Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, settings, and ideas represented in this story. I wrote it, yes, but that's about it.
Holy cow! This was only meant to be a little 2000-word filler, where Krystal and Fox met. But I couldn't stop the dialogue from flowing from my brain, so this is what happened: a 4000-word (double-length) chapter.
"Where are you going?" Relics asked as I exited Ms. Kensington's room.
"Third period," I said uncertainly. Relics shook his head.
"Lunch time."
"I thought it came after third period on Tuesdays."
"I guess not," he said, gesturing toward Falco and Bill, who were headed for the lunch room.
"Alright," I said. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up later."
"You going to see your girlfriend again?" Falco called.
"Least I have one," I called back, before turning away with a snicker. Sometimes, he just made it too easy. I admitted to myself that it technically wasn't true, but it was as far as he knew.
I ducked and dodged through the hallways for the second day in a row, this time less hindered by the previous day's bruises. I must have passed a few people I knew, but I disregarded them, once again looking for Krystal. It didn't take me long to find her, because she had gotten closer to the cafeteria than the previous day. And this time, she was walking alongside both Lana and Miyu.
"Hey," I called. All three looked toward me, and Krystal and Lana smiled.
"Don't you have better things to do?" Miyu asked. I shook my head.
"I know Krystal doesn't have money, anyway, so I wanted to buy her lunch," I explained. I'd only come up with the excuse on the way to meet her.
"When did you get money?" she asked.
"I found it last night," I said, hoping she would get it. "It's not much," I added, hoping Miyu and Lana wouldn't guess what had really happened.
"Oh, yeah, where did you two rush off to so late last night?" Lana asked knowingly.
"They were closing. We decided to leave at a reasonable time," I said.
"Then where were you when Jason picked us up?"
"We...uh...got lost," I said.
Lana looked over at Miyu with a smile and said, "Sure you did."
"It's not like that," Krystal said. "We're not as bad as you tell me Miyu and Fox are."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Miyu asked.
"You two disappear together every day," Lana said.
"We do not."
"Then how often do you spend time with him?" Lana asked knowingly.
"Oh, be quiet," Miyu said. "I'd rather talk about you and Relics."
"With me right here?" I asked. I didn't think they'd actually say anything personal, but I didn't want to be a part of the gossip.
"Well, then go away," she said.
"I'm here to buy a meal for Krystal," I countered. She rolled her eyes and continued talking to Lana.
"Don't mind her," Krystal said. "Let's hurry, so we can get a good spot in line."
"And just leave them behind?" I asked, gesturing to the other two.
"They can keep up if they want," Krystal said, before starting to jog. "C'mon."
"Good, follow her," Miyu said.
"Don't you need to go meet Fox?" I asked with a snicker as I started after Krystal. She ignored me. I managed to catch up without too much trouble; she wasn't running away, after all.
"So, was that just a trick to get alone?" I asked.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, we're still probably going to be near the back of the line."
"I don't know about the back," she said, looking around at the people we were passing. I could actually see Relics ahead, exiting the A building.
"Oh, shoot, that reminds me; I've got to go hide the plane."
"The what?" she asked. "Oh, that. Why?"
"Well, the roof is...going to be occupied tonight. I've just got to move it somewhere else."
"What about lunch?" she asked as we left the building.
"If you'll get me something, you can hold the money," I said, fishing the coin-like chips I'd brought out of my pocket. I had to slow down, and she stopped right in front of me. She held out her hand, and I dropped all five into her palm. Her eyes widened when she saw them, and she picked up one of them with her other hand.
"How much did you take?" she asked. I shrugged.
"There was more than that, though. Why?"
She held up the chip she'd inspected toward me. "Ditto, this is –" she began, before leaning close and whispering, "this is five hundred credits. That'll easily buy both of us food for a month. How did you get it?"
"Sharp had a lot of money on him," I explained. "I just grabbed the bag I found the money in. I didn't know how much was in it. I can trust you with that much, right?"
"Of course," she said, looking at the chips happily before putting them in a pocket. "So, what do you want?"
"Uh...probably just a burger. Plain – no, wait. They don't do special orders. Just get me a couple of corn dogs."
"Okay," she said, nodding. "Two corn dogs. You...be careful. Those things aren't toys."
