*~ Fourth ~*
Back on the first day…
The skies were overcast and gray, the clouds casting a dark silver shadow over everything while the sunlight tried to penetrate through. It illuminated the clouds with light grays and foggy whites, like bubbly watercolor on a gray backdrop, and yet still couldn't peek through the rain-laden clouds for what was happening below.
That was truly a sad thing, since it was about to miss something interesting.
A girl halfway over fifteen years was walking home at a fast pace, nearly skipping out of the hyper attitude that shown in her hazel, green-flecked eyes. The blocked rays of sun managed to catch the lighter streaks in her shoulder-blade-length brown hair as she bounced along. How she wasn't the least bit warm in her garnet-colored sweater was solid proof that autumn was coming on full-blast, as leaves brushed by her skinny jeans in the wind—signaling a storm, but she could care less.
Alyssa Baxters tended to be headstrong and a think-first-ask-questions-later type of gal, and always had a crazy energy with everything. Currently, she was heading home; the school bus was long gone by the time she finally got out of the forsaken temple of learning, and she was never able to keep still on one, anyway. Her Burmese Mountain dog and parents were probably going to be worried when she didn't show up on the bus, like they always were after that fateful day on the mountains, but she was sure she could still get home on time without any interruptions.
At least, that was her actual intention. Shines of gold from random alleyways do that to a person.
"…do I see a shiny?" she perked when it persisted in the corner of her eye, stopping at the entrance to it. She looked down the place forlornly, strewn with garbage and shadows like a calico cat. Graffiti one couldn't repeat out loud (mainly because it was so water-streaked and old) was displayed on the red-bricked walls, and cardboard boxes were stacked against the metal cans mostly containing the stench-ridden garbage…
…but something gold and shiny was sitting at the end, the treasure after the traps, and she was too curious to care.
Stepping over the obstacles, Alyssa made it to her prize; it was a perfect figurine replication of Little Mac, placed right in front of a torn punching bag for effect.
"Oh!" she said out loud, picking it up and holding it to the light. "You're kind of new for being thrown out, aren't you?"
The statue glared at an unseen enemy, pulled into a defensive position that faced towards the entrance of the alley. Ironical…
"Isn't a school girl like you a little young to be traveling alone?"
Alyssa whipped around, a shout of surprise locked in her throat as she faced the shady-looking character who had snuck up to the front of the alley. He was leaned up casually against one of the buildings, tattoos creeping out from his neck and shoulders, eyes gleaming in a not-so-friendly way.
"I'm fifteen and a half," she protested, lowering the Little Mac figurine, "and was just on my way out."
"Oh, really…?" he drawled, stepping closer. The decreasing amount of personal space startled her, and she hid the Little Mac behind her while trying to gain ground again. Strangers like these were never good, instinct screamed. But with him blocking a quick getaway, and her utter lack of an ability to teleport or fly, she looked pretty doo—
CLANG!
"OW! What the—" The man whipped around to face a European-looking boy with olive skin and black hair. He was bent over slightly and looked to be the one who threw the trash can lid at the back of the man's head.
Alyssa took the chance and bolted in between their stare-down and the wall, not stopping to look back or hear the stream of curses. She tightly swerved a sidewalk corner, breath fast and taking in the cold, crisp air, not even noticing the steps behind her. Or the heavier steps behind them.
The kid from earlier eventually showed up at her side, asking, "you alright?"
"Yea…thanks!" Alyssa chirped back between pants.
His green eyes lit up with a small grin while they continued to run from the stranger, ensuing in a chase past several homes and streets. When the man finally paused for breath, holding his knees and bending over while wheezing, the two teens had completely left the nearby area; he left, not noticing the two as they were tensely pressed against a wall.
"William, huh?"
"Yea," the boy confirmed, eyes kept to the ground. A pebble was being kicked between his feet like a tiny, bumpy soccer ball, the sidewalk his playing field as he walked with the girl home.
Alyssa and he both lived in the suburbs, apparently, and the escort was more out of safety than awkward curtsey. Even if the latter was how he felt about it. Alyssa, or 'Lyssa' as she had introduced, was happy to go along with it; they both lived in the neighborhood, anyway, and she could make this shy guy open up.
"You're that William who's, like, five grades ahead, right?" Alyssa asked suddenly when the name roused her memory.
"Err, three grades, actually," he rubbed the back of his head and discarded the pebble into the street.
"That's still impressive, I mean…how?!" Alyssa harshly breathed the last word.
He chuckled a little at her gape. It wasn't from study alone - heaven forbid those long, boring nights of homework others complained about - he just found himself skilled in that genre. "I guess…because I have…the ultimate power of brains?" he shrugged in a joking manner.
Alyssa giggled at the thought.
While they were walking, a cardboard box found itself in William's path; his foot knocked against it, and something small skidded against the concrete below from inside. He turned to it, asking, "what the…"
"Jeesh, whoever put out their recycling missed it by a long shot," Alyssa sighed, turning to look at the nearest house—which was several feet until you reached the driveway's end.
William, meanwhile, tilted it upwards and looked inside. A figurine somewhat like Alyssa's was placed inside, of a man in gray with a dark green bandana around his forehead.
