All she could see was a beach, the sandy shore was warm under her bare feet. Ari smelled the salt from the sea in the wind, feeling it whip around her hair. The sea was a dark blue, it stretched as far as the eye could see. There was someone next to her, their face was blurred, the only feature she could point out was their fluffy brown hair, a much lighter shade than hers. She couldn't remember who they were, but they felt so...familiar to her, was this her kin?
"Do you enjoy the beach?" they spoke in a distorted voice, "Can you sense the water?"
What a strange question! But Ari nodded for some reason. She felt..something, a rush of energy of some sorts that seemed alive.
A roaring sound of waves made Ari turn her head around, she saw a giant tsunami headed straight for her! She tried to run but her feet were frozen to the ground, she should be running and fearing for her life but for some reason she wasn't! Why was she standing there?! Ari raised a hand at at the wave and-
"AAAAH!" Ari yelped, leaping into the air. She fell off the bed, taking a few breaths to calm down as she remembered her surroundings.
"That's the last time I take a nap after eating Yaki Taco.." she muttered, trying to put the thought of the weird dream out of her head. She decided to go downstairs to help Cass run the cafe. It was the least she could do since Cass and Hiro were letting her stay here. However a part of Ari felt there was something more she could do, to repay the kindness shown to her. She brushed her thoughts and prepared for another day in the Lucky Cat Cafe.
Fern and Nerds group chat:
Sara Ferns: OMG HL YOU'RE MOVING IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD?!
Honey Lemon: Well I'm moving to Gogo's place but yes!
TheLittleMermaid: What?!
Wasabi: long story, but we're helping HL move her things from her dorm to Gogo's apartment
TheLittleMermaid: Oh cool! Wish I could help but I'm busy helping Ms. Cass run the cafe
Hiro Hamada: You can just call her Aunt Cass Ari..
TheLittleMermaid: No! She's your aunt and that would be weird!
Fredilicous24: Literally all of us call her Aunt Cass
"Boy, you weren't kidding about this neighborhood," Wasabi exclaimed, he was backing the truck full of Honey Lemon's belongings to Gogo's apartment. "This place is crawling with jaywalkers!"
"You get used to it," Gogo lifts up the back door of the truck, Hiro grabs one of the boxes.
"Any sign of Honey Lemon?" he looked around, not seeing her anywhere.
"Oh yeah, she's already here," Gogo points to across the street where Honey Lemon is chatting with a rather intimidating man, she also has her chem purse with her.
"I think you're gonna love it!" Honey Lemon had a big smile on her face, "What do you think?"
The man says nothing, but gives a nod.
"Yay!" Honey Lemon makes a couple of chem balls, then hands the purse to the man. "You might want to stand back." She throws the chem balls at the man's motorcycle, coloring it a bright shade of pink with glitter. Gogo skates over and grabs the purse from the man.
"And you might want to be careful with your stuff around here!" Gogo tells her.
"I am," Honey Lemon replies, "I asked uh…" she turns to the man, "What's your name?"
"Felony Carl," the man answers.
"I asked Felony Carl to watch it," she turns back to Felony Carl, "You might just want to go by Carl."
"Yeah, talk to my mom" Felony Carl gets on his now pink motorcycle, "Love the glitter, it showcases how comfortable I am with my masculinity," he then drove away.
"Bye Felony Carl!" Honey Lemon waved as he drove, he waved back.
Gogo just sighed, "Just be careful with your stuff, c'mon let's move your stuff in."
Meanwhile at the Lucky Cat Cafe, Cass was noticing how distracted Ari was. She had to get her attention a few times, the girl seemed to have her head in the clouds.
"Hey Ari? Do you need a break?" Cass asked her, the girl noticed she was talking to her and shook her head.
"No! I'm fine," Ari replied, "Just...thinking."
"I am very thankful for you letting me stay here, but even though I help out in the cafe I feel like there's something else I could do." she explained, "I feel like I should get a job..not that I don't like working here! But I feel like a freeloader, shouldn't I pay rent?"