"I know, I know. Jeez, you're starting to sound like Joanne," I said with a chuckle, turning to go to the B building instead of the C building. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice me leaving.
I managed to get into the B building without a problem, thankful that the doors were so rarely locked. All of the students had left, so I didn't want to be caught sneaking around. I crept to the stairs that I recognized from the previous night, and leaned against the door.
"Ditto?" I heard behind me before I could open it. I cursed under my breath.
"Hmm?" I hummed, turning around. Of all the people on the planet, why her?
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I could ask the same thing, Melina."
"I...umm...I'm waiting for someone," she said, ruffling her feathers.
"So am I," I replied, turning back to the door.
"Who?" she asked, stepping closer.
"Why is it important?"
"I...I don't know...Listen...I was thinking about what you said earlier..."
Liar.
"...I still don't think I can forgive Lana. It's not that easy for me. She..." she took a deep breath. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I'll leave Relics alone. As long as he's with Lana, I won't try anything."
Like I'd believe you, I thought.
"So, is that it?" I asked.
"I wanted...to thank you," she said. She may as well have punched me in the gut.
"W-what?" I asked.
"What you said. I'm not used to people talking to me like that. Especially boys. But I needed it. So thank you."
"You're welcome," I said uncertainly. To my surprise, she didn't make a move on me at all.
"That's it," she said, constantly surprising me. "You can go."
"Uh huh..." I said, stunned. I couldn't help but stare as she walked away somewhat awkwardly.
Nice job, my brain told me, you've managed to crack the universe.
I eventually got a handle on my amazement enough to go through the door and begin to climb the stairs. During the climb, I was wondering how seriously the new Melina would change the universe. It's not like she's really a whole new person, I thought. She just...sees me as a real friend. That's all. I stopped once I reached the door at the top, and nodded. She hasn't really changed. She just knows me, so she's being honest. Maybe I could get closer to her and change her more, and save Relics some pain.
I opened the door to the roof of the building, and smiled when I laid my eyes on the arwing again. It was positioned near the center of the roof, so it wasn't a surprise that it wasn't easily visible from the ground. The short walls around the edge of the building helped, too. And now that I saw it under the sun, with a bright gleam shining off of it, it looked much better.
I walked toward it just like I owned it, and climbed up on the side like I had the previous day. This time, I already knew how to get in, so I opened the top and got in, without closing the cockpit yet.
"Alright, let's figure this out," I said, turning on the text translator on my wrist. I looked around and saw a few things I already recognized, like the hover button, but most of the things were new. I saw targeting systems, life support, deflector shields, primary and secondary weapons, something called "all-ranges", and an alpha and delta interface, among other things. I shook my head, and turned on the internal and external power switches, before leaning back, proud that I'd done something.
"Look what we have here," I heard from the wing. I gasped and looked in that direction, assuming Melina had followed me. It wasn't her, but Melissa. "Looks like it was a good idea to follow you instead of Relics," the woman said, sitting on the wing with her legs crossed.
"When did you get there?" I asked.
"Not too long ago. And this really isn't the best hiding spot for a military vehicle."
"No kidding. Now, get off my arwing."
"Your arwing?" she asked with an amused smile. "I thought you stole it from us."
"Yeah. Stole. Like the badass I am. Now shoo."
"Listen to you," she laughed. "You almost sound like a real man. But do you really think that you can make me leave?"
"I could just take off and leave you behind."
She shrugged. "You're free to try."
I reached up to grab the windshield, and she didn't even flinch. "I'll do it," I warned, but it was an empty threat.
"Just go already. It's been a while since I did anything like this."
"Fine," I said, shutting the glass. I lifted the craft off of the ground, since it was already in hover mode, but she still didn't budge.
"You're going to want to go that way," she said, pointing to my left. "Less radar scanners."
"Uh...thanks," I said, before hitting the hover button. The sudden acceleration seemed to affect me more than her, since I'd forgotten the G-diffuser. She hardly even leaned back, while I was pressed against my seat pretty firmly. I pulled back on the controls to slow it down, since I was still pretty concerned about her falling off.
"This is nice," she said with a smile as her hair billowed out behind her.
