Ch.4

One for the Money, Here comes the Bride

Calvin gulped his throat as this vixen that stood before him was itching to have a conversation with him that's second to none or rather second to Run! Seeing is how Calvin was acting like an awkward dumbass just for looking at her. But who can blame him?

The snow white vixen's face was cute as an adorable little puppy as she confronted Calvin and held out her furry paw.

"Hello, My name is Ramona. And you are?". Ramona asked.

'What are you waiting for, you goddamned coward! Say something!' Calvin mentally shouted.

Calvin took a minute to calm down and shook his hand with Ramona's and said "Calvin. My name is Calvin."

They shook hands together, but it took them a few seconds to notice that they haven't stopped holding their hands, so they let go of their grip before they had any colorful fantasies and apologized.

"So what's a girl like you doing in this place?" Calvin asked nervously.

"Well, I was just in the neighborhood, and I thought if there was anything new to this place, but I find to my discovery that they were still stuck with the same old stuff, priceless jewelry, fancy dresses. You get the idea."

"I always thought average girls like you would be interested in this type of stuff."

"Well, I'M not average girl. These fashion accessories look really stunning, but sometimes I think they're overcompensating for what it's worth."

"Yeah... On the other hand, it can be very reliable for your beauty when you go to a dance."

"True, but I'd rather just be myself. Some girls these days are just bantering to me about how proms and dances are the one of the most important things a teen must have or a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

Calvin laughs a bit and says "Yep, trust me dances are not exactly a thing you should worry about if you think it's the end of your world for a love life."

"Exactly. What's wrong with having a little fun?"

"Oh? What's your idea of having a good time?"

Ramona looked left and right making sure no one was noticing and got dangerously close to Calvin rubbing her soft fur which felt like the softest of mattresses and placed her muzzle to his ear and whispered in a soft and seductive tone "Well let's just say all danger with no spark makes Ramona a naughty girl. Don't you think?".

Ramona leans out and watches Calvin blush redder than a candy apple and giggles in amusement at the sight of this.

'Jesus Christ. Where has this girl been in my life?' Calvin questioned in his head.

Calvin regained his composure and before he could continue this lovely conversation, Ramona grabbed his wrist with her right hand and said "Come on, I wanna show you something that you can take your eyes off of." And then ran to a nearby place in the mall while dragging Calvin who did his best not to act like a idiot from the bashfulness he was showing.

Jim and Krystal who were unknowingly observing this event while sitting at a nearby table out of their range of sight, smiled with glee as Jim said "Ah young love. Doesn't this remind you of anything?"

"Indeed it does, the day I first met you on my home planet Cerinia, you were so scared and innocent and I found you in a forest. I was so excited and I wanted to spend every second with you. And look at where we are now, happily in love with each other for a very long time."

"And from looking at Calvin with Ramona, it feels like deja vu all over again."

"Who knows, Calvin and Ramona might end up being in a fate similar to ours and be happy together as prisoners of love."

"I can believe that, say why don't we follow those two and see what they're up to? We still have a bet to go through."

"Okay, besides I'm still betting Calvin can pull it off." Krystal replied with a cocky smile.

Jim smiled back and said "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Krystal."

Jima and Krystal then got out of their seats and started following Calvin and Ramona with careful and silent movement, basically trying to make sure Calvin had no suspicions of what they were up to. Sometimes it's not very nice to eavesdrop on your friend's conversation especially with a girl he started to fall for.

Jim and Krystal then found the two teenagers at what it looked like the center of the mall, hundreds of Cornerian people were walking all over the place to multiple destinations, and with Calvin at the scene, some people were either scared, nervous, or curious whenever they got the chance to look at him. Calvin knew that you should never care about what people think of you no matter what you are, but seeing how people were not so positive with his alien presence it was starting to make him feel a little left out.

Ramona started to feel his sadness and wanted to help him out. She placed a caring hand on his shoulder and looked at him with compassion and said "Calvin... It's okay. People will warm up to you eventually. You're a nice boy. Don't let anyone tell you any different."

Calvin felt relief from this amount of hospitality and replied "Thank you Ramona. So what was it, you wanted me to see?"

Ramona smiled pointed her finger to a store and said "It's over here, come on!"

Ramona guided Calvin to what looks like a jewelry store with a blue neon sign out front saying "Hexicon's Jewelry Parlor". Calvin gulped with discomfort and hoped that Ramona won't get too absorbed to all of the jewelry for so long, he already endured enough pain shopping with Krystal, if he encountered one more cycle of gut-wrenching penance from a girl who couldn't keep her eyes off of glittering rocks in a glass case then he was prepared to find a long sheet of paper and pen and sign off his will and say his last words.