"Oh Ari, you don't have to pay rent," Cass gave her a warm smile, "You helping me out in the cafe and being there for my nephew is payment enough."
"You're right," Ari sighs. "I guess I'm still hard on myself."
"Remember that you're still a kid Ari." Cass gives her a pat on the head, "Have some fun! Don't spend all day in the cafe,"
"I won't," Ari notices that a customer needs a refill on the drink, they both end the conversation and get back to work.
"Thank you," the customer tells her as she refills her glass of milk. Ari doesn't respond at first, she's too busy gawking at the customer's fluffy brown hair. That was short and reached her neck instead of her shoulders, she kept staring with wide eyes.
"Pardon me but are you alright?" The customer waves her hand in front of Ari's face, "You look a bit startled there."
"Huh," Ari shakes her head, putting the weird coincidence out of her mind, "Sorry! I guess I'm a bit tired."
"Quite alright, happens to the best of us." the customer takes a sip of her milk, "Hey can I get a chocolate chip muffin with this?"
Ferns and Nerds group chat:
TheLittleMermaid: Why am I not allowed to visit HL and Gogo's apartment yet?
Gogo: It's a bad neighborhood!
Honey Lemon: I'm still getting used to living in the apartment, like how you were adjusting to living in the cafe
TheLittleMermaid: Isn't it near the Fern house? I've taken a walk around that neighborhood before and was fine
Hiro Hamada: Ariel why were you in that neighborhood!
TheLittleMermaid: Walking! Sara can confirm!
Sara Ferns: Can confirm
Wasabi: It sounds fine then, not like there is a master villain in the neighborhood right now.
Sara Ferns: Don't jinx it :T
Around the neighborhood, a thief was walking around. He had strut in his step, a smug look on his face as he was walking. The man had tan skin, blue eyes, blonde hair, and was wearing a green jacket and black pants. As he walks past a shop he calls to a woman that's exiting the shop.
"Looking good Judy! When are you going to take me out for coffee?" He teases her, the woman huffs and starts walking away from him.
"Ha! Classic Judy!" He's unaffected, "Call me!" The next person he walks past is Felony Carl, who's reading the newspaper.
"What's up Dibs?" Felony Carl asks him.
"Just going to work, Felony Carl." Dibs answers, putting a ski mask over his head.
"You know you're a rotten thief, right?" Felony Carl raises an eyebrow.
"Pretty sure you mean awesome thief?" Dibs is unaffected by the comment, he never was as it's just the usual banter between him and Carl.
"It's not meant as a personal attack, just simply an observation," he replies, going back to reading his newspaper.
"Jealousy?" Dibs teases, "Not a good look Felony Carl." he notices that his bike had gotten a new paint job, it looked nice. "The glitter's cute, though." and he walks away.
Dibs continues to walk and notices an old woman sleeping on the bus bench, he notices the purse that's under her arm and grins. He tiptoes over, stopping as the slightest sound wakes the woman from her slumber. When he got close enough, Dibs reaches to grab the purse strap but the woman wakes up. She looks around then goes back to sleep, not noticing Dibs posing as the poster behind her. He's able to grab the purse but as he runs way, Dibs runs into the bus pole and drops the purse. The bus arrives and the woman grabs her purse, she tosses him a few coins and gets on the bus. Dibs huffs, and collects the pitiful amount of change he was able to obtain.
"Give it up Dibs!" Felony Carl drives past him, but he wouldn't quit. Dibs then notices some of the unpacked boxes from the new neighbor. On one of them was an orange purse with a heart on it.
Dibs notices the purse, and gives a smirk.
"I'm so excited to meet Sara's aunt and uncle!"
"You'd like them Ari, they're good folk." Honey Lemon, Gogo, and Ari were walking down the neighborhood. After moving in to Gogo's apartment, Sara and her siblings had visited to invite them for dinner.
"You can even bring Ari, she hasn't met my aunt or uncle yet." Sara told them, so they brought the girl as their plus one guest (with permission from Cass and Hiro).
"Hey Gogo, have you met Sara's aunt and uncle?" Ari asked, she was nervous to meet them and wanted to make a good first impression.
