Hello- I'm back once again with the fourth chapter of my mainly OC story; My Life Sucks 'The Musical' Also; I edited the summary a little, to try and draw in more people. This fic isn't really about the characters of the Sega world; yes their important but this story is mostly about Station Square. Not Fliara, Not Yang, Not anyone else- this is the story of the town. So if people start thinking that I'm making the story entirely about the OCs- that's not true. The canon characters will have major roles in this. Just wait and see.
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Fliara bolted upright, her body filled to the brim with heat-empowered energy. It felt like she would explode if she didn't move. She quickly turned off the radiator- and blinked at the harsh sunlight, beaming down on top of her.
The dragon sighed. She was lucky she woke up- she was about to overheat. Sleep-deprived and feeling as if she was about to explode, she willingly jumped into the shade-covered couch, sighing in relief as the waves of heat flew off of her scaly hide. Being cold-blooded could be a pain. You would absorb heat & sunlight into energy- it helped you digest your food, kept your heart beating; it kept you alive! But too much of it, and your body would overheat- go into overdrive. It kind of felt like your insides were on fire. Very unpleasant. Half an hour in the midst of a campfire was a good benchmark for the safe amount of heat- but Fliara had probably gotten six hours of constant sunlight- (which her body naturally multiplied) and the radiator, and it had nearly been too much. But thankfully, the shade was helping, and the excess energy was shedding off like a snakeskin. Which, by the way, Fliara had much experience in skin shedding. She did it once every two years.
After a few moments of calming down, her mind began to put together a few things.
One- if she was on the couch, where was Yang?
Two- what time was it?
Three- was it about time for her medicine?
The dragon sat up, and looked around, slightly startled to find Yang staring back at her from the edge of the room. In the daylight, this was the first time that she had gotten a good, well lit look at him, and the dragon couldn't say she wasn't surprised. Although he was a mess- fur scraggily and dirty- (Days of neglect, due to his suicidal outlook of the past few days, had done this) his fur was an incredibly rich black. The streaks of silver that ran through his quills and over his eyes were in reality an elegant shiny gray, and the smooth colors fitted nicely with his personality. Or at least what Fliara had seen of it so far.
His cloak was also black, and both his shoes and gloves were cuffed with large buckles. Over his white gloves were smaller, dark gray gloves, witch featured metal bumps sewn to the knuckles. The design of 'yang', the black half of the ying-yang symbol, lay stitched into the back of the glove, and the same fell for his shoes, which were also dark gray. A light gray starburst pattern encircling the 'yang' symbol stretched to the edges of his shoe, and altogether his appearance was summed into one word by the dragon- tough.
Impressed as she was, Fliara groaned, and slumped back against the couch, resting her clawed hand over her eyes. No, it hadn't been some weird, demented nightmare. She HAD taken a civilian to her 'home'. She HAD broken her vows of not getting involved in the life of the civilians. And, to her dismay, here he was. The hedgehog, noticing her distress, frowned, and folded his arms in front of his fluffy chest, which resembled that of the long-dead shadow's, only far more fluffy.
Yang grinned darkly, and leaned against the wall.
"If I didn't know better, I'd guess you were unhappy to see me." He declared smugly. The dragon frowned back at him, but sat up, rubbing her head.
" ...I'm in for it now." She moaned, brushing her hair from her eyes, and futilely attempted to pin them behind her non-existent ears. Yang seemed confused.
"Why is that?" He asked, walking up to the dragon. Fliara looked up at him, and shook her head, tail swishing in annoyance. She sighed, rested her head in her hands, knowing what she was about to say.
"Well, now you know where my 'home' is." She replied, as if that explained why. "Of course you're going straight to the authorities, letting them know, and receiving the 100,000 dollar reward for assistance in my capture." She said. "...Even if I tried to stop you- I couldn't. You'd beat me. I'm sick- I can't fight right now." The dragon answered. She lay back down, reclining comfortably on the decrepit, dusty couch, her claws draped lazily over her bare stomach and her tail curled around her scaly feet. "So you know what? Fine, lock me up. I've lived about 16 years of a good life- people have kicked the bucket sooner." She mumbled, nestling into her large wings. Yang took a step back, holding up his hands.
