Everyone is here for a reason. Everyone has an impact on other peoples lives, no matter how small.
Everyone has a destiny.
Team Chaos
My First Day
"Rick? Rick, it's time to get up, sweetie." My mom crooned as she woke me from my sleep. I groggily opened my eyes, then rolled back over, "Mmm, five more minutes..."
"No, right this second. Get up, or you'll be late." She said, more commandingly. I sat up and rubbed the crud out of my eyes. First day of school in a new city, Station Square.
I did not like it at all.
Me and my folks had recently moved here from Vancouver, in Holoska. I missed my friends, I missed the quiet, and I missed the cold. It was too warm down here for me. Gods, I missed the snow...
"Quit daydreaming, Rick! Get dressed!" my mother called. Yeesh, she acts like she's psychic sometimes. I sighed, and put on my favorite green hoodie, a pair of jeans, my green and white sneakers, and my one bit of bling: a gold crown-shaped pendant with some sort of red gem as the center crown-spike. I quickly brushed my aqua colored bangs and went into the kitchen, Dad was already powering down his morning coffee and donut like the cop he is.
"Honey, that's not a real breakfast." Mom said, getting her papers ready for her teaching job. Thank goodness she's not one of my teachers, that'd be too embarrassing. She works at the local university.
"Sorry, but I gotta go. The precinct needs me to come early today, there's been a breakthrough in that gang case." He said, before grabbing his jacket and leaving. And then there were two...
"I'll just get something at the school..." I said, "I'll see you when I get home."
"Alright sweetie," Mom said, "I love you."
"Love you too, Ma." I said, and started the trek to school. We were close enough to the school to walk, so I decided not to catch the morning bus. Too many people, lots of noise, not really my thing. But, since this was the city crowds were everywhere.
This sucks.
I was stopped at the third busy intersection on the way to school, thinking how screwy this was, when it happened.
"Help! Somebody stop him! My purse!"
I looked in the direction of the commotion. Some guy snatched the purse off a girl Mobian, 'bout my age. Usually, I'd respond like this:
1) Ignore
2) Get out of the way
3) See 1 and 2
But no, I chose an option I was usually too timid to try. I stuck my foot out, and I tripped him, the purse flew up into the air, and back down at my feet. I picked it up and handed it to the girl, who by then was already there.
"Oh, thank you so much!" She said, and gave the would-be thief a quick kick in the side. Ouch.
"My name's Jade. The echidna." She said, and extended her hand.
"Err, Rick. Porcupine." I said, and tentatively shook it. She seemed pretty tough, like even if I didn't step in she'd have caught that guy and given him what's coming for him.
"So, you go to the high school?"
"Yeah, first day." I responded.
"Well, if this is any indication, I think you'll be well liked there." She said, and confusion set in.
"Err, wha?"
She let out a short breath, "Uh, don't you know? Most of the kids of the former heroes of Mobius go here! You know, Sonic, Tails, those guys?"
Hold on a sec. Sonic's kid goes to this school? Looks like this year won't be so terrible after all...
We had just arrived at the school, and Jade met up with her friend Velma Prower, daughter of Miles "Tails" Prower. Jade and Velma were good friends, on account of that Velma can talk at the speed of light and Jade is one of the few who can understand her.
"'-"
"Actually, I think your dad has a point. I doubt a large injection of estrogen will work as a love potion. It's more likely to make the guy grow breasts."
You gotta love the blondes. It's just so fun to hear them babble on about stuff. Now, at that moment the son of Shadow, Specter, decided to drop in. Ah, good ol' Spec…
"Hello, beautiful," Spec said, and wrapped an arm around Jade. I felt a little depressed right about then. I mean, Jade was pretty… well… pretty.
"Spec, if you don't remove your arm in the next five seconds, you're gonna have to learn to write left-handed!" Jade growled.
"Oh, I love it when you talk mean to me." He said, but scooted away anyway.
"Ah, cut it out Shirley. Jade's not into girl on girl relationships." A large booming voice said behind me. I turned around to see a really buff, rust colored echidna.
"Yeah, and I'm not into over muscled meat-heads either, Reggae." Jade said cooly.
"Don't be mean to my muscles, you'll hurt they're feelings." Reggae said, stroking his left bicep. Aaaaaand promptly making out with it.
"Aw, geeze Reg, cut it out, will ya? You're gonna make me sick. And I'm not letting you make me waste another ten bucks on my morning coffee, ai'ght?" Spec said.
