Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox or Relics. The only thing I came up with is Ditto.
Alright, so a big occasion happened in my life; my original story, Heart's Illusion, is no longer in the arena stage! The main characters have passed all of the fighting, so I'll have more time for BK Prose. Because of that, I tried to make this chapter longer than usual, because I rightly promised I would.
Also, I feel like I should mention that I can't really tell anyone else's story in this...story. If Ditto doesn't see it, I don't write it. That's the idea behind a limited first-person viewpoint. If you want to know what's happening, my story should closely follow XxSanitariumxX's story Exchange Student. You can see two sides of a nearly identical story from reading his first. I'd recommend it, though his side is slightly more...mature...than mine. It's also a lot better.
I should mention, Sani updated his story recently...and I must say (again), his is better than mine. It's a crying shame if you read mine, but not his. Mine's just boring everyday drama and what I think is humor; his is action, intrigue, and 200,000 words of awesome. Seriously. Read it. And, hey, if you get bored one day and say to yourself "hey, I wonder what happened to that Tallbrain guy", then feel free to check up on this story.
Chapter 25
I plopped down in the seat of the fifth period computer class eagerly, though I didn't know exactly why. Had it occurred to me, I would probably realize that it was because this was my favorite class, assuming lunch wasn't to be counted. I was somewhat excited to be able to talk to what turned out to be my two best friends on Corneria, aside from maybe Colin. Of course, I would make a point not to be late to sixth period again; I didn't want to think of what Fritz would have in store for me, considering the Fun Zone held no threat.
I started the futuristic-seeming computer, and waited the mere seconds it took it to finish booting up. After punching in the cookie-cutter scholastic password, I logged on and waited for the class to properly start. And of course by "waited", I mean I played games. The teacher most definitely did not appreciate that, and he told me so repeatedly, but I found out how unimportant I felt this class was when I ignored the command to turn it off and kept going. The games weren't even all that great; it was no Skyrim, after all. But I had a few hundred years' worth of games to play, and I didn't think the novelty would wear off by the end of the year, assuming once again that I even made it that far before being kicked out of the story.
Not too long passed before both Krystal and Eli entered the room, nearly at the same time. They took seats beside me, despite the lack of a seating chart, and I noticed them both looking at my screen, with vastly different expressions.
"You'll fail the class if you keep playing games," Krystal warned me.
"Whoa. What game is that?" Eli asked.
"I know," I told Krystal. She rolled her eyes and laughed softly as I turned my head slightly toward Eli and said, "It's called 'I Wanna Be The Guy'."
I'd downloaded the world's hardest game a few days earlier, and I'd had to look pretty hard for it. But now that I had it, I was having fun trying my best to get through the easiest difficulty. And I was still failing.
"What's that?" he asked.
"It's the hardest game I've yet to find."
"Is that why you're dying so much?" he asked as the pixelated boy exploded in a shower of red pixels yet again.
"Yes. Yes it is."
"And why's he have a little bow on his head?"
"That's there because I chose the 'wuss' difficulty. If you can beat even one of the bosses, I'll be impressed."
"Piece of cake," he said arrogantly, pulling the keyboard toward himself. I got it back to the main menu and set up a game for him on the 'hard' difficulty. Without complaint, confident in his own abilities, he began to run toward the bottom of the side-scroller's screen. I watched with no small amount of satisfaction as a wall of spikes came seemingly out of nowhere and turned his guy into a shower of red dots.
"Shut up," he told me before I could say anything.
"And you almost got off the first platform, too," I said, ignoring his command. Krystal leaned over to get a better look, and I felt her mind reach out to mine.
"What is that game?" she asked.
"I wasn't lying to him," I replied. "It really is the hardest game I've ever found. I haven't even beaten one boss yet."
"I see," she said as Eli got clobbered by the very same spike wall.
"How do you get past that?" he asked angrily.
"Wait here," I told him, pointing to the small safe spot.
