Episode 8:1- Father's Day

In the library of the Time Machine, all was silent. Except for the soft flipping of pages coming from a big, fluffy chair set next to a bookshelf.

A soft snort broke the peace, and then a full out chuckle.

"MWAHAHAHA!" roared Hobbes, waving a copy of Fairy Tail around in the air like a flag. "CAN YOU EVEN DO THAT? ARE THE EDITORS ON BREAK, OR SOMETHING?"

"Shut up," requested Calvin, calmly reading a Captain Napalm comic book. "I'm getting to the interesting bit."

Hobbes ignored him, and kept on laughing/throwing a fanboy fit.

"Okay, what is it?" Calvin sighed, setting his book aside.

"He... threw... a naked... Lucy... at Natsu..." Hobbes gasped out between laughs.

"I don't read Fairy Tail."
"THERE IS NO SUBTEXT!"

"Calm down."
"THE SUBTEXT ROLLED OVER AND DIED WHEN THEY FLEW THROUGH THE AIR TOGETHER!"

"You're going to hurt yourself."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE HE DID THAT!"

Calvin calmly reached over and smacked Hobbes over the head with a copy of Eragon. Hobbes fell over, still giggling.

"I'm going to go find Rose and Charles. At least they're saner than you."

Saying that, Calvin left. Hobbes rolled over, guffawing loudly.

"Slimy giiiirl," Calvin called, tapping loudly on the door. "You there?"

There was no response. Calvin knocked again, before opening the door to Rose's bedroom. The room was softly lit from a lamp that sat on a table. The color scheme was light pink and lilac, with purple skirting boards. A wardrobe stood against the wall, and a bed made up with rosy pink sheets was directly next to it. Rose was on the bed, lying on her stomach with her feet in the air and hair covering her face. She appeared to be looking at a newspaper article.

"Uh... hello?" Calvin said, awkwardly. Rose jumped a foot into the air.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped, not looking at him. Calvin inched a bit further into the room, and shut the door behind him. He noticed that she hadn't put any makeup on, like she usually did. It looked like she had been crying.

"Hobbes was fangirling over a manga. I was attempting to get away from the weirdness. Where's Charles?"

She gestured vaguely over to her wardrobe, the door of which was slightly ajar. A little green head poked out, eyes partly obscured by a pink shirt that was draped over them. He chirped merrily, and tossed his head, causing the shirt to flip onto the floor.

Calvin stared for a moment, then shrugged, and sat on Rose's bed. "So. What are you reading? I hope it isn't more Fairy Tail."

Rose tugged the article away, and hid it under her pillow. "Nothing."

"Seriously. Tell me. I need something to occupy myself."

She spun around. "Fine. I'll tell you. My dad died when I was little, and I got a reminder that he's not coming back. Look."

She pulled the glossy paper from under her pillow, and shoved it towards Calvin. My Dad Saved the World, it read.

He eyed the photograph. "You're on it."

"Yeah."

"And that guy's your dad."

"Yeah."

He looked at her. "We were there."

"Yeah."

"And... you want to go."

She didn't say anything. He stared at her for a moment. "Is there anything special about the 7th of November?."

She shook her head.

"Let's go, then," he said, jumping up. "I didn't have anything planned! Let's go see your dad save the world!"
Rose blinked, and watched him leave, before getting up slowly and following him the console room.

Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. Born 15th September 1954. Died, 1987, 7th of November. He didn't deserve to die. But he did. Killed by a drunk driver. It was a stupid accident, they said.

"Where is it?" Hobbes asked quietly.

"Just over there," Rose said in a whisper. There wasn't any need to whisper, really, but she did it anyway. Calvin glanced at her curiously.

"Why are you so gloomy-looking?" he demanded. "We're about to see your dad save the world!"

Rose didn't say anything.

The article hadn't mentioned any specifics on how Pete Tyler would save the world. It just had the photo of him, the black dog, and Rose crying. They had decided to leave Charles in the Time Machine, in order to prevent people trying to lock him up in zoos and study him. He was too cute to die, after all.

"I don't see any black dogs," Calvin said curiously, peering around.

"Isn't that him?" Hobbes asked, pointing. A man was walking across the road.

"Yeah," Rose said. Her hands twitched slightly, and she shoved them in her pockets.

"Well, why don't we go follow him?"

"No!" she exclaimed a bit too quickly. "I mean... no. We're fine where we are."

A van was approaching from a street two blocks over. It was a large white van with blackened windows. Pete, on the street, staggered slightly, and dropped the grocery bag he was holding. Rose gasped reflexively, and made as if to run out across the street to help him up, before stopping herself.