"Whatever, Jessica." Reg said. Reg was the son of Knuckles and Rouge, though the two of them never really "got together". Knuckles wants Reg to become the next guardian, but Reg wants a normal, modern life, and thusly works as bouncer/security at Rouge's club, aptly named Club Rouge.
"Okay, now that's ov- wait, who's the new kid?" Spec asked. Wow, 1minute and 47 seconds. New record.
"This is Rick," Jade said, "He stopped some guy from stealing my purse this morning."
Specter snorted, "Couldn't ya have just willed the concrete to knock him out or something?"
"Well, I didn't exactly think of that at the momen-"
"Wait, what? Will the concrete?" I asked, more than a little confused.
"Oh yeah, I forget to tell you. I'm terakinetic, meaning I can move rocks, dirt, whatever with my mind." Jade said.
I'll pause a moment and explain. Most every Mobian displays some sort of super-human strength, speed, senses, etc. A rarer few actually have super powers, like making fire with your mind or stuff like Chaos-Control. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. Darn, I wish I had powers.
Right about then, I heard some jerkish laughing near the entrance. Some bunny-Mobian was halfway in a garbage can, and a group of jocks were walking away.
Spec glared their way, "Kevin and his gang. Yeesh, what a bunch of jerks."
"Wow, I'm surprised you think that Spec," Jade started, "since the only difference between you two is species."
Spec looked taken aback, "Jade, how could you? You know I'm much more handsome than he is. And besides, I'm talking about how he canned Benjy. I'm saying he's a jerk because he didn't can him closer to this table, y'know, so I could hear Benjy struggling to get out?"
Yeesh, what is it? 'Be a Hero Day'? So, for the second time today I actually went past my usual keep-your-head-down attitude and did something. I got up and headed toward the can, and pulled the bunny out.
"Ah, man, thanks Sam! You're a real life save- heeeey, wait… you're not Sam…": He said, kinda dumbly. Okay, really dumbly. The guy obviously could use and IQ boost.
"Nah, I'm not this 'Sam' person. The name's Rick."
"Oh… my name's Benjy the Rabbit! Not bunny, 'cause y'know rabbit sounds manlier and bunny is like, totally girly." He said, and stuck out his hand.
"Uh, thanks but I think you might want to wash it first…" I said, indicating the old banana-mush smeared on his hand.
"Awww, maaan." He said, and wiped it on his short-sleeved grey-and-green hoodie. A full five seconds passed
"Awww, maaan!" He said, and headed towards the bathroom. I sat back down at the table.
"You see? This is why I don't date you, Spec. You're a mean, selfish jerk. Look at Rick! This is the guy's first day of school and I can already tell he's gonna get the Citizenship-award at graduation" Jade said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, he has a heart of gold. Now, let's get back to important things. Y'know, like me?" Spec said.
"Spec, the universe doesn't revolve around you." A short, blue hedgehog said, and sat down.
"Not yet it doesn't," Spec said, and they exchanged high-fives.
"Oh, hey Sam. This is the new student here, Rick." Jade said, getting Sam's attention.
"Oh, well, welcome to Station Square High." Sam said, sticking out his hand.
"Thanks." I said, and shook it. That's when I got this weird feeling. Have you ever ridden a bike and the chain kept on slipping? Well, it felt for a moment that the chain on my bike had just slipped again.
"So," Sam said, "It seems like you've gotten to know the rest of the group."
"Err, I guess." I said.
"Yeah, this morning he stopped a guy from robbing me and just before you got here he helped Benjy out of the trash can."
"Benj got canned again?"
"Yeah, it's pretty sad isn't it?"
"I'll say." A new voice said. It was a yellow cat with black hair, most likely in the senior class.
"Hey cousin, what's happening?" Spec said.
"Aw, nothing much." The cat said.
"Rick, this is Sabrina. She's Spec's cousin" Jade said.
"You can call me Sab."
"Um, okay." I said.
About then Jade gave a snort, "Look's like River's skipping again..."
I scratched the back of my head, "Who's River?"
"She's Jet and Wave's daughter."
Whitney gave a huff, "Yeesh, River is, like, such a total bee-otch. I mean, she like totally thinks she smarter than me, but she's, like, totally not!"
"Uh-huh, I know what you're sayin' girl." Jade said. Right then the bell rang.
