Chapter 11 – Settling In, Standing Again.
A/N: Reviewers, I love you all:
HHH – Stay on her good side; nice plan that one; read on to see what happens to those who tick Mighty off…
Ri2 – What went on between those two – was it just a little harmless fun or something a bit more? Hmm, decisions, decisions…
TH – I'm sure it was 5:30 am, about the time I was putting the finishing touches to the last chapter of A Bloodstone Rose; started at seven in the morning, finished at about the same time!
"And this…" Charmy pointed to the building that sat directly opposite them now, Mighty watching on with interest as he casually walked into the road, hardly bothering to check the traffic as there basically wasn't any; even after a few hours of being introduced to the fair city of Echidnopolis by the younger bee, she was beginning to lose the habit of checking left and right if she wanted to cross the road. She followed him as he pushed open the door to the small coffee shop, finishing his introduction at the same time as greet the proprietor,
"…is the Fy Café; that's the Fy in case you were wondering", the echidna at the counter returned the bee's wave and almost habitually, it seemed, turned to the chilled counter to scoop out a strawberry frappacino. Mighty looked around for a minute before sitting down with Charmy at what she assumed was his normal table,
"I take it this is your normal watering hole?"
"You bet; this place does the best frappacino in the whole of Echidnopolis".
"You and your sugar needs", the armadillo chuckled as the owner of this little café loaded up a tray with the bee's unspoken order and walked over to them in time to hear her finish, "if I tried your diet I'd burst my shell".
"You and everyone else but him", the echidna set down the chilled drink as Charmy pulled out a chair for him; as the astonished armadillo watched on, the elder Mobian span the chair around so the back was facing the table, straddled it and sat down as if this were the most natural thing in the world, smiling as he spoke on, "but that's high praise coming from the calorie king over there", he extended a hand which Mighty shook without reservation, "I'm Nate, I run this place, though I have to admit Charmy basically finances it, along with the rest of his mates".
"Well then", Mighty had already scanned the drinks menu, "guess I better add my share; I'll take a black coffee, no sugar". She reached for her wallet as Nate raised his eyebrows,
"You fallen in with this motley crew?"
"For now", she answered with a casual shrug, "just doing some heavy lifting and suchlike; Charmy's showing me around. Nice city."
"Thanks, I sure like it", Nate replied as he left to get the armadillo's order; as he did, Charmy managed to guzzle down the last few slurps of his freezing sugary drink and lick his lips, asking carefully,
"Teri showing up anytime soon? I got his gubbins".
"Really", Nate chuckled as he filled up a clean coffee cup, "yeah, he'll be dropping in sometime; school's out in another couple of minutes as it is and he's always the first one out the door".
"Good for him" Charmy commented before he felt a none-too-gentle tap on his arm; turning around, he saw Mighty giving him a stern but not unkindly stare,
"Do my ears deceive me, or are you using this tour as an excuse to hook up with one of your buddies?"
"Your ears do not deceive you", Charmy played along for a while before grinning, "but the tour stopped with the Admin Centre; that, the EST HQ and the main shopping centres are all you need to know to get by in this place". Mighty had to concede this point; she had realised just from walking around in such a short space of time that Echidnopolis was a lot more compact that Station Square; if you really wanted to you could walk from one end of it to the other in about two hours. With that, Nate brought her coffee over and sat with them for a minute, checking out the newest member of Charmy's friend circle as she did him; this lasted until the front door of the Fy Café was thrown open and a chocolate brown echidna slumped down in the nearest seat, groaning,
"Nate, I need a large lemon slush and so do my legs".
For a second there was only silence save for the heavy breathing of the newcomer, before with a loud chuckle Nate stood up and moved for the counter, greeting his newest customer as he did so,
"What happened to you Teri; never known you show much enthusiasm at sports". The younger echidna looked over from his suffering and winced,
"Let's just say I paid the inevitable price for joking about the island's most lethal fitness trainer".
"Ohhh, busted", Nate laughed out loud as Charmy winced; he knew who Teri was describing even if he'd never actually met her; the P.E. teacher at Teri's school, Nela-Ru, was a woman you heard rumours of and shuddered, "what did you say?"
"I never said anything", Teri defended himself even as he squirmed on his seat, "I just, well, there was a bit of a debate going as to whether she's ever accidentally killed anyone by throwing a skyball at them, it wasn't my fault she overheard me and no-one else". Mighty saw Charmy's shoulders shake before he managed to gain control and ask,
"How many this time?"
"Twenty five laps of the skyball pitch", Charmy and Nate both winced as Mighty tried to remember how far that actually was from what Charmy had told her earlier and Teri gave an agonised gasp as he tried to straighten his traumatised limbs as he finished, "at her pace; she never slackened off once – sitting down now was a really bad idea, I'm never going to stand back up".
"This aught to help", Nate tried to look sympathetic as he passed his younger customer a drink, though he couldn't call himself mortal if he hadn't added, "but that really was a dumb thing to do – you should know she's selectively deaf, and she's only got worse since I was there".
"Oh yeah, she actually mentioned you", Teri looked up as Nate acted coy,
"She, she mentioned…I'm flattered".