"Yep," Gogo pops her bubblegum, "They're nice folk, but a bit crazy." The three of them stop at a house down the hill. It looked small, the roof was painted red. The walls of the house were made of spruce wood and stone, the grass outside had a few flower patches growing. It looked like a typical japanese house.
"Looks nice," Ari points out, she's taking deep breaths to calm her nerves.
"Yeah! It's super cute on the inside as well!" Honey Lemon nods, she runs to the door and rang the doorbell.
It's neither of the Fern kids who answer the door, but an older woman that Ari guesses must be Sara's aunt Sally.
"Hello Honey Lemon," Sally greets her, "And hello to you as well Gogo, I see you brought the Ari my kids have been talking about." She had bright sky blue hair that was in a ponytail down to her shoulders, her eyes were a golden shade of amber. Her dress was a teal green color that went down to her knees, she wore purple flip-flops. When Sally waved, Ari saw that her right hand is missing the pinky finger, a mangled scar the only hint there was one there.
"It's uh..nice to meet you ma'am," Ari squeaks out a greeting.
Sally chuckles, "None of the ma'am stuff. Come in, you all must be freezing."
They enter the house, and it was true that the house was "cute" on the inside as well. As Sally leads them to the dining room, Ari stares at the pictures on the wall. She sees photos of the Fern kids in their younger years, as well as a few she couldn't recognize.
"Hey, thanks for coming over." Mikan waves as they enter the dining room, "And welcome to the neighborhood Honey Lemon, it's nice to have another friendly face."
"I'm happy to be here!" Honey Lemon beams, "Thanks for inviting us!"
They take their seats, Ari sat between David and Gogo.
"Dad's making pasta tonight," David tells them, "You'll like it Ari, it's the good stuff."
"Really?" Ari's had pasta that Cass made, she didn't think it would beat hers.
"Mhmm," David nods, a middle-aged man walks into the room, carrying a few plates of pasta. The man looked similar to David, but only by pure coincidence, he had short black hair and the same shade of brown eyes as Sara. He wore a navy blue polo shirt and dark grey sweatpants with black boots. Ari notices that there are two scars on his forehead that reach down to his eyebrow, she wonders where he could've gotten such a scar.
"Speak of the devil," Gogo quips, "Ari, this is Sara's uncle Steven."
"The best uncle ever!" Sara exclaims, Mikan nudges her on the shoulder for the loud volume.
"I try to be a good parent, nice to meet you Ari." Steven introduces himself to her.
"Nice to meet you too," Ari takes a whiff of the pasta, "Mmmm, I might believe you that it's better than Cass's cooking Gogo,"
"Told you,"
At first dinner is peaceful for a few minutes, there's a small conversation between Honey Lemon and Sara about her moving in. Ari is enjoying the pasta as they do, it did taste better than Cass's cooking, no offense to her of course. However, when noticing Mikan having a chat with Gogo it made her think.
"Hey Mikan, can I ask a question?" she asks her in a break between their conversation.
"Sure," Mikan shrugs.
"Why do folks say you're different than your siblings?"
There's a bit of silence, as everyone glances at Ari's words then glance back to their meals. Mikan isn't offended by the question, however, her expression turns neutral.
"Ah, David mentioned you may ask me," she takes a sip of her water, "How much do you know?"
"Only that you live with you dad and that you're different than David and Sara in a way," Ari answers, her throat feeling dry. Why was she feeling afraid? But then she looks up and understands why.
Mikan's eyes had a strange gleam in then, it made Ari feel like prey around a predator. "You are correct, I do live with my father. However, he's quite the busy man, so Sally and Steven welcomed me as one of their own. David and Sara are siblings to me, but I'm different because I wasn't fully adopted into the family yet I call myself a Ferns. Does this answer your curiosity?" she spoke in a cold, emotionless tone. Ari felt her nerves jolt at each word. She nodded, not wanting Mikan's reaction to turn negative.
"Well since that's done, I'm getting a second plate!" The emotion returns in Mikan's voice, she gets up and runs to the kitchen to grab a second filling of pasta. Ari takes a sigh of relief when she leaves.
