Allie: Yay! Chapter 2! HERE WE GO! XD
Oh yeah, thank you all so much for the OC characters you sent in! I've already started to use them in this chapter.
I want to thank:
Lastdragonrider for the character Ray. I'm sorry but there was only a small mention of Ray in this chapter. She will actually be introduced in the next chapter :D
Tauria for the character Aura. :D I hope Aura was how you hoped for her to be :D
Quest Although you are a quest, I still thank you for sending in the character Sky :D
Baylee1100: Thank you for the character Saya Marina/ Raven. Although there was only a mention of her in this story, I still thank you for sending this character in. :D Raven shall soon appear in later chapters XD
Guest 2: You were also a quest when you sent in this character. I know you know who you are though so thank you for sending in the Oc character Meghan :D
Guest 3: And finally the last one. You were also a guest, but I thank you for the sweet little OC Alice :D
"Remind me again why were going to this place?" Sprx asked, folding his arms as the hyper force made their way up to the large 4-store building known as the Fun House.
"To check on a few things." Chiro answered, opening the small white gate to the stone path leading to the porch.
"I don't see why we couldn't just send them a call." Gibson retorted, not looking too pleased to be there.
"Oh you're just saying that because you don't want to see Ashren." Nova smirked at the blue monkey.
"Wha- that's not true." Gibson defended himself.
"Don't worry Gibson, we don't blame ya." Otto laughed. "I mean, with the way she is always teasing you." He snickered.
"Thank you oh so much for reminding me about that Otto." Gibson sighed.
"Let just remember why we are here." Antauri said over his shoulder as they climbed the few steps leading up to the porch.
"Speaking of that, you still haven't clued us in on what exactly we are checking Chiro." Sprx added.
"As I said, we are just checking the place out. Seeing if anything… weird has been happening lately." Chiro mumbled quickly. The less he had to talk about his nightmares the better honestly.
"Right." Sprx muttered.
Reaching out his hand, Chiro pressed the doorbell, causing it to ring through the house.
DOORBELL, DOORBELL, DOORBELL, DOORBELL
That was a siren the younger kids would yell to some of the oldest in the house, allowing them to know from anywhere in the building that someone was at the door.
"Ah-! AH!" A panicked voice stammered from inside. "I uh- I got it!" The door handle jiggled a bit, showing that who ever was on the other side was struggling in opening the door for some reason. "I got it! I got it! I… I don't got this." The person sighed. "Okay gingersnap I gotta put ya down for a sec."
Within the second the door was swung open.
"Welcome to the Fun House Residence. How may I help you this morning?" The red headed, camo-wearing soldier required in a bored, secretary type voice.
"…Ashren?" Chiro asked slowly. Ashren, one of Rain's closest, if not weirdest, friends.
"Yes?"
It was not Ashren that surprised the team so much as what she was wearing. A pair of fairy glittery wings stuck to her back, illuminating the stickers that covered her face.
Sprx couldn't help but snicker at the sight of her.
Clearing his throat, Chiro continued, "Um… Is Rain home?"
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Who's asking?"
"The Hyper force." Nova answered, folding her arms.
"The Hippo what?"
"T-The Hyper force." Chiro stammered quickly.
"I'm sorry, I am not interested in any zoo animals. Rain says weren't not allowed to keep them anymore anyway after… what happened." Ashren trailed off, avoiding their stares.
"Ashren, it is us. The monkey team! You saw us just a few days ago."
There was a silence as Ashren rubbed her chin in thought. "…Nope, never heard of ya."
Letting out an exhausted sigh, Chiro glared at her. "It's me… pudding cup."
"Oh!" Ashren gasped in shock. "Pudding cup! What are the odds of seeing you here?" Ashren laughed.
The team moaned at the red heads antics. Pudding Cup was the name Rain had used to describe Chiro when she told Ashren about him. When Chiro and Rain met it had been Chiro who had kindly given the older girl his pudding cup, since she had got none.
It was then that their friendship started. All thanks to a pudding cup.
So Ashren, basically only hearing the pudding cup part, forever named Chiro, "Pudding Cup".
"Can we just see Rain?" Nova exhaled.