"You alright?" Hobbes asked, glancing at her.

"Yeah. Fine. Just great."

The van spun around the corner, the wheels skimming off the street. It swerved violently, about to hit. Rose stood, motionless.

This is it. My dad's about to die.

A moment before the van hit him, a small silky hand reached out, and wrapped its fingers firmly around Pete Tyler's hand, yanking him away from the path of the van and to safety.
"You okay?" a girl with a long mane of silky hair asked in a gorgeous, tinkling voice. "That was a close one."

"Y-yeah," Pete said stutteringly.

"I'm Diamond," the girl introduced herself.

Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. Born 15th September 1954. Nearly died on the 7th of November 1987. He should've died. But he didn't. Saved by a helpful girl. It was a lucky coincidence, they said.

"That was a close one!" Calvin laughed, dashing across the street with a reluctant-looking Rose and an enthusiastic Hobbes in tow. "He might've died! Then we wouldn't have got to see him save the world!"

Pete was facing the blonde girl. She looked startlingly like Rose, except her face was rounder and naturally beautiful, and her eyes were violet.

"Hey!" Calvin exclaimed. "Are you alright? That looked nasty!"
"Fine," Pete said with a grin. "There's really no need to fuss."

On the street, the van had gone, like it had simply... disappeared.

"Thanks for saving him," Rose said to the girl.

"No problem. Happy to help," the girl said. "I'm Diamond, by the way. Diamond Sparkle."

"That's an unusual name."

"I'm an unusual person."

Rose peered at the girl. She was right. There was something not quite right about the girl. Maybe it was the vibrant colors of her hair, eyes, and lips. Or the graceful way she moved. She didn't appear entirely human.

"Who are you?" Pete asked Calvin.

"We are..." Calvin glanced around for inspiration. "Our occupation is... concerned passers-by."

"Is that an occupation?" Hobbes wondered.

"It can be," Calvin said. "We are here looking for black dogs. Have you seen any black dogs?"

Pete looked puzzled. "Black dogs?"

"They're very important to our job. We're... uh..." He appealed to Hobbes with a few blinks.

"Studying the effect of black dogs on blind people as opposed to white dogs," the tiger supplied.

"Studying the effect of black dogs on blind people," Calvin agreed. "You see, we recently lost an entire shipping container of dogs around here. Terrible stuff, terrible stuff. We need to find them, otherwise they might go leaping on non-blind people. How terrible would that be?"

"You seem a bit young to be scientists," Diamond observed.

"There's a perfectly logical explanation for that," Calvin exclaimed. "I just... need... to think of it... first."

Rose would usually have chimed in with a sarcastic comment by now, his brain informed him.

"Hobbes," he muttered under his breath. "Have you seen the slimy girl?"

"No," Hobbes said. "Where is she?"

"Not next to us, apparently..." he breathed, glancing back and forth. "Okay!" he called out, a bit louder. "We need to go now. Our work on Brazilian Dancing Monkeys can't be delayed!"

"I thought you said your work was with black dogs!" Pete protested.

Calvin waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, you know. Circumstances change. But if you see any dogs, or monkeys, just let me know!"

He and Hobbes dashed off.

"Well, that was...odd," Pete said. "Thanks again, by the way." He glanced down ruefully into his shopping bag. "I think the eggs are broken. Jackie's going to kill me. She was making a cake."

Diamond waved cheerfully. "Well, if you need any help, just call us!" She handed him an immaculately printed business card. "We're an organisation dedicated to helping people."

"'Helpful Hands'," he read, and pocketed the card. "Thank you. I'd better be getting home, though."

All around the town that day, people were being helped out by beautiful young woman. Old Ms Millar downtown would have tripped over her cat and painfully sprained her ankle if not for Glimmer Rainbow, a lovely young lady who kept her upright with a firm grip. According to gossip, Glimmer was an astute conversationalist, and kept Ms Millar entertained for hours.

Several other girls had been running around, just basically helping out. Every time, they had left a card behind. And they were all lovely people. Not practically perfect in every way. They were perfect in every way.

This was what Calvin and Hobbes noticed as they ran down the street, looking for Rose. And they both thought the exact same thing.

"This is weird," they both said at the same time, pointing at the other.

"Weirdness," Hobbes agreed. "I think it has something to do with Rose's dad saving the world."

"There she is!" Calvin pointed. Rose was standing at the gate to the Powell Estates.