"I don't blame you," David whispers to her, "Mika can be a bit scary when she gets like that."
Ari spent the rest of the meal conversing with David. She learned a little about him, like his pet snake Snickers and his piano playing hobby. David in return learned about her fascination with Big Hero 6, they were intriguing superheroes. When dinner was done, Gogo and Honey Lemon went back to their apartment. But Ari stuck around awhile to help with the dishes, the Fern family told her she didn't have to but Ari insisted. It was the least she could do for them inviting them to her house and for Mikan sharing that tidbit of personal information with her. She was scrubbing the dishes while Steven Ferns dried them next to her.
"I'll admit, it's nice to have a willing hand in the kitchen for one," Steven chuckles, "The kids always play rock-paper-scissors with each other just to get out of it, my poor niece always gets the short end of the stick on that one."
"Yikes," Ari suppresses a giggle.
"By the way, Mikan told me that you're friends with her classmate Karmi, is that true?" Steven asked her all of a sudden, she stops washing the dishes to answer.
"Yeah, we mostly talk about how cool Big Hero 6 is." She answers, "I wish her and Hiro would get along though, they only tolerate each other when I'm around but the second I go grab something they're at each other's throats."
Steven lets out a deep chuckle at that, a smile forms on his face. "That's children for you, I remember when the kids would start arguments over the silliest of things." His eyes grow foggy at the memory, "I'm glad despite their bickering they're together even during the darkest days."
Ari raises an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Well, there's a reason Sara and David grew up in this house, neither of them were good." Steven frowns, "You might find out the truth for David one day, but Sara doesn't mind if I tell you hers."
"Her mother..my older sister was not a good parent, or family. She's been doing a lot better since we took her in, those dark days are scars of the past now."
Ari frowns, her mind flashing back to the faded cuts she sees on Sara's arm. Were those caused by her dark days? She'd never ask her in person, it's none of her business but she did care for her friend.
"Well I'll try to a good friend to all your kids," Ari vows, "They might be goofy, but they're great company."
Steven smiles, but the buzzing from his phone ends their conversation as he goes to answer it. Ari can't hear what it's about, but it made Steven annoyed.
"Uhg, my boss wants me to accompany him for something business related," Steven huffs, "He gives a good pay, but it's quite draining." He goes to grab his coat, "You should get home Ari, it's starting to get dark and I'm sure Cass would want you home before night."
"I will!" Ari nods, "Wait how do you know I'm living in the Lucky Cat Cafe?"
"Honey Lemon mentioned it at dinner, do you not remember?"
"Oh…." she facepalmed.
Ferns and Nerd Group Chat:
TheLittleMermaid: Home safe!
Honey Lemon: Yay!
Fredilicous24: How was it meeting Sally and Steven?
TheLittleMermaid: Sally was a bit scary but she was nice! And Steven's a good uncle! The Fern kids are lucky to have him in their lives!
Sara Ferns: Yes! Yes he is!
Sara Ferns: "Very lucky" -David
Mikan Ferns: A true gentleman, shame stupid Krei had to cut family time! : (
TheLittleMermaid: Who's Krei?
Hiro Hamada: Tell you later, though I wonder what business he had..
It was dark, the lack of sunlight made the abandoned warehouse look ominous at night. The only person who dared enter it was Dibs, who was patting himself on the back for his latest steal.
"They all said Dibs! You don't have the skills, the brains, or the hand-eye coordination to make it as a thief!" he was talking to a rat that had scurried next to him, he didn't mind the rodent's presence. Dibs held the stolen purse he got from the new neighbor and held it up, "Well they're about to look pretty stupid!"
However..he didn't know how to open the purse, it had no latch or zippers to open. In frustration he started slamming the purse on the nearby table. The rat looks at him with a frightened stare. "Breathe in...and breathe out…" Dibs takes a few calming breaths, then goes back to hitting the purse on the table like a madman. The rat flinched and scurried away from the angry thief.
