better get down there before your date starts to wonder where you are." Scott said.
Billy nodded as he walked into the Transporter Chamber and stood in the middle. Scott pulled the activation ever down again, engulfing Billy in light. When the light faded, Billy was gone.
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Several minutes passed. Billy and Malon walked down the sidewalks on the streets hundreds of feet below the floating platforms on Kerwan. Malon had directed Billy towards a diner that she claimed was the best one Kerwan had. The two had spent a good time talking together, and were quickly coming upon the diner Malon had pointed out. Even though they were still a block away, Billy could smell the scent of fresh coffee, a clear sign that the diner was a good place.
The pair arrived at the door to the diner. Billy quickly grabbed the handle of the door and politely opened it for Malon.
"Why, thank you, Billy." Malon said with a smile as she walked into the diner.
Billy nodded. "Not a problem, Malon." He said as he walked into the diner after her.
Billy and Malon quickly found a booth and sat down. A waitress soon arrived and asked for them to order. After they ordered, the waitress walked off to get the food.
After the waitress vanished, Billy looked at Malon. "So tell me about yourself, Malon." He said. "You have any interests?"
Malon quickly nodded. "Oh, yes. For starters, I'm the biggest horse lover I know. My father and I ran a ranch on Hyrule." She said.
"Your father?" Billy asked as his face fell. "I probably shouldn't be asking this, but did he die in the Hyrule massacre?"
Malon shook her head. "No. Luckily for him, he died of a heart attack two years before Erode's men arrived." She sighed. "But I miss him so much. He was all I had left." Tears started coming to her face as she looked at Billy. "You see, my mother died just after I was born, so my father had quite the job, raising me alone." She sighed again. "I feel so alone now."
Billy rubbed the back of his head. "I know how you feel, Malon." He replied.
Malon cocked an eyebrow as she looked at Billy again. "You do?" She asked.
Billy nodded. "My father died before I was born, so I never knew him. My mother, however, died just after my little sister, my only sibling, was born." He replied.
Malon's eyes snapped open. "You grew up without parents?!" She asked, quiet enough so everyone else in the diner wouldn't hear.
"AND I had to raise my little sister on my own." Billy replied. "No easy task when she was less than ten years younger than I. Still, she was my sister and I treated her like that. I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her, to protect her at all costs."
"Wait a minute." Malon said. "What's with all these past tenses?"
Billy sighed sadly. "My little sister was among the casualties in the Southtown incident." He replied. "But that's not the end. I was there when she was killed. I still can't believe how I promised myself year after year to protect her from harm, and yet when her time of need finally arrived, I could do nothing but just stand there and watch her get killed." He looked at Malon. "Even though my sister told me otherwise before she died, I feel like I failed her."
Malon sat there, speechless. All this time, she thought that HER story was sad, but then she hears Billy's story, and suddenly the tables get turned on her.
"I-I'm so sorry to hear that, Billy." Malon said.
Billy nodded as he wiped his eyes to dry the tears. "It's alright, Malon. I was the one to bring up the subject." He replied.
"I think we'd better change the subject before we both break down." Malon said as she placed a hand on Billy's shoulder.
Billy nodded. "Okay." He said. "So, do you have an hobbies?"
Again, Malon nodded. "I love singing." She replied. "Every time I get a CD, I try to memorize the lyrics so I can sing them anytime."
Billy's eyes widened. "Really? You can sing?!" He asked.
"Yeah. Do you as well?" Malon asked.
"Not exactly." Billy replied. "I can't sing, but I play guitar."
Malon's eyes went wide in amazement. "So we both love music?" She asked. "We have more in common than I thought."
Billy nodded. "A few other members of A.S.H. and I have formed a band, but one little wrinkle in this whole idea is that none of us can sing lead vocals, and we could really use a singer." He smirked. "If you're interested, maybe you should stop by the base sometime and try out for the part."
Malon nodded furiously. "Billy, I've always wanted to make a career in singing! The job at the library is only a temporary job until I can get enough money to go somewhere big so I can try out to become a singer." She explained.
Billy shrugged. "Like I said, you should try out for our band. Not a lot of the people on the base can sing, and those that can aren't interested in becoming lead singer."
The afternoon went on, and Billy and Malon continued talking the whole time, even during lunch. After a while, lunch had ended, and the two of them were on the way back to Malon's apartment.
Billy found out that the more he talked with Malon during the walk back to her apartment, the more he came to like her. Billy suddenly felt a strange feeling during the walk. Almost like he was actually getting feelings for Malon, even though they had only known each other for a few days. Billy shrugged the thought off, deciding to think about it later.
Sooner than later, Billy and Malon had arrived at the front door to Malon's apartment. Before going in, Malon turned to the blonde man and smiled. "Thanks for taking me to lunch, Billy." She said.
Billy smiled nervously. "It was my pleasure, Malon." He replied.
Malon chuckled. "Thank you." She said.
"We should get together again sometime." Billy suggested.
The redhead smiled. "I'd like that, Billy." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper and a pencil. She quickly scribbled a number on the paper and handed it to Billy. "Here's my number. Give me a call sometime."
Billy nodded as he took the piece of paper and stuck it into his own pocket. "I will, Malon. I promise."
After saying farewell to each other, Malon entered her apartment and Billy walked off to the pickup point to be beamed back up to the base. Billy was definitely looking forward to when he saw Malon next.
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Upon arriving at the base, Billy spent the rest of the afternoon in his room, toying around with his guitar. He sat on his bed as he played several notes with impressive skill.
Aside from a picture of Lily, Billy's guitar was his prized possession. It was white with a shiny red trim, and had the signatures of five of Billy's favourite guitar players.
Like he had told Malon earlier, Billy and a few other members of the base had formed a band, but were a lead singer short of a full band. While Billy played the electric guitar, the other members of the band included Skid McMarx on the bass, Luigi Mario on the drums and Rex, an orange-haired friend of Alex and Ryan from River City, on the keyboard. Young Shabon even provided some percussion on her tambourine.
Before Billy knew it, it was suppertime again. Setting his guitar against the wall of his room, Billy turned around and walked out the door, going down the hallway leading to the dining area.
When he arrived, the dining area was already pretty full. Billy quickly saw an open seat at the same table as the rest of the band and walked over to it.
Luigi was the first to spot Billy walking over to the table. "Hey, Billy!" He said as the blonde man sat down. "Skid tells us that you had a date during lunch."
"Yeah." Shabon said, leaning closer with interest. "How'd it go?"
"It went great." Billy said with a smile as he pressed a few buttons on an electronic panel, ordering supper. He smirked. "Guys, it looks like we might have a lead singer soon."
"Really, dude?!" Skid asked excitedly. "Don't tell me it's Malon."
"It is." Billy said. "She told me that she loves singing, but doesn't have enough money to try out."
"Well, that problem could easily be fixed if she joins us." Rex said. "We could do all the recording up here in the base."
"Yeah!" Shabon rubbed her hands together. "This could be our big break! We may actually have a band going!"
Supper went by smoothly for everyone, ad the amount of people currently in the dining area had decreased dramatically. However, just as Billy was about to stand up to leave the dining area, everyone heard a loud alarm coming from the speakers at every corner of the room. The same alarm was playing throughout the entire base.
"Emergency! This is an emergency!" Admiral Arbuckle's voice shouted through the speakers. "We have an invasion, a fire, and a kidnapping on our hands!" There was silence for a second. "Plum! Play the footage!"
In an instant, all of the eyes on the A.S.H. base were focused on the various electronic screens that were deploying from the ceiling all over the base.
Billy's eyes went wide as he saw the footage. He saw a picture of an apartment on Kerwan, clearly Malon's. He saw a figure floating around in the background, although it was too far away to see what it was. Billy soon saw what the figure was, as whoever it was, it was flying straight at the apartment.
The British fighter's mouth went dry when he saw electricity swarming the mysterious figure. "Electro!" He shouted. Everyone in the dining area agreed with him.
Everyone saw Electro shoot through one of the windows on one of the upper floors, quickly igniting the furniture inside on fire because of the electricity. When Electro shot out of the opposite side of the apartment, everyone saw that he was now holding a kicking and screaming woman in his arms.
Billy's looked at Electro's victim in horror. {MALON!!!} His thoughts screamed.