"Hey- I'm not going to turn you in."
"Lies." She snapped, her eyes darting to the hedgehog. Of course, she couldn't be sure. She hadn't been able to detect lies since she was a kid, and missed the ability dearly.
"No! Really!" He protested. He let his hands drop to his sides, but then brushed dirt absent-mindedly off his coat, needing something to do." Hey- ...I haven't been here long; I don't owe this city anything. I came here to act as a witness on a trial against G.U.N.- their headquarters was here... "
Fliara was confused. Gun's headquarters- here? But weren't Sonic and his little cult of fans archenemies of Gun? How could they both have been in the same city?
"...And after I had shut them down, I- ...I thought my work was done, and I..." The hedgehog trailed off, letting Fliara finish the sentence for him. She knew- he had jumped. And she had saved him. The dragon once again looked to the city- it was spectacularly bright in the daytime. The city shone in all it's chrome and pig-iron glory, while the sky was intensely blue. What an awful color, Fliara thought to herself.
"...So why didn't you jump while I was sleeping? There was nothing stopping you." She asked, yawning. The dragon stretched her arms and large wings, ending the gesture with a satisfied flick of her tail. Yang shrugged at her question, and ground the toe of his boot into the wood floor.
"Well, after our little 'talk' I decided I didn't want to jump any more." He admitted, obviously embarrassed. Fliara snickered, shaking her head. She then groaned and stood up, toes clicking against the 'wooden' floor. The dragon seemed to be amused.
"I never thought of myself as a psychiatrist, but you're welcome anyways." She replied, gloating. The ebony hedgehog frowned.
"Don't get me wrong- I didn't do it because of you. You just reminded me of someone..." Yang trailed off. Fliara wondered who that someone was. "Hey, I want out of here. You seem like a nice dragon, but I've gotta life, and I'm not spending it in cockroach hotel." He elaborated, gesturing to the run-down, three-walled apartment. Fliara sniffed indignantly and folded her arms in front of her chest. She could tell that the hedgehog was kidding, but she decided to play along.
"Hey, it's the best I can maintain in my circumstances." She wagged a finger... (Okay, claw) at him. "I'd like to have seen you do any better. Besides, you didn't seem to have a life yesterday afternoon." The dragon implied innocently. Yang's eyes widened and he looked away, and Fliara bit her lip, knowing that she had hit a nerve. "Well I still don't really trust you not to lead the authorities here."
"Well, that's too bad. I'm getting out of here." Yang barked, still sensitive after her last comment, walking over to the edge and looking down. Fliara stifled a snicker, knowing there was no way on or off the building except for flying. She would be more than happy to fly him off, but she was still unsure about his intentions. A few moments of silence passed as Yang stood there, staring at the six-story drop as if he expected an elevator to appear out of nowhere. At first Fliara thought that he was never going to talk, when finally the hedgehog turned around and spoke. "Well... okay, dragon-girl, you took me up here, now get me back down!" He demanded. Fliara first felt like laughing, but then her gaze hardened. She folded her arms across her chest and stood tall.
"My name isn't dragon-girl." She snarled. Sonic used to call her that. She had always hated it. Yang crossed his arms stubbornly, mirroring Fliara's pose.
"Well... I never got your real name." He said. "What was I supposed to call you?" The hedgehog grinned, and Fliara couldn't help but let her guard down. She felt like she could trust this person, at least with her name, anyway.
"We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't asked..." She said. "But my name's Fliara. Flea-are-uh. Not Fly-air-uh or Fl-your-ah." She said, holding out a claw and placing the other hand on her hip. Yang at first hesitated, but shook her hand, trying not to get cut by her steak-knife fingers.
"I guess people have been butchering your name for a while?" He asked, judging from how she insisted on correct pronunciation.
"In more ways than one, yes." She agreed. The dragon then walked to the edge of the building, and looked out at the painfully blue sky. "...I hate azure skies." She grumbled. Yang seemingly ignored this, and walked up next to her.