"That's not the way she told it; according to her flattened would be a more accurate description – something about a loose skyball, you diving for it and not seeing the post in the way; were you really out for six hours?"
"Yeah", Nate rubbed his nose as he remembered that legendary game well, "I was only lucky I didn't have any teeth knocked out, but I still scored".
"In more ways than one, if the rumours are true; one of the cheerleaders was first on the scene when you woke up?" Nate tapped the side of his nose and gave a knowing smile,
"Maybe, but enough of the past", he gestured to where Charmy was sat; "you've got a deal to make, if you can get up for it that is". Teri looked at the bee's chair and, more importantly, the few feet of floor between in and his own and shuddered,
"No, more walking, legs already turning up their toes; Charmy, come over here, I beg you".
The bee looked over at where his echidna pal was suffering and a sudden idea pinged on in his mind; his eyes darted to where Mighty was finishing her coffee, listening to the conversation even if she wasn't taking part in it, and appealed to her,
"Mighty", she looked over; he glanced at Teri's seat and looked pleading, "could you; I mean he is suffering and all". The armadillo shook her head, but was smart enough to realise that she would need the bee later tonight; she had to keep him as sweet as possible.
"All right, all right"; she stood up and moved over to Teri; the brown echidna glanced up and finally made some belated introductions,
"Ah, Charmy said he might be brining someone with him; I'm Teri-Le, who're you?"
"Mighty", she smiled back as she slid around the back of the chair and stooped to place one hand underneath it, "Mighty Armadillo; now hold on and don't move too much". She watched as he gripped the side of the chair then casually hoisted it, echidna and all, to waist height, pottering back to her table with Teri preceding her, clutching the sides of the seat to avoid slipping before she set him back down and retook her own seat, stirring what was left of her coffee as she waited politely for the inevitable questions.
"Whoa", Teri managed to force through clenched teeth, looking at his friend's new companion with new respect; Vector he could cope with despite their differing musical tastes, he'd not met Espio yet, but this girl was something else, "how'd you do that?"
"Well"; engaging sarcasm drive; "I just moved one hand under the seat, then I lifted up and…"
"Ha, ha", Teri countered with sarcasm of his own before leaning forwards, aching legs miraculously forgotten as he tucked them under the seat and leant forwards, "I meant how'd you get so strong; can you teach me – it'd really boost my chances when I go for the cadets in the summer".
"Sorry Teri", Mighty shook her head as he deflated somewhat, "all in the genes I'm afraid; quip and I'll hurt you" she shot suddenly at Charmy, who had the unmistakable smirk of someone about to take something completely out of context and make a joke of it – with a visible effort the bee stopped his mouth running away with him and settled for a commiseration,
"Well she can't help you Teri, but I can", his hand delved into his knapsack and emerged holding white gold in the young echidna's eyes, "guess who dropped in last night?"
"How much you get?" Teri and Nate asked simultaneously, eyes locked onto the sweets Charmy was now dancing between his fingers, hunger in their eyes as Mighty looked at the bee in shock,
"You're selling them mint lumps?"
"Oh yeah; can't get it as strong as that anywhere on this island", Nate breathed, stretching out a hand which Charmy quickly slapped smartly,
"Not for you, at least, not yet", the bee beckoned with his other hand; "did you get what I asked for?" At a nod from Nate, Teri slung his school bag onto the table and opened it, slipping out some colourful paper sheets at the same time the owner of the Fy café removed some similar documents from under his counter, placing them in front of Charmy. The bee hissed in triumph as he removed more mints from his bag and shoved them across the table towards the two ravenous echidnas at the same time as scoop the comics into his possession,
"Nice, pleasure doing business with you gents"; Nate tried to reply politely through a mouthful of mint,
"Likewise" he burbled as Mighty could take it no longer; she laughed out loud as the others looked at her,
"I like that Charmy; get all the echidnas addicted to mints then flog them off at a price; great racket that one", she placed her hands either side of her face as though posing for a mug shot, "I can see it now; prisoner 145-A; crime, possession of half a bar of Kendal mint cake and a gram of powdered Trebors".
"S'not illegal yet", Teri choked through a large block of sweet ice; he swallowed it before continuing, "good thing too; same time next week Charmy?"
"You got it; keep the comics flowing and you get the sweet reward", the bee stood, his business concluded as he gestured to Mighty, "finished yet?"
"Nah", she knocked back the rest of her drink in one then turned to him, "now I am though; we better get back soon, the other two'll be gone in a couple of hours"; and not a minute too soon.
Unaware of his companion's hidden discomfort, the bee gave a thumbs-up and headed for the door, calling his thanks over his shoulder as he left the Fy Café. He heard the door close later than he would have if it had just been him alone and that told him Mighty was following. However, by not looking around, he failed to see the almost hungry way the armadillo was regarding him from the rear, summing up further in her mind that he was the one she needed.