"You're not going to warn him about the last one?"
"Nope."
Eli managed to get past the first spike wall that time, and the second one. But when he tried to hide in the same relative spot on the third and final floor, the wall came from the opposite side, and he died yet again.
"What the heck?!" he asked. "That was crap!"
"The game has a few cheap shots," I agreed. "But that's what makes it so hard. You can give up at any time."
"No way, I'm gonna kill one of those bosses."
"Great. We'll be here for a few weeks, then."
"Turn off that game!" the teacher shouted. I closed the program, to Eli's disappointed groan, and brought the keyboard in front of myself again.
"Or not," I said under my breath. I opened the class' current program, mostly to appease the teacher, and tried to work out how I'd understand what I was doing. Thankfully, there was a virtual keyboard, with English characters, so I was set to do it. That is, once I learned the Cornerian computer language in question. This one seemed to be little more than a virtual sandbox, with its own code language; it reminded me a bit of Microworlds, though I hadn't used that it some time.
"Turn it back on," he whispered once the teacher had passed us.
"What? No."
"C'mon, just do it."
"Why don't you just get it on your computer?" I asked.
"I don't know where to get that one."
"Too bad, then," I told him.
"Hey, don't make me tell Krystal," he warned me.
"What?" I asked. "Tell her what?"
"Put the game up, or I'll tell her what you are."
"Oh, my – Eli, I'm not a spy."
"What?" Krystal asked. "Why does he think that?"
"He overheard me telling Relics about the arwing."
"Yes, you are. I know you are," he said. I tried to act annoyed, but I still found his accusations humorous.
"Eli, you do know that if I was a spy, I would be one for the humans, right? And I would probably have killed you for overhearing too much."
"Or, you would threaten me like that without actually killing me, so that I would think you weren't a spy when you really were."
"Like reverse-psychology?" I asked. "You've lost it."
"Sure I have," he said with an avian smirk.
"You know he's kidding, right?" Krystal asked.
"I figured. Still, he's not the type I want to tell everything to."
"So," Krystal said to Eli, "if Ditto was a spy, what would you do? Wouldn't you have to kill him to protect Corneria?"
"No," Eli said. "I'd just call the cops."
"Doesn't spy beat cops?" I asked. "If this is like poker, cops are just jacks. Spies are aces. Call the army, that's the kings."
"What?" Eli asked. "That doesn't make any sense."
"It does in America," I said, making an inside joke. Unfortunately, most of the class probably hadn't even heard of America, so it went lost on them. But Krystal was still connected to my mind, at least slightly, so she let out a snicker. 'Murica!
"That doesn't make sense either!" he shouted. The teacher stared daggers at him, and he quieted down quickly. He swatted my shoulder, presumably for getting him in trouble, but I just laughed it off.
"How did he hear about the arwing, though?" Krystal asked.
"I...was talking to Relics, and he overheard."
"What? How could...I mean, I thought you were trying to be careful who you told?"
"Well, I'm sorry, but you weren't there to help me. Remember, I'm an idiot when you're not around."
"Oh, no you're not."
"I don't know; I got us captured by Sharp, I left Lana behind, and I almost died repeatedly this week."
"That's not all though," she said. "And I don't need to tell you, do I?"
"No," I admitted. Everything I'd done here, both good and bad, was running through my mind.
"And looking at what should have happened, I think you've already helped everyone."
"To be fair, the original author was a little too good at being a sadist, when he wanted to be. I just made this school a bit more tame."
"Well, for what it's worth, I love the changes you made."
"You didn't even see how it was the other way," I said. "And I haven't even made any big changes yet."
"Haven't you? I think you've already saved Corneria; you just don't know it."
"And how – wait, you know? You know what would've happened to Corneria?"
"Mm hmm," she nodded, "I know what could have happened. But remember, it wasn't guaranteed, either."
"Well, no, and I would hope that Relics would do the right thing. But with everything that happened..."