"Oh sure let me just-" she trailed off, looking down at her feet. The monkeys followed her gaze, their eyes trailing to a young girl at Ashren's feet.
"Ashren." The girl sniffled softly.
"Oh my gosh!" Ashren panicked, as if remembering something she shouldn't have forgotten. "Don't worry gingersnap, I'll save ya!" she scooped the sniffling child into her arms in a wild panic. "To the kitchen!" she sprinted down the hall.
The monkeys looked at each other confused before they followed the over eccentric redhead.
"Ashren?" Chiro called into the kitchen, spotting her near the counter.
"Oh Gingersnap, everything is going to be fine." Ashren grabbed a bandage from the first-aid kit next to her. "I've seen terrible things in this world, and I'm not letting you die from this." Ashren patted the girl's head comfortingly.
"Is she okay?!' Nova asked quickly. Not understanding the situation, the team could only assume from Ashren's words showed that the 6-year-old girl was injured in some way.
The girl lifted her finger up to Ashren's face, which she glared at intensely. "Yup, that's a doozy. Good thing you came to me at the right time." Ashren nodded, inspecting the small finger carefully.
"…Huh?" the monkeys questioned. Gibson narrowed in on the finger, letting out a relieved sigh.
"It is just a paper cut." He announced as Ashren placed the bandage on the small flesh wound. The team almost fell over in shock.
"Really?!" Sprx yelled. "Made us worry for nothing?!"
Though as Chiro thought about it, a paper cut might have been a big deal to a small 6 year old. Also, this whole situation explained why Ashren was unable to answer the door quickly. She must have been caring the child, looking for a bandage, when the doorbell rang.
Knowing her she probably didn't want to put the girl down, and tired to open the door with her feet. Finding she couldn't actually do that, she had been forced to put the girl down to answer the door.
Running his hands through his hair, Chiro chuckled a bit. It was never a boring day here at the Fun House after all.
"See!" Ashren cheered, clapping her hands. "You made it! You're alive my little soldier!" Ashren grinned, causing the girl to perk up.
"Yay!" she cheered. This girl had long black hair reaching all the way down to her knees with several messed up bows in her hair. Her eyes were an odd color, one being neon pink while the other was a neon blue.
Soon the small girl looked at Chiro and the team, lifting up her battle scar (her bandaged finger) to show she had survived a great test of strength.
"Uh… good job." Chiro gave her a thumbs up, making her giggle in joy.
"Hi." She said. "My name is Alice. This is Ashren."
"We already know Ashren." Gibson mumbled darkly.
"Hey Alice. I'm glad your finger is all better." Otto called with a wave.
"Me too!" Alice cheered. "Ashren saved me. I would have died!" Alice gasped, looking very serious as she spoke.
"You wouldn't have died from a simple paper cut. Ashren, stop filling this girls head with lies." Gibson scolded.
"I wasn't lying to Gingersnap. If I hadn't closed up the wound she would have died from blood lost!" Ashren argued.
"I don't believe a paper cut can actually kill a person Ashren." Antauri concluded.
"Well, unless it was many, many paper cuts." Otto whispered softly. Nova nudged him.
"Shh." She whispered.
Chiro raised his hand. "Quick question, if her name is Alice, why do you call her gingersnap?"
"Because she likes gingerbread." Ashren answered.
"And I can snap." Alice snapped her fingers, grinning.
"…" the team was silent. They had found it mute to even try to argue or question Ashren's methods. So it was better to just leave them be.
"So, did you all come to see Rain?" Ashren asked, leaning against the counter as the monkeys all took their seats at the large circular table.
"Yeah, is she here?" Chiro asked, tilting his head.
"No and yes. If you are asking if she is in this room, then it is a no. However if you are asking if she is in the house, then yes."
"Do you know where she is in the house?" Chiro tried again.
"Probably in her room. I think she took a nap. Stayed up a little too late she did." Ashren nodded. "Her room is right at the end of that hall. If you zoo animals wanna go wake her up then head that way." She grinned.
The team knew how hard Rain often worked and couldn't bring themselves to go wake up the young adult, if she was really asleep.
"We'll just wait then." Antauri decided.