XXX
It has to be Charmy; she killed the water to the shower and reached for a towel, the burning in her back nearly reaching fever pitch as she cursed her earlier haste and excitement; she'd failed to deal with this need before she left Station Square and now she was paying the price. She stepped out the bath and looked in the mirror as she towelled down her face, looking at herself as she made up her mind about this; he's the only one that can – his hands are perfect and I can trust him not to get freaked out – I'm sure he'd keep his mouth shut about what we'd do. She had to be quick though; with a start she heard the bee bid goodbye to his two friends as they left for the evening; the sooner she started, the longer she'd have.
XXX
"Now I know why you're going to see a cheesy ninja slash movie", Charmy laughed as Vector struck an exaggerated pose before he set his sights on Espio, "but remind me why you're going again?" The chameleon sighed, fed up to the back teeth with explaining this to Vector after he'd expressed an interest in this trip to the cinema,
"It is unlikely, but just maybe there will be a technique in this movie I can adapt and put into practise in the real world – it's a slim chance I grant you, but a ninja should take every opportunity to get an edge". Charmy gave a slight nod and a strained grin; he was fighting desperately not to crack the chameleon a good joke on the grounds a ninja star in the face often hurt. Seeing his friend struggle, Vector took the matter in hand and carefully began shutting the front door of their joint house.
"Right, it'll be late when we get back in; you're to be asleep, okay? Mighty has full permission to do what she fancies if you misbehave and we've all seen what she can do, got it?"
"You bet" Charmy answered with a smile; Vector let his gaze linger on the bee's face a second longer, trying to psyche him out a little, before reassuring himself that the little buzzer wasn't going to act up and stepping across the threshold to the cool night air, Espio already waiting for him. Just before he left, he had to get the last word in,
"I mean it Charmy; no kidding around like you do with us; Mighty's strong but she's also a lady; no crude jokes or anything like that, right?"
"Left"; the bee shot back, shaking his head as the crocodile went through the 'older brother' routine. Finally, both reptiles turned around and Charmy shut the behind them; he leant against it for a second before hurtling into the lounge with a gleeful shout. Vaulting onto the settee, he kicked his feet up and fingered the remote; yes, all this TV belongs to me now – nothing's going to stop me…
"Er, Charmy", the sound of Mighty clearing her throat behind him came as a surprise and he started to look over his shoulder; she sounds embarrassed, wonder what...oh dear God.
Charmy whipped his head back round. Quickly. He blushed. Fiercely. He wanted the earth to swallow him up. Immediately.
Mighty was stood in the doorway that led to the bathroom. She was only wearing her shorts and a sports bra.
XXX
Oh no, oh Lord, oh dear…what do I do now?; the young bee kept his eyes tightly shut, trying to dispel the image he'd just seen even as it seemed fused to his retinas; she's a team mate, a friend, this is all just an accident!
"Charmy", her voice was soft and disarming; he relaxed just enough to peek open an eye a crack and unroll from the ball he'd been in slightly, listening to her words as she continued, "it, listen it's okay, you can look".
Swallowing a sudden lump in his throat, the bee took a deep breath and fought his sudden shock down; he rose himself up just enough to see the armadillo, now standing with her arms folded over her chest and giving a small, embarrassed grin that matched her suddenly red cheeks. For a minute, he froze, unable to do anything but look, forgetting decency as Mighty cursed; she should have given him a little warning rather than just appearing in the doorway like that. Oh well, have to make the best of it from here on in;
"Come here"; without conscious thought his legs obeyed, Charmy felt his breath and pulse quicken in tandem, his heartbeat pounding in his temple as his heart suddenly laboured to pump hot, sticky blood around his body, force the red fluid past the melted-down mess that had once been the rational part of his brain as only a single thought overrode all other mental traffic; a virtually half-naked girl is asking me to come over to her – Christ, what do I do next? His eyes were on the ground, mostly to hide his own blush, but as he saw the toecaps of Mighty's shoes he realised there was no more time; trying to calm his furious face blaze, the bee let his gaze travel slowly, ever so slowly, up the armadillo's body, seeing the massive knots of muscle in her stomach twitch and flex as though his gaze itself were affecting them, tapping them with reflex hammers. He sped up, not daring to linger higher for fear of being called immodest though he knew she had been the one to initiate this ritual, before he really knew he'd done it, he was looking into the armadillo's eyes,
"Yes"; his tongue seemed to have enlarged itself, suddenly engorged with blood, making speech difficult; he licked his lips, suddenly and acutely embarrassed to be this shy in front of her, "yes Mighty, what did you want?" Oh man, if she says it, I'm really up the creek without a canoe, never mind a paddle, this is out of my depth; she was silent for a minute; maybe feeling the same way he did, but eventually, she spoke,
"I want you Charmy"; eek – I'm gonna lose it to a team mate…; "I need you to help me; I've got a problem and you're the only one who can help me", her expression was pleading, he knew he'd never be able to refuse, he'd do whatever she asked, "will you Charmy?" There was only one thing he could do; he licked his lips once more, took a deep breath and then nodded, just once, in total silence. No words were necessary.
XXX
A sudden hand on his shoulder caused Espio to stop; he looked up at Vector to see what he'd been both expecting and dreading; the crocodile had his face raised and his eyes screwed shut in a manner that caused his lips to peel back, exposing rows of sharp teeth in a dread grimace.