"Everything that won't happen," she reminded me again. "I think between me, you, and Relics, we can save the planet."
"And how?" I asked. I glanced around like someone could hear before continuing. "I only have one more Sin. And this several-month-long story is only in its second week."
"You don't need those. And like you said, we've got plenty of time. If we – if you – make the right changes now, who knows?"
"Well..." I began. "True, I think I helped Melina. But she'll be in Macbeth for a while. She could revert to her old mind frame in that time. And I guess Relics is more accepting of Corneria, and Cornerians, but he actually handled it really well either way."
"Really well?" she silently scoffed. "He took it as well as Corneria handled the both of you coming here."
"Oh, that wasn't that bad," I began.
"For you. Relics can't even go outside without being swarmed by fans and paparazzi."
"Fans?" I asked. "He has fans?"
"Okay, so teenaged girls, conspiracy theorists, bullies, and anti-human enthusiasts, but you get the idea."
"What's 'the idea', that people what him dead? More than what's-his-name wanted me dead?"
"Yes, but Relics has got a bodyguard."
"Oh, thanks for reminding me," I said sarcastically. "So how many days do you think I'll make it?"
"All Relics has is an army with high-powered weapons behind him. You've got Jake."
I couldn't help but to laugh. That didn't fail to put it into perspective, but I actually felt safe knowing that Jake was protecting me.
"And that's not all," she said. "You've got all of us here, too."
"Yeah, I know. I don't really feel threatened, but thanks anyway."
"That's all? 'Thanks anyway'?"
"Oh, alright; thank you, Krystal. What ever would I do without you?"
"That's a little better," she said. "It'll do."
"You think we should've been paying attention?" I asked. The classroom was nearly silent, which was especially weird because I was in the middle of a conversation.
"Ditto? I'm telepathic. Maybe you've forgotten?"
"Aren't all women?"
"Oh, be quiet," she said, and I felt a tingling crawl down my arm. "You know I can still paralyze you, right?"
"You wouldn't do it in the middle of class," I said, squinting at her. I wasn't entirely sure whether she would or not, but I began to hope my big mouth wouldn't get me in trouble. I noticed the gleam in her eye and turned away just as she reached toward me, pulling up my hood and covering up any exposed area.
"No!" I shouted, forgetting for the moment where I was. I didn't know whether she also forgot, but that didn't stop her from trying to make contact somehow. Some sort of held-back wrestling match began right there, and she was willing to just about everything short of punching and biting to get her point across. Before five seconds had passed, the teacher broke in.
"Hey! Stop that now! Save it for after school, you two!"
Of course, much of the classroom broke in with "Ooh's", but I wasn't too concerned about them. I was waiting for Krystal to give up the game before I even dared to uncover my head or hands. Of course, the teacher quickly told me to pull down my hood, and I did so hesitantly, watching the vixen beside me closely. I heard Eli make a whip sound behind me, and turned toward him with a smirk
"You have no idea," I whispered, before I felt a furry hand touch the back of my neck. I sat up abruptly before she had a chance to do anything, and pretended to focus on the computer. I wasn't sure whether the shiver that went down my spine was from Krystal's mind, or my own discomfort at someone touching my neck.
"That wasn't necessary," I told her good-humoredly.
"But it was fun," she said, letting go of my neck. I rubbed the back of my neck, giving her another glance, before beginning the assignment we'd been given.
It wasn't too hard; it was, after all, an introductory class. At least they made it more difficult than "draw a circle", but not by much. It didn't take too long to finish the assignment, and I saved the result, despite my doubts on whether the teacher would even check it. At that point, my ego got to me, and I decided to go above-and-beyond, which is where I had difficulties. Ten minutes into it, I began to get frustrated.
"Need help?" Krystal asked when she saw me struggling. She looked over the screen and squinted at a seemingly out-of-place object. "What's with all those boxes?" she asked.
"I'm trying to make it interactive," I replied.
