Tloj: Ugh, not feeling good... but here's the new chapter! F&F, people!
"Antonio, I know you can hear me. Can you come here?" I call.
The front door creaks, and Antonio appears next to me. "Sup?"
I tell him everything that has happened to me so far, and he listens closely. When I finish, he closes his eyes and crosses his arms, thinking. Finally, he opens his eyes and says, "It's your choice, Hero. If you decide to take this chance, just know that we'll be here."
Is it worth it though, that's the question on my mind.
"I was hoping you'd give me something to work with." I state.
"Hero, I can come up with a compelling argument to go on this adventure. At the same time, I can make a radically different argument to tell you to not go. Which would you like to hear?"
"The more convincing one?"
"If you go, you have to take the girls with you. They're signed under your name, they're your responsibility. You'll get to know them personally, and make better friends. You'll get to meet people along the way that will help you on your quest, and help you grow to be the hero Mom wants you to be. And wouldn't Chrys be proud when you succeed?"
"...You had to use Chrys to sell me on this, didn't you?"
"If I didn't, you would've used her as a reason to stay." He reasons.
"I guess I'll pack later then." I sigh.
"Or ask one of your slaves to do it," he says casually, and laughs when I throw a couch pillow at him.
"Kidding! I wonder if they know how to cook, though..." He ponders, catching another pillow.
"I'll probably have to teach them. Shouldn't be too hard, we both know how to." I point out.
"Yeah... Seriously though, are you dating the mongoose?"
"What? No, why?" I feel heat come to my face.
"She's really into you, Hero." He says, as if it was obvious.
"She thinks I'm her master, and she wants to make me happy." I say, attempting to rationalize with him.
"That's it, yes." He agrees. "But is that all there is to it?"
"Quit over-thinking stuff." I huff.
"It what you brought me in the house to do." He counters.
Millie comes back down in a robe, and her hair wrapped in a towel. "My Big-Sister Sense is tingling, which one of you is planning to hit on Sarah?"
"I have a girl, don't look at me." Antonio raises his hands.
"I'm not hitting on anyone." I give Antonio a glare.
"What? She'd be great for you!" Antonio says.
"I just lost Chrys!" I shout at him.
"So date this girl, she sounds and acts just like her!" He says just as loudly.
"Hey, you two quit yelling in there!" Mom yells at us.
"Sorry!" We call back.
Millie rolls her eyes, "Boys..."
Antonio stands and ushers Millie into a room, slamming the door and locking the door before I can follow.
*Normal POV*
Millie makes sure her robe is tied tight, "What's the big idea?"
"You need to understand what Hero is going through." Antonio states, pacing around the room. "Has he told you what happened to his girlfriend?"
"No."
"Okay good, that mean he can't abridge it for you to save himself some pain. When I was five and he was six, our father left us, and Mom couldn't keep the mortgage. We were forced to live on the streets before I grew tired of our family being picked on and hurt. I had three tails at the time." He pointed to his tail, which he only had one of.
"Ouch, okay, continue..."
"I got a job as a consultant, and forced us back into society. Guess how old I was at the time."
She shrugs, crossing her arms.
"I was seven years old."
Millie looks down, "Innocence... it never lasts, does it?"
"Some'in like that, yes. Anyways, I made Hero go to school and get an education. He deserved an opportunity to get a leg up on society. That's where he met her." He looks up thoughtfully. "Her name was Chrysos Dawn. And she was just. like. you." He pauses. "Well... Mostly. She was a hedgehog... and... Say, do you have psychokinesis?"
"No."
"Shame." He sighs before resuming his story. "While the rest of the school ignored him for being from the streets, she went out of her way to befriend him. He was waaaay shy back then, I'm amazed he let her in. They became best friends. They were very close, I'm amazed he didn't tell her sooner..." He became sad. "On his eighteenth birthday, he summed up the courage to tell her his feelings for her. She made him the happiest he ever was by telling him that she felt the same way. They were an item for three days."
"Ouch," she winces. "What happened?"
"Hero has a box in his hair, closed tight until his eighteenth birthday. It unlocked, and that's when Hero found it. Inside was a device, like a watch. It's not a watch." He slowly walks to the window and stares at the pulled down blind. "Chrys was determined to help Hero find out what it was, and why his parents gave it to him, only to not be able to find out until he was eighteen. She was convincing him to go on this adventure, and that's when it happened." He turns and looks her dead in the eyes. "There was a beacon that was released as soon as the box was opened. Someone intercepted it, and traced it back to this house. He came in through the window, and threatened Hero to hand the object over, or he would kill Chrys."