"All right", the chameleon turned on his heel and started walking back the other way, "what did you forget this time?"
"I didn't"; the crocodile growled, shaking his head in disgust, "you did; you'll never sit through a movie without your cough sweets will you – I'm not sure about the way cinemas work up here, but down in Station Square they don't sell those at the kiosk". Espio was about to argue, but then he slapped his pocket and realised with horror that Vector was right; I was going to get them from the table as we left – Charmy knocked into me, I must have forgotten then. Snarling with impatience and self-frustration at his lapse in concentration, the ninja hurried after the already moving crocodile, grudging apology halfway to his lips before Vector cut it off with a short slashing gesture,
"Save it frilly; we always set off early just in case, we've got time to run back. Besides, we get to make sure Mighty's keeping an eye on the buzz-boy". There was a thought that made Espio smile,
"After what she did at the orchard; I bet he's jumping to her every word". Vector chortled and nodded in agreement; Charmy wouldn't be getting up to anything with the armadillo in charge; that was the bottom line. However, if Vector had been able to see what was going on at there destination, where Mighty had finished whispering instructions into the young bee's ear and turned her back, fingers reaching for the clasp of her top, maybe he'd have redressed his guess.
XXX
The jangle of the keys from the pocket flashed the chameleon's danger senses; he whipped out a hand and stifled the clinking metal twigs, hissing a warning as he did so,
"Quiet; maybe we can sneak in and out; no-one sees us, no need for explanations". Nodding at the foresight even if he couldn't see it working in practice, Vector whispered back,
"Right, you go in then; I'll hold the door, cool?" Espio nodded once and watched as the crocodile inserted the key to the lock slowly, as silently as possible as he made ready to slip inside. The lock suddenly clicked open, Vector's powerful hand easing the front door open with surprising care, a fraction at a time; just as it was wide enough and Espio made to slip in unnoticed, camouflage already in place, something came through that threw all their plans right out the window,
"Charmy", the name was followed directly by a happy, contended sigh, "you really are a natural at this".
Both reptiles stopped completely dead, horror and sheer, outright denial, disbelief was far too gentle a term, sweeping right through them; they could not have just heard what their ears had told them they'd heard. But, almost as soon as they'd convinced themselves they were wrong, the answer came to shatter all hope of that,
"What can I say; nimble fingers".
"You got that right", the armadillo replied before falling mercifully silent; Vector moved his head without feeling his neck move, turning to see Espio's expression mirroring his own; ninja emotional training not up to the task of masking this kind of bombshell impact. Words fled both of them; it was only when he turned back around that he realised he'd forgotten to ease off pushing the door too and it was now three-quarters open. Without thinking, brain too busy trying to restore air to the lungs, he slipped inside, following Espio as the chameleon led; he was shutting the door with infinite care, even more softly than he'd opened it, when a sudden shuddering hiss made him pause,
"Ahaha", there was a second's silence, which the crocodile used to shut the door fully, "careful, that skin's tender".
"I guessed; bet it doesn't get fresh air often". Oh please no; Vector screwed his eyes shut and covered his mouth with his hands; anything but the pillow talk.
As that thought crossed his mind he found he suddenly had to clamp down on his jaws even harder – he suddenly wanted to do nothing more than laugh out loud. As he clumsily pirouetted around, he saw Espio in a similar state, covering his lips with a single hand as he pointed to the hallway leading to the front room. He was mildly indignant at this; after all Mighty and Charmy both had individual rooms; he and Espio bunked together – surely they could've…
"So how often does this need doing?" Espio, a little closer to the fateful door, stopped, shoulders shaking at this as Vector squeezed his mouth together even more tightly, the giggles threatening to rupture his lungs if he didn't let them out soon; boy Charmy, of all the times to ask…
"Depends", the first doubts to the reality of this began to petition their existence; Mighty's voice was too conversational, even if she was half an octave higher than normal, "it's not too bad now, but come summer maybe three times a week".
"She'll kill him"; that observation from Espio nearly broke him; tears pricked the corner of his eyes as his entire body heaved with silent laughter; he couldn't even stamp his feet to relieve the internal pressure, settling for bringing his fists down on the air like twin hammers as he fought to not embarrass his friends. At least, not yet; Espio must have come to the same conclusion he had as his earlier smile had disappeared and he moved up to the door; it was already ajar, allowing them to slowly, ever so slowly, lever it open and see the sight before their eyes.
Right, relax, panic over; though the klaxons were shut off in his mind, he still doubled over with helpless hysteria at the scene in front of him. From what he could see, Mighty was lying on her front and, that was strange; rather than being smooth like normal, her back appeared to be ruffled up; she resembled Shadow somewhat from this angle. He had to wait for the lingering moisture in his eyes to dry up before he could clearly see what was happening; the overlapping plates that made up the armadillo's natural amour plating were raised, levitated a little, exposing a chink in her armour. And into that chink, the figure kneeling by her side but fortunately still facing away from the pair of on looking reptiles, was slowly rubbing what looked like a cloth; Charmy carried on his work as he removed his hands and washed the rag in the basin of warm water by the side, blissfully unaware of his audience until,
"WHATTHEBLOODYHELL'SGOINGONHERE?"