The warehouse door opened behind him, "So what are we doing here?" he hears a female voice. Dibs panics, glancing around for a place to hide. He chooses to hide in one of the large boxes near the table, his rat acquaintance hiding with him.
"You remember that neurotransmitter that Hiro Hamada invented to control his microbots?" It was Alistair Krei, the CEO of Krei Tech. He had handsome blonde hair, sky blue eyes and wore a dark blue business suit. He was accompanied by his assistant Judy, a women with short black hair, brown eyes, and glasses. He also brought one of his mechanics Steven with him, to give an examination on what he was about to show, and he was good at scaring unwanted company with his intimidating frame.
"Hmm, it was a genius invention," Judy hums, "Too bad it was lost forever at the showcase fire."
"I think the worst loss was the loss of one of the students," Steven frowns, remembering the death that happened at that fire.
"Yes that was terrible," Krei quips, "But was the invention lost forever?" he grinned. "I was able to study it from our security footage and it inspired me to make this!" He swipes the switch on the table, causing it to flip over and reveal an invention.
"You made this?" Judy raises an eyebrow at Krei, it looked just like the neurotransmitter Hiro Hamada built but it had green coloring.
"Not personally, I hired a team." Krei replies, wearing the invention on his head and pointing to the lights. "You wear this, you can control anything linked to it with your mind."
"So you ripped off Hiro's invention," Steven frowns, "You brought me with you for this? It looks to be functioning fine but…"
"No no, It's not a ripoff." Krei shakes his head, "It's a better version."
"Better how?" Judy questions.
"Legally different enough that I can't be sued," Krei grabs a pair of green goggles on the table and places it on the device, making it look different from Hiro's invention.
"That is better," his assistant admits.
"Okay so the colors and green googles you added do make it different enough I'll admit," Steven crosses his arms.
"Right now we only have this prototype but eventually, this thing will be worth billions!"
Dibs's eyes light up with glee from behind the box, "Billions!" he whispers. Staring at his rat friend he gives a quiet yelp in surprise, the rat scurries out of the box and runs past Judy.
"Rats?" She says as the rat scurries away.
"Could be worse," Steven tells her, "It could always be worse Judy."
"Well it's the drawback of secret labs in abandoned warehouses," Krei places the neurotransmitter back on the table and flips the switch to hide it and leaves.
"We don't get paid enough for this do we Judy?" Steven whispers to his coworker as they follow their boss out of the warehouse, she doesn't give a verbal response but she nods.
As they leave, Dibs comes out of his hiding spot and crawls over to the table.
"Billions. Who's a rotten thief now Felony Carl?!" Dibs flips the switch and grabs the neurotransmitter, he would be rich! Rich! He places the invention on it head, "Ooh." It didn't look different from regular vision but it looked nice. On accident he drops the stolen purse, when he goes to pick it up he hits the table button with his head. He speeds away from the table before it hits him but it hits the purse, as he goes to grab the purse he struggles. But the purse breaks, spilling all of its chemical contents onto Dibs in sticky purple globs.
Dibs yowls, the globby goop covering his entire head, he tries to pull it off but notices it starting to grow in size and has a feeling of dread in his gut.
"I'm not liking where this is going at all-"
The globby goop consumes Dibs, eating his muscle and bone as he screams in pain. It continues until the purple globs had eaten his entire body, leaving only a moving mass controlled by the neurotransmitter.
He lets out a yell as it's all finished, his form a gelatinous moving glob, the green goggles of the neurotransmitter serving as his eyes.
He trips, with his globby limbs stretching in multiple directions and sticking to the wall.
"Darn it!"
AN: Omg they were roommates!
Anyways this is the debut chapter of the Fern kids parents! Steven and Sally! Aren't they so wholesome? Comment which one you think you like more.
Also from the looks of the reviews last chapter (and the word of a few readers I asked), some of you think Ari has a chance, and some of you think it will end terribly.
Word of warning she's not gonna be a major character in every episode, sometimes she'll have a minor appearance like in this one and not be heavily involved with the plot. I'm pretty sure her getting involved in every episode plot would annoy you guys plus writing her as a minor character in certain chapters is fun, gives others the spotlight.