"Where to?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm in charge now?" she asked.
"You know where everything is. I just need a place to hide it."
"It won't be there when you get back anyway," she said calmly.
"Fine!" I shouted, turning around. I flew right back to the school, landed the arwing, threw open the cockpit, and stood up. She was still sitting on the craft's wing, unmoved by the flight. "You may as well take it now."
"Thanks, handsome," she said as I dropped to the ground. She climbed into the craft and pulled the cockpit shut. Just before she took off, I saw her blow me a kiss, and I turned away angrily.
"Dang it, I was this close, this close to having my own arwing," I said, stomping toward the door. I admitted that I didn't have anywhere in mind to hide it, but I'd still wanted to keep it. At least everything could happen that night without me affecting it. It hurt to let Lana go through that without even trying to help, but I knew that even a slight nudge in the wrong direction could doom both her and Relics.
I made my way back out the B building without seeing either Melina or the person she'd supposedly been waiting for, and nobody noticed when I emerged from the building. I made my way to the C building, and found Krystal immediately. She was arguing with a cafeteria worker about something, so I rushed to help.
"You can't do that!" Krystal shouted. "That's my money!"
"I don't think so," the avian said. "Yesterday, you had no money. Today, you're trying to split a hundred. I don't think your parents just gave this to you."
"No," I said, coming up beside her. "I did."
"Oh, and you want me to believe you got that much money in a day? Why, because you're human?"
"You don't know what I had when I got here," I said. "Now, give the lady her change, and we'll leave you alone."
The worker growled in her throat, which I thought was odd for an avian, but she turned around and disappeared through a door without a word. I almost asked Krystal whether it'd worked, when the woman returned and handed her the change.
"Now, git!" she said, pointing toward the tables.
"Thank you," I said, smiling as graciously as I could. She only scowled in return.
"Thanks," Krystal said. "I don't know why she got so angry."
"Maybe she thinks poorly of you for dating the human?" I wondered aloud.
"I thought it wasn't a date," she said, looking at me suspiciously. I shrugged with a smirk.
"They think it was," I said, deflecting the statement. I looked around for Bill and the others, when I finally saw Fox McCloud. I'd been looking for him since I arrived, and since I didn't count sixth period, where he was distracted by Miyu, this was the first chance I'd have to talk to him. And I didn't have a clue what to say.
As we got closer to the table, Bill noticed me and waved. That made Relics and Falco wave, too, and then Fox turned toward me. His face when he noticed Krystal, though, was priceless. His jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and his ears went straight up, and I thought of Star Fox: Adventures, which pretty much mirrored his reaction. But it wasn't quite as dramatic this time; as soon as Miyu noticed his reaction, she swatted him in the back of the head. He ducked his head, embarrassed as she chastised and/or threatened him. And I wasn't holding back my laughter very well.
"What's so funny?" Krystal asked. I'd wanted to just let her read my mind to figure it out, but I couldn't figure out a way to touch her without suggesting anything.
"The orange fox is Fox," I told her, "and he thinks you're the most beautiful thing he's ever seen."
Krystal ducked her head, and I saw some red underneath the blue fur on her face. I laughed again as we sat down in front of Falco and Slippy.
"You took longer than Miyu and Fox to get here," Falco observed. I decided not to fall into his trap, so I ignored his question and took the first of my two corn dogs.
"Oh!" Krystal said, reaching into her pocket. She held out a fist like she wanted to give me something, so I held out an open hand. She put her hand in mine before opening it.
"Here's your money."
"Keep it," I said. Apparently the realization that I was now rich had gone to my head. But Krystal's eyes widened.
"Ditto, no, I can't accept this! You gave me fourteen hundred credits! That's a lot of money!"
"And it's all the money you have right now," I said, dropping the chips back into her hand. I closed her fingers around them when she didn't, and smiled at her.
"What is it with you guys?" Slippy asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked before taking a bite.
"He's more observant than Falco," Krystal warned. After a second or two, I looked down and realized she hadn't even been touching me at the time.
"How'd you –" I began, before realizing I was speaking aloud. I looked abruptly at Slippy, who was watching us like a hawk.
"He knows something's wrong," she said into my mind, grasping my hand first so I didn't freak out again.