"Well, are you going to get me down?" He asked, poking her in the arm. Fliara snapped to attention- she had completely forgot! The dragon at first opened her mouth as if to speak, but then paused. Yang shook his head, and grinned, surprising the dragon with how friendly he could look. "I'm not going to report you to the authorities. Do you really think I'd do that, after you saved my life?" He asked.
The dragon was taken back. She had never been thanked nor acknowledged for a heroic act. As a child it had been her life long goal. If this had been about a century ago, Fliara would be head over heels to hear that. But today... it just kind of bounced off, like water off a duck's back. Fliara hated to think that she had grown that jaded. After all, even if the old Fliara had been a bit potent and at times bossy, at least no one had hated her. At least she had friends.
"Yes, I will. I- I owe you that much." She said, without thinking. The dragon then held out an arm "here- hang on to me." She offered. Yang raised an eyebrow, both at her actions and previous statement, but held on to the dragon as she took off.
Flight is a miracle. I think anyone who has ever sailed in any way over the rivers of wind would know. Suddenly, once you've been able to fly- really fly, decide where you're going to go, it's like being on the ground was a cage, and all your ties were cut free. You feel like you could fly forever. It's a constant thrill to be hundreds of feet over the ground with nothing but thin air in-between, and at he same time you're in control. It's pure bliss, because you truly have the entire sky at your fingertips. And every time Fliara would experience the same sensation of total freedom. What running had been to Sonic, flying had been for Fliara.
The dragon raised her wings high above her head, crouching slightly before abruptly jumping off the edge of the building. At first it seemed like the two were falling, but then Fliara slammed her wings down against the wind, which lifted her upwards.
Normally this would be followed with other complicated wing motions and flapping, gaining altitude and speed as needed. But Fliara's goal for the time was just to get Yang to the ground, which only required a simple glide. And so that was all she did.
Fliara spread her wings out to cut through the wind, and banked slightly, creating a gentle downward spiral that eventually came to meet the concrete below. She then swung her feet under her and snapped her wings close to her body, falling to the barren street expertly on her wide feet. A good landing, if she didn't say so herself. She stood upright, Yang letting go of her arm after the flight was over.
"What do you think of-" Fliara began, when suddenly her throat began hurting again. She paused to breathe heavily, at which Yang seemed confused, but before she could answer him, Fliara began coughing as her illness once again tormented her.
The dragon collapsed to her knees, wheezing, as it became progressively harder to breathe. She panicked, because the fits of coughing had never came on so suddenly or severely before. Yang, after standing up, walked over to the dragon.
"Hey- are you okay? -!" He asked, his voice strained with panic. Fliara waved him away with her claw, and nodded, even as she coughed heavily. Again she coughed up a form of sludge, but at least this time it wasn't green.
"I- I'm fine, just a..." She paused to cough heavily, and her voice was raspy with aggravation. " ...Just give me a minute..."
The ruby reptilian again sunk into coughing; her entire body slouched at the effort. Yang paced nervously, reluctant to leave the dragon's side in her current condition.
"That sounds bad- really bad. You might have tuberculosis! You should get some medicine..." He inquired. Fliara shook her head.
"I already have some." She said, reaching into her coat pocket and handing Yang the box as proof. The hedgehog took one look at it and frowned.
"Fliara, this is just some over-the-counter shit!" He shook his head, and handed her back the box. "What you have could be serious; you should go to a doctor." He blurted. Immediately after saying it, though, he realized why she couldn't. "Oh... I-...I'm sorry." He offered. The dragon shrugged and sighed; finding her cough somewhat subsided.
"It's okay, really. I'm fine- that medicine is helped, and I feel much better." She said. The dragon tried to stand up, but fell back down, her limbs shaky from the recent coughing fit. She sat there, looking and feeling hopeless. The hedgehog frowned. It didn't seem right.
"No." Yang decided, helping the dragon stand up. "I'm going to get you something stronger for that cough of yours."
The dragon's slate-colored eyes widened, reptilian pupils dilating in interest and inquiry. Fliara pulled away from the hedgehog, and tried to stand upright, wavering slightly.