Calvin looked around the inside the store, the stuff was as ordinary and average like you find at any place, but Ramona said he wanted him to show him something so he deduced that Ramona found something in particular, he bet his money and possibly his life that it was just one thing.

Turns out he was right, Ramona stopped and revealed for what she wanted to show him, she picked up a certain stone from a display case with her hands, and said "Look at this Calvin, what do you think?"

Calvin observed the stone closely, it was shiny like most jewelry, circle shaped and big enough to fit the size of the palm of your hand, and it's color which represented the Rainbow was layered horizontally across it's smooth surface.

"It looks beautiful Ramona, what is it?"

"No one knows, some miner discovered it on the planet Sauria, he calls it Spectra. Rumor has it, the rock fell from the sky and landed it deep in the grounds near the pools in Sauria, everyone thinks that it fell from this mysterious temple called Krazoa Palace. That the Krazoa Spirits sent it to us, as a sign that a horrible danger was approaching us, but it also tells us that the superhero Ultraman would be there to fight it but not just him, but another strange hero that would help him and fight that danger together. If you ask me, I believe that myth. Do you believe it?"

Calvin thought a bit about that rumor, that some disaster was coming and that Ultraman and some other friend would stop it, it sounded like that "strange hero" would be him, it makes sense seeing how an alien entity bonded with him and made him the very thing that he always wanted to be. But Calvin just shrugged it off, seeing is how it's just a rumor and you shouldn't dive yourself in such thoughts, but still anything can happen right?

"I guess Ramona. Who know what will happen?"

"Sure, I also heard that besides this rumor, there was something very unique about this rock. That if was held by someone who's heart was in the right place, then the rock will bestow a gift upon you and show you the path to your destiny. I don't know what it means, but it sounds so beautiful. Since then, I wanted to buy this rock and see what it had in store for me."

Then Ramona made a sad face and set the rock back to its holding place and said "Unfortunately, something so rare cannot be taken so easily. Just look at the price tag."

Calvin looked at the price tag and opened his mouth with surprise, because the price for the Spectra stone is worth 1055.99 credits!

"1055.99 CREDITS! THAT'S OUTRAGEOUS!" Calvin yelled in anger and frustration.

"I know, but I just know that one day I'm going to get that rock." Ramona said with determination as she furrowed her eyebrows.

Then it hit Calvin like a car accident and fathomed an idea and then questioned her "Ramona, let's say if a certain guy...uh or...someone bought this rock for you. How would you feel?"

Ramona smiled in comfort, closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself "I would feel like one of the happiest girls in the entire world."

Calvin smiled but in his mind he was laughing and jumping around like a pinball on crack and kept yelling "THANK YOU!" repetively.

Adara took notice at his sudden change of mood and questioned 'Calvin, are you all right?'

'All right! I'm better than all right! I'm gonna get that rock and give it to Ramona as a gift. Trust me, it's ALL part of the plan.'

'Exactly how are you going to get this rock, you've seen the price and obviously you're a little low on fund.'

'Uhhhhh... I don't know but I'll think of something. Right now, getting this rock is one of my top priorities I need to succeed.'

'Okay, but don't dwell on the money too much Calvin. While money may bring you lots of good fortune, too much of it can corrupt you and twist your mind.'

'Don't worry Adara, I won't do it for the money, I'm doing it for Ramona and to make her happy.'

'If you say so, I'll be rooting for you.'

'Thanks Adara.'

Calvin returned his attention to the transfixed vixen and said "You know Ramona, with a rock that priceless you might wonder if some thug might wanna steal it."

"Possibly, though who would have the nerve to pull off such a terrible act of immoral grade?"

And with those words, life has decided to be a huge pain in the ass as there loud shots of gunfire in the mall and everyone ran and screamed with fear, some hid under the tables, stalls, or other hidden places and some just ran out the store while they had the chances.

Jim and Krystal hid under their table as Krystal used her telepathy powers to see what was going on, then she heard disturbing thoughts from a group of people and it wasn't good. She immediately said "Jim, I feel something, there are criminals here and they plan to steal something... from a jewelry store."

"Goddamnit! Let's hope it's not this one! Not only that but Calvin and Ramona are in there as well, and we can't let them get hurt!"

"Then I believe it's time to do your thing Jim!"

"It's a good thing too. I may have been training recklessly instead of just taking a break but it was worth it for this moment."

But as Jim got out of the table and was about to transform, a gun cocked from behind and felt a gun behind his head. Then he heard a gravelly voice say "Stay where you are and get down on your knees and don't make a step punk! Or you and your girlfriend will find bullets going through your skull!"

