Mission 31 - Reunion
Sirus walked into the dining area of the home carrying a large casserole dish. Damon brought a small plate of bread, and Obsidian carried a plate of steamed corn. It was dinner time at the Ares household and they were all ready to eat. Damon blessed the food quickly; glad for their abundance and the fact they had each other. The three men began to serve themselves when the doorbell rang. Obsidian rose from the table to answer it. Damon stared from the table curiously, his ears perked at maximum height, when the voices spoke he jumped from the table.
Sirus rose from the table, "What is it Damon?" his jaw dropped when he saw who was at the door, The McCloud family, waiting expectantly on the doorstep. Damon was already hugging Fox, and Obsidian politely kissed Krystal's hand. Sirus stared in disbelief, his slack-jaw slowly formed into a smile as he moved to shake Fox's hand.
"Hey Sirus," Fox said cheerfully, "long time no see."
"Why didn't you call, we had no idea you were visiting the planet." Sirus pulled them in.
"Wow, who are these? Can I keep them?!" Damon said jokingly, guiding in the twins.
"You certainly may not!" Krystal said mock-angrily, her hands on her hips.
Damon smiled, "You two have grown."
Cory and stared at the strange hybrid confused, while Clare ran and hid behind her father's leg. Cory spoke, "You're weird looking."
Suddenly Damon became very self-conscious of his appearance. All the emotions about his appearance began to well up again. The children really didn't know who he or the rest of his family was. But the children's reactions reminded him he wasn't anything beautiful to look at. He lowered his head and backed away into the nook by the stairs. "Sorry..." Damon softly whimpered. He covered his face with his hands.
Krystal sternly stared at her son, "Apologize!"
"But he is Mom!" Cory refuted.
"He doesn't mean it Damon." Fox said.
"I know...I just haven't had anyone say that to me for a long time..." No matter how much Damon bettered himself, he still felt he had an ugly body. It was the subtle reminders that got to him though.
Sirus walked over and patted his son on the back, trying to calm him. The elder wolf turned to everyone else, "Care to join us for dinner, it's all ready, we can set a few more places at the table for you."
Fox smiled, "That would be wonderful."
Obsidian guided Fox and the others to the dining room while Sirus talked with Damon. "Are you going to be okay?" Sirus asked his son.
"I think so, I'm sorry, that just caught me by surprise. And for such a small observation it hit me really hard."
Sirus smiled, "It's okay, when your ready come sit down with us and eat." When Sirus entered the kitchen he saw Fox and his family were being served. "So what brings you to Corneria?"
Krystal smiled from ear to ear, Fox sighed in surrender, "We've decided we're going to live here."
"That's wonderful, have you arranged for living quarters yet, or are you simply using the Great Fox?" Obsidian asked.
Fox smiled, "We're staying in the home I lived in as a child. I never had the heart to sell it. So I just kept it as an asset if selling it ever became necessary. Now it seems we'll be putting it to use."
Krystal nodded, "We're going to start cleaning it out tomorrow, we'd like to move in and get out of that rusty tin can as soon as possible."
Fox frowned, "That's our mother ship you're talking about."
Clare gasped, "WOW!" She pointed to the wall.
Everyone looked, the children gasped while everyone smiled. Damon was crawling along the wall. He wasn't doing it for show, he merely felt like doing it. He blushed profusely, jumped to the floor, and covered his face again.
"He is weir..." Cory caught another glare from his mother, "I-I mean...wow!"
Sirus chuckled, "Well, where are you planning to stay tonight."
Clare spoke, "Mommy said we were gonna stay in a hotel!" She said excitedly.
Fox frowned, "Oh dear...as if we're not going to be wasting enough money." Krystal nudged him roughly.
"That's no good, why not spend the night here. We have plenty of room." Sirus said.
"No, we wouldn't want to intrude." Krystal said.
"Why not let the children decide." Obsidian suggested.