"I screwed it up, didn't I? Sorry."
"It's okay," Krystal said. "I didn't think I could hide it forever."
"Hide?" Falco asked. "Hide what?"
"I'm going to tell you," she said. "But you can't tell anyone else."
"Are you sure about this?" I asked. She nodded.
"What's going on?" Relics asked.
"Okay, Bill, Fox, Miyu, you'd all better listen, too. You can't tell anyone, though."
"You can't tell me what to do," Miyu said, crossing her arms.
"Please?" Krystal asked. Miyu reluctantly agreed, and all attention was finally on Krystal. "Okay. You all should know; I'm from a planet called Cerinia."
"Where's that?" Bill asked much too loudly. I shushed him.
"Compared to Corneria, I don't know. I...came here," she said, avoiding sharing anything about me, "a week before school started."
"What's this have to do with you two?" Slippy asked.
"She's getting there," I told him.
"I haven't heard of anyone here who can do it, but it's not really unusual on Cerinia."
"What?" Fox asked.
"I...can use telepathy..." she said, ducking her head like she was ashamed. The realization of what she'd said hit everyone one by one, and I had to keep both Bill and Slippy quiet. When Falco realized it, he put his hands over his ears, as though his thoughts would leak out if he wasn't careful. Miyu leaned back, apparently impressed, and Fox glanced around nervously. Relics' reaction wasn't all that different from Miyu's.
"So, why are you always touching each other?" Slippy asked.
"It works better for us through contact," I said. I didn't mention that it wasn't the norm.
"Oh!" Slippy said, before continuing his meal. He was apparently just glad he'd figured it out.
"That must be useful," Falco said suggestively. I just shook my head, upset that it'd been so long since I had a good comeback to his comments.
"Hold on," Bill said, somehow keeping his voice down, "can you even lie to her?"
"No," I said, chuckling. Bill burst into laughter at what he thought was my misfortune.
Krystal sighed contentedly. "Thanks for not freaking out, everyone."
"You can't control our brains, right?" Bill asked.
"Of course not," Krystal giggled.
"And don't start acting weird around her now, okay?" I asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Relics asked.
"I mean, don't start treating her like she's got a disease. It's not like she's always reading everyone's mind; it probably gets exhausting."
"Okay," Relics agreed. "I'll try."
"I'm not too worried about you, Relics. You're doing pretty good around Cornerians, considering you hated them a week ago."
He blanched. "I-I did not!"
"What are you worried about? It's not like they'll bite you."
"Hey, Krystal," Bill whispered, leaning forward. "Can you see if she likes me?" he asked, pointing discreetly at a Cocker Spaniel nearby. Her face was covered in mostly white fur, but her muzzle and ears were black.
"No, no, no," I said. "Krystal, you don't have to do that. Bill, it's not a party trick. She's not here just to amuse you, okay?"
"Hey, I can take care of it myself," Krystal said. "Besides, I want to tell him. She thinks he's cute, and just really wishes he would talk to her."
"What?" Bill asked, standing with his tail wagging rapidly. "Really?"
"Mmm hmm," Krystal hummed, nodding her head once. Bill smiled at her, then looked at the girl, and walked toward her abruptly.
"Why'd you lie to him?" I asked. We were still holding hands, and somehow, I didn't find it odd. "You have no idea what she thinks."
"Maybe he won't ask me to do anything like that again."
"Good plan. But what if that happens?" I asked, nodding toward them. The black and white girl had a smile on her face, and she was writing something on a card. After Bill said something which made them both laugh, she handed him the card.
"Ho-ho-holy shit!" I laughed.
"What?" Falco asked. At that moment, Bill started back toward the table.
"Bill just got a number from some random girl."
"Not just any girl," Bill said, sitting down. "That was Sasha."
"And Sasha is...who?" Relics asked.
"I don't know," he admitted with a laugh. "Thanks anyway, Krystal."
"Don't thank her," I said, laughing again.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"She didn't even read Sasha's mind. You pretty much just got that note by yourself."
"No way," Bill said with a smile. He looked back at Sasha, and she noticed and waved. "Dude! I've still got it!"
"Bullshit," Falco said, frustrated. "Krystal, is there anyone in here who likes me?"