"He was last seen flying towards Kerwan's main building!" The Admiral's voice added.
Thinking he had seen enough, Billy spun around and ran from the dining area, ignoring everyone's shouts, asking him where he was going.
Billy tore through the hallways of the base, running towards the Transporter Room as fast as his feet could carry him. He didn't want to waste any time, as Malon's life was in danger.
{Why would Electro want her for?!} Billy thought as he raced towards the Transporter Room. {She doesn't have anything to do with A.S.H.!} A light bulb suddenly went on in his head. {Could he have seen me take her out to lunch and is using her to get to me?}
As Billy approached the door to the Transporter Room, he remembered what Electro said when he killed Lily. He had said that Billy could prove a threat to Erode, and wanted to make his confidence drop like a rock.
Billy growled as he opened the door to the Transporter Room. He had already lost Lily to this jerk. He wasn't going to let Malon die the same way. She was far too good a person.
"Scott." Billy said as he walked towards the chamber. "When I give you the signal, beam me down."
"Yessir." Scott replied as Billy walked into the chamber and closed the door behind him.
However, unknown to Scott, as soon as the door to the chamber was shut, Billy locked it behind him before giving Scott the signal. Scott activated the transporter, beaming Billy down to Kerwan.
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Billy materialized on the streets of Kerwan, near Malon's burning apartment. Luckily, the Kerwan Fire Department was keeping the fire under control, so he didn't need to worry about that.
Luckily, Billy knew where the main building was, so he knew where to go to catch Electro. Turning around, Billy ran off down the street.
Soon, Billy arrived at the main building. Looking up, he wondered what floor out of the fifty floors Electro could be holding Malon on. When he looked up, he saw a green-clad figure engulfed in electricity.
Billy growled. "Electro." He said. "He's on the roof."
Without thinking twice, Billy charged headfirst into the building.
Billy quickly arrived at an elevator and jammed the up button several times. He suddenly saw that the elevator was on the forty-first floor.
"Man! I don't have that long!" Billy said. He quickly saw the door leading to the many, many stairs leading to the roof. Without any other alternative, Billy ran towards the door, opened it and started climbing the stairs.
Billy flew up the stairwell as fast as he could, jumping at least three stairs at a time. Floor after floor, Billy kept pressing on, showing no signs of slowing down. He was determined to save Malon, as he felt that he had already been responsible for several deaths already and had no intention on adding the redhead woman to the list as well.
After what seemed like an eternity for Billy, he arrived at the top of the stairs, at the door leading to the roof. Shoving the door open, Billy charged through the door onto the roof.
Billy was just about ready to give Electro the trouncing of his life, but froze in his tracks when he saw the scene before him.
Electro was standing on the roof, holding a bound Malon around the waist. He held Malon's face in his other hand, preparing to kill her with electricity.
"Don't step any closer, Kane!" Electro threatened. "Or this one dies!"
Giving Electro a hateful glare, Billy slowly stood straight and lowered his staff, receiving a triumphant smirk from Electro.
"Just don't want to risk it, eh Billy?" Electro asked as he lifted himself off the ground, taking Malon with him. "Good guys are so easy to threaten."
Billy's eyes widened when he saw Electro hover off the edge of the roof, still holding Malon. "What are you doing?! Put her back on the roof!" He ordered.
Electro smirked. "Afraid not, Kane. If I put her down, you'll come after me again." He held Malon out, holding her by a long end of rope attached to the knot on the ropes binding her arms to her sides.
Malon screamed in terror as she swung back and forth, dangling above the streets hundreds of feet below. "Billy! Help me!!"
Billy growled. "You're a madman, Electro!" He said as he walked a few steps closer.
"No I'm not." Electro replied slyly. "I'm a monster."
Billy stopped walking a good few yards from the edge of the roof as Electro continued.
"You have a choice, Kane." Electro said. "Defeat the bad guy, or save the girl. It's your choice."
Without giving either Billy or Malon a chance to reply, Electro let go of the rope, allowing Malon to start her free fall down towards her death.
"MALON!!!!" Billy screamed as he ran towards the edge of the roof and leapt off in an attempt to catch her.
"BILLY!!!" Malon screamed as she fell towards the streets below.
Billy brought his arms to his sides as he flew down towards her in an attempt to catch up with her. He dove at the screaming Malon headfirst to give him more speed. His face was twisted in determination.
"I'M COMING, MALON!" Billy shouted as he got closer to Malon.
Billy reached out with his right hand and grasped the long end of the rope attached to the knot at Malon's back. "GOTCHA!" He shouted as he instantly pulled his other arm up, looked back and slammed his staff into the glass side of the building. As soon as the end of the staff was shoved into the glass, Billy could feel him and Malon starting to slow down. At the same time, the glass that was being thrown from the side of the building was flying overhead, starting to fall towards them. Billy gripped the rope in one hand and the staff in the other so tightly that all of his knuckles were turning a pale white.
Meanwhile, standing on one of the floating platforms, two members of the Shrub Patrol were patrolling around, looking for any suspicious people.
Suddenly hearing a strange screeching noise, the leader looked up, and suddenly cocked his gun and pointed it up. The other one did the same.
"Freeze, buster!" The leader of the Shrub Patrol shouted. "What's the password?!"
"DEATH TO THE SALAD EATERS!" Billy shouted quickly as he shot down past the platform, still holding the screaming Malon.
After Billy and Malon vanished, the Shrub Patrol nodded and put their guns away. "You may pass." The leader said calmly. A few seconds passed before many pieces of glass tapped against their helmets. "Darn kids..."
Billy looked down. The streets of Kerwan were getting pretty darn close, but he and Malon were slowing down dramatically now. Deciding to think ahead, Billy gave the rope in his right hand a good yank, pulling Malon up to him. As soon as she was close enough, Billy grabbed her, wrapping his arm around her as they fell.
As soon as Billy got within twenty feet of the ground, he pulled his staff from the side of the building and steered himself towards an awning sticking out over a store window. Bouncing off of it, Billy landed safely on the ground with Malon in his arms. Billy ran off down the street to avoid the many shards of sharp glass that were coming down to land right where he had been standing.
Once Billy was far enough away, he stopped running and set Malon on her feet. He had noticed that her eyes had been closed ever since before they landed on the awning. As Billy quickly untied her, Malon slowly opened her eyes, looking around.
"Malon?" Billy asked as soon as Malon was untied. "Are you alright?"
Malon stared at Billy, her bottom lip quivering. Her eyes were starting to water. Suddenly, she lunged at Billy and threw her arms around him as she started subbing into his chest.
"I was s-s-so s-scared!" Malon sobbed. "M-My life was f-f-flashing b-before my eyes!"
Billy gently returned the embrace. "It's alright, Malon." He said softly. "You're safe now."
Malon pulled herself away from Billy's chest and looked him in the eye. "Y- You just saved my life, Billy." She whimpered. "I-I didn't think anyone would care that much."
"Are you kidding?" Billy asked. "There's no way I would let that creep hurt you." As Malon pulled away from him, Billy wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come on. I'll take you to the base and we can get you some help."
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"So let me get this straight." Admiral Arbuckle asked as he looked at Billy. "Electro burned down her apartment and used her as bait to get to you?"
Upon arriving at the base, Billy had taken Malon to the dining area to get her something to drink. Malon was shakily drinking a mug of hot chocolate as Billy was talking with Admiral Arbuckle, who had come from his office.
"Yes, sir." Billy nodded. "Electro got away, but my main objective was to save Malon."
"Which, I might add, was done great." Rex said from the table Malon was sitting at. "Everyone saw the whole thing on the plasma screens here."
"Rex is right, mon ami." Gambit added. "Very risky thing you did, but brave at the same time."
"Thank you." Billy said to the Cajun mutant. He turned back to the Admiral. "Sir, Malon doesn't have anywhere to go now that her apartment has been burned down." He explained. "Can she live here with us?"
Admiral Jon rubbed his chin and thought for a few seconds before looking at Malon. "Is that alright with you, Malon?"
Malon nodded shakily. "Y-Yes. That's fine." She said, still recovering from the scare she had as Electro's hostage.
Jon looked at Billy. "Very well. She can stay." He said. "But she'll need some furniture for her room."
"Leave that to me, sir." Blue Mary replied as she stood up. "I'll take her shopping."