Jim did what he was told and kneeled down, and also found Krystal out of the table on her knees too with a gun pointed on her head, not just her but also a couple of other people too that were being captive by these criminals who appeared to dress in black suits and business ties and wore black shades, like the mafia only they were animals. Jim growled in anger and desperately wanted to help out, but he couldn't do it not without a bullet stuck in his head or anyone else's, or otherwise reveal his superhero identity as Ultraman.

Calvin didn't have much luck either, while he and Ramona weren't on their knees with a gun in their face, he and a couple of other people were being watched by the thugs as they were standing right around them, intimidating the customers and not taking any chances to stand up for themselves. Not only that, a male black cat in a white business suit and had a horrible scar across his face walked in the store. He nodded at his men and they nodded back, Calvin guessed that he was the leader of the gang.

The cat then announced in a slick but Brooklyn accent "Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen, we are ever so sorry to spoil your fun this evening... but then I'd be lying. Don't worry, Johnny C... that's me and the White Cross gang didn't come all the way on organizing this crime and putting you between a rock and a hard place just to finish you off lickety-split. We are only here to 'borrow' a few things while we make our rounds, so I'd advise you all to stand yer ground and don't do anything stupid unless if you want to look like grated cheese after this mishap.

Johnny and a few other men walked up to Hexicon's and said "All right folks, just stay where you are and there won't be any trouble. All right Bruce, you and Manny start getting the jewelry so we can get out of here along with the other stuff our boys have coughed up in this here mall."

Bruce and Manny started taking all of the jewelry from the store and put them a huge bag along with the rest of the stolen goods. Calvin was so anxious to help these people but the problem was he didn't have the type of combat training to do it. And he didn't want to use his powers on these creeps for risk of people getting hurt, or revealing he's a superhero.

Adara sensed his worry and said 'Don't worry Calvin, I gave you something that can help you through this situation.'

'Yeah and what would that be?'

'I was endowed with the power of knowledge from the Book of Oa, and now that I have bonded with you, I can give you the knowledge of how to fight these miscreant troublemakers, I also took the liberty of changing your physical prowess. So it shouldn't be a problem for you, alright hold still this might hurt a bit.'

Then Calvin felt a surge in his head and started groaning in pain and he fell down on his feet.

Ramona took notice of this and said "Calvin? Calvin What's wrong?"

After a few moments of mental pain, it finally stopped and Calvin got back up.

Calvin was feeeling even more different than before, suddenly he felt Adara's knowledge coursing through his brain telling him all sorts of things, combat, parkour, escape artistry, etc. And he felt his muscles shape up, like they grown up to the size of a professional athlete, only he was smaller due to his age and the strength he felt from it was so good.

Ramona yelled "Calvin!"

"What? What was it?"

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"No... I'm fine."

Ramona hugs him fiercely and replies "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

Calvin started to look all bashful again but shrugged it off, and Johnny took notice of her and walked straight over.

Johnny decided to use his playboy methods on Ramona and began his procedure by saying "Well, look what we got here, what's a sweet dame like you doing with a guy like him?"

Ramona responded back by saying "Leave me alone, I'm not interested."

"I sure love a girl who plays rough. Tell you what, how bout' you give me a kiss and maybe I'll let this slide."

Calvin started to get pissed off by this and intervened.

"Hey, the girl said she wasn't interested now beat it loser!" Calvin shouted.

"And who are you supposed to be kiddo? Her guardian, her hero?"

"Do I look like a hero to you?"

Johnny ignored that question as he placed his eyes on Calvin's Blue Lantern Ring and said "That's a mighty fine ring you have there kiddo, I'll cut you a deal if you hand me over that ring and maybe your sweet girlfriend. I'll go easy on you and let this whole thing be yesterday's news huh.

That one pushed Calvin too far, it's time to show everyone that just because he's a stranger to this world didn't mean he was gonna get pushed around, so he decided to rough up Johnny C and his boys.

Calvin started the plan of action by pretending to have a scared face and said "No, please don't take this ring, it's my most prized possession. In fact, if you look closely there is a special feature on it as well."

Johnny looked closer but Calvin urged "Closer."

Johnny's face was directly in front of Calvin's fist and Calvin said "That's good."

Calvin drew back his fist and punched Johnny's smug prick face with speed that humans always fantasized about, it threw Johnny back a bit on the floor and clutched his face and shouted in pain "AAAAGHH! GET HIM! UHH! I think he's broken my frickin' nose!"

Calvin ran to Ramona and said "Ramona, find somewhere to hide and stay hidden until the coast is clear, Okay?"

"Okay!" Ramona said as she nodded in agreement and hid behind the counter.

Calvin turned around as a couple of gang member started to surround him just begging to give him a trip to the hospital, but they're about to find out that Calvin isn't your average teenager.

Calvin decided to have a little fun with these guys and said "Come on guys, why don't you just save yourself the trouble and just go home without any broken body parts? I mean just ask your boss."

