While Clarion was out, in the workshop...
Tamora woke up a little dizzy. She looked around confuse, where are she? She couldn't recognize that place and the strangest thing in there was that candy scent.
She stood up and searched for any sign of life in there, but she seemed be the only person in there. Maybe she lived in there, it was a good answer for why she was there.
But if she lived in there, why was she sleeping on the couch? She should have a bedroom somewhere, right?
She walked upstairs and opened the first door she found. She really found a bedroom, but it seemed most like a war zone. Everything in the room was destroyed, except for the bed and a box in a corn, and with colorful paint dots.
She immediately noticed a figure laying down on the bed and approached silently.
It was a boy. If she were going to guess she would guess he was around the same age as her. And, she couldn't help but thought, he was so cute.
Smiling to herself she scanned the room again, her attention falling on an golden object on a small nearby table, a hammer. She took and examined it, don't looked like a normal tool, but what really was that? Maybe what caused all that destruction.
"Who are you?"
Tamora was so distracted that she dropped the tool and jumped a little back when the boy spoke. She wasn't waiting him to wake right now.
"Name's Tamora Jean Calhoun." She replied with a smile. "And you are..."
"Fix-It Felix Jr."
"Fix-It? What a curious name. You live here?"
"No. I not even know where's exactly here. I was hoping you do." Felix replied a little confuse.
"And what is this?" She asked, showing him the hammer she had found.
"Well, this is mine."
"It's a toy or something?" She asked curiously.
Felix shook his head with a smile, walked to a completely destroyed radio that seemed someone had shoot it, and with just a tap of the hammer he fixed it.
"Wow!" Tamora exclaimed. "So it's why they call you Fix-It." She laughed.
"But what happened here? This whole place seems like..."
"A battle zone." She completed. "It was already this way when I arrived."
"And wy are we here?"
"You don't think a witch that eat kids live in here, right? Like in that book, Hansel and Gretel."
"Well, I think they live in houses made of candy. They are easier to attract kids." Felix replied nervously.
"Well, but somethings are made out of candy." Tamora replied smirking "Look at this!"
And she threw a pillow that hit Felix's head.
"Hey!" He exclaimed and threw the pillow back, generating a war between the two.
"Well, nice to see you two are having fun." A voice suddenly surprised they.
The two screamed and jumped back caught in surprised, guessing it was the witch they were talking about.
But there aren't a witch. There was a girl, apparently younger than them and had a smile like if she knew something they don't.
"Who are you?" Tamora was the first to recover herself enough to ask.
"Clarion." Was all the redhead said.
"Let me guess, you just woke up here too." Felix said.
"In fact no."
"So you live in here?"
"Not exactly. It's kinda my workshop/office and my brother's lab, also a kind of inside-camp." Clarion replied.
"And what happened here?" Tamora asked, showing the destruction around.
"I destructed it."
The two looked shocked to her. How could a so little girl do so much mess?"
"I was bored." Clarion tried to justify.
"So, you know how we got here?" The blonde girl asked.
"Long history." Was all Clarion said.
"And what's this place?" Felix asked.
"I already told you what's this."
"No, I mean, this whole place."
"You're talking about your game or the Arcade?"
"My game?!"
"Yeah. You're... was... Will be... Well, whatever. You're the protagonist of the game with your name, the current game we're in now."
"And how about me?" Tamora asked.
"You live in here too, but you're a sergeant in a first-person shoot game. Or at least when you two were older."
"Hey, crazy girl, people get old, not young." Tamora protested.
"Believe me, with you happened. It's why you're here."
"So you know us before this?" Felix asked.
"A lot."
"And couldn't tell us?"
"I could but I shouldn't. I have to find a way to take you two back to your normal ages or you will have to remember for yourselves."
There was something wrong about the girl's smile, but no one of them could say what it was.
"What happen if we don't come back?" Felix asked.
"Well, for a time all can work well, but soon this game will end up being unplugged, letting out a lot of homeless characters and who knows what more can happen."
"One question." Tamora raised her hand. "If, like you said, I have a job in another game, why I live in there?"
"Long history, but the same happens to me and my brother, so, we can call it normal and let this way. Now listen, no one else can know about this. I suggest you two to borrow some clothes while I go to check on my brother since he's the only who can know how to bring you back to normal. When I come back we can go on a walk around the Arcade. My brother's room is the opposite door. I will try to be back fast."
And with this she leave the house.
Both entered the rooms and locket the door to get changed.
About borrow clothes, there aren't so much to choose.
Felix ended up with his own jeans and belt, a pair of black and white sneakers, a white shirt and a with and blue cap, curiously with a golden hammer symbol on both.
Tamora found out a little more of choice. She got dressed with black shorts, a white top under a black short-sleeved jacket, a pair of black long boots and a white and black beanie to keep her fringe away from her eyes.