"Let me guess, since he still has it she got killed?"
"He didn't even get the chance to hand it over before the guy pulled the trigger." Antonio looks at the ground, his ears pinned back.
Millie narrows her eyes, "Please tell me he's dead."
Without a word, he unlocks and opens the door, leading her to the living room and lifting up a throw rug, revealing a large dry spatter of blood, a blood trail, and a smaller pool of dry blood. "Both him, and her."
"...Any reason this hasn't been cleaned up?"
"It is clean. Do you know how to get stains out of wood?" He replaces the carpet before facing her again. "He's been overcome by grief for two months. You and your sister are the ones who got him out of this slump."
That brings Millie up short.
"...Then should I avoid him if I remind him so much about her?"
He looks around, making sure Hero isn't around. He looks at her and says, "No. You want to protect your sister, right? I don't know why you'd protect her from Hero, but my suggestion? Be the one for Hero. He severely misses Chrys, and you remind him of her. Just be his friend, and he'll adjust to you."
"You want me to hook up with him?" She looks confused.
"Do you see Sarah trying to hook up with him?" He rolls his eyes. "No. I'm saying instead of giving him a cold treatment, be his friend. He's an understanding guy when you let him in."
She nods, "Well... that I can do. He's a nice person, I can see me being friends with him."
"Exactly! Don't take it personally if he accidentally calls you Chrys a few times, though. He grew up with her, so it's a force of habit thing." Antonio backs away. "Well, I'll let you get dressed now. Good luck tomorrow!"
She nods, and goes off to find her bag.
*Hero's POV*
Sarah comes down the stairs in a frilly black skirt that goes midway to her thighs, and a green sleeveless top. She smiles when she sees me, and makes her way over.
"Wow." Was all I could think of saying.
She giggles, and spins on her heels, "Do you approve, Master?"
"Are you two going out on a date?" Mom places a dish of chicken pot pie on the table.
"Mom, really?" I deadpan.
"Well, she's all dressed up." She says.
Sarah stops spinning, "No Miss, these are the clothes I bought this morning. I thought I'd get my Master's opinion."
"I see." She looks at me. "Well Master, what do you think?"
"Mom, just... Ugh, it's what she calls me." I turn to her and say, "Please, just call me Hero. I'm not your master, I'm your friend."
She pauses, and then nods, "If that's what you want." She smiles, and turns to my mother, "Would you like help with anything?"
"Oh, if only you were here two minutes ago! I just finished everything." She looks at the table, filled with food and ready to be eaten.
She bows politely to my mom, "Thank you." Some divine force must like messing with me because as she bows she's standing between my mother, and I. From my seated position it's quite a view.
I check my nose subtly to make sure it's not bleeding.
"Hey Antonio, Millie! Lunch is ready!" I call.
Antonio zips in, whipping wind around as he appears in his seat.
Sarah squeaks, her skirt lifting up and showing her panties. She quickly pushes her skirt back down, blushing furiously as I stand, turning away and checking my nose again.
Millie comes down a bit more calmly, and smiles at me, "Well "Master," how's your mom's cooking?"
Did Antonio seriously just have a talk with her on how to give me the hardest time?
"Please call me Hero. Master is my title, not my name." I glare at Antonio.
He waves a hand innocently.
"I haven't tried it yet, I was waiting for everyone." I say.
Millie rolls her eyes, and sits by Antonio as Sarah smoothes her skirt out embarrassedly.
Mom sits down in her chair and says, "Antonio, you need to turn down the speed."
"Yes Mum." Antonio says obediently, picking up his plate and spooning food onto it.
Sarah pulls a chair out for me to sit in, and waits.
I sit down, and started getting food for myself.
"So are you girls all alone?" Mom asks, taking a bite of food.
Millie nods, "Yes ma'am, no real family we care to mention aside from one another. It was the street life for us until they made it possible for legal adults to apply for... our position."
"At least tell me you hated it. Because if you didn't... well, I think Hero didn't really save you if so."
Sarah focuses on her food as Millie speaks.
"Well Sarah decided it would make getting a meal easier so we signed up for it. Our first master was a pervert who sold us before anything happened. Next there was a guy who tried to train us as maids until I broke his nose, and that's when he sold us to Mike. Now we're here."