"What? Why? You don't have to."
"Mmm hmm," I hummed with a nod. I tried to run it again, but nothing happened.
"Here," she whispered, putting her hand on the back of mine. To anyone watching, she was just showing me how to do it, but only the two of us knew what was really happening. The strange sense of unity had returned, though it didn't seem as strong this time. Because of that, I knew almost immediately what I'd been doing wrong, and silently thanked her as I went to fix it. But she didn't lift her hand.
"It's 'cause that doesn't make sense, in English," I reasoned.
"I know," she replied.
"What do you mean, 'you know'? You don't know English."
"Really?" she asked, leaning on her elbow.
"What?"
"How good is that translator?" she asked. "I didn't know it worked in your mind."
"Wait, you know English? How?"
"I know Cornerian, don't I?"
"Oh. But really? You really know English?"
She reached over and hit a button on my translator, turning it off. The whispers going around the classroom became incomprehensible, and Krystal turned to me.
"Well? Is this proof enough?" she asked. Oddly enough, her accent had become slightly less noticeable.
"Alright. Color me impressed."
Eli leaned over and squawked something, and I felt my eyes widen. I turned the translator back on, and leaned toward him.
"Huh?" I asked, ignoring Krystal's amused reaction.
"Why the heck isn't this working?" he asked.
"I don't know," I replied. "Depends on how badly you broke it."
"I didn't break it," he said. "It's just not working."
"It's not like it has a mind of its own," I said. It hit me that that was a possibility, given the futuristic society, but I shook the thought off. "If it's messing up, you did something wrong."
"Then what, smart one? What'd I do wrong?"
"Hmm..." I hummed, looking at the monitor. "Well, it'd help if you weren't playing games."
"I'm not. I'm just looking for one."
"Eli, you're never gonna beat that one. You'll never be The Guy."
"Whatever, just help me out here," Eli said, louder than necessary. Fortunately, the teacher was being completely oblivious, which was already normal for this class. I thought for a second that I heard him snoring, but I didn't double-check.
"It's not like it'll matter," I told him. "And why not ask Krystal for help?"
"C'mon, Ditto, everyone knows you're the best in the class," he said. I knew he wasn't telling the truth; a certain gecko toward the front of the class sure seemed to be more on top of things than I could ever hope to be. And actually, a large portion of the class was probably faster than me. Eli was just trying to butter me up.
"Alright, fine," I said. I looked more closely over what he'd done, and immediately got confused. "What? What the heck...Eli, what is this?"
"Okay, so I might not have been paying attention..."
"Wait a second...this is yesterday's assignment. All you have to do is make that thing draw a square."
"Well, how do I do that?" he asked.
"Good question," I said, opening up a web browser. I proceeded to ignore him, looking for a new game to play for the last few minutes of class.
"Forget it," he told me after a few seconds of silence. "I'll figure it out myself."
"That doesn't really count," I told him when he went to a search engine.
"But it'll work," he said.
"Sure, it will," I replied, before focusing on the game once more. It wasn't too long before the vixen beside me became bored.
"I'm bored," she complained, turning to me.
"Well..." I said slowly, distracted by the game I'd found. "I don't...really know...what we can..."
"Oh, I don't know. Y'know that thing where I say stuff to you? And then you say stuff back? Maybe we can try that."
"Alright," I said, reluctantly closing the game. "What –"
"...do you want to do?" she asked. "I don't know," she said, answering the question he'd said for me.
"Did you just –"
"Finish your sentence? Yeah."
"Krystal –"
"It's not that annoying."
I pursed my lips and squinted at her, trying to figure out how to outsmart her. It was difficult, given that she was reading my mind.
"You have to speak sometime," she said with a smile.
"Not if you're going to finish my sentences," I said quickly. She didn't even try to cut me off.
"Bless you," she said knowingly.
"What? I didn't sneeze," I told her. I felt a tickle in my nose, but I silently vowed not to let her win again. It didn't take much effort from me, because the tickle went away on its own.