Jon nodded. "Thank you." He looked at Malon. "Are you alright to go back down to Kerwan to find a few pieces of furniture?"
Again, Malon nodded. "Thank you so very much, sir." She said. "It'll be a real honor to live here. I'll help out with whatever I can."
The Admiral smiled. "I'm sure you will." He said as he turned to Mary. "You'd better take her shopping tomorrow. You think you can manage a roommate for tonight?"
Mary nodded. "Of course." She looked at the redhead sitting at the table. "Come on, Malon. I'll show you to the room."
Malon nodded. "Coming." She replied as she stood up. Before she followed Mary out of the dining area, she looked at Billy. "Uh...Billy?"
"Yeah, Malon?" Billy asked.
Malon planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much for everything, Billy." She said with a smile as she turned around and walked away, following Mary.
Billy stared at Malon with a surprised expression as he gingerly rubbed where Malon had just kissed him. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You okay, man?" Rex asked.
Billy was silent for a few seconds before a smirk floated across his face. "I think I'm in love."
END
Author's notes: Okay. Like I said, if you want to see more on the series, I suggest that you go to my site. Please read and review!
It was night time and everyone on the A.S.H. base was currently asleep, with the possible exception of O.D.I.E., the base's only fully-robotic warrior. Several members of the A.S.H. squad were extremely tired, as the recent mission with Gremio took them all day to do, but none of the team was as tired as Skid McMarx, who found himself chasing Dr. Wily all over Endor for half of the mission.
Currently, one man lay in his room, asleep. However, it didn't look like he was sleeping very well, as he was tossing and turning constantly. It was quite obvious that he was having a nightmare. He had a full head of blonde hair and was in his 30's. Resting aside on the bedside table was a red and white bandana. A long, red pole was leaning against the dresser not too far away.
Billy Kane suddenly started moaning in his sleep. At first, it didn't sound like much, but it soon sounded like Billy was moaning someone's name.
Suddenly, Billy's eyes snapped open as he bolted upright in his bed, into a sitting position, sweating buckets. He breathed heavily, trying desperately to prevent himself from crying out, but managed to keep his shouts in, as he didn't want to wake up Tron, who slept in the room next to him.
Billy sighed to himself. "I've been having that dream for weeks now." He whispered. "I really wish that I could just dream about something else other than that."
But Billy knew better. That dream was permanently engraved in his head, as it was a memory of what had happened to him before he joined A.S.H. He knew that his sister had been dead for a good while now, but Billy still couldn't get it out of his head. Not only was Lily the only family he had left but he felt responsible for her murder. He looked away for a mere second to see if the monster responsible for countless deaths already was coming and she was attacked from behind.
Again, Billy sighed. He got out of bed dressed in his pajama pants and quickly threw on his jacket before stepping out of the door to his room.
Billy quietly walked down the hallways of the base, trying not to wake anyone up. The British man crept through the base, walking towards the dining area.
A few minutes later, Billy walked through the doorway leading into the huge dining area. Because the dining area was closed, all of the chairs were sitting on top of the different tables scattered around. Billy's destination was the room-length bay window on the far wall, overlooking the countless stars and Kerwan's moon. Billy walked around several tables until he finally arrived at the window.
Placing his hands behind his back, Billy looked out the window and sighed. Looking around at the scene before him, he saw the usual sights. A shooting star flying off in the distance as a spaceship containing detective Phoenix and his robotic partner QQQ was just taking off into lightspeed, zooming off into another galaxy. Billy quickly saw Landis going out for his usual midnight swim, doing the backstroke in space with no space suit. How he was able to do that questioned most of the A.S.H. base, but everyone had grown so used to it that they never asked him.
Looking out into space, Billy could've sworn that an image was appearing in front of his eyes. Billy realized that it was just his imagination, as the image turned out to be a giant still shot of the head and shoulders of Billy's deceased sister, Lily. He closed his eyes and sniffed, thinking about how much he missed her.
"Hey, what're you doing up at this hour, Billy?" A voice asked from behind.
Billy's eyes snapped open as he quickly wiped his eyes. Turning around, Billy saw the normally psychotic gangster Ryuji Yamazaki walking into the dining area with a glass of milk.
Even before joining A.S.H., Yamazaki and Billy had known each other, although they weren't exactly the best of friends. They had entered a fighting tournament called 'King of Fighters' on the same team on two occasions, and neither of them ended well. One year, Yamazaki broke into the office of crime boss Geese Howard, Billy's employer, and leaped at him and Billy, demanding pay. The other year, Yamazaki turned on his two teammates, one of them being Billy. The British fighter wasn't exactly thrilled when the third member of the team, Gato, deserted them, leaving Billy to face the psychotic lunatic alone.
However, all that rivalry was put aside when Electro invaded Southtown and started killing everyone he laid eyes on. During the fight with Electro, the battle that most of the fighters in Southtown went up against the lightning-powered super villain, a stray bolt of lightning struck Yamazaki in the face. He and Billy were the only fighters in the group that survived the battle. Even Geese Howard, the most vile man in the city, fell before Electro's onslaught. As quick as he could, Billy got Yamazaki some help, which turned out to be the doctors for the A.S.H. base. Yamazaki survived, but a small part of his face, going from his right eye all the way to his right ear, was now robotic.
Since then, Yamazaki realized that there were better things to fight for rather than money. He agreed to fight alongside A.S.H. and is now a member of the psycho team, consisting of him, Landis and Iggy Koopa.
"I should be asking you the same question." Billy replied.
Yamazaki lifted his glass into the air to show it to Billy. "I was thirsty." He said simply as he walked over towards Billy. "Is Landis out there swimming again?"
Billy smirked. "Isn't he always?" He quizzed.
The cyborg chuckled. "I guess." He said as he took another sip of his milk. He turned his head towards Billy again. "You never really answered my question. What ARE you doing up?"
Billy looked down, closed his eyes and sighed. "I had that dream again." He said.
"Not the one about the squirrels and the acorns again." Yamazaki moaned.
Billy shook his head angrily. "No! It was the Southtown memory again."
Yamazaki suddenly realized what Billy was talking about and sighed. "Billy, you don't have to blame yourself over it." He said. "You didn't know where that freak was. I was there, remember?"
The Britain man cast the psycho a glare. "Yeah, but you were practically rolling on the ground, complaining from the lightning bolt in the face." He accused. "How would you know what was going on?"
Yamazaki shrugged. "Just instincts, I guess." He replied. He then sighed. "You've really got to get your mind off of that dream, Billy."
"How?" Billy asked. "I miss her! She was all I had left and she was taken from me in an instant!"
Yamazaki looked at Billy, surprisingly serious for once. "If Lily was here now, would she want you to spend the rest of your life mourning her?" He asked.
Billy paused, not able to come up with an answer. He exhaled once. "No. I guess not." He said in defeat.
"Hey." The cyborg psycho said, pointing out the window, straight at the planet Kerwan below. "Why don't you take some time off and go to Kerwan for the day tomorrow?" He asked. "I'm sure that the base can manage without you for at least a day."
Billy was silent for a few seconds before a slight smile came upon his face. "Thanks, Yamazaki." He said. "I might just do that."
Yamazaki nodded with a smirk. "No prob, Bob." He said as he finished his glass of milk. He turned back towards Billy. "I'm gonna go back to bed. See ya tomorrow."
The blonde man nodded as Yamazaki turned around and walked out of the dining area.
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Morning came and the halls of the A.S.H. base were once again filled with the many inhabitants. While most of the inhabitants were fighters, a good number of the occupants of the base weren't fighting members, such as Prof. E. Gadd, Eike the librarian, Plum, the admiral's niece and, of course, the group of reformed Goombas.
Billy walked down the hallways, hands in his pockets. He had left his staff back in his room, feeling that he didn't need it today. His only worry was that Captain Churro the discoloured Tweeter would eat it.
The young man walked up to the admiral's office and knocked on the door gently. He knew how high-strung Admiral Arbuckle was, and wanted to make sure that he didn't knock on the door too hard.
"Come in." A voice on the other side of the door said.
Hearing permission, Billy grabbed the handle of the door and opened it, walking into the office. Admiral Arbuckle was sitting at his desk, sorting a handful of papers.
"Ah, Billy!" Jon said as he saw Billy come into the room. "Good morning to you!"