As they walked towards Rose, they didn't notice the white van that sped behind them. And the black dog that leapt after it. But why would they? It probably doesn't even matter to the plot.

"You can't go in there," Hobbes reminded her as they drew close.

"I know," she said. "It's just weird. Little baby me is in there right now."

"Come on!" Calvin enthused, tugging at her hand. "We've got to go see your dad save the world, remember?"

Rose nodded hastily. "Sure. But when...exactly do we see him saving the world?"

"Sometime today!" Hobbes put in.

"Let's stalk him!" Calvin enthused.

"NO," Hobbes and Rose said at the same time.

"We'll just wait," Rose clarified.

There was a brief pause.

"Or," Hobbes said, sounding as if he were absolutely delighted to do something other than waiting. "we could go see why a pack of black dogs are dashing out of a rip in the fabric of space-time!"

His two friends whirled around just as a swarm of black dogs were about to trample them. Rose shrieked, and ran to the side, bumping into a woman who was carrying her baby daughter out of the house.

"Oi!" the woman exclaimed, fumbling with the little girl in her arms. "Careful!"

"Sorry!" Rose gasped, steadying her with one hand, using the other to bat a dog away. It dissolved into little floating shreds. She stared for a moment. "Wha-?"

Another dog began to snarl at her, exposing blood-red teeth and a gaping maw of a mouth.

Hobbes, meanwhile, was wielding a katana, the result of a Transmogrified daisy. He was slashing at dogs left and right, dissolving them as the blade made contact.

Rose stared at the woman. "Mum?" she whispered quietly.

"Who are you?" Jackie Tyler shot back rather rudely, glaring at her.

"Rose," said Rose, at the same time as Calvin said, "Lucy."

They glanced at each other for a moment.

"Lucy-Rose," Rose decided. "Lucy-Rose Heartfilia."

"And I'm Natsu!" Calvin chimed in cheerfully. "Natsu Dragneel! And my cat here is Happy!"

Hobbes paused from his awesome decimation of the demon dogs to mouth 'Happy' wordlessly at Calvin. Calvin ignored him. "And you are?"

"Jackie," Rose's mum from the past snapped. "Not that it's any of your business."

Hobbes threw his katana cheerfully to the ground, having finished with the dogs, and sprang over to Calvin and Rose. He wrapped an arm around each of them, bringing their heads close together. "Well, now, this is awkward!"

Calvin glared.

"Right," Jackie said, glancing dubiously at the two clearly insane people standing in front of her. "You aren't with that 'Helping Hands' organisation, are you?" she questioned, as if suddenly struck with a thought.

"No..." Calvin said.

"Good," Jackie said with a slight sneer. "They're just... not right."

"Oh, I absolutely agree," Calvin agreed. "Can you tell us anything about them?"

"No," Jackie said, hoisting the baby in her hands, and stalking over to the car. Five seconds later, the ancient engine had revved up, and the car sped off.

"That went well," Hobbes said.

Behind them, a white van sped around the corner.

"Let's go find those girls," Calvin said.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever happened to seeing my dad save the world?"

"What, we're still talking about that?"
Hobbes took Rose's arm and led her aside. "You just need to go along with it."

"Go along with it?"

"Either that, or distract him with something shiny."

"Got it." They moved back to the conversation. Calvin appeared to be talking to nothing.

"Calvin," Rose said.

"Yesss?"

"Do you, by any chance, have ADHD?"

He considered. "Well, may- hey, look, a pretty girl! Let's stalk her!"

Rose sighed.

"Plan," Calvin was muttering. "Plan, plan, plan. We need to cause an accident so they'll come near, and then we'll follow them back to their evil lair."

"Calvin, my dad."
"What?" He waved a hand dismissively. "You can go see him save the world. Hobbes and I'll go check out the girls. There's a connection there. I just know."

"Or... maybe you're just going through a girl phase," Hobbes put in.

"SHUT UP."

Calvin stalked off towards a paint store. Which didn't bode well. Hobbes tapped on Rose's arm.

"You okay?"

She jumped slightly. "Yeah, fine. I'll just go.. find my dad."

"Careful. You know that article showed you crying."

"I'll be fine." She grinned, but her heart wasn't really in it. "You know me."

"I do, which is why I'm warning you. You're our team trouble magnet."

She laughed, and hugged him. They were about the same height. "Aw, shut it."

"I'd better follow Calvin. He's probably getting into several shades of trouble without us."

She gave him a friendly shove. "Go on, then."

Hobbes headed off to help Calvin with his chaos making, and Rose turned around to find her father.
And was confronted with the sight of a massive hellhound.