"Ha!" I laughed with a victorious grin. She smiled, and then winked, and the tickle returned.
"Okay," I admitted after sneezing a few times. "You're good."
The class ended after a few minutes' worth of idle conversation, and I apologetically dashed out the doors as soon as I was able to. Of course, I knew that I'd have plenty of time to get there, assuming I didn't get sidetracked, but I wasn't leaving it up to chance anymore. After all, that's how Relics usually ended up late in his story. I continued to hurry, either way, and was very nearly the first one there. Only two others had beat me, and they were currently lined up with paintball guns.
Paintball? I wondered.
"Oh, good," Ct. Fritz said as I entered, out of breath. "It's Monkey."
Monkey? Monkey? That's not even that insulting, I thought. I almost decided to take it as a compliment, in fact.
"Load up and fall in," he said, and I complied quickly. Only once I fell in, I realized what was about to happen.
Fritz, upset at how flippantly I'd treated him Thursday, would put me alone, or nearly alone, in a paintball match. If, and only if, he thought I'd had enough punishment, he would end the game. And maybe, if I was lucky, he wouldn't bury me. Or, at least, that's the image my mind conjured once I was standing beside the others.
My blood went cold, and I felt my hands sweating right away. Something uncomfortable had crawled its way into my stomach, and I was sure I looked like a ghost. Time lost its meaning to me as I stared at the simulated war zone, trying not to figure out which building I would be laid to rest in.
"You okay?" Bill asked. It took me a few seconds to realize he'd spoken, and I was still somehow surprised.
"When did you get here?" I asked. I noticed the line stretching past him, and wondered how long ago I'd stopped paying attention.
"A while ago. But seriously, what's up? You look...actually, you look like Relics, now."
"Oh. I don't think I'm okay, actually. Just contemplating my funeral, really."
"Why?" he asked. "We're just doing target practice."
"Huh?" I asked, taking in a sharp breath. I shot a look at the shooting range, relieved that no paintballs would be flying at my head. I let a smile come across my face as I sighed, and warmth returned to my veins.
"But seeing as how you smart-assed your way through the Fun Zone yesterday, you're lucky if Captain Fritz doesn't make you a target dummy."
Dang it, Bill, I thought as my mind played that scenario. "Thanks for the help," I told him dully.
"No problem!" he said cheerfully.
"Cutting it close," Fritz warned someone as they stumbled into the room seconds before the final bell rang. I leaned forward to see, like everyone else in line, and ended up having to take a step forward before seeing that it was just Relics. This time, when he noticed everyone holding guns, he managed not to be shocked. Or, at least, he hid it really well as he armed himself and fell in.
"Alright, ladies," Fritz said gruffly, pacing the line, "today we're gonna have some nice and calm target practice. Step to the line two at a time, take ten shots, and fall in after your score is counted. And I've got a surprise for those lucky ones who score the lowest."
Oh, great. I guess Slippy and them will score worse than me. And no matter which side he starts on, I'll know what score to beat.
"Monkey!" he shouted, staring right at me.
Crap. I stepped forward slowly, trying to hold my head high despite Bill's snickering.
"Because you seem to think you're so smart, you have the honor of going first."
"Yes, sir," I said, trying to be serious. I walked over to one of the two shooting spots as I felt stage fright creeping up my back, and tried to loosen up by shrugging, cracking my neck, and even bouncing a little. That raised at least a few snickers, but I ignored them. I waited for a few seconds for Fritz's command to begin, hoping not to upset him even more.
"What are you waiting for?!" he shouted, making me jump. I held up the gun, trying to stay calm and breathe deeply, but I had no idea how to aim it properly. I pulled off one shot, missing any targets by several feet and making a few kids laugh.
"Eight shots left," Fritz warned me.
"I only shot once," I said without turning.
"Seven," he growled slowly.