"I'll go get her!" Alice cheered, jumping down from the counter to run down the hall, towards Rain's room.
"Maybe you shouldn't-" Nova tried to reason with Alice, but she had already begun down the hall.
"Gingersnap, make sure you knock before you go in!" Ashren called to her. Suddenly a panicked scream filled the monkeys ears.
Chiro, recognizing it as Rain's, jumped into action. "Rain?!" He called.
"Alice sweetheart! I'm getting dressed!" Rain yelled in a panic. Chiro froze from his spot, his cheeks growing hot as he quickly stepped away from the hall.
Ashren snickered.
Soon, the person the team had been searching for arrived, Rain Darl.
Her light purple eyes stared at the questionably as she brushed her white bangs to the side. "Oh, Chiro." She smiled as Alice pulled on her arm impatiently, trying to get her into the kitchen. While Alice tugged on Rain's left arm, her other held up all of her hair in an unfinished ponytail.
"What are-" Alice yanked again. "Alice, I need to finish putting up my hair." Rain chuckled. With a pout, Alice released Rain's arm, allowing her to use both of her hands to put up her hair. "So, as I was saying, what are you doing here Chiro?"
"Oh, we uh…" he paused to look at his team. "Just decided to come visit you today." He answered.
"I see. Welcome then." She smiled at them. "I hope there wasn't too much trouble when you guys were at the front door."
"Not… really." Chiro shrugged, glancing at Ashren.
"Bye bye!" Alice called, waving to the group. With a small attention span, Alice couldn't stay all these small talk conversations.
"Heh, bye Alice." Rain waved goodbye to her.
Soon the group started in small conversations. Some were about the city, Skeleton King, and how things were going with the Fun House.
Sadly, Gibson had been left to talk with Ashren.
"Grappil Finger guts!" Ashren explained to Gibson. Gibson stared at her, his expression filled with nothing but confusion.
"Y'know what I'm saying?" Ashren laughed.
"I have yet to understand a word from your mouth." Gibson sighed.
"Heeeeeee." With a crooked smile, Ashren dove onto the table, sending a cup flying.
Rain, deep in conversation with Chiro and the other monkeys, lifted her hand, calmly catching the cup before it could crash into the wall next to her.
"Raining children!" Ashren suddenly screamed, grabbing Gibson's arm.
"What?" just as Gibson questioned Ashren's cry, someone crashed into the room from the ceiling above. Jumping in surprise, Gibson whirled around in shock.
"What the-!" Chiro rose to his feet, staring up at the ceiling in shock.
"Aww, my ceiling." Rain sighed.
"Well… that didn't go exactly to plan." The figure that had just fallen from the sky above mumbled as they jumped to their feet, dusting themselves off.
In a zombie like motion, Ashren rose from the table. "No way, if it isn't Meghan the Zebra."
The girl, who had begun to pull pieces of broken wood from her hair, looked at Ashren with a grin. "Ashren the strawberry." Placing her hands on her hips, Meghan strolled forward casually as if falling from the ceiling was a normal occurrence for her.
"I can't believe you got in threw the door without the kids noticing." As Ashren made her way to the young 13 year old she shoved Gibson to the side.
Scowling, Gibson folded his arms.
The hyper force gawked at the two girls in shock. Slowly they looked at Rain, with the same expressions on their face, silently demanding for an explanation.
"T-That's Meghan." Rain laughed softly, pointing the young girl. "Or, how I sometimes like to call her, she is 'mini Ashren'.
Chiro's mouth formed a small "O" as he looked back at Meghan and Ashren.
"I didn't sneak in. I came in through the roof!" Meghan pointed to the new sky lining above her, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Meghan was around 13 years old. She had black colored hair with white streaks, which is why Ashren had given her the name of 'Meghan the Zebra'. Meghan's eyes were similar to Rain, a light purple.
Smacking her hand down on the younger girls shoulder, Ashren cackled. "And to think, the day is still young!"
"AHHH!" A second voice filled their ears as another person came falling from the new hole up above. Landing in the heap of broken wood, the person groaned. "Ow! Why… is there a hole in the ground!?" the girl demanded, stumbling to her feet, her body soar.