XXX
Enemy!; before she'd even had time to consciously register the voice, Mighty's natural instincts had taken over and run the show; she was on her front and her plates were up; she was vulnerable and that made her easy meat. Muscles in her back, as well developed as at any other point on her body, swung into the fray with full force; her shell snapped back into place with the force of a mousetrap. Damn; she cursed mentally as she realised the shock of that call had tensed her; she wouldn't be able to expose herself like that for at least another half-hour until her muscles eased off. Still it wasn't all bad news; something had stopped two of the plates fitting together properly and that meant…it was only when the yell of pain reached her ears that she realised the obstruction probably compromised a couple of Charmy's fingers.
XXX
He'd been a lost cause before, but the look on Charmy's face as he'd turned around was the last straw; Vector collapsed completely, the sudden devolution of the bee's expression of shock into one of pain just fuelled the fire; he virtually bellowed with laughter as Charmy grabbed his trapped wrist with his other hand, straining at it for freedom as Mighty tried to crawl forwards; eventually, the bee's hand shot free, though his glove was still caught, dangling from the armadillo's back like some kind of flag as Charmy stuffed his aching fingers in his mouth, shooting to his feet and dancing a rapid tattoo of pain as he sucked them furiously, glaring at the two Mobians who had caused this as Vector fell to his knees and Espio merely stood there, a superior smirk touched by humour on his lips. Mighty, dignity now in tatters and feeling cheesed off about it, stood up and, folding her arms across her still covered chest, turned to glower venomously at the pair, face ablaze.
"What was that for; we were in the middle of a delicate operation".
"Never sounded like it", Espio admitted, unable to resist a smile as he finished, "from the hallway it sounded like you were in the middle of something else".
It was the deadpan tone that did it, any other type of voice would have brought furious denials, agonised excuses and other such bread and butter staples of embarrassment, but not this one; Mighty and Charmy looked at each other, held the reflective gazes for a second, then both broke down, joining Vector on the floor as the implications sank in riotously.
"Chahahaharmy", Mighty just about struggled to her knees, pointing as the bee gripped onto a nearby chair for support, "sorrehehehe, b, but you're not my thahahahahaype".
"Baby", the bee somehow managed to plaster a pseudo-seductive glint into his eyes and run a hand through his antennae, his voice rich and deep, "for you, I could be anythihihihing". Mighty fell to all fours, virtually screaming with laughter as she pounded the floor, sending the coasters on the table rattling.
It seemed to last forever; the hysterics were like a deadly laser beam that reflected from one member of the Chaotix to the other, though Espio seemed to be able to handle it with no other ill effects than a huge grin and the odd snicker. Each Mobian laughed like they wanted to break their lungs and for a horrible moment it seemed like they might; each had a few seconds where they suddenly went rigid, gasping for air like a fish out of water before finally managing to suck in some oxygen and carry on howling with laughter. Eventually, however, with his arms shaking and tears on his cheeks, Vector heaved himself up and flopped over the side of one of the chairs,
"Ohohoooowww", he lolled to the side for a minute, breathing quickly as his body sought to re-oxygenate itself, "I ache!" Charmy manage to pull himself into a sitting position, strangely light-headed after that marathon laughing session as he tried to locate something to fall against and drag himself to full height with.
"There should be laws against laughing that hard", the bee declared woozily before seeming to realise something important, "wait a sec, what are you two doing back?"
"We came to get my throat lozenges" Espio answered before smirking at Mighty, the armadillo still not off the floor yet, "but we came back to a far more entertaining show; what were you doing anyway?" Realising there was no feasible way to wriggle out of this one and unable to think much anyway, she decided to be honest,
"I need someone to clean under my shell", she took a breath before explaining more fully, "grit and other rubbish gets lodged under there and I can't reach it, so someone else had to get it out. It's a ticklish job because the skin under the shell's sensitive, so I decided to let Charmy have a crack tonight because I didn't think you'd be around; it takes a lot for me to relax enough to open up like that".
"How come you never told us this before?" Vector asked from his chair, finally convincing his shaking legs to let him stand up as Mighty shied away, troubled by this,
"Well, it's not the, er, the sort of thing you want out is it? I can't clean myself properly; there's a major turn-off before you even get to drinks; makes people treat you like an idiot". Hearing this, Charmy stood up, a little wobbly maybe, but he managed it; he walked over to the seated armadillo and put his hand on her shoulder,
"Mighty, we're the Chaotix", he said simply, explaining as she looked up, "you can tell us pretty much anything; what happens between us stays between us – there are no secrets here, even for you, okay?" Smiling, genuinely made happy by the generous offer, she clasped his hand, stopping the pressure as soon as she felt his hand twitch,
"Thank you Charmy, and you two", she added, remembering Vector and Espio in the nick of time, "that means a lot". Everyone nodded before Vector suddenly clapped once and pointed at the clock, face regretful but at the same time nonchalant,
"Well, we'll never make the White Smoke Cutter now, so we might as well turn in soon; we're heading back out tomorrow to deal with some of the ruins Knucks said want looking at". There was nodded agreement to this all around, the foursome sitting together and watching a little TV before finally retiring for bed.