Both leave the rooms at the same time, surprising each other.
The two faced each other for a while, an ankyward silence between them, 'till Taora finally decided to break it.
"Hey! So, how I look?" She asked, just a random thing, just to put up something.
She wasn't expecting the way Felix got imadiatelly red and nervous.
"You look beautiful!" He replied, looking down and couldn't help but smiled.
After her initial shock Tamora giggled.
"Well, thank you." Again the silencce fell between them. "So, you think Clarion will take so long to come back?"
"I hope no. But let's see something to eat." Felix suggested, he hadn't noticed before but he was really hungry.
The two went down the stairs and quickly found the kitchen. They searched for something but mostly was empty, all they found were somethings to cook, but no one of them was going to do it.
They were finally giving up. Felix opened one of the cabinets and took out of it a transparent glass bottle but as he looked inside he screamed and drop it. The bottle was full of spiders.
The bugs began to run all around the kitchen.
"What is this?" Tamora asked confuse.
"I don't know, but I can't dismiss your theory about the witch. What girl in her right mind keep spiders in a kitchen cabinet?"
In answer they heard a laugh and looked at the door, just to see Claron standing up at there.
"C'mon you two. Help me to get them back!" She called, closing the door and running after the spiders.
The two teens couldn't help but just watched while the youngest captured all the spiders and put them in another glass.
But the worst was when she captured the last and threw into in her mouth. She looked at their shocked expression and luaghed again.
"Hey, it's not what you're thinking." Clarion protested. "It's chocolate. Here, taste it." She ofered a spider to each one. The two shared a worried look but, a little relutantly, put it in their mouths.
That same moment they realized the girl was saying the truth. It was chocolate, and one of the bests. Crunchy outside and soft inside.
"Wow!" Was all Tamora could say.
"It's so..." Felix couldn't find a word to describe that.
"Perfect." The older girl completed. "But where it..."
"Came?" The girl completed for her. "My brother creat this kind of things every now and them. Our parents already tried to avoid this because some of his inventions can be dangerous sometimes, but he couldn't help do it and sincerely, I have a lot of fun with all this."
At that time they heard someone comming.
"Stay here." Clarion warned them, she walked out, closing the door behind her.
Felix just sat down on one chair, but Tamora curiously approached the door to hear what was going outside.
"Ralph!" Clarion exclaimed looking happly. "What's a surprise! Something wrong with Crys? Needs something?"
"Clar, I know you or your brother did something." He warned.
"Oh, you know?" She asked sarcastic. "And what made you think it?"
"You asked Tati to take care of Crys, it means your parents didn't came back, it has to have a reason."
"Yeah, it has. But what guarante you I know it's reason?"
"You would just stay at home with Crys if you didn't knew it. But instead you're hidden here, acting a lot strange and James is hardly working at his lab in some new project. What really happened?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, Ralph. I have all under control."
"If Felix don't appear to work tomorrow..."
"He will, trust me. In a way or another." But she don't said the last part loud. "Give me a chance Ralph, you know what I'm able to do. Please!"
"All right, your little troublemaker. But if something bad happen you know it will be your fault, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I know it. Thanks Ralph! I will not disapoint you." She smiled.
"I hope so."
Tamora walked back and let her body fall on a chair, without notice Felix was there.
"Owch!" He exclaimed, surprise and with a little of pain.
The girl imediately jumped up, looking worried at him.
"Sorry! I not noticed you there. You're hurt?"
"No. Not really. But how about you? You looks very distracted and worried. Is everything all right?" He asked.
The girl sat down on another chair.
"Yeah, it is." She muttered. But in fact she was still trying to understand what she had just heard.
To beggin, with who Clarion was talking? So she began to talk about her parents and suddenly Felix's name was brough to subject... And someway Clarion's brother seemed responsible for what happened, but to who? Them or the kids parents? Or maybe...
She was a lot confuse, but she was totaly sure Clarion wasn't going to explain nothing to anyone.
So she saw Felix standing in front of her, a chocolate spider in his hand.
"Chocolate, to help your thoughts." He said sweetly, with a soft smile.
Tamora smiled back, taking the spider and biting it. He was right, the chocolate seemed to clear her mind and made her feel better.
"Thank you!" You're really sweet Felix.
The boy blushed again and the girl couldn't help but thought he seemed still cutter that way.
Clarion choosed that moment to enter the kitchen.
"I'm interrupting something?" She asked with a smirk.
"No." Felix quickly replied, walking back to his chair.
The redhead laughed.
"Ready to go so?"
"Go to..." Tamora raised an eyebrow.
"I dunno. I don't have any special somewhere in mind. But I'm sure it will be fun."