I sneered, but didn't show any other signs of frustration. I adjusted my aim and shot once more, hitting a target that I wasn't aiming for completely by luck.
"Fifty points," Fritz said without much anger in his voice. "Six shots left."
Oh, so now he's fair, I thought sarcastically. I fired a pair of shots, hitting close to the bulls-eye with one of them.
"One shot at a time," he growled. "Fifty points, three shots left."
You've got to be kidding me, I thought angrily. I thought of firing on the sadistic teacher, though I knew that wouldn't help my situation. I lifted a hand and wiped my face unnecessarily, before aiming once again.
I was actually allowed to take all three of the remaining shots. The first, I missed, causing more laughter from the peanut gallery. On the second and third, I was given twenty-five, though I nearly complained that the last shot hit the fifty-point area. I put the half-loaded gun away and stood back in the lineup, ignoring Bill's whispers as Ct. Fritz recounted my failure.
"Out of a possible one-thousand points...you got one hundred," he said. The lineup became noisy for a moment, before Fritz silenced it and began to call others forward, two-by-two.
"Dude, that was pathetic," Bill said.
"Screw off," I told him. "Try to do better with five shots."
"He gave you seven," Bill said. "And you only scored three times."
"Yeah, yeah," I said, watching Relics shoot. He cleared my score within three shots, and broke six hundred points, overall.
"Looks like you're going to be getting a good look at his 'surprise'," he said.
"Bill, have you ever been punched?" I asked.
"Whoa, hey, chill. I'm just saying."
"And I'm just saying, you don't need all ten fingers in one piece."
"Yeah, right. You wouldn't break anyone's fingers."
"You don't know that," I told him. "Just like you don't know that I'm unarmed."
"You know I'm armed, though," he said, gesturing at the mock gun in his hands.
"Of course," I said idly as Fox approached the line. He took the stance of a professional, and managed to accrue eight hundred twenty-five points. It was at least comforting to see that Fritz was almost as hard on everyone else as he was me, and he was going especially hard on those he knew could do better, like Fox. The vulpine seemed upset at his score, though, despite the fact that nobody had really come close yet. And I only felt worse about my measly hundred points.
Thankfully, Bill stopped talking as I continued to watch people shoot. One after another, Falco, Miyu, Katherine, Katt, and Bill all easily beat my score in their first few shots. I got hopeful when Slippy stepped forward, but even he passed a hundred-fifty.
"Bull crap," I told myself as I got nervous once again, pondering Fritz's surprise. He was definitely in a bad mood, since someone had managed to hit him on the leg with a paintball at some point. And somehow, a big splotch of green on his leg didn't make him seem less imposing.
"Alright," he said, walking down the line slowly once everyone had finished. He predictably stopped right at me, holding a paintball gun in his hands, and I wondered whether he would just shoot me in the chest and get it over with. But he surprised me by holding the gun toward me.
"You've got one more chance," he said gruffly. I took the gun and nodded, thankful that I wasn't the target for now. I didn't like being in the spotlight yet again, but I didn't really have a choice.
"Get three hundred," he told me, "or everyone gets stuck with your score."
"What?!" a few students asked angrily. I took a deep breath, now even more nervous, and tried to shake some feeling into my hands. At least the concerned students were cheering me on, rather than threatening me. I even heard Katherine's voice at one point, which did more than I thought to help me calm down.
I held the gun up and took a deep breath, before closing one eye and letting the breath out slowly. Before breathing in again, I fired a shot, hitting near the edge of a target.
"Ten," Fritz called.
I took another deep breath, aiming closer to where I thought the center of the target was. I pulled the trigger, and a dull puff of gas sent the pellet into the dead center of the target.
"Yes!" I cheered, pumping a fist. A few students cheered with me, but Fritz quickly brought me back to Corneria.
"You've only got one-ten. You're not clear yet."
"Right," I said, aiming again. I had lost my aim, which I now realized was a stupid mistake, and only hit the ground on the next shot.