"Alright." Krystal and Fox said together. Fox continued, "Kids, would you like to stay here? Or would you want to spend the night at a hotel?"
Sirus smirked, "If you stay here, I'll give you brownie sundaes for dessert."
Cory and Clare said excitedly together, "WE WANNA STAY HERE!"
Everyone, including Damon, laughed out loud.
Everyone gathered in the little living room area the joined with the open kitchen and dining room. The Ares were in their normal position, Obsidian and Sirus propping Damon while he lay down in their laps. Fox and Krystal took the love seat, and the kids sat cross-legged on the floor.
"I suppose it's time for reintroductions." Fox said, "Who'll do the honors?"
"I will," Sirus said, "I'm Sirus Ares. I'm one of your father's teammates, so I'm sure we'll get to know each other really well."
Both the kits nodded.
"This is my brother Obsidian." Sirus continued.
"Obsi-Obsididi..." Clare tried.
Damon interrupted, "Just call him Rocky." The children giggled at that remark.
"This is my only son Damon." Sirus said, patting Damon's shoulder.
"But he doesn't look like you at all." Clare commented.
"Where's Damon's mommy?" Cory asked.
The room stood still for a moment. Damon shifted from the discomfort of the situation and then whined. Sirus spoke, "Kids, Damon doesn't have a mommy, and he looks very special. It's just like Cory with his blue fur; You are both very special, see?" The tenseness of the situation passed. Fox smiled and nodded, conveying his happiness at how well Sirus had handled the situation.
Cory and Clare both walked over to Krystal and hugged her legs upon hearing this. They couldn't quite comprehend not having her, and the simple thought of losing their beloved mother was too much. Cory stared at Sirus and Damon, "I'm sorry...Mister Damon I'm really sorry about what I said..."
Krystal kissed the heads of her children, "It's all right little ones, I'm not going anywhere."
Buddy bounded into the room, he hopped straight into Damon's arms. Damon chuckled, "Hey Buddy...thanks Cory, it's okay, don't worry about it.
"What's that?" Clare asked.
Cory responded, "I think that's called a Baformaid, I remember a picture ROB showed me."
"That's Bafomdad Cory, but you were close." Fox grinned with encouragement.
Damon let Buddy go so he could investigate the newcomers; the little rabbit-like creature hopped over and sniffed Cory's hand. Damon smiled, "You can hold him, just be careful."
Cory picked up the pudgy creature, it wriggled about in his arms and he dropped it again. Cory then bent down to pet him, "He's cute."
"Can I pet him?" Clare asked, eager to see the foreign animal.
"Just don't hurt him." Damon warned.
"Lemme see Buddy, Cory you've had your turn." Clare grabbed one of Buddy's ears.
"No, I'm still petting him." Cory said.
"It's okay, why don't you both pet him." Sirus suggested, noting the fight brewing.
"No, it's my turn!" Clare said, tugging Buddy's ear.
"I had him first!" Cory fought back, tugging Buddy's other ear.
Buddy squelched his ears his ears were tugged harder and harder by the twins. Finally he bit Cory's finger, causing him to let go. Tears filled the young kit's eyes, and he began to sob. Clare let go and rushed to her brother. He held his finger out and cried.
Krystal examined the bite, "It's okay honey, it's not bleeding, don't cry." She kissed his finger and the crying softened.
"Let that be a lesson to you two. Sharing is important, and it's not nice to mistreat animals." Fox chided. Buddy squirmed back into Damon's arms, huddling himself away from the twins. Damon kissed Buddy between the ears, trying to calm him.
"Perhaps it's time to lay the little ones to bed." Krystal said. "Come on, Obsidian said you can have his big bed."
Clare looked back, "Mister Damon, will you do that trick one more time, the one where you climb the walls."
Damon smiled; setting Buddy in Sirus' lap, he walked over to one of the adjacent walls and planted his hands firmly on it. Then he picked up his feet and pressed them against the semi-rough surface. Slowly he scaled the wall to the ceiling, crossing the ceiling, and then came down the other side. Clare and Cory clapped as they were led upstairs.