"Good job, Hero." Mom nods to me.
"Thanks?" I blink.
Sarah smiles, "The past doesn't matter, we're here to make Hero happy because he's so nice."
Millie raises an eyebrow, "I know I've said this before, but grow up some. That cute thing will only work for so long."
Antonio coughs into his food, and I narrow my gaze at him.
"What did you say, Anti?"
"Nothing!" He shakes his head quickly.
Millie giggles, and Sarah blushes.
"Riiight." I look at Millie. "So then, what is it you two are good at? And no, I don't mean sexual intercourse."
"Nah, that's Sarah's specialty," Millie says.
"Millie!" Sarah looks mortified.
"What? It's true," Millie shrugs. "Anyways, I guess I'd be more of a fighter than she is. Sarah is 100% lover, couldn't swing a punch to save her life."
"Well then, Hero should spar with you and see where you need working on." Antonio hmmed. "After that, he should teach Sarah some. After all, you three are leaving tomorrow."
"Leaving where?"
Both me and Antonio wince. Right, forgot about Mom.
"...I'll tell you after dinner?" I offer hesitantly.
She stares at us before nodding. "You'd better."
Millie smiles, "So Smoke got you interested in something after all? Figures, he's not the kind of guy who likes to guess."
"Hence why it's imperative you both know what you're doing." Antonio says.
Sarah perks up, "I can make dessert... if it's not made yet..."
Millie's ears stand straight up, "Oh please do!"
"Go ahead." Mom points to the cupboards. "There are ingredients in there, and the fridge."
Sarah smiles, and takes off with her dinner on a plate.
Millie smiles, "Oh you'll love this. She actually enjoyed the maid training so she's real good with cooking, and cleaning."
"Oh good, so Hero doesn't have to teach her that." Antonio smirks at me.
"You're enjoying my ownership of these girls, aren't you?" I growl.
"You should watch what I watch on anime. Then you'd know exactly what to do with your servants." He smirks.
"Millie, as your master I command you to smack him as hard as you can." I say in a monotone voice..
She promptly backhands Antonio hard enough in the face to knock him, and his chair flat on the ground.
"Thank you." I say simply.
"You're welcome," she says with a smirk. Sarah joins us again fifteen minutes later.
"It's going to be at least an hour, but I swear you'll love it!"
"I can taste it already!" Antonio sits back down, his chair fixed.
"Well, dinner is over." Mom says.
"...Okay then. Mom, I found out that my birth mom is still alive, and I want to find her." I say.
Mom stares out the window before saying slowly, "I thought this day would never happen..."
"Here we go," Millie says, pulling Sarah off to the side.
"If you're going, you're taking Antonio with you."
I blink. "What, that's it? No speech about how you found me, no begging me to stay?"
"I named you Hero so that you can be one. You started with these two girls, and now you have a chance to continue on that path by finding your birth mother. I'll be here, waiting to meet her."
"That's... profound of you. Why do I have to take Antonio, though? What about the house payment?"
"I found a job; I can pay the rent for a while. And don't forget who Antonio is, he can help you." She says easily.
I nod, and see Sarah slide back into the kitchen, "Are you sure you'll be okay? You could lose your job just as easily as you found it."
"I'll be fine. Besides, don't forget who taught you and your brother how to fight." She pounds her fist with a crack.
I wince. "How can I forget?"
She looks at Millie and asks, "You'll make sure they don't kill each other, okay?"
"I'll do my best, but who's going to keep me from killing /them?/"
She points at the kitchen. "Your sister."
"Bull's-eye," Millie chuckles with a grin, and sniffs the air. "Mm... coming along nicely in there?"
"Uh-huh," Sarah calls back. "The iron skillets here are kept in very good condition."
"Of course! The only people who touch them are cooking experts!" Mom smiles at me and Antonio.
"Well the cake will be done in maybe fifteen minutes. Does anyone have any allergies?"
"I hear Hero's allergic to love." Antonio murmurs, and I throw my spoon at him.
Sarah gives, "Well there's plenty in this recipe so I would suggest building a tolerance."
"Hey Antonio? Shaddap." I state, and he just snickers.
"Sounds great." I call to her.
We wait politely, and then she comes out with a platter bearing a brown round cake with pineapple rings with cherries on the top.