"Leave her alone," I warned.
"I'm not asking you," he said.
"I'm not going to answer that," Krystal said.
"Oh, come on, don't just leave me hanging," Falco said.
"Why not try Katt?" I asked. He looked at me suspiciously.
"What is it with you and her?" he asked.
"I...have a feeling that she would like you," I said. Krystal snickered.
"Uh huh...then what's so funny?"
"Let's just say I know even better than Krystal does."
"What? Are you psychic too?" he asked.
"Telepathic," Krystal corrected. He waved her off.
"No, I'm not psychic or telepathic. I just...know things."
"Like what?" Falco challenged.
"I know you'd be great in an arwing," I said, hoping it wasn't giving away too much information.
"You think so?" he asked, looking up in thought.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Well, I heard those things can be hard to fly."
I looked at Krystal knowingly. "Maybe if you're in a dogfight," I admitted. "Didn't something happen last night with an arwing or something?"
"Aww, yeah!" Bill said. "You heard about that, too! Do you know what happened?"
"Not much," I lied. "Some jerk took a military vehicle from an abandoned base last night."
"Well, you should hear some of the rumors. I heard it was just the first strike of a secret rebellion against Corneria."
"What?" I asked.
"Yeah. Someone else said it was one of those human S.W.A.T. teams, busted in and gunned down anyone who stood in their way to get a prototype arwing. Or it was a secret mission, and someone just took it because they had to get away."
"And what do you think happened?" Krystal asked.
"I dunno. Maybe it was a ninja."
"Ninjas?" I asked.
"How do you know I didn't take it?" Falco asked. Bill stared at him for a second before laughing. "Hey, I could've!"
"You couldn't get the thing off the ground," Fox said.
"You don't know that," Falco said. "Ditto here thinks I could do it."
"With training," I agreed.
The bell rang just as Falco started to say something else, and once he realized he was being drowned out, he stopped talking for a second. When it finally stopped, and everyone was getting ready to go, he turned to Fox again.
"I'll bet I could beat you in a simulator," he taunted.
"You're on," Fox agreed. "My dad might let us use the one on the Great Fox."
"Tonight?" Falco asked.
"No!" I shouted suddenly. They looked at me uncertainly. "I mean...tonight's a school night. You'll want to get to bed early, right?"
"Yeah, okay, mom," Falco said sarcastically.
"Well, maybe I want to come, too," I said. "But I'm busy tonight."
"Busy with what?" Fox asked.
"I...uh..." I began. I had no idea what to say.
"We were going to hang out with Eli tonight," Krystal said, coming to my rescue yet again.
"Alright, fine," Fox said. He pointed a finger at Falco and said, "Friday."
"Be ready to lose," Falco said smugly before heading out to his next class.
"How many times are you going to come to my rescue?" I whispered to Krystal.
"How many times will you need it?" she asked. "And why didn't you want them to go do that tonight?"
"Oh, right; I never told you. Something...big happens tonight. I don't want you to worry, but we can't be anywhere near the school when it happens. And Fox, Relics, Fara, and Lana all have to be unoccupied."
"What happens?" she asked.
"I guess I'll tell you tonight," I told her, taking the empty disposable tray from the table and throwing it in a trash can nearby.
"That you will," she replied, walking beside me to third period. Apparently, she trusted me enough to not read my mind, and that brightened my mood. Melina's a friend, Melissa didn't kill me, I'm suddenly rich, and Krystal trusts me. Not a bad day, considering it's only half over.
A/N: Whew. It's done. And since this is my THIRD try at uploading this chapter, we'll hope it works. As a note, I feel I should apologize to a few people. For one thing, I couldn't make Ditto keep the arwing; even if he had hidden it, Melissa would take it and leave him stranded without a way back to school. And another thing, sorry to the Melina-haters. I love twisting a story in such a way as to make the "bad guys" seem less evil and more selfish.
I'm almost surprised I managed to keep the distinction between the avian Melina and the sultry Melissa. Their names are pretty close, after all.
Also, note to Comrade: Yeah, Melissa was following them that whole time. Apparently she decided to follow Ditto/George for a bit, and it paid off for her. But that means Ditto may never see that specific arwing again.