Fox smiled, "This is quite an impressive house."
Obsidian nodded, "It helps when you have some of the most influential people to help you out. Doctor Zenotabi actually paid for this." Obsidian thought to himself, this house actually was his father's; he just spent most of his time at the lab, so he decided to live there. After some renovation the Ares had moved in and called it home.
"Well, you're all very lucky." Fox replied.
Sirus smiled, "If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to call."
"Thanks, you're all great friends." Fox looked up, wondering what was taking Krystal, "She must be reading them a bedtime story. I'll go and check it out. Have a nice evening everyone."
"Admiral, Dr. Zenotabi is requesting a holographic conversation with you." A metallic voice announced in the darkness, "I hope I am not disturbing your sleep sir."
"You are." Pepper grumbled as he crawled out of the bed. Age and time was catching up with his body. As his years approached the seventies, he could feel his old strength waning as every day passed. "But then again, I haven't talked to Archimedes in a while. I wonder what he is up to. Activate the holographic display."
A large globe of light appeared in a corner of the room, revealing all the furniture around it. On top of a neatly organized desk was a computer, with a holographic displayer attached next to the monitor. It had been a long time since the device was used. A few seconds later, the great orb of light turned into the three dimensional image of a middle aged rodent, Dr. Zenotabi. Every strand of fur Zenotabi's head was visible, thanks to technology.
"Greeting Admiral Pepper," Zenotabi said with a polite nod, "I need your assistance."
"Yeah, that's usually the case." Pepper said jokingly, "What do you need, Archimedes?"
Zenotabi chuckled, "Maps of the Dinosaur Planet, specifically the location of the Krazoa Shrines."
"Interesting. . ." Pepper said as he searched through his myriad files and folders for the old maps of the planet. Once found, the canine compressed the files and encrypted them with a simple password, before sending them off to Dr. Zenotabi. "The files are on their way."
"Thanks." Zenotabi said with a smile.
"Sounds like you are in a hurry, Archimedes." Pepper said with an ambiguous tone, "I suppose you are going to tell me the purpose of asking for these maps?"
"I want to do some research concerning the Krazoa Spirits." Zenotabi replied, his eyes not looking directly at Pepper's. Of course, that was a sign for Pepper to question the rodent further.
"Why the Krazoa spirits, after five long years?" Pepper inquired, "Given your personality, this sudden interest doesn't come out of nowhere. If you were interested in them, you would have called five years ago, when they were first discovered, not now."
"Since you can read minds, why don't you just guess what I am doing anyway?" Zenotabi said sarcastically, "I have a purpose in this, but I want to keep it a secret for now. Besides, this is going to a big surprise if everything works out."
"Alright, since you want to keep it secret, I'll leave you alone for now." The canine smile gently, "But make sure you don't get yourself into trouble, Archimedes. I have a feeling you'll come to me sooner or later."
"Hopefully I won't have to bother you again, Admiral." Zenotabi said with a small nod.
"I hope so too." Pepper said with a chuckle, "Next time you call, make sure you call in the afternoon, not mid night. It's an unspeakable crime to deprive an old man of his sleep."
"My next project would be inventing a sleeping accelerator." Zenotabi said with a smile, "Then we won't have to spend a third of our lives in bed anymore. That would make us so much more productive."
"No Archimedes." Pepper said with a darkened tone, "God made us the way he did for a reason. You've been fooling around with his plans too much."
"We will see about that." Zenotabi said with a smile, "Good night, Admiral."
"Good night, Dr. Zenotabi." Pepper said with feigned content. In reality he was worried about his ambitious friend. "Have a nice trip to Dinosaur Planet, and be safe."
"How did you know?" Zenotabi asked.
"It's just a random guess, Doctor." Pepper said before closing his connection. Deep inside, he had a feeling that Dr. Zenotabi's new project may lead to something . . . very great.