"How are you going to do that?" She asked, coughing slightly. "You can't just go into a doctor's office and get a prescription drug for something you don't have." The dragon argued, although not venomously. She scratched the back of her head, and pulled her trench coat around her, trying to save her fleeting energy. Yang grinned, and folded his arms in front of him smugly.
"I never said I was going to a doctor."
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A few minutes later, Fliara and Yang were walking down the streets of Station Square- in broad daylight. Fliara, as expected, was very freaked out! Her entire life had been spent hiding, and suddenly being out in the open caused her to panic! The dragon kept close to the wall- and constantly glanced over her shoulder, even though the streets were unusually barren. After a while Yang noticed, and playfully punched his newfound friend in the shoulder.
"What are you bugging about?" He asked, shaking his head. "It's a beautiful spring day, like every day in Station Square." He said, gesturing to their surroundings. Now that Fliara looked around, the neighborhood wasn't that cheery. Yes, the awfully blue sky still hung overhead, and a pleasant breeze floated around her scaly body, filling her wings- (which were out, since Yang promised no one would care) but the buildings were broken down, the streets were vacant and the fake trees and flowers were vandalized and uprooted.
"I'm just not used to be able to go around. Usually there are cops breathing down my neck." Said Fliara, observing her surroundings further. It was very nice, to be able to just walk around, and not worry. Fliara hadn't done this in years, and she loved every bit of it. Yang nodded, and buried his hands into the pockets on his cloak.
"Don't worry about that- this is the slums, the ghetto, the pressure-free paradise where Friday Garnet himself could walk the streets unnoticed." Yang explained, gesturing towards the scenery. Fliara's eyes widened. Friday Garnet was an even more infamous criminal than she was. He was rumored to be at the center of a secret slavery-supporting cult, and still hadn't been caught. "So," Yang began, kicking a rock. "What do you think of it?" He asked.
Fliara looked around, unsure. It did look like her kind of neighborhood, but that didn't make it pleasurable.
"Why, do you live here?" She asked. Yang's eyes shot open, and for a second he laughed.
"Goodness, no! No one lives here, Fliara... It's just a good place to go when you're a person... " Yang trailed off, lacking a description. "Like you." He concluded. Fliara scoffed.
"Thanks for helping my poor self-esteem." She joked sarcastically. Yang gave a thumb's up.
"Don't mention it!"
Fliara took another look around the area. It did have its charms, and she could probably have some good times here.
"It's not too bad, actually- but why is it so empty?" She asked. The black hedgehog grinned, and shook his head.
"I thought you lived in this city, you should know." He said. Fliara stiffened, and shot a glare at him.
"I haven't been living here more than I've been trapped here." The dragon shot back. Yang flinched away, putting up his hands. Fliara realized she had gotten carried away again, and pulled back from the subject. Sometimes she wished that she didn't get so hotheaded.
"Sorry, I forgot... " He continued walking. "People here usually sleep to about three, because that's when they switch from the new station server to the older one. While he older one's up, there's a better chance that you can get away with..." Yang trailed off. "Stuff."
Fliara didn't need an explanation; she knew exactly what he was talking about.
The entire city's police system was run by a computer located at the top of the F.I.N.E.K. building. The building was the government center of all of station square, and controlled nearly everything that went on in the city. The computer that managed police affairs had two servers it ran off of each day. When one got too hot, it switched to another one for about twelve hours, and then went back to the new one. This server was used to receive and distribute information across spy beetles (small videotaping robots) police-bots, regular human police, and home security systems. However, one of these servers was very old, and didn't function too well. More often than not, the signals could be blocked, changed, or just wouldn't get through. The old server had been a controversy for years, but the mayor had never bothered to replace it. Speaking of the mayor, no one was quite sure who was running that position at the time. After Sonic had died, the city simply hadn't had another election. Surprisingly, no one missed the election campaigns, (I wonder why? Ha...) and since things were going well in the city by their standards anyway, the civilians just stopped caring.
"By the way," Yang asked. "I told you what happened to me. Why are you in such bad shape?" Yang asked. Fliara's eyes widened once again. This person's friendly nature was strange to her, and at first she wasn't sure what to say. The dragon shrugged uncomfortably, averting her gaze.