One of the guys who looked like a sand colored rat replied "Kid, you don't know who you're messing with."

"A bunch of dickheads who are trying to do a live adaptation of Men and Black. Yeah I do."

"That's it! Get the kid!"

One of the men started the fight by trying to punch Calvin in the face but he dodged it, and Calvin grabbed his arm and used his momentum to perform a shoulder throw and have him down on the floor, while he was in that position Calvin grabbed hold of his arm and twisted it so hard that he heard a few bones crunch implying that he broke it and the man yelled in agony.

Then another one which looked like a greyhound came on Calvin's right with a huge bat, and swung at him but it forced Calvin to move the side with good timing, so the guy tried again by swinging to the left but missed a second time as Calvin dodged it once more by dropping on the ground, the greyhound made sure he wouldn't miss so he raised it high over his head but Calvin knew this left him totally exposed, so with enough reflex he kicked the greyhound's kneecaps and it made the greyhound howl with discomfort.

After that one, twin rats that had samurai swords in their hands attempted to strike on both sides, Calvin knew what to do, with incredible agility and speed he swiftly side flip in between the direction and trajectory of the swords without getting cut while at the same time he managed to make the twin rats cut each other on the legs and arms, due to how long the swords were enough to reach them on both sides.

After the rats were dealt with, he felt a huge thud on the ground and he looked behind him to see from afar a big black gorilla, who looked really pissed off at the sight of Calvin. Then on the opposite side, he found a lizard with a real big laser cannon that was ready to fire, as the lizard charged up his weapon, Calvin thought fast but seeing a broken shard of the jewelry and threw with impressive accuracy that it got stuck inside the laser cannon's gun barrel and then it backfired and blew up the gun at the last second. It knocked out the lizard and made a big enough smoke to cause a distraction for the gorilla.

When the gorilla was no longer distracted by the sudden smoke and mirror, he found to his surprise that Calvin was running up to him with but wasn't quick enough to react to it as Calvin made a flying kick at the gorilla with amazing strength that he sent the guy flying straight through the fountain at the center of the mall. Well that's it for him. People were dumbfounded at the attack, and when Calvin walked out of the store, he made a happy face and looked around to the other thugs and became serious.

"All right, anyone else care to try me?"

Then like magic, the criminals didn't bother and then dropped their guns and went on their knees with their hands behind their heads. Everyone got out of their hiding places and started applauding with victory. Calvin then expressed his triumphant grin once more seeing is how he just made his first act on doing the right thing.

Out of nowhere, a voice said "Everyone freeze! Police!" Then everyone looked around to see a bunch of guys who were dressed up in blue uniforms with badges and their badges out front implying that they were the local police.

One of the policemen that was a white rabbit said "All right everyone, who's responsible for bringing these crooks down?"

The captives pointed their fingers straight at Calvin.

As the policemen started handcuffing the gang members and taking them straight to a police car, the pigeon cop said "What's your name kid?"

"Calvin Daring sir."

"I should thank you Mr. Daring, you got a lot of guts. We've been chasing the White Cross gang for a long time now and thanks to you, they finally have a date with justice. You and your girlfriend take care now."

"Thank you sir."

As the cop walked away with the others, Calvin felt a pair of furry arms wrap around his body and looked behind him to see Ramona hugging him.

"Thank you Calvin, you saved my life."

"It..It was no biggie. I couldn't let that man hurt you...or anyone else."

Ramona then let go of Calvin and walked right in front of him with a smile on her face and said "You really know to show a girl a good time Calvin, maybe we can talk some other time."

Ramona then took a slip of paper and a pen and began to write down something, and then gave it to him. Calvin looked at the piece of paper, it was formatted like a business card. It was labeled RAMONA STARR with her phone number under the name, with red hearts around it, and a smily face on it.

"Sounds awesome. Can't wait." Calvin said as he put away the card in his pants pocket

"Call me anytime." The vixen said as she placed her furry right hand on his right cheek and moved closely to his face and placed a small kiss on it. Leaving him transfixed.

Ramona giggled and said "Bye bye Lover." And then walked away with her tail swishing back and forth. Damn who knew a tail could be so attractive.

Calvin snapped out of it his lovestruck mood but sighed in happiness once more and made a pink aura and said "I didn't think it was possible."

Jim who saw the whole thing by standing next to his table and said sharply "You got that right".

Krystal made an evil grin on her face, seeing is how she won the bet and took out her palm waiting for Jim to give her the credit money.

Jim sighs in anger and gives Krystal 30 credits, and they walk over to Calvin who was ready to go.

And as they walked back to the base, Calvin felt good knowing that he had a possible true love heading his way and he was so distracted by it, he didn't notice the red lip imprint on his cheek.