"You to, sir." Billy replied.
"So what brings you to my office today?" The admiral asked.
Billy sighed. "I woke up in the middle of the night because of the Southtown memory again." He said. "Yamazaki said that it would be a good idea to get some fresh air." He sighed. "Sir, I'm here to ask your permission to take the day off and go for a walk of Kerwan. I'll be back in the evening."
Jon pondered this for a few seconds before looking back up at Billy and smiling warmly. "Of course, Billy." He said. "You done a lot during the past few weeks and I really think that you DO need some time to clear you head."
Billy smiled in return and nodded once. "Thank you, sir." He turned around and prepared to walk out of the door again.
"Oh, Billy?" Admiral Arbuckle said.
Billy looked over his shoulder. "Yes, sir?"
"I know that you're supposed to be taking time off, but I need to ask for a favour." Jon replied. "If you get the time, I'd like you to visit Big Al and see if he knows anything of interest."
Billy nodded. "Not a problem, sir." He replied. "And thanks again."
With that, Billy walked out of the admiral's office and continued walking down the hallways of the base, walking past the different people also part of the base.
Billy continued walking until he arrived at another door, one that had a sign that read 'Transporter Room' on it. Smirking to himself, Billy pushed open the door and went inside. Inside was a moderately big room with a big, clear, glass chamber in the middle of it. Sitting at the side of the room, at a control panel, was a young man with blonde hair, dressed in a striped shirt and brown vest. He wore a floppy, red cap on his head and there were freckles on his cheeks. A green parrot was resting on his shoulder.
This was Scott, a former trader. He joined the same war as Reed, Kathy, Eike and Cecile and his job was to run the trading shop to help the castle make more money. After the war, Scott set off on a journey to find some rare items to trade for some money so he could open a bigger and better trade shop one day. His green parrot, Waurenhyte, had learnt to speak on his own long ago, without Scott's help.
Scott eventually found himself on Katina in search of some rare minerals. However, this was just before Erode's forces invaded the planet. Scott was rescued by a team from A.S.H. and offered to join the base in thanks. Because he isn't much of a fighter, his current job is to run the transporter that would take a strike team down to Kerwan.
"Morning, Billy!" Scott greeted cheerfully. "You taking a trip down to Kerwan?"
Billy nodded. "That I am, Scott." He said as he walked towards the transport chamber.
"Have a good trip!" Waurenhyte called from Scott's shoulder.
"Thanks, buddy." Billy said as he entered the chamber. He stood in the center circle on the floor and looked at the young man at the controls. "Beam me down, Scotty!"
Scott sighed as he pulled a lever down, activating the transporter. "We're SO gonna get sued for that."
"Ain't that the truth." Waurenhyte agreed as he watched Billy vanish into thin air.
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When the white light cleared away, Billy was able to see again. Looking around, he saw that he was on Kerwan's surface on a clear, sunny day. He also saw that he was on the ground surface of the planet, while the platforms leading to Big Al's Robo Shack were high above the streets. While there were many, many hovercars floating close to the streets on the ground, there were just as many flying high above the streets, around the streets of the sky.
The reason that the A.S.H. base floats above Kerwan isn't just because the planet is a constant target for Erode's forces. The other reason is because A.S.H. has several allies on the planet.
First of all, there's Big Al. He runs a Robo Shack high above the streets and has helped Prof. E. Gadd with several robotic inventions, including the original designs for O.D.I.E. While he may be considered a nerd when it comes to robotics, Al's proven to be a valuable source of info when it comes to locating Erode's henchmen. Al has flying camera probes flying all over the planet and can locate am emergency in a flash. In fact, he usually reports the emergency to A.S.H. a good while before the leader of the planet does.
Second, there's Heavy D!. He used to be part of a three-man team called the USA Sports Team. Heavy D! and his friends Lucky Glauber and Brian Battler entered the King of Fighters tournament in 1994, but didn't get very far. The team was one of the most unique in the competition, because all three of the members fought differently. Heavy D! used boxing moves, Lucky combined basketball with karate and Brian used his brute strength combined with football techniques. Years after getting rejected from entering the tournament countless times, the team finally disbanded. This proved to be just in time, as Erode's forces invaded shortly after all three of the team left Southtown. To make a long story short, Heavy D! lost contact with his friends and ended up on Kerwan. When he heard of A.S.H., he decided that he would help out from the sidelines. Like Big Al, Heavy D! provides info for A.S.H., but this type of info is the super-secret kind, such as secret hideouts for gangsters or henchmen of Erode. No one questions how he gets this information.
Finally, there's a trio of robotic soldiers called the Shrub Patrol. They were involved in a war, fighting alongside a trio of mismatched individuals. The leader of the team was an Australian human named Roman, who was a master with weapons. The second was a Scottish mole named Jonsey, the explosives expert of the team. Thirdly, there was the tea-drinking, British robot named Q, the powerhouse. Originally, the three robots weren't programmed to fight, but rather to tend to the gardening. A quick adjustment in the circuit board was all it took to turn the three emotionless greenhouse robots into robotic war heroes that were extremely talented with guns. However, the memory of protecting the plants was still in the heads of all three. Rather than fight to win the war, the Shrub Patrol fought to protect the smallest of flowers. The only way Roman could get them to help out was to tell them that every soldier on the opposing army ate salad. Now, all three members of the Shrub Patrol guard the streets of Kerwan, protecting the plants from any harm. They're weirder than Erode's army of Stormtroopers, but they're valuable allies.
Billy looked up at the platforms floating high in the air. "I guess I'd better go see Big Al first." He said to himself. "That'll get my only chore done quickly."
Billy walked towards a circular platform at the side of one of the buildings and stepped on. No sooner did he step on completely when the platform started lifting itself from the ground, shooting high into the air up to the floating platforms.
The trip quickly came to an end, as Billy soon found himself up on the floating platforms. Billy stepped off, onto a bridge connecting the tops of two building, where the platforms were. The young man started walking across the bridge, looking down to the giant statue of a man holding a wrench above his head. This statue was positioned just above the entrance to Big Al's Robo Shack.
Billy continued walking along the winding paths to Big Al's place, walking past the many flowers that the Shrub Patrol had planted. The staff-wielder bit his lip, hoping that he wouldn't run into any of the whacked-out robots during his trek. Every time anyone passes, they're forced to say that stupid password, and Billy thought that he had already said it way too many times.
Sadly, his wish wasn't granted. He saw the leader of the Shrub Patrol marching around on a straight path, making his rounds. Suddenly, the robot saw Billy coming and jerked to attention, pulling out his gun and aiming it at Billy's head.
"Freeze, scumbag!" The leader of the Shrub Patrol ordered. "What's the password?!"
Billy sighed as he raised his fist into the air. "Death to the salad eaters." He moaned.
The robot shoved his own fist into the air. "Death to the salad eaters!!!" He cried. He lowered his gun and stood aside. "You may pass."
Billy nodded as he continued walking.
Sooner than later, Billy arrived at the entrance to Big Al's shop. Walking inside, Billy saw the large, orange, fuzzy, four-fingered creature standing behind the counter of his shop. Al's extra large shirt that said the name of his store was just large enough to cover his fairly large stomach, and the white lab coat was also just big enough, but it had to be unbuttoned for Al to wear. Resting on his head was a strange-looking headset with a miniature microscope attached. Currently, Al was working on the head of a Stormtrooper. He had informed everyone not to worry about it, as he was trying to use old Stormtrooper parts combined with used parts from hovercars or old machines in order to make the ultimate robotic warrior to fight Dr. Erode.
Hearing someone enter his shop, Big Al looked up from his current project and stared at the door, where Billy was just walking through. He brightened. "Billy! It's good to see you!" He said as Billy walked over to the counter. "Pretty much the only people that come in here nowadays are the Shrub Patrol." He leaned against the counter. "Well, what can I do for you?"
Looking back and forth, Billy looked at Al. "The admiral asked me to come here. He wants to know if you've seen anything suspicious lately." He said.
"Besides the Shrub Patrol?" Big Al joked, earning a light chuckle from Billy. He suddenly turned deadly serious. "You're not gonna like this, Billy, but one of my probes picked up a floating figure in green flying around the planet."
Billy's eyes snapped open. "A flying figure in green?!" He whispered. "You mean that it's-"
Al interrupted with a nod. "Electro."