"This is my Pineapple-upside-down carrot cake," she proclaims. "Made from scratch!"
"Holy- Hero, give this girl a promotion!" Antonio declares to me.
Sarah does a little curtsey as she dishes out a slice to everyone.
I try it, and I have to agree with Antonio; this girl deserves a freaking medal or something.
"Delishectable!" Antonio says, finishing his in three gulps.
"Yeah, what he said." Mom agrees.
"I can give you the recipe," she offers.
Millie shakes her head, "No way, you should totally have them free you so you can get hired as a maid!"
Sarah frowns, "But I just finally found the perfect master..."
"Speaking of which, I need to take out you two's chips. Antonio, can I borrow your bracers?" I look at him.
"Sure." He points down the hall and he says, "You know where I keep them."
I finish my slice before getting up and disappearing into the garage, coming back with a steel strip and a small bracer with a feeder facing backwards. I feed the metal into the opening and put the bracer on my right wrist. "Millie, where's your chip?"
Millie holds out her left arm, and points at the tattoo in her elbow.
Sarah covers hers protectively.
I part the fur and flick my wrist, a needle appearing in my hand. I flick it again before I gently prick her. I wait a few seconds before pulling it out. "There. The chip in destroyed."
Millie sighs in relief, "Good, then I'm officially off the record."
Sarah folds her ears down.
"Yes, you are. Sarah, it's your turn." I turn to her.
She shakes her head adamantly.
"Hm? Why not?" I blink.
"Because... if something happens to me then you'll be able to find me," she says, and I'm shocked to see she's almost on the verge of tears. "And nobody can take me from you."
Wow... that's... really well-thought out...
I stare at her before flicking my wrist, the needle disappearing, and hugging her. "No one's going to take you from me. Not if I still breathe." I vow.
"Can you see what's happening? And they don't have a clue! They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line: Our trio's down to two!" Antonio sang.
"Sheeeaddup, Aintoineo." I growl.
"Make me, Emperor Nero." He counters.
I flick my wrist, and a string comes out and splats into his face.
"Ah!" He falls backwards, flailing wildly.
Sarah blushes, and curls towards me with a purr. Millie rolls her eyes, and goes back to her cake.
I blush and say, "So do you know ANY combat?"
She stops purring, "Erm... uh... no..."
"I need to teach you self-defense then, if not combat." I look at Antonio.
"The mat is yours." He says, getting himself another slice of cake.
"Alrighty. I know it's a hassle, but do you have any pants and full shirts?" I ask her.
"Um... just the pants I wore at Mike's and a T-shirt..."
"Oh... Hey Mom?"
"I'm sure I have a pair that will fit her." Mom stands and walks away, coming back a second later with a pair of jeans.
"Put on the T-shirt too, then meet me in the garage, first door on the right." I say.
She nods, and jogs off.
"She bruises, you bleed," Millie warns.
"If she bruises, it's because she hit me too hard." I say honestly.
"And odds are... she's going to, because she wants to make you proud, Hero." Antonio says.
Millie raises an eyebrow as Sarah comes back out.
"Follow me." I say, walking into the garage.
I hear her trot behind me as I open the garage door, and flick on the lights.
I walk up to the wall, and place my hand on it. A scanner scans it, and a section of wall slides sideways, revealing two poles. I jump onto one of them and slide to the bottom, landing and turning.
She stands at the top of the other awkwardly, and grips it. She seems to hold on to it for dear life as she follows me.
I turn and catch her, setting her onto her feet as the lights turned on. We were inside a large room, with computers on one side and a fighting mat on the other. In the middle was an H-tank.
Antonio slid down and landed on all fours, hissing ominously, "The secret identity of the Tails Dolls has been revealed!"
"I wonder if Spike would still scoff if he knew." I wonder aloud.
Sarah clings to me, looking at Antonio fearfully.
"It's okay, he's a superhero. He won't hurt you any more than if you didn't know." I say, leading her over to the mat.
"Okay. So let's start easy. Throw a punch at me." I order.
She looks unsure, and makes a fist.
"C'mon, if this would hurt me, I wouldn't tell you to do it." I motion for her to go ahead.
She closes her eyes, and takes a swing... it doesn't even make contact.
"Okay, good. Hey, look at me." I look her in the eyes. "This isn't to fight, it's to protect yourself. Okay, let's try this." I grab her arm, gently but firmly. "Say I'm not in the same room, and someone tries to grab you and run off. How would you stop him, other than screaming for help?"