XXX
Once more, a job that Vector had gloomily predicted taking them the better part of a week was done in a day; Mighty was more than capable of supporting boulders that would have otherwise have required hoisting into place with a lot of rope, effort and bad language. The armadillo lifted the larger chunks of rubble into place while the rest of the Chaotix secured them firmly with nearby vines cut to size; Vector explained Knuckles had shown them which ones to use, these naturally grown ropes were almost as strong as bound steel and would last years.
"Just as well", Charmy grunted as he wormed through the gap between the slab of rock Mighty was supporting by a corner and the floor, a trail of green vine dangling from his hand, "I'd hate to have to do this more often than that".
"It's not that bad" Vector countered mildly, taking the rope from Charmy and pulling, drawing the two vines he now had in both his hands slowly closer together; when they were close enough, Espio whipped into action and tied them together with a knot that, despite days of trying and virtual tears of frustration, neither of his team mates had ever been able to undo. As he stepped back and nodded, Vector slowly relaxed, feeling the tension in the fibres and shaking his head,
"Nah, I'm not sure that'll hold on its own; need a couple more at least", he turned the pair of feet he could see behind the rock pillar and raised his voice slightly, "you okay with that Mighty?"
"Fine", came the reply; the feet shifted a little before her voice was heard again, "how many more after this one?"
"Just three or four, and only Esp and Charmy can touch two of them; they're right in the nooks and crannies and shouldn't take long".
"Sweet; well then, get on with it; I've got better things to do than stand around here all day".
"Like the ironing for instance?" Charmy snapped at the opportunity as he took another vine and made his subterranean journey once more; a toe flicked out towards him as the armadillo snapped back grumpily,
"Can't believe you guys are making me do that – why can't I get Espio's job?"
"Because Esp can get right up onto the ceiling; he's the best at dusting by a long shot – Charmy always misses spots".
"But I'm an awesome window cleaner right Vec?"
"You said it, now come on", the crocodile chivvied the bee along, reaching for the rope he was bringing as Espio passed him his contribution, the chameleon's vine snaking over the top of the stone, "we get this done quick enough we can sort the chores out today and have a slack day tomorrow".
XXX
A short time later, Espio dropped from the ceiling of the Chaotix's shared home, twisting to land agilely on his feet with the dusting cloth in his hand. He swept his eyes around the room and gave a single nod; mission accomplished, the house is dusted to perfection. However, as always when dusting like this, there was a price to be paid; the ninja was parched due to the dust he'd dislodged and needed a drink like there was no tomorrow. Coughing dryly, Espio headed for the kitchen, only to pause at the small mountain of what looked like freshly laundered clothes that were neatly stacked on top of one of the kitchen chairs. He flicked the cold tap on, reaching for a glass as he worked out what was going on; he was, however, prevented from thinking too far ahead by a sound from the next room; swigging the cool water and feeling it wash the dust from his throat, the chameleon watched as Mighty came in, holding a stack of newly pressed laundry and carefully adding it to the pile she'd made, nodding to Espio as she spoke,
"Finished?"
"Yes", the chameleon's natural sarcasm rose to the fore, "otherwise I'd still be up on the ceiling wouldn't I?" The lowest form of wit; Mighty let the words bounce off as she fixed the reptile with a stern look,
"Right, well get the kettle on, I'm nearly done as well and I need a cuppa after that lot", she put her hands on her hips and shook her head, smirking slightly, "you know for guys who don't wear much, you lot sure kick out an impressive amount of ironing".
"It's mostly bedding and towels though", Espio reassured her, though he had to add, "though I must admit you've done better than I can; anyone who can deal with Vector's socks without resorting to a gasmask and knuckledusters has to be doing something right".
"It's all about trust and building a positive repertoire with the savage beasts", Mighty played along, then she suddenly smacked a fist into her palm, "then jumping on them as soon as they've got their backs turned; get them under the iron and the fight goes out of them".
"What have you got left to do?"
"Just the pillow cases, but I've got a suspicion there's something hiding out in one of them; feels kind of hard so it might be a breeding ground". Espio snorted with a barely contained laugh as she left to finish her job; he sipped his drink and tried to work out what he needed to practise next this evening when there was a loud crash from the front door.
XXX
Grocery shopping wasn't too bad a job because, due to his notoriously bad memory for little details, in a moment of brilliance Vector had instigated the simple practice of sticking a piece of paper on the front of the fridge; if someone took the last of something, they wrote it on that list and when he carried out his weekly allotted task, he remembered to replace it. The system had worked flawlessly, until now; he'd been halfway home when, just checking the list again, he caught the note, scrawled in very tiny handwriting at the bottom of the list, reminding him to buy extra rations as there were four housemates now rather than three. So, after traipsing back into town again, arms already laden with heavy shopping, to pick up enough food for an extra hungry mouth, all Vector wanted to do now was collapse. He stumbled through the front door, just about remembering to register and reply to Charmy's hello, and lurched for the kitchen, carefully placing the bags of groceries in the hallway as he gratefully fell down into the nearest seat, giving a lusty sigh of relief as he did so,
"Ahhh, been looking forwards to that all day", he managed a contented smile as Espio regarded him crookedly, the kettle in his hands seemingly forgotten until Vector, blissfully oblivious to his approaching, impending doom, nodded at it, "if you're makin' one, I'll have a brew".