Billy couldn't believe what he was hearing. The very man he despised the most was possibly flying around Kerwan doing who-knows-what. Slowly, he nodded at Big Al. "Thanks, Al." He said as he started turning around. "I'll see you around."
With that, Billy left Big Al's Robo Shack, still in shock. He had only come to Kerwan to relax for the day! How was he able to relax now that he knew that Electro was on the same planet as him?
After leaving Al's shop, Billy walked towards the nearest elevator platform that was going down. Stepping on it, the young man was carried down towards the ground, which was hundreds of feet below.
After the platform arrived on the ground, Billy stepped off and started walking down the sidewalk, staring off into space. Every time he thought about Electro, he was reminded of that awful day in Southtown.
(Flashback)
Three lone figures ran down the streets of Southtown, running past the dead bodies and burning buildings. Well, two of them were running. The male of the two was aiding the third person in running, the injured man's arm draped across his shoulder.
"Billy, we couldn't just leave them back there!" A young, blonde woman, Lily Kane, insisted as she ran alongside her brother. "Some of them might still be alive!"
"I'm sorry, Lily." Billy replied, finding it hard to run while giving Yamazaki assistance for walking. "But there's no way any of them could survive that."
"I did." Yamazaki said painfully through his teeth as a lot of the right side of his face was bleeding heavily.
"That bolt just nicked your face." Billy shook his head. "Everyone else took the lightning head-on."
"Where do we go, anyway?" Lily asked, looking around fearfully. "What if he finds us?!"
"Don't worry, Lily." Billy assured. "I won't let anything happen to you."
Billy, Lily and Yamazaki ran down the streets, hoping that they could find a place to hide from Electro so they could be spared. Eventually, Billy came upon an alleyway.
"Quick! In here!" Billy instructed his sister as he pulled Yamazaki into the alley. Lily followed.
After entering the alleyway, Billy propped Yamazaki against the wall and turned from his sister and looked out of the alley, looking back and forth to see if the monster responsible for the countless deaths was coming at all.
As Billy looked out of the alley, Yamazaki looked back in Lily's direction. Once he did, his uninjured eye sprang open. "BILLY!" He cried, pointing in Lily's direction.
Billy spun around and stared in the direction Yamazaki was pointing, and saw a scene that would haunt him for years to come. Electro, a man dressed in a green outfit as well as a yellow mask, was floating high above the ground, Lily in his arms. One arm was wrapped around her waist and the other was clamped over her mouth.
"LILY!" Bill cried as he pointed his staff at Electro. "Let her go, you creep!"
Electro smirked evilly. "Dr. Erode's plans must not fail." He said. "You are a fighter that could prove to be a problem for his plans. I've been ordered to make your confidence drop like a rock."
Electro slowly removed his hand from Lily's mouth and placed it against her stomach.
Billy's eyes sprang open, realizing what Electro was about to do. "NO! Please, don't! She's all I have left!!" He begged.
Electro's evil smirk increased. "You say that like I would care."
Billy looked into the eyes of his sister, watching the tears of fear rolling down her face. Billy knew that he couldn't attack the madman. Not only was he out of reach for the physical attacks but all projectiles would strike Lily instead.
Suddenly, Electro focused all of his attention on his hand on Lily's stomach. Bolts of deadly lightning shot from his hand, all of them striking Lily in the stomach. The poor girl screamed in pain and agony as she felt herself become engulfed in electricity.
Billy's world went in slow motion as he watched his only sister get struck with more electricity than all of the other fallen fighters combined. "NO!!!" He screamed.
Once the electricity stopped, Electro released Lily from under his arm, allowing her motionless body to fall towards the ground. Billy rushed over and caught her before she hit the ground.
Up in the air, Electro laughed evilly. "You promised to protect her all of your life, and yet when her time of need finally comes, you can do nothing." He smirked. "Let's see how confident you are now!"
With that, Electro flew higher into the air, taking off into the dark sky, away from Southtown.
Tears ran down Billy's eyes as he kneeled down and rested his sister's body on the ground. "No..." He whispered. "Lily, you can't do this...I'm not supposed to outlive you..."
Lily coughed weakly, showing that she was still alive, but barely. "B- Billy..." She whispered.
Billy grasped his sister's weak hand. "What is it?" He asked softly.
Lily smiled weakly. "Th-Thank you...F-For everything...You've d-d-done for m- me." She managed.
The elder sibling shook his head furiously. "Lily, I let you down...I was supposed to protect you..." He whimpered. "I'm a failure to you."
Lily shook her head weakly. "If it w-w-weren't for y-you...I w-would've d- died long ago..." Lily slowly reached up and placed her hand against Billy's face. "I l-l-love you, Billy."
Billy cried harder, realizing that Lily wasn't blaming him for what just happened. "...I love you too, sis..." He said. The mere sight of this tearful scene was enough to reduce Yamazaki to tears, which were only coming out of his good eye.
Billy slowly wrapped his arms around his sister, knowing that it would be the last time. Suddenly, he felt Lily's grip weaken, then go slack. Tears of disbelief running down his face, Billy slowly and gently released Lily, who fell back on the ground, her eyes closed in eternal slumber. Even though she was killed in a terribly violent way, she was amazingly peaceful.
The lone Kane sibling slowly held onto his sister and cried harder than ever before. Just the thought that he, the older sibling, would outlive her was heartbreaking for him.
All those still alive in Southtown, which wasn't that many, suddenly heard an agonized scream pierce through the night, the source of it being Billy Kane.
(End Flashback)
Billy sighed as a lone tear ran down his face. That whole incident was months ago, yet he still remembered it like it was yesterday. Electro was right in saying that his confidence dropped like a rock that night, but it was soon reaching new heights, as Billy was fueled with anger and felt the need to take vengeance on Electro.
WHAM!
The next thing Billy knew, he was on the ground. He quickly saw a woman his age also on the ground, many books scattered everywhere. She wore a red and white dress and her long, red hair went well past her shoulders. It didn't take Billy long to realize that he had been so wrapped up in his memories that he didn't notice this woman walking towards him, and the two of them had collided.
"Oh, gosh!" Billy said as he scrambled to pick up the woman's books. "I'm so sorry! I was so wrapped up in my thinking that I didn't see you coming!"
"Oh, that's quite alright." The woman assured as she started picking up her many books that she had dropped. "I had so many books that I couldn't see where I was going."
After picking up all of the woman's books, Billy quickly saw that she was carrying far too many. "Miss, you're carrying too many books. Please, let me help you take these to your destination." He offered.
"Oh, would you do that?" The woman asked hopefully.
"Of course." Billy replied.
"Great! I'm taking these home and I only live a couple of blocks away." The woman replied as she picked up half of the books while Billy picked up the other half.
"Sounds good to me." Billy replied as he and the woman started walking down the sidewalk in the direction she was going. He turned to the woman. "First meetings usually merit introductions." He said. "The name's Billy Kane."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Billy." The woman replied with a smile. "I'm Malon Romani."
"Hey, I noticed that you're a human." Billy observed. "You're not from Kerwan, are you?"
Malon shook her head. "No. I'm actually from Hyrule." She replied.
Billy's face fell, suddenly remembering the news regarding the land of Hyrule. "Hyrule? I heard about the big massacre from Erode's forces. I'm sorry that all happened." He said.
"It's quite alright." Malon replied. "The people of Kerwan welcomed me as well as any other survivors from Hyrule with open arms. I never knew people could be so nice to strangers!"
Billy chuckled. "Yeah. I know."
Malon turned towards Billy. "You do?"
The elder Kane sibling nodded. "I lived in Southtown." He explained simply.
The redhead's eyes widened. "Isn't that where all that chaos ensued, leaving a lot of the city dead?"
Billy again nodded. "I was one of the few survivors that got out without a scratch." He replied.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Malon said.
The two were silent for a few seconds before Billy decided that it would be best to change the subject. "Do you have a job here, Malon?" He asked.
Malon nodded with a smirk. "Oh, yes. I work at the Kerwan Library for most of the week. It's not much, but it's just me that I have to pay the rent in my apartment for." She stated. "How about you?"
"I may not get paid for my job, but I DO get a roof over my head." Billy explained. "I'm a member of the All Star Heroes."