"Um..." She starts to shiver.
Just how badly did they beat her down?
"You stomp his foot and elbow his gut." I guide her through the motions slowly. "Then you whack the back of his neck, and run."
"Right first you stomp the gut, and whack the..."
"...Just scream as loud as you can, and keep screaming."
She blushes, "I'm sorry Hero, but I can't even stand the thought of hurting someone..."
"You're not hurting anyone. You're defending yourself." I say gently.
"By hurting someone," she mutters. "I know it's necessary, but I just can't do it. I know too well how it feels, it's like my body refuses."
"I know that violence rarely solves anything. But being passive for everything doesn't help you either." I sigh and look up. "I just... don't feel comfortable taking you with me if you can't defend yourself. We may get into a dangerous situation, and I won't always be around to protect you. I don't want to lose anyone else."
She faces me, "Then I won't get involved, I'll stay in the safest place possible. It's what we did on the streets, Millie fought, and I hid so I could patch her up afterwards."
"Speaking of which, I think I want to fight her now." He looks around. "Huh, did she stay upstairs?"
"I followed Antonio down," Millie says as she lands behind us on the poles. "You really think I'd let you make fists at my sister without me watching?"
"Nope." I face her. "I heard you protected both yourself and your sister. That would really help."
"Well I'm no belt-degree fighter, but I can get my way out of sticky situations with a little dirty scrapping."
"Then let's make sure you at least don't fight yourself into a corner." I go into a basic fighting stance and bounce lightly.
The stance she takes is an amateurish kick-boxing one, but it looks strong enough.
"Okay, so if I rush you, what do you do?" I barrel at her.
"I jump so my knees rest on your shoulders, and smash your face with both elbows," she says coolly as she follows through with that promise, backing up quickly afterwards.
I deflect all of it, expecting it. "Great! How about if I grab your wrist and try to take you with me?" I grab her wrist and start walking.
She uses my force on her wrist to pivot on one foot, using the other to bring a heel into my throat. If i hadn't blocked it the blow would have taken me to the floor.
"Very good," I say with a nod.
"Now, how about I try to force you to come with me with a gun?"
Antonio tosses me a pistol, and I point it at her.
She puts her hands up, and folds her ears back, "I'd wait for you to get closer..."
"Good..." I slowly walk closer.
She goes into a roll, aiming a punch at my man jewels as she comes back up, pulling out at the last second. then she springs right to her feet when she's almost directly under me, sending a punch towards my neck.
Eep!
I drop the gun before catching her fist and bracing her arm, flipping her overhead and onto her feet before letting her go and backing up. "Wow. Okay, good. When he's distracted though, grab the gun."
"Eh... not a big fan of guns, to easy to kill someone on accident." She dusts herself off.
"Yes, but if you take it, he can't grab it again. Grab it and toss it into a dumpster or something." I suggest.
She nods, "Got it, if I don't have a gun then make sure none of the other guys do either."
"Exactly. Same with other weapons. Anti, sword."
Antonio tosses me a sword, and I slash at Millie.
She backs out of range, and takes the same stance as before.
I charge her again, swinging the blade.
She rolls under, kicking at my wrist.
I let go of the sword. "Good. If we face anyone stronger, Antonio and I should be able to take care of it." I say.
She nods, "Well you two will be able to watch yourselves. No offense, but my first priority is Sarah."
"She is mine as well. I don't want her to get hurt." I toss Antonio his sword, and he puts it back in its spot.
Millie smiles, "So when do we ship out?"
"Tomorrow. So if you bought something comfortable that you won't mind getting dirty, wear that." I say.
She nods, and so does Sarah.
"I don't know how long we'll be travelling, but hopefully just a day or so. Pack lightly." I say to Antonio.
"Okay." He says.
Sarah walks over to me as Millie goes to Antonio for a way out of our Batcave.
Antonio grabs Millie around the waist with one arm before shooting straight back up the hole for the poles.
With the way she screamed with surprise, I'd imagine he's gonna get slapped when he lets go of her.
"I guess I need to let Smoke know that we're going. I'm going back over and hear the rest of what he has to say." I say to Sarah.
"May I come with you?" She smiles, "Smoke is a good person, and he's helped us in the past."
"Sure, why not? This time we'll take my car." I walk to an elevator and press a button, the door opening. I walk in and press a button.