"We're doomed," I heard Bill whisper. I shrugged it off and took another deep breath. Three hundred is easy, I told myself. Three hundred is nothing.
I fired again, hitting the seventy-five area, and I let a soft smirk come across my face. I corrected my aim, but only managed to hit the same area, on the opposite side.
"You can do it!" Bill shouted. "Just hit a fifty, and we're all good!"
"Duly noted," I said, hoping his sharp hearing would pick up my sarcasm as I tried to aim once more. My finger squeezed before I wanted it to, though, shooting the paintball into the ten-point area.
"Son of a –" I began, before shrugging it off. Four shots left. I'll be fine.
At that point, I wasn't even certain of my own score. It wasn't all that important, actually. I just knew that I needed at least forty points. I had no idea I needed exactly thirty points, and if I had, I might've made sure I didn't hit the twenty-five-point mark. But, I did, and Ct. Fritz thought it would be the perfect idea to tell me that.
"You've got two hundred ninety-five points," he told me. "Be careful with that last shot."
"Don't choke!" someone shouted.
"You can do this!"
"C'mon, Ditto!"
"You'd better not miss."
"I swear, if he chokes right now..."
"Thanks for the help," I said, turning back toward the targets even more nervously than before. My finger chose the worst possible time to twitch, sending a paintball into the ground beside me. The other kids erupted into a chorus of groans, which I tried to ignore as I pointed the gun at the targets.
I was doomed, and I knew it. I was way overthinking it at that point; I had to wipe sweat off of my forehead with my equally-wet hand, and I wasn't sure whether I could feel my feet at that point. Thankfully, I was aware enough to close my eyes and take a deep breath before trying to take a shot, and I almost felt normal when I next pulled the trigger.
I watched the targets closely for that split-second, waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the paintball to hit something. When it finally did, I looked for it eagerly, hoping that I'd at least hit a target.
"Twenty-five," Fritz said. I let out a sigh as a few students gave cheers, and lowered the paintball gun. My finger twitched one last time, shooting a paintball right into my foot, and I let out a yelp.
"That ain't right!" I complained as I put away the gun and limped back to the line. Cornerian hands were reaching toward me, but I tried to ignore the friendly pats. A few seemed slightly less friendly because of their owners' claws, but at least no one drew blood.
"Three hundred is still terrible," Bill said once I was back in line. "But at least you didn't fail."
"Yeah," Falco said. "Because we would've killed you."
"You'll still be able to, tonight," I said under my breath. In truth, I was expecting to be able to hold my own. Sure, they all most likely had more experience than me, but I'd already flown an arwing, and I was a quick learner by my standards. Maybe they would give me too long to get the hang of it, and I could use that against them.
"That's it," Fritz said, just before the bell rang. "Get outta here."
"You got off easy," Falco told me as we left. "He shoulda made you a target."
"I thought he would," I admitted.
"I told you," Relics said. "Captain Fritz loves Ditto."
"He does not," I said.
"He would've shot anyone else," Relics said.
"I think he did, last year," Bill remarked.
"Whatever," I said, hoping to end that conversation. "So, is tonight still on?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Bill asked.
"I dunno. Just making sure," I said.
"Of course," Fox said. "You got a ride?"
"Well, I don't have an arwing," I told him.
"Sure you don't," Falco said. Thankfully, he went ignored.
"Why does that matter?" Fox asked. "It's not like you need one."
"Aren't we going to the Great Fox?" I asked.
"Yeah, Ditto," Bill said sarcastically, "The great un-land-able ship."
"Shut up, Bill," Relics said. "And I'll bet you can get a ride with me, Ditto."
"What about Krystal?" I asked, looking around for her. She was usually waiting for me, but I didn't spot her anywhere. I felt discouragement for a moment, before remembering that I could text her.
"I guess so," Relics said as I got the translator ready. I punched out a message as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast with only one hand.
Hey, Krystal, where are you?