"Sky!" Rain ran to the girl, grabbing her arm to help her up.
"Oh come on Sky you don't see Meghan here complaining!" Ashren pouted at her.
"That is because you are both insane!" Sky reached for her nose, which had begun to bleed.
"Oh." Rain said softly, turning around to fetch some tissues.
"Are you alright?" Gibson asked quickly, approaching her.
"Yeah." She tilted her head back, pinching her nose. Sky was 16 years old, with black hair and eyes that were a light grey, making them look white in certain light. "Name is Sky." She announced, holding her unoccupied hand out to Gibson.
"Mr. Hale Gibson." He nodded, taking her hands. "Please do not call me Mr. or Hale, just Gibson please." He explained.
"Sure thing." Sky nodded. "I'll be honest with you though Ashren, that was the first time I ever fell through a hole like that."
"I made it!" Meghan grinned.
"Ah yes, it is very nice." Sky nodded. "How do you think Ray would react if she saw it?" Ray was one of Sky's close friends.
"Eat some apples?" Meghan guessed.
"Punch Gibson?" Ashren tilted her head.
"Throw stuff?" The two continue to guess.
Gibson sighed, staring up at the hole with a frown. Jumping up to the next floor, he examined the floor.
Placing a comforting hand on Sky's shoulder, Rain handed her the tissues. "Here you go Sky."
"Thanks Rain." She grinned, taking the tissues to press against her nostrils. "I think I broke my nose." She mumbled, her voice sounding muffled.
Rain sent a glare to Ashren. "Remember rule number 1 of the house?" she questioned with a frown.
Flinching, Ashren pouted. "But I didn't break the floor though~! It was Meghan!" she whined.
"Oh really? So then the conversation you had with Meghan yesterday about floor diving would have nothing to do with this?"
Ashren paused, thinking over her past conversations. "…No." she whispered, hoping that Rain would spare her a bit today.
"You pay for it." Rain concluded.
"Aww, why!?" she mewled.
"We should at least put a rope around this so that none of the other children fall and get injured." Gibson called down to Rain as he circled the hole.
"Okay, good work Gibson, we'll leave that to you then!" With that Ashren grabbed Meghan and Sky by the arm and ran out of the room.
"Ashren!" Gibson called angrily.
Rain began to laugh.
DOOR BELL, DOOR BELL, DOOR BELL, DOOR BELL
The kids began to yell through the house, signaling for Rain to answer the door.
"I'll be back." Rain giggled as she walked towards the door.
As Rain opened the door, her smile fell. "… Can I help you officer?" she asked softly. Chiro looked up from his chair, staring at the door in wonder as one of the policemen of Shugazoom entered the house.
"Hello Ms. Darl." He tipped his hat to her.
Now while it was the hyper force's job to protect the city from super natural threats or things that target the entire city on a large scale, they could not watch over every single crime that was committed in Shugazoom. So a small police force was assembled to help out a bit through the city.
Chiro looked towards Antauri, who frowned.
"We're looking for a girl around the age of 15." He began. "The suspect has blond hair and sapphire blue eyes."
"I see." Rain nodded. "What for?"
The officer stepped aside, allowing an infuriated citizen to pass him. "Where is she?" he seethed. "I know she is here." He adjusted his grubby looking tie, scanning the room.
"I'm afraid I am not sure who this girl is." Rain apologized.
"Oh, you wouldn't." the man scoffed. "Probably hiding her within the rest of these beasts."
"I would appreciate if you did not insult the children of this house." Rain said, her voice low.
Snorting, the man folded his arms. "That brat stole something of mine." He continued the subject on why he was there. "I demand for it back."
"What is it exactly that was stolen from you?" Chiro questioned, rising from his chair.
"Oh finally, someone reliable." The snooty old man sighed, pointing to Chiro.
The officer at the man's side frowned, offended. Rain sent him an apologetic look.
"This little brat came into my pawn shop, and took a bracelet that I had just bought from this old geezer. I was going to sell it soon to some buyers too."
"I see." Chiro nodded. "Did you get a look at this girl?"