Millie is up there when they get back, and looks at Antonio who sports a black eye. "And we couldn't take the elevator because...?"
"Hey, you went to me, not the elevator." Antonio replies, walking away with his hands in the air.
I chuckle and reach into my pocket and pull out my keys, unlocking a lime green Ford Fusion.
Sarah climbs in the passenger side as Millie starts to strangle Antonio so fast his head blurs.
"Bye bro!" Antonio calls cheerfully, somehow ignoring the angry girl throttling him.
I laugh as I start up the car and back out onto the road, driving away.
When we walk into Smoke's Dive this time we see him playing with four Hacky Sacks at once.
"Well that didn't take long, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."
"Well, prepare your invitees for tomorrow, because that's when we're leaving." I say. "I'm here to pay for that, and for the rest of your info you were offering."
"Alright, how much you offering?" He kicks all the sacks high, and catches them in one pocket.
"A one hundred ring bottle for the info."
"Meh... well I did say I was giving a discount so how about 500?"
"Fair enough. How much for the help though?" I fish out five ring bottles.
"Oh that's on the house for helping me with my coffee," Smoke says with a smile in his eyes. "And the best part is you've already met them."
Something heavy lands on me, something with a familiar voice too...
"S'up dude?!"
"Spike?" I blink.
"Yup!" He laughs as he slides off my back.
Smoke gestures to the intellectually questionable hedgehog, "This is my adopted bro, Spike. And yeah, he's the one from Poisoned Rose too."
Sarah stares, "What? But... he's nothing like the rumors..."
Smoke shrugs, "People change. Reave is running an errand, but he'll be coming too."
"I had a feeling..." I smirk. "So I assume this girl I shouldn't mess with you told me about is member three?"
"Cinder? Yeah she runs the Crimson Lotus Dojo in the other side of the area," Smoke says. "She hates men though, barely puts up with either of us, but she'll respect you if you know how to fight."
Spike plops on the couch, "So what's this adventure about anyways?"
I point at Smoke. "He knows more about it than I do."
"Yeah, but most people can say that," Smoke laughs, and pulls a picture from his pocket. He throws it at me like a ninja star, and I catch it between two fingers.
"Now take a good look at the first woman to open her legs for you," he says.
"My brother fills my life with enough dirty jokes, thank you." I state dryly, studying the photo.
I must say she's beautiful for her age. I just don't see her as a mom in that leather outfit, though.
"What's her name?" I ask.
"Maybe you've heard of her... Lien-Da."
Spike sits up, "Linda what?"
Smoke shakes his head, "It's a traditional tribal Echidna name. Lien... Da..."
"Never heard of her." I shake my head.
"Okay then you might wanna sit down for this."
"If this couch has sexual juices on it, I'm burning it." I sit down on the couch.
"Okay... want the short, or detailed version?" Smoke pulls out a file, and starts sharpening his claws.
"Whichever you feel will help us more." I say, closing my eyes and concentrating.
"Alright, Shade, Julie-Su, and Lien-Da are princess of three different main tribes in Echidna society. Lien-Da's is in the rain forest, called the Amazon Tribe. Julie-Su's is in the desert so they're the Sahara tribe. Shade's is in the frozen north so they're the Tundra Tribe. Oh, and Shade's father is the current host for Enerjak, FYI."
He looks up, "Honestly I was surprised that Lien-Da's son was a hedgehog, she's not big on Non-Echidnas."
"So basically, Dad was a charmer. Do you have anything on him?" I open an eye.
"Nah, best I know she killed him for knocking her up or something." Smoke shrugs. "Lien-Da's not big on her half sister either, Julie-Su of the Sahara. They had the same father, but Lien-Da is the older of the two. Apparently she holds a grudge against them because her dad never asked her about remarrying. Then again Echidna society is traditional if not totally whack-job."
"So does this make me a prince?" I wrinkle my nose. I hate politics with a passion, so I'd rather not get involved in that aspect.
"No, it makes you a bitch," Smoke replies. "Echidnas are all about pure bloodlines, and their Guardian is the purest of them all. Hell, to make sure bloodlines stay pure they say a man can take more than one wife so long as he proves to be a capable dad first. Women in their society are often little more than possessions."
Sarah looks to the side, away from me with a slightly guilty expression.
"I'm glad I'm a hybrid then. I don't have to deal with their society." I state dryly. "So what's an Enerjak?"