Of course, the grammar was unnecessary, and most would have ignored it with a message like "where r u". But not me. Just another reason I'm weird, I thought.
"I still don't get why you're letting her come," Bill told Fox. "You were about to pick her instead of me?"
"N-no," Fox said, glancing nervously at Miyu. "I-it's just that...she already thought she was going. It would've been rude to tell her she wasn't going, just to let you go."
"Hmm..." I hummed, looking at Fox closely. Is he...in love with Krystal? I wondered. I shook my head, chastising myself for the thought. He had Miyu. He was content. Still, I couldn't help feeling a bit of jealousy.
"What?" Fox asked when he noticed me staring at him.
"Nothing..." I said slowly. The device on my arm rang, so I used it as an excuse to get out of the situation completely.
Going home to get ready.
Oh, okay, I thought, swallowing disappointment.
Relics is giving us a ride later. You okay with that?
"You two really like each other, don't you?" Miyu asked.
"What?" I asked.
"It's perfectly fine, of course. Nobody will make fun of Krystal for dating a human. And as long as you don't hurt her, we can still be friends."
"Okay..." I said slowly, not really sure where to go with that. Instead, I decided to deflect it. "Speaking of human-Cornerian relationships, where's Lana?"
All eyes turned to Relics, who glanced around, upset. "How should I know?" he asked.
"Well, she is your girlfriend," Bill said.
"She is not," Relics said.
"She kinda is," I put in. "You asked her out and got close enough that her dad tried to kill you, so..."
"Wait, what?" Bill asked.
"Dang it, Ditto!" Relics complained.
Sure. When?
"Hey, Relics, when are you coming for Krystal?" I asked.
"Good question. Fox?" Relics asked.
"Well, my dad doesn't want us to stay too late, so you should be there early."
"That...doesn't really help," Relics said.
"How about in an hour?" I suggested.
"That's a little too early," Fox said.
"Then two hours?"
"That'll work."
"Good enough," I replied, turning to the translator.
Two hours.
"So, hold on," Bill said. "How are we getting a ride?"
"We?" I asked.
"Falco and me."
"I don't know," I admitted, before turning away from the rest of the group. "But I don't really care. See you later."
I almost pumped a fist when I saw Joanne outside of the school, waiting patiently for me. But once I got closer, I realized she wasn't just waiting for me.
"Where's Katherine?" I asked, before looking around.
"Right behind you," she said.
"Whoa!" I shouted, startled. "When did you get there?"
"We have the same class," she said dully, getting in the car.
"Well, I know. You just surprised me," I replied, getting in beside her. Joanne pulled away from the school, and I gave an unnoticed wave good-bye as my friends continued to work out the final details of that night.
A/N: Well, so it turns out I'm not so great at these chapter endings. If you need a summary, Ditto just heads home uneventfully and starts to get ready. I'll probably either pick up the story in Relics' house, his car, or inside the Great Fox. Ignoring any serious plot holes I create during the next chapter, it might be pretty good.
And yeah, Ditto got called Monkey. That may stick, it may not, but I couldn't come up with a better nickname off the top of my head. Also, I put in a hint at a possible relationship between Fox and Krystal. Because that's how I think it's supposed to be, though Ditto might disagree. How will this turn out? I wish I knew.
All that being said, the completion of (this portion of) Heart's Illusion means one thing: I can write more on this story. That was the good news. Now here's the bad news.
Starting Monday the 20th, I will be away on a mission trip. I will not have my laptop with me, so I will neither be able to write nor update. I'll see if I can't get past my plans for Saturday by that time, but honestly, I doubt it. Skyrim is just too fun. And to the handful of people who are disappointed by this, I do apologize. I can't really get out of this trip, and I really wouldn't if I could. Maybe a couple weeks away from technology will do me some good. I *should* return by the second, and while I'll try to have an update for that day, I most likely won't. So expect an update or two between now and the 20th, and then nothing until the 9th.