"I already told you. Something happened." She explained, kicking the same rock that Yang had, for they had caught up with it. The hedgehog's eyes narrowed, knowing she was trying to avoid the subject.
"Come on, I spilled my guts." He insisted. The dragon sighed. What was there to do? Besides, she had nothing to hide, and he had a point. He had explained his past to her; she should do the same. She slowed down a little, just incase she would really have to talk about something. The dragon considered what to say; and finally made a decision.
"What is it that you'd like to know?" She asked, clueless as to where to start. Yang thought this over, and after a while replied:
"Your life seems pretty bad. Why can't you fix it?" He asked, once again kicking the prementioned rock.
"I used to have a good life, you know. Family and friends and a good home..." she explained. Fliara unknowingly let her gaze fall to the ground. "But... well, this is why I can't fix it... you know Sonic?"
Now it was Yang's turn to look surprised. The black hedgehog stopped walking for a second, but hurried up when he realized Fliara wasn't going to stop walking.
"Of course I know him! Wow, Sonic the Hedgehog! How long ago did you know-"
"He wasn't my friend." Fliara stressed. "I knew him only because I was Knuckles' little sister... adopted sister, actually..." She explained, once again kicking the rock as she came across it. (That poor rock!) The hedgehog next to her raised an eyebrow, and walked a little faster, in order to hear her easier. The dragon continued. "My goal, all my life was to be a hero, and not just that, to be a better hero than Sonic. I didn't like how he acted, and we were pretty serious enemies... " Fliara sighed. "When I turned about 16, Sonic got seriously hurt, because of me. It was an accident, but... I was charged with attempted murder. At first my friends stood by me, and I was let go of that accusation." Fliara paused, and Yang nodded to prove that he was listening. "But then Sonic pinned another murder on me. Then another crime. Then another one. One by one everyone just went away- even my brother. Sonic... he wanted me dead, but he couldn't kill me. Heroes didn't kill people. So he turned me into a criminal instead. He knew it was my dream to be a hero, and he just stomped on it." The dragon sighed. "Even when he'd already pinned enough against me to lock me up for life, he just wouldn't stop. He kept finding unsolved murders to frame against me, like it had become his hobby. His goal was to destroy me, because of what I did to his leg... "
Fliara stopped walking, and stared down at the path before her. She angrily dug her claws into the ground, although it did not work due to the cracked cement of the sidewalk.
"...I know I hurt him. I know I ruined his 'talent'. So what if he couldn't break the sound barrier anymore? He was still faster than anyone else was! Eggman was gone anyway!" The dragon exclaimed. "Sometimes I wish we had gotten along better. Than maybe he wouldn't have taken it so hard." The dragon explained. Yang stood there for a moment, solemn. He once again buried his hands in his pockets, and looked over at the red dragon next to him.
"...We're both a couple of rejects, aren't we?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood. Fliara shook her head, not in the mood for humor. The black hedgehog frowned, and continued walking down the path, pulling the dragon along with him after she remained in place. After a while the dragon proceeded willingly. Yang decided to start back up his conversation. "Okay, so we've both had a rough time, and we're not exactly model civilians. So what? You're alive, aren't you?" He asked. Fliara sighed.
"What good is that? I have no life!" She exclaimed. "Oh, Yang, half the time I'm starving, I have to steal to survive, All my dreams are dead!" She growled in frustration, throwing her hands into the air "...And I don't think it's going to get any better."
"What do you mean?" Asked Yang.
"I'm never getting out of here, Yang. I'm not strong enough. Sonic gave sixty years of his life to making sure I would never really be alive. He won, Yang. I don't have anything anymore." Fliara admitted. She hated thinking of herself as weak. But she was, and this sickness made it even worse.
"That's not true, Fliara." Came Yang's voice from her left. The dragon stared up at him, unsure. He saw the question marks in her eyes, and grinned to himself. "There's something we both need- a friend. Consider yourself one friend more, Fliara the Dragon." Yang said, holding out his hand.