"Enerjak is one of the three deities of their society," Smoke explains. "There's the Light, The Dark, and the Proud. The powers of these three manifest in mortal hosts from time to time. The last Light was a thousand years ago during The Purge when Chaos nearly wiped out the Echidna people, and according to legend she sealed the both of them inside the Master Emerald which the Guardian protects on Angel Island.
"Enerjak is the Proud, he manifests as an alter-ego in Echidnas who suffer hubris-"
Spike raises his hand, "That stuff on Veggie Burgers, right?"
"That's hummus, Nimrod. Hubris is godlike arrogance, and Enerjak gives his host pretty much omnipotent power in addition to immortality until the host feels humility. Way I heard it he adopted Shade as a little one, and raised her, blessing her with power. One one that girl, at least in Echidna terms."
Smoke waves his hand, "Anyways, as for the Dark, no one has heard from him in a long time, though I plan to investigate a few rumors regarding a certain relic..."
"Interesting. So it would be in our best interest to avoid Enerjak then." I muse. "Now, about my mom specifically. You just said she's a princess, not what she actually does."
Smoke rubs the back of his head, "This is where things get tricky, as in I don't know 100%. Remember when I said that Echidnas are traditional people? Well that means no modern stuff, meaning guns, cell phones, no electronics. But I've heard rumors that she's made contracts with the infamous Eggman, and has her own private, modern army. Word is she's a high-ranking official in the Dark Egg Legion, heard of them?"
"I just barely heard of Eggman, no Dark Egg Legion." I say.
"Okay, Dark Egg Legion is Eggman's army made up of a handful of Grandmasters who order cyborg soldiers. Not sure what else I can tell you that will help, but at least this is a start. My advice is that if these rumors are true you'll want some backup, and more than just what I can provide."
"Hm... Well, I think we'll be fine. If anyone wants to join us on our way though, I'll definitely invite them to come." I say slowly.
"Not what I meant," Smoke says with a smug tone. "You see, there's one person not even Enerjak would cross, even for the sake of saving face."
"Who?" I tilt my head, curious.
"The Guardian," Smoke replies. "He's the most honored among them since he has the purest bloodline. The big three are actually forbidden from harming him in any way by some mystical contract. Hell, if he told your momma to get down, and suck him in the middle of Station Square you can bet she'd do it."
"Ick. So where is this Guardian?"
"Angel Island," Smoke replies. "It floats high in the sky, and drifts over the planet almost at random. The Guardian of this generation is named Knuckles, and spends his downtime guarding the Master Emerald. Fair warning though, the Echidna people are a people forged from war so don't expect a warm welcome... unless you have another echidna with you."
Spike blinks, "Well aside from mom I don't know any... oh crap, you're not serious!"
"Why not?" Smoke shrugs.
"Well my hair I need to fix every morning because the sides fall down... Which I now understand since I'm part echidna. Would two echidnas be better?" I touch my hair.
"Better than one," Smoke reasons. "Plus Spike's "mom" is Cinder, our former leader. I doubt you'll find another fighter just like her."
"Not exactly like her, sure, but my brother's probably on her level." I say.
Smoke chuckles, "Well that's all I can offer, at least with what you've paid for. Come back with Cinder, and she can help with the rest."
"Do I need to find her, or is she showing up tomorrow?" I ask.
"You go to her tomorrow, tell her what I told you here, and she'll help... maybe..."
"Okay. Where can I find her?"
Smoke writes an address on a napkin, "Here, I'll have Spike, and Reave meet you here. The Crimson Lotus Warriors know them so at least you won't get killed walking in the front door... and I'd be careful with Sarah going in there."
"She'll still be sleeping when I come over, so it won't be a problem." I assure.
Sarah looks surprised by this bit, and Smoke nods.
"Good man... well... best of luck."
"See you tomorrow then." I turn to Sarah and motion to her to follow me. We hop into my car, and I drive us home.
Tloj: Whee...
I own Hero and half the plot.
Legsboy Team owns Antonio/New incarnation of Tails Doll; used with permission.
Sega owns Payback Fox, Tails Doll, Knuckles, and Shade.
Archie owns Enerjak, Julie-Su, and Lien-Da.
Half-Angel Writer owns Chrysos Dawn.
HTKWolfe777 owns pretty much everything else, including the other half of the plot.
See ya next time!