"She had blond hair. Probably the same thief who stole from me 2 weeks ago. And I know for a fact she likes to come to this dump, just like the rest of these… hooligans."
Rain frowned, as if wanting the man to leave. Chiro couldn't blame her.
"Please sir, I can not help you. I have seen no girls in my house recently matching your description. And if there were, I know for a fact that none of them would ever steal from you for the wrong reasons."
Staring at her, the pawnshop owner scowled. "Very well then." He seethed, stepping out of the door. Rain and the officer followed him.
Turning back to her, the pawnshop owner frowned.
"Honestly Ms. Darl, I suggest you keep a much tighter leash on these… evil little things. Corrupting the city they are." The pawnshop owner snorted, shacking his finger at her as the officer began to lead him out.
"You're wrong." Rain called to him.
Pausing, the two men looked over their shoulder at her.
"Excuse me?" the pawnshop owner hissed
"Although I am sorry you were stolen from sir, I can not take such words lightly. You are wrong about these kids, on every level possible." Rain narrowed her eyes, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind her. "Not a single child born to this planet, to every plant, is evil. It is society that is corrupting the hearts of children, who's hearts are pure since birth. It is people like you, who belittle them and put them down, you are the only ones sending this city to chaos."
The men face grew red with anger. "Ms., Darl how dare-"
"How dare you! You come into my house, insulting not only what it stands for but the people inside it as well. You disgrace the authority that so kindly took his time to help you find this 'thief' and still you have the audacity to insult him? The next time you even think of barging into my house, you should consider your words better. Now leave our property!"
Glaring at her furiously, the pawnshop own stormed out of the garden, into the streets of Shugazoom. The officer, quick to follow, stopped to tip his hat to Rain.
"Good evenin' Ms. Darl."
"And to you too officer." She gave him a smile before he disappeared.
As soon as both men had left, the house behind her suddenly erupted into cheer. Whirling around, Rain was surprised to see some of the windows had been opened, leaving the whole house to listen to her words.
"That a way Rain! Stick it to the man. Give him the good one two!" Ashren cackled from the third floor, the two kids next to her clapping wildly.
Even Chiro had cracked open the window a bit to listen. He expected nothing less from Rain, and grinned happily at her. The hyper force smiled at her too.
Flushing red, Rain chuckled in embarrassment. "Oh dear, did you all hear that?"
"Yes!" the kids called.
"Oh my." Rain laughed, covering her face. "J-Just go back to playing and… what not." Rain waved them off, turning away.
Ashren began to laugh, sticking her head back in to the window as the whole house soon followed.
When almost all of the eyes were off her, Rain finally turned around and walked back into the house. Once the door had been closed, she let out a little sigh of relief.
"Nice going there Rain." Sprx commented, nodding to her.
"Haha." Rain chuckled. "Thank you Sprx. I'm honestly a little shocked I did that myself. My words just come out without me meaning to say them."
"Well I believe it is a good thing you did. That man needed a little… embarrassment of his own." Gibson concluded. Chuckling, Rain paused.
"RAIN!" from the stairs above, several feet could be heard heading her direction. Within moments, at least a dozen kids who had overheard her conversation with the pawnshop owner had surrounded her.
"You were so cool!" One giggled.
"You should have punched that guy in the face." Another concluded.
"Oh I could never do that." Rain cooed.
"You could tackle him to the ground. You wouldn't actually be causing damage, the ground could do that to himself." Ashren cackled as she made her way down the stairs.
"No I couldn't do that either." Rain folded her arms.
"Can we do it to you?" Ashren blinked
"Eh?"
"Charge my minions!" With that, the kids dove forward, taking out Rain's knees.
"Curses!" Rain squeaked as she fell onto her side.
"Well, I don't really see a problem here Chiro. She seems fine to me." Sprx commented, staring at Rain who was tackled into the ground by the dozen of kids.
"You guys worried about her?" Ashren asked.
Chiro flinched, forgetting that the redhead was there. "Y-Yeah." He mumbled.
"Oh. Well then you are wrong then Sparky." Ashren folded her arms.