"Okay, but you might want to…" Vector furrowed his brow as the chameleon suddenly cut off and cringed at something, malicious mirth on his lips as he ended with a mournful, "too late!"
"Too late, what's that mean?"
"It means", Vector froze as though someone had dripped water as cold as that voice right onto the back of his neck; gulping suddenly, he turned around to see Mighty stood behind him, arms full of a few folded up pillow cases and Looking at him venomously, "it's too late for you to try anything but run"; Vector looked down and finally realised why the seat had felt so soft; he was sitting on what once might have been a pile of nicely folded material but was now squashed out of any vague idea of shape – he looked into Mighty's blazing eyes as she roared, "you've got until I put these cases away; then if I get my hands on you I'll turn your hide into a handbag!"
XXX
It all happened too fast for him to accurately follow; one minute he'd been sitting quietly, reading his daily paper and sipping a coffee; the next he'd been seized roughly by the shoulders and some huge green thing was screaming in his face, drowning out the frantic jangling and crash from his door frame and door bell,
"Hide me! Hide me for the love of anything! HIDE ME!" Nate just about managed to conjure up a very hasty picture that this might be Vector, though he'd never seen the croc this panicked, before he felt something rub against his leg; somehow without him realising it, Vector must have vaulted over the counter and was now trying to crawl under it, hiding from something terrifying as Nate reflexively pushed himself away, shaking his head as he asked dazedly,
"What? What's going on?"
"Shush; I'm not here", the leader of the Chaotix tried to curl into a ball as his fright-crazed eyes met those of the café owner, trying to convey the necessity for secrecy as he hissed, "if anyone asks, I'm not here; tell them anything and for heaven's sake don't let her get me, please I beg of you". Still mystified but driven by the simple motto of looking out for his friends and customers, Nate slipped off his stool and grabbed a nearby cloth, moving for the nearby tables on the pretence of giving them a wipe down; he'd just started on the first of them when the door opened again, though fortunately nowhere near as violently as last time,
"Hello Nate"; the echidna almost thought he heard a strangled whimper of fear from nearby as he looked up to see, with a fair shoot of consternation, Mighty bearing down on him like a freight train. Swallowing his apprehension, he tried to act to casual,
"Hey Mighty; what can I get you?"
"I want information"; she rebuffed his offer of a drink like it was an annoying fly and met his eyes square on, growling her next words, "have you seen Vector about?"
He couldn't help it; in the few seconds he was preparing his answer, his eyes bounced to the counter where the croc was lying low – he snapped them back to the armadillo as soon as he was able to, but he couldn't change the fact that Mighty surely must have picked up on his slip. To give him his due though, he struggled on in a would-be nonchalant manner,
"Yeah, I've seen him about", he had to really fight hard to resist giving the game away further with another look, "he was here earlier actually; he had a slush before he hit the stores".
"But you haven't seen him since right?" The fact she was sliding over to the counter herself made him suspect the worst, especially when he looked just behind her and saw with a jolt of shock that there were a couple of inches of scaly green tail poking from behind the sturdy structure; obviously Vector was too big to get all of his body behind it; and now he's about to pay the price. Full of fatalistic resolve, Nate made one last-ditch effort to save the big lug's bacon,
"He's probably still hitting the stores", he tried a change of tack with a sudden inspiration, "why? What are you looking for him for?"
"Oh, not much", Mighty's face belied that; Nate was sharp enough to realise she was after him for something huge even as she carried on, "just going to show him that it's a good idea to look before you sit, or in this case", she flicked her eyes over her shoulder and Nate saw her smile turn into an evil leer as she stepped backwards, bringing her foot down onto the exposed reptilian appendage, "before you stamp!"
The echidna winced as the foot made contact, and winced again as there was a sudden loud crash and his till jumped an inch off the counter top. A low rumbled bellow of pain echoed throughout the Fy Café, drowned out a second later by the armadillo's demand,
"Come out of there Vector; don't make me come in after you or I'll get really ticked off". With much growled, grumbled and pain-wracked mutterings, the crocodile complied, looking a grimy, dusty sight as he lurched upright into view, trying to hold both his tail tip and his head at the same time as trying to focus on the incensed armadillo in front of him as she glared up and tapped her foot,
"Right, you do realise why you deserved that; I spend an hour getting all that stuff pressed neatly then you come and flatten it with your…"
"Okay", the croc groaned, cutting her tirade off as he hissed as he fingered his sore head, "I'm sorry, I should have looked, but I'll make it up; I'll redo everything I messed up, but first I need an ice pack and a decent drink; Nate, hit me with my usual".