Malon's eyes snapped open as she looked at Billy. "All Star Heroes?! You work for A.S.H.?!" She asked. "Billy, I've heard so much about this base and the many members of it determined to rid the universe of erode and his henchmen! I don't know why I didn't know that you were a member of the base!"
Billy shrugged. "I guess that's because the only missions I've had coming to Kerwan was at night." He replied.
Malon nodded. "I guess. I've only been keeping track of the amount of people coming to Kerwan on missions."
"How many have you counted so far?" Billy asked curiously.
"About forty." Malon replied. "Why? Do you have more fighters than that?"
"Certainly!" Billy replied. "There's more than two hundred men living in the base and that doesn't include the women! I don't know exactly how many we have, but I think it's at least three hundred."
Malon's eyes went wide in amazement. "Wow! I had no idea the base was so big!"
"And get this: We still haven't filled all of the rooms in the base." Billy replied with a whisper. "We're always recruiting more help."
Billy and Malon continued walking for another block until they arrived at Malon's home, which turned out to be an apartment. After they arrived at the front door, Billy opened it for Malon.
"Thanks for your help, Billy." Malon said with a smile. "You're very kind."
Billy nodded. "Not a problem, Maln. I'm always glad to help."
Just as Malon was about to enter the apartment, Billy stopped her.
"Malon, wait a minute." Billy said. "I want to make up for knocking you over earlier." He bit his lip. "You wanna go out for lunch sometime?"
Malon turned to look at Billy, her eyes wide. "Really?! You want to have lunch with ME?" She asked. "Sure! I'd love to!"
"Hey, great!" Billy said. "How does Thursday sound?"
The redhead nodded. "Sure! I don't work that day, so I'm free."
"Okay, so I'll pick you up here around lunchtime and we can go to a diner from there?" Billy asked.
"Sounds like a plan." Malon nodded. "Okay! I'll see you Thursday!"
"Okay!" Billy said. He suddenly remembered that he was still holding half of Malon's books. "Say, Malon? You want me to carry these books the rest of the way for you?"
Malon shook her head with a smile. "Thanks Billy, but no thanks." She said. "I can manage on my own."
Billy shrugged. "If you say so." He said as he carefully handed Malon the rest of her books.
"I'll see you later, Billy." Malon said as she started walking off.
"For sure, Malon." Billy said. "I'll see you Thursday."
As Billy walked away from the apartment, he started thinking. He couldn't believe it! This was the first date he had ever been going on, and it was with a woman he had only known for a matter of minutes! Well, he was sure looking forward to it, as he wanted to get to know Malon more.
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Later that evening, Billy was walking down the hallways of the A.S.H. base again. He had just appeared back in the Transporter room and was walking to the dining area to have supper. One thing that everyone noticed was that he was a lot more cheerful than normal.
"Hoy, Billy!" A young voice said from behind.
Billy turned around and saw two young girls walking over to him, both of them blonde. One's blonde hair was bundled up into two very short ponytails and she held a telescope in one hand. The other's blonde hair went well past her shoulder, reaching her back.
The one with the telescope was Aryll, younger sister of a heroic boy named Link, who had sacrificed himself to get her off of their island as Erode's forces wreaked havoc everywhere. He had also given her the Master Sword and instructed her to use it to take down Erode's forces in the future. Aryll was now a surprisingly skilled warrior for someone her age.
The second girl was Cecile, captain of the guards of Budehuc Castle. This was mainly because she was the only guard. Still, Cecile did her job well. This, of course, was before Erode's forces invaded and burned Budehuc to the ground, taking the lives of several of the castle staff. Cecile, with Eike the librarian, came across a team from A.S.H. Cecile would be a fighter, but she lost all of her armour and weapons in Budehuc's fire. So instead, she helps Eike in the library.
"Hey, Aryll. Cecile." Billy said as the two girls came to a halt in front of him.
"How'd you enjoy your day off?" Cecile asked.
Billy nodded. "Great. I even met a girl and am going to take her out to lunch on Thursday." He replied with a smirk.
Both girls' eyes twinkled in excitement. "Really?!" Aryll asked. "You've finally got a date?!"
Billy chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah. I've never really had the guts to ask a girl out on a date before."
"Well, I hope everything turns out alright." Cecile said.
"Thanks, girls." Billy said. "Listen, I have to run and report to the admiral."
Aryll and Cecile nodded and said goodbye as they walked off, leaving Billy to walk off in the other direction, towards the admiral's office.
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Admiral Arbuckle sat at his desk, listening as Billy told him what Big Al had found out.
"So Electro has been sighted, huh?" Jon asked as Billy finished. "Billy, I'd be careful on this date of yours if I were you." He said. "The last thing you'd want is to have this guy break in on your date."
Billy nodded. "I'll be careful, sir. But this date isn't until Thursday. That's two days from now."
"I know." Jon replied. "Don't worry, Billy. I'll send a team to search Kerwan and see if anyone can find Electro."
"Thank you, sir." Billy replied.
With that, Billy left the office and started working his way back towards the dining area to have supper.
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Billy stuck a piece of his Meat Loaf into his mouth as he hummed a song cheerfully. Everyone else at his table noticed this.
"Hey, Billy? You've been pretty cheerful since you've come back from Kerwan." Jr. Troopa observed.
"He's right." Dr. Donez added. "What happened down there, anyway?"
Billy smirked at the others. "I met a girl down there." He explained. "I'm taking her out to lunch on Thursday."
"Really?! That's great!" Sonar, the small, orange Shyguy, said. "You've finally met someone!"
Skid McMarx gave Billy a good slap on the back. "Way to go, dude! I knew this could happen sometime!"
"What's her name?" Jr. Troopa asked, leaning closer.
"Malon Romani." Billy replied. "She was one of the survivors of the Hyrule massacre."
"Ouch." Dr. Donez said. "Must be hard on her."
Billy shrugged. "That's what I said, but all she did was say that Kerwan welcomed her with open arms. I'm guessing that she doesn't want to talk about it." He said.
The others nodded in understanding.
"Well, we hope that you have a great time." Sonar said.
Billy sighed. "That's what I'm hoping, but Big Al says that Electro's hanging around on Kerwan."
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Two days went by like a snail on a treadmill for Billy. He wanted to see Malon again so bad that he was almost tempted to go back down to Kerwan and see her. The one drawback about this whole thing was that Admiral Arbuckle sent a team to Kerwan to see if Electro was anywhere, and no one could find him, even after searching the whole planet.
Billy was dressed in his normal blue jacket and denim jeans, but decided to leave the bandana off his head at the last minute. Billy noticed that it was getting close to lunchtime, and Malon would be waiting for him by the time he arrived to pick her up.
Billy left his room and walked down the hallways of the A.S.H. base, going towards the Transporter Room.
It was a short trip for Billy to reach the Transporter Room. He greeted Scott again and said that he wanted to go down to Kerwan again.
Scott smirked. "No problem, Billy." He said. "You have a date or something?"
Billy raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know that?" He asked.
"You're not wearing you bandana." Scott pointed out.
"He's blonde!" Waurenhyte said in astonishment.
Scott chuckled. "We've never seen you without it." He stated simply.
Billy also chuckled. "That would do it, I guess."
"Hey, you'd better get down there before your date starts to wonder where you are." Scott said.
Billy nodded as he walked into the Transporter Chamber and stood in the middle. Scott pulled the activation ever down again, engulfing Billy in light. When the light faded, Billy was gone.
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Several minutes passed. Billy and Malon walked down the sidewalks on the streets hundreds of feet below the floating platforms on Kerwan. Malon had directed Billy towards a diner that she claimed was the best one Kerwan had. The two had spent a good time talking together, and were quickly coming upon the diner Malon had pointed out. Even though they were still a block away, Billy could smell the scent of fresh coffee, a clear sign that the diner was a good place.
The pair arrived at the door to the diner. Billy quickly grabbed the handle of the door and politely opened it for Malon.
"Why, thank you, Billy." Malon said with a smile as she walked into the diner.
Billy nodded. "Not a problem, Malon." He said as he walked into the diner after her.
Billy and Malon quickly found a booth and sat down. A waitress soon arrived and asked for them to order. After they ordered, the waitress walked off to get the food.
After the waitress vanished, Billy looked at Malon. "So tell me about yourself, Malon." He said. "You have any interests?"