"Uh... nice doggy?"

Calvin hauled the last of the massive paint buckets up on to the roof, and dusted his hands off, sighing contentedly.

"This is quite an intricate plan, Calvin," Hobbes commented, wrapping a coil of rope around a satellite dish. Calvin grinned proudly.

"Thank you!"
There was a pause, as Hobbes tightened the rope, and began to drag the buckets into place.

"Does that mean that you'll think it'll work?"

"God, no. Here we go."

Calvin pouted, and produced a knife from his pocket that would actually be impossible to fit into said pocket under any sane circumstances. Hobbes stared.

"How did you-?"

"Bigger on the inside."

"Oh."

Calvin raised the knife high over his head, and peeked over the edge of the roof. "IpraytoalltheassortedGreekgodsandgoddessesthatthiswillwork!" he yelled convolutedly, and chopped the rope in half.

17 large cans of assorted colored paint rolled down the sloped roof. 17 large cans of paint hit the ground together, in accordance with Galileo's experiment. 6 innocent passers-by screamed as they were doused in a variety of colorful and exciting art materials.

Calvin cackled evilly, and threw his head back, stretching his arms out, as he spun about the roof.

"Shh!" Hobbes hissed. "Here they come!"

Indeed, three perfectly pretty girls were coming over to help out. Calvin leapt smoothly onto Hobbes's back, and he darted down to the ground via a handy ladder.

The girls (introducing themselves as Raven, Hunter, and Aquamarine) had finished up with cleaning the shocked and horrified passers-by. They then proceeded to head off, saying absolutely each other. Just smiling pretty smiles.

"I get the feeling there's something wrong here," Calvin whispered.

"Like the fact that they disappeared into thin air?" Hobbes whispered back.

"Yeah. That might be it. How did they even do that?"

"Maybe they stood on a pressure plate or something."

"That's ridiculous. Why would you think that?"

"Let's just try it."

"Where should we go?"

"Uh... that alleyway they walked into just before they disappeared."

"Fine."

Silence for a few moments, followed by shuffling.

"Nothing is happening," Calvin complained after a second.

"Aw, give it a moment."

A moment passed.

"I'm bored."

"You have the attention span of a Brazilian Dancing Monkey."

"Of course I don- wait, isn't it meant to be 'attention span of a goldfish'?"

"No, goldfish actually do have pretty long attention spans. The Mythbusters proved it."

"Cool. We're here."

"What? Oh! We're here!"
"Where is 'here'?"

Hobbes scanned the area. "A stereotypical creepy underground lab with all of the pretty girls in stasis containers."

Calvin strode over to a container, and looked inside. Diamond Sparkle was floating inside, her blonde hair making lazy trails in the water-goop. A panel was hooked on the side.

"Mary Sue Prototype 324," he read, and looked up. "Mary Sue? I've heard of that."

Hobbes tapped hard on the lair's single desk. "These are calculations for cloning and genetic modification."

Calvin wrinkled his nose, attempting to remember something. "One, two, three, four, the PPC will fight a war, five, six, seven, eight, who do we exterminate? Mary Sue, perfect girl, she's the one who makes us hurl..."

"...goooooo... PPC!" Hobbes completed. "These are perfect girls. Designed to help. But why would someone make perfect girls?"

"To cause a paradox," said a voice like spun sugar. "I see you've met my daughters. I am Susannah Marie. Welcome to my lair."

"Get back, you filthy dog!" yelled Pete Tyler. He threw the broken carton of eggs at the dog, which dissolved. He turned, panting to Rose. "I know you."

"You know me?" Rose said carefully, pretending to be surprised.

"You introduced yourself as Lucy-Rose. My daughter's name is Rose."

"That's an odd coincidence."

"It's not a coincidence." He frowned. "You remind me of someone."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

Behind them, a white van sped by. A dog popped out of thin air and growled. And then another . Another. Another one.

"You don't happen to have meat in your pocket, do you?" Rose asked.

"No."

"Then why are phantom dogs backing us towards the street?"

"I don't know! There's a lot of things I don't know!"

The white van came around the corner again, as Rose and her father were being pushed closer and closer towards it...

(A/N:

Spot the references! This time, most are from Fairy Tail. But there's one from PPC:The Musical by Ekwy.

I'm not so good with emotional stuff, so tell me how I'm doing. Is it funny? Heartbreaking? Weird?

Thanks to Golden Keyblade, who is awesome and a constant outlet for my fangirlism. He also gives me brilliant ideas.

Cass is also a perfect person to fangirl to.

~Kitty)