"Black coffee for me" Mighty chipped in; the echidna scurried behind the bar as Vector dropped into a seat, still stinging at both ends as he suddenly glared at the armadillo,
"What was that for Mighty? Okay I messed up a bit, but there's no need for that kind of threat and retribution". She nodded, a little shamefaced,
"Nah, maybe not, but hey, I hate ironing and that was really hard work on my part; I had to do most of that twice to get it completely right; I hate having my hard work ruined. Make you a deal; you don't screw up and I won't break you in half, how's that?"
"Missing an apology, but otherwise fine; I already said sorry for my part".
"Right", Mighty reached for the coffee Nate had provided and clinked the rim of her cup against Vector's plastic lid, "sorry for the pain; now that's it, matter dead and buried".
"Much like I nearly was"; she giggled at the quip,
"You can't be that badly hurt if you can still make lame jokes like that", she took the first sip as Vector was forced to concede a smile,
"We finish this, then we get back, get some chow and do whatever it is we feel like doin'", he gingerly touched the top of his head again and screwed up his face before finishing, "I was gonna say we tackle one of the pyramids tomorrow, but I think I'm gonna need that day to recover".
"You the day before and me the day after; you have no idea how much sand under the shell irritates" Mighty complained before sighing, "still, if you can handle that, I'll have to get on with the sand; I use to hate field trips to the beach as a kid".
"Bet that made you popular".
"Like a mouse in an elephant enclosure".
"Ouch"; the conversation drifted on from there – as Vector would say in later years, amazing what you could learn from someone once you sat down with them rather than trying to beat each other black and blue. It was dark when the two were finally shooed outside by Nate; the echidna didn't mind extending his opening hours for his friends, but even he had his limits. Much better friends than they had been a few hours previously, armadillo and crocodile both headed for home, dinner and a comfortable bed after that, not knowing that events out of their control were about to impose themselves on their lives, ultimately endangering them both, together and alone.
XXX
Finally, it was all prepared; the captured unit was displayed on a table in the centre of the room, being looked over by three members of the same family and some assembled honour guards. The restoration had been well done; the newly recreated bodywork shone in the dim light, though there was no life in this inert shell now; at least, not yet.
"All safeguards are in place?" Enerjak grated, turning to look at Kragok; the still partly flesh echidna returned the gaze with his own mechanical eye as he answered,
"Yes lord, we are in no danger".
"Very well", he signalled to Kommissar to return to his side, away from the monitors she had been overseeing, checking everything was ready for this rebirth, for both the unique android in front of them and possibly the Legion as well; if they could convince this unit to pass on its knowledge, its singularly perfect technology to them, they could begin the long process of upgrading their technology to incorporate emotion, further freeing their robotic bodies from existing within the purely logical, further undermining the arguments of the guardians and those who would, however much they might deny it, ultimately side with death. From within his Central Dogma, the arcane machinery all at once sustaining his life and extending it, the grandmaster of the Dark Legion felt his excitement rise; for once Lien-Da had surpassed herself, restoring the battered machine to full effectiveness a full four days ahead of schedule, despite the need for further modifications to the core directives of this single-minded droid of destruction.
As soon as his great-granddaughter skidded to a halt beside him, he used his atrophied powers to begin the process; depressing one of the switches on the panel in front of him, he set up the force-field that would ensure their safety; the shimmering bubble would repel anything that approached it, from outside or within. Then, with only the barest hint of hesitation, remembering the after-action reports of this thing he was about to bring back from the dead, it's potential for destruction and spreading of death, he trusted in his foresight and depressed the other, sending the activating charge into the robot.
At first it appeared nothing happened; nothing changed save most of the honour guard letting out well-disguised breaths into the pause. The silence descended into seconds before there was a rattle from next to him; Kragok, a warrior to the core with little knowledge of technology beyond that which could be used to crush your opponent, rounded on his twin sister,
"Well, what…" he cut off, glancing up suspiciously as the lights began to dim above his head, "what's that, what's going on?"
"It's drinking in extra charge", Lien spoke back relatively calmly, though there was a veneer of slight apprehension in her tone as she watched on, the darkness deepening all around her, "it's refilling its internal batteries".
"And bleeding our reserves dry in the process" the male echidna answered in the darkness before Dimitri's new mechanical growl silenced them both,
"Children, it does not do to behave badly in front of guests". It was only when they both looked around, not quite grasping what their great-grandfather was getting at, that they saw what had changed in the darkness.
Ahead of them, another pair of eyes had blinked into life, staring at them as their owner sat up from the table he had lain upon. Running a swift self diagnostic programme and finding no errors, the repaired unit scanned his surroundings and, seeing the knot of echidnas in front of him, decided to make his introductions,
"Who are you and what am I doing here? Answer me", his lethal claws tapped the metal sides of the gurney at the same time he powered up his in-built lasers with a high-pitched whine and strode towards the assembled group, seeing them shrink closer together in fear of his power, "or you will all die".
A/N: Any idea just what that sentient, vaguely emotional unit the Dark Legion salvaged was yet? (Hint: Ri2 – yep!)
Plus, that last bit was for anyone who's ever had their ironing pile knocked over by anyone, such as partying flatmates; in a perfect world, revenge like that would be legal!