Malon quickly nodded. "Oh, yes. For starters, I'm the biggest horse lover I know. My father and I ran a ranch on Hyrule." She said.
"Your father?" Billy asked as his face fell. "I probably shouldn't be asking this, but did he die in the Hyrule massacre?"
Malon shook her head. "No. Luckily for him, he died of a heart attack two years before Erode's men arrived." She sighed. "But I miss him so much. He was all I had left." Tears started coming to her face as she looked at Billy. "You see, my mother died just after I was born, so my father had quite the job, raising me alone." She sighed again. "I feel so alone now."
Billy rubbed the back of his head. "I know how you feel, Malon." He replied.
Malon cocked an eyebrow as she looked at Billy again. "You do?" She asked.
Billy nodded. "My father died before I was born, so I never knew him. My mother, however, died just after my little sister, my only sibling, was born." He replied.
Malon's eyes snapped open. "You grew up without parents?!" She asked, quiet enough so everyone else in the diner wouldn't hear.
"AND I had to raise my little sister on my own." Billy replied. "No easy task when she was less than ten years younger than I. Still, she was my sister and I treated her like that. I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her, to protect her at all costs."
"Wait a minute." Malon said. "What's with all these past tenses?"
Billy sighed sadly. "My little sister was among the casualties in the Southtown incident." He replied. "But that's not the end. I was there when she was killed. I still can't believe how I promised myself year after year to protect her from harm, and yet when her time of need finally arrived, I could do nothing but just stand there and watch her get killed." He looked at Malon. "Even though my sister told me otherwise before she died, I feel like I failed her."
Malon sat there, speechless. All this time, she thought that HER story was sad, but then she hears Billy's story, and suddenly the tables get turned on her.
"I-I'm so sorry to hear that, Billy." Malon said.
Billy nodded as he wiped his eyes to dry the tears. "It's alright, Malon. I was the one to bring up the subject." He replied.
"I think we'd better change the subject before we both break down." Malon said as she placed a hand on Billy's shoulder.
Billy nodded. "Okay." He said. "So, do you have an hobbies?"
Again, Malon nodded. "I love singing." She replied. "Every time I get a CD, I try to memorize the lyrics so I can sing them anytime."
Billy's eyes widened. "Really? You can sing?!" He asked.
"Yeah. Do you as well?" Malon asked.
"Not exactly." Billy replied. "I can't sing, but I play guitar."
Malon's eyes went wide in amazement. "So we both love music?" She asked. "We have more in common than I thought."
Billy nodded. "A few other members of A.S.H. and I have formed a band, but one little wrinkle in this whole idea is that none of us can sing lead vocals, and we could really use a singer." He smirked. "If you're interested, maybe you should stop by the base sometime and try out for the part."
Malon nodded furiously. "Billy, I've always wanted to make a career in singing! The job at the library is only a temporary job until I can get enough money to go somewhere big so I can try out to become a singer." She explained.
Billy shrugged. "Like I said, you should try out for our band. Not a lot of the people on the base can sing, and those that can aren't interested in becoming lead singer."
The afternoon went on, and Billy and Malon continued talking the whole time, even during lunch. After a while, lunch had ended, and the two of them were on the way back to Malon's apartment.
Billy found out that the more he talked with Malon during the walk back to her apartment, the more he came to like her. Billy suddenly felt a strange feeling during the walk. Almost like he was actually getting feelings for Malon, even though they had only known each other for a few days. Billy shrugged the thought off, deciding to think about it later.
Sooner than later, Billy and Malon had arrived at the front door to Malon's apartment. Before going in, Malon turned to the blonde man and smiled. "Thanks for taking me to lunch, Billy." She said.
Billy smiled nervously. "It was my pleasure, Malon." He replied.
Malon chuckled. "Thank you." She said.
"We should get together again sometime." Billy suggested.
The redhead smiled. "I'd like that, Billy." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper and a pencil. She quickly scribbled a number on the paper and handed it to Billy. "Here's my number. Give me a call sometime."
Billy nodded as he took the piece of paper and stuck it into his own pocket. "I will, Malon. I promise."
After saying farewell to each other, Malon entered her apartment and Billy walked off to the pickup point to be beamed back up to the base. Billy was definitely looking forward to when he saw Malon next.
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Upon arriving at the base, Billy spent the rest of the afternoon in his room, toying around with his guitar. He sat on his bed as he played several notes with impressive skill.
Aside from a picture of Lily, Billy's guitar was his prized possession. It was white with a shiny red trim, and had the signatures of five of Billy's favourite guitar players.
Like he had told Malon earlier, Billy and a few other members of the base had formed a band, but were a lead singer short of a full band. While Billy played the electric guitar, the other members of the band included Skid McMarx on the bass, Luigi Mario on the drums and Rex, an orange-haired friend of Alex and Ryan from River City, on the keyboard. Young Shabon even provided some percussion on her tambourine.
Before Billy knew it, it was suppertime again. Setting his guitar against the wall of his room, Billy turned around and walked out the door, going down the hallway leading to the dining area.
When he arrived, the dining area was already pretty full. Billy quickly saw an open seat at the same table as the rest of the band and walked over to it.
Luigi was the first to spot Billy walking over to the table. "Hey, Billy!" He said as the blonde man sat down. "Skid tells us that you had a date during lunch."
"Yeah." Shabon said, leaning closer with interest. "How'd it go?"
"It went great." Billy said with a smile as he pressed a few buttons on an electronic panel, ordering supper. He smirked. "Guys, it looks like we might have a lead singer soon."
"Really, dude?!" Skid asked excitedly. "Don't tell me it's Malon."
"It is." Billy said. "She told me that she loves singing, but doesn't have enough money to try out."
"Well, that problem could easily be fixed if she joins us." Rex said. "We could do all the recording up here in the base."
"Yeah!" Shabon rubbed her hands together. "This could be our big break! We may actually have a band going!"
Supper went by smoothly for everyone, ad the amount of people currently in the dining area had decreased dramatically. However, just as Billy was about to stand up to leave the dining area, everyone heard a loud alarm coming from the speakers at every corner of the room. The same alarm was playing throughout the entire base.
"Emergency! This is an emergency!" Admiral Arbuckle's voice shouted through the speakers. "We have an invasion, a fire, and a kidnapping on our hands!" There was silence for a second. "Plum! Play the footage!"
In an instant, all of the eyes on the A.S.H. base were focused on the various electronic screens that were deploying from the ceiling all over the base.
Billy's eyes went wide as he saw the footage. He saw a picture of an apartment on Kerwan, clearly Malon's. He saw a figure floating around in the background, although it was too far away to see what it was. Billy soon saw what the figure was, as whoever it was, it was flying straight at the apartment.
The British fighter's mouth went dry when he saw electricity swarming the mysterious figure. "Electro!" He shouted. Everyone in the dining area agreed with him.
Everyone saw Electro shoot through one of the windows on one of the upper floors, quickly igniting the furniture inside on fire because of the electricity. When Electro shot out of the opposite side of the apartment, everyone saw that he was now holding a kicking and screaming woman in his arms.
Billy's looked at Electro's victim in horror. {MALON!!!} His thoughts screamed.
"He was last seen flying towards Kerwan's main building!" The Admiral's voice added.
Thinking he had seen enough, Billy spun around and ran from the dining area, ignoring everyone's shouts, asking him where he was going.
Billy tore through the hallways of the base, running towards the Transporter Room as fast as his feet could carry him. He didn't want to waste any time, as Malon's life was in danger.
{Why would Electro want her for?!} Billy thought as he raced towards the Transporter Room. {She doesn't have anything to do with A.S.H.!} A light bulb suddenly went on in his head. {Could he have seen me take her out to lunch and is using her to get to me?}
As Billy approached the door to the Transporter Room, he remembered what Electro said when he killed Lily. He had said that Billy could prove a threat to Erode, and wanted to make his confidence drop like a rock.
Billy growled as he opened the door to the Transporter Room. He had already lost Lily to this jerk. He wasn't going to let Malon die the same way. She was far too good a person.
"Scott." Billy said as he walked towards the chamber. "When I give you the signal, beam me down."
"Yessir." Scott replied as Billy walked into the chamber and closed the door behind him.