"Hey, if you know who that is," he asked, gesturing to her Little Mac, "do you know who this guy is?"
Alyssa squinted at it, the box under William's arm as he held it to her. "No…sorry," she shrugged with a nervous smile. "I just have a NES, so it might be some newer character?"
"He looks a bit violent for a Nintendo character..." he doubted.
"Hey, that looks like Snake!"
The two fifteen-year-olds looked over to where a girl about two years younger than them was approaching. She wore a pink shirt and denim jeans (why everyone was wearing jeans, who knows), her white tennis shoes hitting the sidewalk hard as she ran to them, curly brown hair bouncing along as well. A statue was in her hand as well, one William recognized as SSB's interpretation of Wario.
"Snake? Snake who?" Alyssa prompted.
"Solid Snake, from the Metal Gear series!" the girl chirped. "My brother plays those games all the time!"
"Oh," William muttered. He was more of a Nintendo-and-Capcom type of person, Metal Gear was a new one in his book…
"So he's not either of your guy's? Because, honestly, this isn't my Wario," the girl sighed.
"Nope."
"Nadda."
He had to restrain himself for Alyssa's improper grammar, being the top grammar Nazi in his class.
"Dang it. Know anyone who does?" the girl cocked her head. "No, we just kind of found these off the street—literally," Alyssa added, sending the box a glance. "Who in their right mind leaves golden stuff out in public, anyway?"
"I dunno," the girl shrugged.
Again, restraint for the sake of politeness was required. "Excuse me, but you haven't happened to see a shady-looking guy around here, haven't you?" he interjected.
"No, why?" the girl inquired.
"He had me cornered in an alleyway earlier!" Alyssa reported before jabbing a thumb towards William. "And William here saved me!"
"It wasn't really heroic enough to be called a 'save'…" he muttered in the background, blushing a bit from the thought of him swooping in and saving a damsel in distress.
"Cool! Oh yea, my name's Megan," the girl introduced.
"Call me Lyssa," Alyssa introduced.
"William," the boy said quietly.
Megan joined them on their way home; she lived in the city and was traveling to the nearest bus stop, but the prospect of some kind of offender in the neighborhood convinced her to join.
Then William asked what exactly Metal Gear was, leading to half an explanation since Megan herself was far more Nintendo than her brother. So was Alyssa, with her eBay-auction NES…hopefully she at least knew of the more recent games… Once again, he was a Nintendo nerd and a bit of a Mega Man fanboy. This 'Solid Snake' character was very foreign to him, but he ended up keeping the statue. He didn't trust a recently-met girl's brother to keep it.
"Well, this is my place," Alyssa sighed, stopping at a house. A Burmese Mountain Dog lifted its head up from the porch, and his tail began waving like a flag at his owner.
"Good meeting you!" Megan chirped. "We should really do this again sometime, though. I can't confess my nerdom to anyone else outside my family, really…"
William nodded in agreement. He was a pretty shy type; how the two brought him out was a mystery to him.
"Hey, wait, that guy's still out there, right?" Alyssa asked.
"Uh, yea-" Megan answered before being cut off.
"And we still need to find out who's these statues are, right…?"
"Where are you taking this?" William asked.
"Are you guys open for tonight?" she continued, ignoring William's question as well.
"Yea…I think I can spare awhile," Megan nodded.
"How about we meet up in the local park, then?" she finally asked. "Hunt down these guys' owners and-slash-or that weird man? Like in all those fiction books and movies or something."
"Sure," William shrugged. "I don't really have anything on my plate, either."
"Okay then!" Megan smiled. "Six, seven-o-clock work for you?"
"Alright."
"Sure thing!"
"O-kay! See you guys tonight!"
Later on, he would wonder why he ever accepted coming to the meeting. Yes, it had made things easier later on and lead him on a truly awesome adventure…but if he knew what would be coming, he probably would have stayed home. But he didn't, and that night was the second stepping stone to two world's worth of trouble…
Don't mind me, I'll just casually foreshadow these events so thickly it's like I'm putting eye shadow on my story…I'm kidding, I don't do makeup.
INTRODUCING, Marin-Kit, TheHobkinAuthor, and pokemonfan67's OCs: Alyssa, William, and Megan! *APPLAUSE*!
Alyssa has a beautifully thought-up backstory that you'll be seeing pretty soon; Megan was pretty family-oriented compared to the other OCs, giving me the opportunity for even more characters; and TheHobkinAuthor was kind enough to redo his OC's forum when it looked a bit too perfect, giving us the shy William that I prefer MUCH more over the last one. BIG, GARGANTUAN THANKS to you three!
Hoi, a quick warning about that italicized line there at the top; since I want this thing to take place over a few weeks and not months, most of these meetings will take place on the first and second days as opposed to all being on separate days. Gives a Majora's Mask kind of feel, yea?
Thanks for reading, guys! Be sure to do us all a favor and review, follow, and favorite, your support keeps this fic from being abandoned! I planned three or so more chapters for you guys! JUST FOR YOU! And hug those Eevee, meet me back here next Wednesday for the next chapter! Bye for now!