"Alrighty, then. I'll see you fools at lunch. " Specter said, and everyone made their way through the crowd. Gods, I hope I don't get lost in this place.
Alright, here's the schedule:
First block: Social Studies
Ten minute break
Second block: P.E. (NOOOOOOOO! KRYPTONITE!)
Lunch
Third Block: Algebra
Fourth Block: English I
Social Studies went by with ease, and P.E. was torture, as usual for my nerdy frame. I was surprised I survived through lunch. And from the looks of the food, I had my doubts that I'd even survive that. So, instead of eating I was able to get to Jade's group's table. These guys were nice, but I still felt like and outsider looking in. Benjy was real glad for me helping him earlier, and invited me over to his place to show me his comic collection.
... What did you expect? I'm a major geek, of course I agreed to go! Of course I had to sneak off to the bathroom to call my parents so they wouldn't worry. I got the answering machine, so I left a message. Now all I had to do was wait for school to end...
"Dude, it'll be like totally awesome! I got Superman, Batman, Spiderman-"
"Let me guess, the next one also has 'man' in his super-hero name."
"Huh? Oh! And I've also got my ABSOLUTE favorite comic!" Benj said as we walked down the sidewalk. Benj lived in the down-town district of Station Square, so he also lived pretty close to the school.
"Wonder-Woman!"
"Wonder-Woman's your favorite?" I asked. Benj just sighed and got a far-off look. Looks like another one joined the fan-boy bandwagon.
"Woops! I almost passed it up!" Benj said, and beckoned me over. It was a two-floor house, and could obviously use a fresh coat of paint at the very least. There was a sign outside that said 'Chaotix Detective Agency' on it. Huh, so one of Benj's parents is a detective. Kinda ironic.
"Mah! Dad! I'm home! I brought a friend!" Benj said. Benj's mom stepped out of what I guessed was the kitchen.
"Please, Benj. Your sisters are taking their nap."
"Ooh, sorry," Benj said, and then jestured to me, "This is my new friend, Rick!"
I stuck out my hand, "Erm, nice to meet you Mrs. Rabbit."
"Please, call me Vanilla." Benj's mom said, followed by a large crash, a deep voice letting out a string of curses, and a softer voice telling the first voice what and idiot he was. Vanilla glared in the general direction of the commotion, and a large crocodile and a purple chameleon stepped out of another room.
"Vector, the girls are asleep!" she hissed. The crocodile gave a sheepish grin, "Sorry, hon'."
"Sorry indeed..." The chameleon said, earning a dirty look from Vector.
"Let's just go to my room." Benj said, and dragged me off.
Now, when I first saw Benjy's room my first reaction was one of complete awe. I was even tempted to say some kind of cliched phrase of amazement. But that wasn't event the best part. The best part was when he opened up a small trap-door right beside his bed, and in it was and entire collection of first edition prints. I have died and gone to heaven.
"Alright, I guess I should head home." I said.
"Okay! See ya tomorrow." Benjy said, and I walked back towards my apartment complex. Man, at first Benjy seemed pretty dumb, but the guy has a HUGE knowledge for comics! And the guy's also pretty observant, I mean he noticed all sorts of visual references and stuff in certain issues! I guess that comes naturally to the son of a detect-
Oh, gods no...
As I got nearer to my apartment, I saw the blue and cherry lights of police cars and ambulances. I broke out into a full-out run, and when I got there I saw both Sabrina and Jade standing outside, talking to police. Jade noticed me first.
"What happened?" I said.
Jade looked at me, and just shook her head.
"A couple was murdered," Sabrina said, "There was a weird gang-sign spray-painted on the wall, a circle with a group of triangles in the center-"
"The Triad! My dad was working on that case!" I said. That's when the thought occurred to me. I broke past the police line,the cops yelling after me, and ran up the apartment stairs
'210, 211, 212', I thought, counting the apartment room numbers. Then I got to my apartement, 220. The door lay half on it's hinges, and CSI agents scoured the hallway right outside. I rushed past them, not caring about their yelling. Nothing mattered untill I was sure.
And then I saw them. Nailed to the wall by their hands, bullet-hole right between the eyes, killed by the Triad.
My parents. Dead.
Right about then I blacked out.
There's nothing to say about this. No, I don't enjoy torturing my characters, but this needed to be done to get the ball rolling. The next chapters won't be so dreadful, but Rick's going to need a while to heal, before he can get his head in the right place again. Just stick around, and hope that the future brings a lighter mood.