However, unknown to Scott, as soon as the door to the chamber was shut, Billy locked it behind him before giving Scott the signal. Scott activated the transporter, beaming Billy down to Kerwan.
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Billy materialized on the streets of Kerwan, near Malon's burning apartment. Luckily, the Kerwan Fire Department was keeping the fire under control, so he didn't need to worry about that.
Luckily, Billy knew where the main building was, so he knew where to go to catch Electro. Turning around, Billy ran off down the street.
Soon, Billy arrived at the main building. Looking up, he wondered what floor out of the fifty floors Electro could be holding Malon on. When he looked up, he saw a green-clad figure engulfed in electricity.
Billy growled. "Electro." He said. "He's on the roof."
Without thinking twice, Billy charged headfirst into the building.
Billy quickly arrived at an elevator and jammed the up button several times. He suddenly saw that the elevator was on the forty-first floor.
"Man! I don't have that long!" Billy said. He quickly saw the door leading to the many, many stairs leading to the roof. Without any other alternative, Billy ran towards the door, opened it and started climbing the stairs.
Billy flew up the stairwell as fast as he could, jumping at least three stairs at a time. Floor after floor, Billy kept pressing on, showing no signs of slowing down. He was determined to save Malon, as he felt that he had already been responsible for several deaths already and had no intention on adding the redhead woman to the list as well.
After what seemed like an eternity for Billy, he arrived at the top of the stairs, at the door leading to the roof. Shoving the door open, Billy charged through the door onto the roof.
Billy was just about ready to give Electro the trouncing of his life, but froze in his tracks when he saw the scene before him.
Electro was standing on the roof, holding a bound Malon around the waist. He held Malon's face in his other hand, preparing to kill her with electricity.
"Don't step any closer, Kane!" Electro threatened. "Or this one dies!"
Giving Electro a hateful glare, Billy slowly stood straight and lowered his staff, receiving a triumphant smirk from Electro.
"Just don't want to risk it, eh Billy?" Electro asked as he lifted himself off the ground, taking Malon with him. "Good guys are so easy to threaten."
Billy's eyes widened when he saw Electro hover off the edge of the roof, still holding Malon. "What are you doing?! Put her back on the roof!" He ordered.
Electro smirked. "Afraid not, Kane. If I put her down, you'll come after me again." He held Malon out, holding her by a long end of rope attached to the knot on the ropes binding her arms to her sides.
Malon screamed in terror as she swung back and forth, dangling above the streets hundreds of feet below. "Billy! Help me!!"
Billy growled. "You're a madman, Electro!" He said as he walked a few steps closer.
"No I'm not." Electro replied slyly. "I'm a monster."
Billy stopped walking a good few yards from the edge of the roof as Electro continued.
"You have a choice, Kane." Electro said. "Defeat the bad guy, or save the girl. It's your choice."
Without giving either Billy or Malon a chance to reply, Electro let go of the rope, allowing Malon to start her free fall down towards her death.
"MALON!!!!" Billy screamed as he ran towards the edge of the roof and leapt off in an attempt to catch her.
"BILLY!!!" Malon screamed as she fell towards the streets below.
Billy brought his arms to his sides as he flew down towards her in an attempt to catch up with her. He dove at the screaming Malon headfirst to give him more speed. His face was twisted in determination.
"I'M COMING, MALON!" Billy shouted as he got closer to Malon.
Billy reached out with his right hand and grasped the long end of the rope attached to the knot at Malon's back. "GOTCHA!" He shouted as he instantly pulled his other arm up, looked back and slammed his staff into the glass side of the building. As soon as the end of the staff was shoved into the glass, Billy could feel him and Malon starting to slow down. At the same time, the glass that was being thrown from the side of the building was flying overhead, starting to fall towards them. Billy gripped the rope in one hand and the staff in the other so tightly that all of his knuckles were turning a pale white.
Meanwhile, standing on one of the floating platforms, two members of the Shrub Patrol were patrolling around, looking for any suspicious people.
Suddenly hearing a strange screeching noise, the leader looked up, and suddenly cocked his gun and pointed it up. The other one did the same.
"Freeze, buster!" The leader of the Shrub Patrol shouted. "What's the password?!"
"DEATH TO THE SALAD EATERS!" Billy shouted quickly as he shot down past the platform, still holding the screaming Malon.
After Billy and Malon vanished, the Shrub Patrol nodded and put their guns away. "You may pass." The leader said calmly. A few seconds passed before many pieces of glass tapped against their helmets. "Darn kids..."
Billy looked down. The streets of Kerwan were getting pretty darn close, but he and Malon were slowing down dramatically now. Deciding to think ahead, Billy gave the rope in his right hand a good yank, pulling Malon up to him. As soon as she was close enough, Billy grabbed her, wrapping his arm around her as they fell.
As soon as Billy got within twenty feet of the ground, he pulled his staff from the side of the building and steered himself towards an awning sticking out over a store window. Bouncing off of it, Billy landed safely on the ground with Malon in his arms. Billy ran off down the street to avoid the many shards of sharp glass that were coming down to land right where he had been standing.
Once Billy was far enough away, he stopped running and set Malon on her feet. He had noticed that her eyes had been closed ever since before they landed on the awning. As Billy quickly untied her, Malon slowly opened her eyes, looking around.
"Malon?" Billy asked as soon as Malon was untied. "Are you alright?"
Malon stared at Billy, her bottom lip quivering. Her eyes were starting to water. Suddenly, she lunged at Billy and threw her arms around him as she started subbing into his chest.
"I was s-s-so s-scared!" Malon sobbed. "M-My life was f-f-flashing b-before my eyes!"
Billy gently returned the embrace. "It's alright, Malon." He said softly. "You're safe now."
Malon pulled herself away from Billy's chest and looked him in the eye. "Y- You just saved my life, Billy." She whimpered. "I-I didn't think anyone would care that much."
"Are you kidding?" Billy asked. "There's no way I would let that creep hurt you." As Malon pulled away from him, Billy wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come on. I'll take you to the base and we can get you some help."
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"So let me get this straight." Admiral Arbuckle asked as he looked at Billy. "Electro burned down her apartment and used her as bait to get to you?"
Upon arriving at the base, Billy had taken Malon to the dining area to get her something to drink. Malon was shakily drinking a mug of hot chocolate as Billy was talking with Admiral Arbuckle, who had come from his office.
"Yes, sir." Billy nodded. "Electro got away, but my main objective was to save Malon."
"Which, I might add, was done great." Rex said from the table Malon was sitting at. "Everyone saw the whole thing on the plasma screens here."
"Rex is right, mon ami." Gambit added. "Very risky thing you did, but brave at the same time."
"Thank you." Billy said to the Cajun mutant. He turned back to the Admiral. "Sir, Malon doesn't have anywhere to go now that her apartment has been burned down." He explained. "Can she live here with us?"
Admiral Jon rubbed his chin and thought for a few seconds before looking at Malon. "Is that alright with you, Malon?"
Malon nodded shakily. "Y-Yes. That's fine." She said, still recovering from the scare she had as Electro's hostage.
Jon looked at Billy. "Very well. She can stay." He said. "But she'll need some furniture for her room."
"Leave that to me, sir." Blue Mary replied as she stood up. "I'll take her shopping."
Jon nodded. "Thank you." He looked at Malon. "Are you alright to go back down to Kerwan to find a few pieces of furniture?"
Again, Malon nodded. "Thank you so very much, sir." She said. "It'll be a real honor to live here. I'll help out with whatever I can."
The Admiral smiled. "I'm sure you will." He said as he turned to Mary. "You'd better take her shopping tomorrow. You think you can manage a roommate for tonight?"
Mary nodded. "Of course." She looked at the redhead sitting at the table. "Come on, Malon. I'll show you to the room."
Malon nodded. "Coming." She replied as she stood up. Before she followed Mary out of the dining area, she looked at Billy. "Uh...Billy?"
"Yeah, Malon?" Billy asked.
Malon planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much for everything, Billy." She said with a smile as she turned around and walked away, following Mary.
Billy stared at Malon with a surprised expression as he gingerly rubbed where Malon had just kissed him. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You okay, man?" Rex asked.
Billy was silent for a few seconds before a smirk floated across his face. "I think I'm in love."
END
Author's notes: Okay. Like I said, if you want to see more on the series, I suggest that you go to my site. Please read and review!