The dragon was surprised, and uncertain. She had been taught, within this long span of time, that she couldn't maintain a friendship. Every time a friend had left her side and joined Sonic's, she had felt it was her fault. But now there was no Sonic for this person to leave her for. But that didn't change the fact that she was an accused criminal. Being friends with an accused criminal could be an awful thing, and although she did want a friend, wouldn't it be selfish to drag someone into that?
"I couldn't ask that of anyone." Fliara explained, even though it hurt to say. "Not only would I suck at being a friend, what with the lack of experience, but also if the police found out you'd even spoken to me-"
"Hey, you didn't ask for this friendship, I did. And what the police don't know can't hurt them." Yang winked. "I'm not telling them anything if you're not. I have my share of things I'd rather leave unknown myself, Fliara, everyone does." The hedgehog told her. Fliara scoffed.
"Thanks, Yang; I was starting to worry that I was an accused criminal or something." She muttered, grinning darkly (force of habit) up at her new 'friend'. ...Friend... Fliara liked the sound of that word. The two laughed at their jokes, and continued walking down the sidewalk, not wanting to push Fliara's health with running.
For a few moments, the walk was uneventful, save the occasional birds, suspiciously buzzard-like, overhead. The sun, although bright, gave off the usuall amount of spring warmth due to it's artificiality; meaning not very much. And Fliara was glad to have her trench coat. Although she was cold-blooded, the coat was black, and thusly insulated a lot of heat, even if her reptilian body produced very little. If she was wearing pastels at this moment, she could very well be dead.
"So," Fliara began. "You never really explained where we were going." She commented, running her claws through one of the artificial trees. Her knife-like fingers scratched a couple of the polyester branches, and she smirked at the thought of damaging anything that Sonic had been responsible for. Fliara would never actually kill someone, but if she ever got her hands on the person responsible for all the fake evidence Sonic got...
"I already told you." Yang said. Fliara shook your head.
"No, you just said- and I quote; 'Hey, I know a place where we can get you some medication for your cough.' and then we went." She said. Yang chuckled nervously.
"Umm... sorry, got carried away... " He explained. "I have a friend who's really good in the smuggling business. I don't know how he does it, but that guy can get his hands on anything. Heavy artillery, prescription drugs, controban of any form- BAM! He can get it in a week. For a price, that is... " Yang explained. Fliara's eyes widened, impressed. It sounded like Rouge would have gotten along with this person just fine; Gems would have to have passed through his market once in a while.
"So who is he?" Fliara asked, wings twitching slightly.
"No one's quite sure of his real name. He calls himself Nobody." Yang explained. The dragon's eyes widened and her pace slowed.
"Nobody? That's his name?" Asked Fliara, incredulous.
"Hey, don't be fooled; there's no better guy in the black market." He insisted. Fliara nodded, and placed her claw to her chin.
"So... there's nobody like Nobody?"
"Now you've got it!" Yang said, giving her a thumb's up. "Nobody's the greatest- you two might get along." The hedgehog said. Fliara paused for a moment before responding, but then shook her head, letting her wings droop.
"I don't know- He sounds kind of power-hungry. You sure he wouldn't snitch on me?" Fliara suggested. Yang grinned.
"You're far too quick to judge." He said, picking up one of the fake flowers a he walked past it. "Nobody's in the black market- He wouldn't get involved with the authorities if it meant his life! He's got way too much stuff on his hands that he wouldn't want the police to know about, you know?" The black-furred hedgehog said. He looked at he fake flower, then dropped it in disgust, stepping on it as he walked bye. "Good God, why couldn't they plant real flowers? Those smell awful... "
Fliara laughed out loud at this, finding in incredibly funny.
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Well... there it is. It's chapter four, in all it's glory. Next chapter; They go visit Nobody, and explore the ghetto of Station Square- where a plan for vengence unfolds! Tune in next time- OR ELSE! (shakes fist)
Yang copyrighted by Celestial the hedgird. Fliara copyrighted by Komodo-342. Sonic the hedgehog, Station square and all other Sega characters are owned by the company and not the author of this fiction. Story not availible for purchase or retail distribution (AKA; don't print it out and sell it to people at your school/workplace. That's wrong.)