"Eh?" the team looked at her in surprise. "I mean, she isn't sick or anything like that, at least I don't think so. But she has been acting weird lately. More…. Secluded." Ashren explained. "It is like she is keeping something from us." Ashren frowned, not looking too pleased that Rain would be keeping secrets from her.
"Are you certain of this?' Antauri folded his arms.
""I dunno. I've only started to realize it recently myself. She's good at hiding her feeling after all. Maybe it is stress or all the kids? Though the community isn't helping much. The city has been on her case about how influentially correct this place is. They think that we might not be the most perfect influence for these kids. What a bunch of crap that is though, am I right?" Ashren shook her head at the ceiling.
The monkeys glanced at each other, then at their young leader. Chiro frowned at them.
He knew something was up.
"Ashren!" Rain called. Looking towards the pile of human limbs holding her childhood friend captive, Ashren blinked.
"Oh…right." Ashren whistled, causing the kids to look at her. "Alright ya little ankle bitters. Off the house head before she implodes from your massive weight."
One by one the kids lifted themselves up, releasing Rain from her child like cage.
"Thanks guys." She breathed. "Now uh… the next one to dog pile a certain Red head into the ground gets to decide what we have for dinner tomorrow."
"You jerk!" Ashren gasped, fleeing for the stairs.
"GET HER!" The eldest of the group commanded. Letting out their own assortments of battle cries, the children marched after her.
Chiro laughed. "Here Rain," He said, giving Rain a hand up. Smiling at him, Rain rose to her feet.
"You really do have a way with kids." Nova grinned.
Bushing a tad, Rain smiled at her. "Not really. They are the ones who are so welcoming."
The team smiled at her.
Nodding, Rain looked down the hall, towards the kitchen. "…You can come out now." She spoke down the hall.
The monkeys, confused to whom she was talking to, leaned forward, looking down the hall.
The closet closest to the kitchen slowly creaked open, a 15-year-old girl stepping out. Glancing at Rain nervously, she twirled her curly blond hair around her fingers, moving it so that it didn't cover her sapphire blue eyes.
"Rain." She said softly.
"You don't have to say anything Aura. I know." Rain held up a hand, silencing her. "Now, what exactly compelled you to steal that bracelet from that mans shop?"
The monkeys let out a small gasp. So the girl was here after all?! And Rain knew of it?
"What he was doing wasn't right Rain!" Aura shouted. "Mr. Depto went to go sell this bracelet for retirement money. But that stingy man, he lied to him. Told him that it was only worth a few hundred dollars when it is not. It is wroth much more." Aura stuffed her hand in her pocket, yanking out the golden bracelet for all to see.
Rain took the bracelet to examine it. Indeed, the bracelet was worth more. Perhaps over 8000 dollars or so. There were several jewels in the bracelet, causing it to shine when put in certain light.
Rubbing her chin, Rain looked towards Aura who stared at her desperately.
"Please Rain, believe me."
"I do." She nodded, causing Aura to smile in relief. "However, that does not change the fact that you stole this Aura. This is the…oh I dunno, 7th time in the past two weeks I've heard of you stealing."
Aura's shoulders slumped. "Yeah I know."
"That does not mean though that the pawn shop owner should necessarily get this back since he came to posses it in such a dirty way." Rain passed the bracelet back to her. Aura looked up at Rain in surprise.
"I'll make a few calls, see what I can do. Just make sure you return that to its original owner." With that, the owner of the Fun House winked.
"T… Thank you Rain!" Aura grinned.
Rain smiled. "Oh wait…" she looked at the hyper force. "You guys don't mind that, do you?"
The team looked at one another.
"I don't truly believe stealing was the right way to handle the situation." Antauri began, looking at Aura. "But you had good intentions, so I don't see why we can't solve this to make it right."
"Sounds fine with me." Chiro nodded.
Aura, looking relieved, nodded. "Oh but um… are you going to tell my dad about this?"
Rain looked at her, shacking her head. "No. It is not my job to let him know something such as this. It is you who should be the one to decide whether or not he learns the truth." Rain patted her head, heading into the kitchen.
"I knew you would say that." Aura frowned, staring down at the bracelet.
"Hey wait a minute though, I thought you don't like to lie Rain." Nova looked at the taller girl confused.
