Chapter 18

"Anemone, start packing up." Dominic said as he folded up the bed sheets. They have been staying at the hotel for about three days now. Every day, they would go site seeing and relax. There was not much to see at BellForest though. Bellforest was peaceful and dull; nothing much happened. One thing that was interesting was that the town was building a park dedicated to Renton. It was halfway done when Dominic and Anemone saw it.

It was time to go back to base and report their findings. But first, they needed to get Dominic's motorcycle repaired.

"Let's see…" Dominic said as he studied the map and quickly packed up his clothes. Anemone groaned, "Dominic, have you seen my favorite comb?"

"Comb? What does it look like?"

"It's purple and has a soft memory foam handle that molds to the shape of your hands."

"Umm… Oh! I remember now! I think it snapped in half when I tried combing my hair with it."

"WHAT!?!"

Dominic laughed uneasily, "Umm… Yeah… Sorry about that…"

Anemone shrieked, "DOMINIC!"

He threw up his hands in defense and stuttered, "I-I'll buy you a new one, a better one."

Dominic almost thought that Anemone was going to blow up but luckily, her breathing steadied within moments. Dominic let out a huge sigh of relief and quickly packed the rest of their things. The two walked pushed and pulled the motorcycle. With the help of Gulliver, they reached the ruins of Axel's store.

"What the hell happened here?" Dominic gasped as he observed the old ruins of Axel's store. From behind, a familiar voice called. "Hey you punks! What do you want?"

"Huh? Umm… We're looking for Axel Thurston." Dominic said as he turned around. His eyes widened at the appearance of the old man dressed in layers of coats and a beanie on his head.

"Dominic…?" Axel said slowly. Dominic walked forward and shook his hands. "Pleasure to see you again." He thought he saw tears in the old man's eyes but it only lasted for a second.

"Great to see you again." Axel said with his voice nearly cracking up. He looked over to Anemone and asked Dominic, "Who is this pink haired girl?"

"Umm…" Dominic glanced at Anemone and continued, "She's my girlfriend." This caused Anemone to blush slightly.

Axel smiled, "Good for you! Well, let's get your bike repaired."

"Where?" Dominic asked.

Axel laughed and said, "In my secret workshop."

Axel lead the couple around to the back of the destruction of the old workshop. Apparently, Axel had retrieved all his tools from the rubble of his old shop. He quickly inspected Dominic's motorcycle and said aloud, "We need to get you a new wheel. This one has ten broken spindles." He started digging stuff out of the pile rubble behind him. "Aha! Here is a good conditioned wheel!" He exclaimed. Dominic smiled and said, "Hold up, I'm gonna call my captain real quick." Dominic paced around in circles as he waited for the dial tones to stop. "Hello?" Captain Jurgan's voice sounded in the phone.

"Dominic Sol reporting here."

"What did you find?"

"I found some data that suggested that Dewey has been playing with cloning devices."

"Cloning? Who was he cloning?"

"I'm not sure, but the clone has been moved out already. It also appears that Dewey's extremist are still active. They may cause problems."

There was no answer from the other side. "Hello?" Dominic called into the phone. "Damn! Stupid, cheap, crappy Verizon!" Dominic screamed into the phone. "Hey! I'm still here!" Captain Jurgens voice rang in the phone.
"Don't say that about my phone company."
"Sorry. I thought it dropped my call."

"Anyways, quickly get back here. I'll warn Holland and the others."

The message ended. Dominic placed his phone back into his pockets and looked over to Axel and Anemone. Axel's and Anemone's smile always warmed his heart.

"Well, I guess staying a day longer can't hurt."