"I don't." Rain nodded.
"Then how come you told that pawn shop owner that you haven't see Aura or that none of the people here would ever steal from him?" Nova continued.
"Well I didn't lie." Rain smiled. "I just… played with my words. I said that none of the kids here would steal from him for the wrong reasons. And Aura here stole for him for a good purpose." Aura smiled at Rain. "Then when I said I haven't seen Aura, I actually said I haven't seen any one with blond hair and Sapphire blue eyes recently. I haven't seen Aura in a few hours." Rain chuckled.
Nova, left speechless, smiled amusingly at Rain. She didn't know what to expect next from this young adult.
"HEY! Aura! Get up here you little 'hooligan' you!" Ashren cackled from the top of the stairs, mimicking the voice of the pawnshop owner.
Smiling softly, Aura ran up the stairs.
"You two braniack!" Ashren called to Gibson.
Letting out a sigh Gibson looked at his teammates hopefully.
"Fine, we'll come with ya." Nova chuckled. Gibson smiled joyfully as the monkeys ran up the stairs, happy he would have to face that she-devil alone.
"So…" Chiro paused as Rain walked into the kitchen. "Aura is a thief?' Chiro asked, walking after her.
"In her own way." Rain nodded. "Though I don't know the whole story, Aura was adopted by Mr. Rell, y'know, the one who owns that hotel on the other side of town. The big blue one."
Chiro nodded, remembering seeing that building from time to time.
"I think right now she is more concerned with letting Mr. Rell know what she did today. You see, although Mr. Rell and Aura get along quite well, they don't exactly see eye to eye when it comes to her stealing."
Chiro nodded. "I think any parent would be that way."
"Unless you know… they were the ones to teach their kids to steal." Rain pointed out.
"Ah, that is true." Chiro laughed.
"Aura isn't a bad girl though. She is usually very quiet, till something like this happens. Her thieving ways just get the best of her a lot. I don't really blame her with that though. She sort of reminds me of myself when I was younger." Rain chuckled. "Remember how I would always steal from Mrs. Tyveal when she wasn't looking?"
Chiro laughed, memories of their days in the orphanage flooding back to him. "Yeah. She would always have that candy in drawer of her desk but would never give any to the kids."
"So I would take a few and give them to you and the others when she was distracted." Rain grinned. "I heard she is a dress designer now, after the orphanage closed down. Glad she is doing something she loves."
"Yeah she would make all sorts of dresses for the girls." Chiro nodded, remembering the miniature fashion shows the girls would put on. And the boys had been forced to watch to put comments on which dresses they thought were the prettiest.
"Do you still see anyone from the old days?" Rain asked as she sat down at the table.
"Besides you? Not really." Chiro shrugged. It had been a while since he saw anyone else but Rain from the orphanage. He heard a lot of them moved to other planets.
"Well ya know, Saya comes here often." Rain smiled.
Chiro perked up. "Saya? You mean Saya Marina? Little Raven?" Chiro grinned. Saya had been with Chiro and Rain when they had been in the orphanage. She was one of Rain's roommates and often hung out with the both of them.
They had met her a year after becoming friends. Saya, though they had nicknamed her Raven for her black hair and Crimson/violet eyes, was always such a kind and gentle girl.
Her mother had died when she was only 6, and after that she had become the priestess at her families shrine.
"I sometimes got letters from her." Chiro nodded with a smile.
"Me too. A few months ago though, she started coming to the Fun House." She paused. "She might even be here now."
"Really? I'll have to find her later." Chiro grinned.
With that, the two began to laugh, enjoying the small amount of time they would be spending in each other's company.
-000-
Within the depths of the city, a figured draped in a black cloak stalked slowly towards the large 4 story building in the distance.
"The plan shall now precede my lord." The voice said into a small communicator strapped neatly to their hood.
"Yes." Skeleton King chuckled darkly back.
Soon, soon their plan would begin. Then Shugazoom would fall, with the Hyper force buried within its ashes!
Chiro: What is with that ending? That is so creepy!
Allie: You find it creepy, I call it rising action.
Chiro: That- no- whatever *sigh*