This happens after the whole incident with Tara and Eggman's army is resolved and all of the current citizens have been moved to a new location that is in the same general area, further up on the coast.
A hurricane was blowing in from the sea, and Sector S, Gamma 13 and Rodney, Sirena, and Drago were leading the villagers to the cave network that the villagers always used for storms like that. Melody was behind the entire pack of people making sure that stragglers did not get lost or stray from the trail. She then saw a tiny figure fall away from the others, and down a steep rocky hill. She contacted Kurama and Arteza, telling him she was going to get the small figure, and went to do exactly that. When she got to where the small figure had landed, she saw that it was Shard. He had accidentally fallen from Jumper's pouch when the group was moving.
The fall had cut Shard up badly, and he was really dirty, while crying his eyes out from all the pain he currently was in. Melody took out her medpack, and the diaper bag she had on her and created a small table out of ice and laid Shard gently down on it. She bandaged the baby up, cleaned the dirt off of him, and changed him, as he had soiled himself. Once the dirty diaper was destroyed in the portable incinerator that Melody always carried with her, in case she was nowhere near a trash can, Melody packed the things she used away, picked Shard up and went to her special cave/den in the storm shelter. She entered her cave in the secret entrance that she had made a long time ago.
Her special den was completely decked out in beautiful soft and lavish furniture and other things. In fact, it was like somewhat of her own personal house, as her cave had several offshoots that led to other cave rooms. She immediately took Shard to the bedroom of the place and gently placed him in the middle of her gigantic circle bed. Seriously, it's diameter was 10 and a half feet, way bigger than she could ever possibly need it to be. She liked it that way in case she had her friends over for a cavern sleepover. As soon as Shard was laid down on the bed, he fell asleep instantly. Melody, smiling slightly, crept out of the room and called Kurama and Arteza, telling them that the small figure was Shard and that she had him in her care. Melody also told them where to find her, as well as asking him to tell Skadi and Fists where Shard was.
Kurama: (over the radio) Melody, just hold tight right where you are. Me, Rodney,Drago, and Sirena are coming. By the way, can you have Jen bring the twins, Leica, and Erron to you?
Melody: Of course. I know you'd want your babies safe with you and Arteza.
Arteza: Thanks, Mel. (To the three) Alright kids, let's go.
Rodney: Right.
Drago: Right behind you.
Sirena: Ok.
Kurama: You kids good on ammo?
Rodney: Yeah, I'm good.
Drago: No problems here.
Sirena: I'm good too.
Arteza: Good, So, how've you kids been liking your new gear? it's not too much, is it?
The three kids smiled at Kurama and Arteza.
Rodney: No, it's all perfect. I really like it. Thank you, Kurama, Arteza, for making this for me. And thank you again for all the gear, especially the exoskeleton. The t-shirt, jacket, body armor, and pants are really comfortable.
Drago: Yeah. I really like my Vollmer 51-B. I didn't know machineguns could be this small.
Sirena: And this M1A CQB is perfect! Power, range, and reliability, all without having to fix it every week.
Kurama and Arteza: You're welcome.
Arteza: Only the best for my friends.
As they walked, Kurama and Arteza took note of the caves.
Back with Melody and Shard…
Once the call was over, Melody went back to her cavern bedroom because she heard Shard crying. When Melody entered the room, Shard just looked at her with sad puppy dog eyes, wanting to be held and not wanting to be alone.
Melody (picking Shard up and cradling him in her arms): There, there. It's okay, it's okay. Auntie Mel's got you. You are safe with me.
Melody then got into the bed, after taking off her shoes, and tucked Shard in on her chest, after pulling the blankets up over the two of them. Shard hugged her tightly, missing Skadi and Fists deeply and fell into a deep, deep sleep. Melody simply hugged him back, remembering how Amadeus was like that when he was a baby, and fell asleep as well.
Winding their way through the caves, Kurama, Arteza, and the kids suddenly heard a strange sound.
Rodney: Kurama, Arteza, did you hear that?
Kurama: Yeah. sounded like the rock was shifting.
Arteza: Seismic activity? S**t.
Drago: wonder what it is.
Sirena: Not a clue. But if it's hostile….
Rodney: We kill it.
Kurama and Arteza: Right.
As they entered a large room, they heard the noise again, but louder. They turned around to see the rock face shifting.
Kurama and Arteza: what the… Take cover!
Rodney, Drago, Sirena: Frak!
Kurama and Arteza let their rifles fall at their sides, crouching down and shielding the kids with their bodies as the rocks exploded. They held onto Kurama and Arteza tightly, close to Kurama and Arteza's chests. The five were knocked over by the force of the explosion. When the smoke cleared, Kurama and Arteza looked behind them. Appearing out of the smoke and dust was a familiar silhouette.
Kurama: Diesel?
Arteza: Is that you, honey?
The figure walked forward, waving her hand to clear the smoke.
Sheila: Crap. Aggro, Tezzie, is that you?
Kurama and Arteza got up, still holding the three kids in their arms. As the smoke cleared, Sheila came into view. she was soaking wet and holding her favorite shotgun, Silver Hailstorm
Kurama: Ha-ha! Diesel, baby, it is you!
Arteza: We've been wondering where you were!
Sheila: Aggro! Tezzie! Sweethearts, where've you been? And who're your friends?
Kurama and Arteza remembered that he was holding the kids in their arms. They set them down carefully and took Rodney and Drago's hands. Sirena was on Arteza's back, her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder. looking around, Rodney noticed Sheila. He smiled broadly.
Rodney: You're Sheila! Kurama and Arteza told me about you! My name is Rodney. I'm Kurama's new assistant gunner/combat engineer and best friend.
Drago: I'm Drago, Rodney's brother.
Sirena: And I'm Sirena, their sister.
Sheila smiled and walked over to them. She slung her shotgun over her shoulder. Sirena dropped down and the three kids stood in front of Kurama. She knelt in front of them and shook their hands.
At the same time, she noticed the Gamma Thirteen pin Rodney had on his jacket over his heart. She hugged the three of them.
Sheila: It's a pleasure to meet you three. and you can call me Diesel if you want, but only around Kurama and Arteza. No one but you and him can call me that. Ok?
Rodney: Ok, Diesel. I'll be careful.
Drago: Ok, Diesel.
Sirena: Yes, Diesel.
She stood up and looked to Kurama and Arteza, readying her shotgun in the process.
Sheila: You know where we're going, guys?
Kurama: Yeah, Diesel, more or less. I'll pull up our objectives and waypoints. sync your glasses to ours. We need to find two more of my new friends, Fists and Skadi.
Arteza: There down here too. we're all going to what we're calling Search Area Alpha.
Sheila:Alright. then lead on, sweethearts.
As they were on their way, Melody, who had woken up, went and quickly called Jenny and gave her Kurama and Arteza's message. And at the same time, Sheila had to ask the question.
Sheila: You two have been playing the gay husbands card, haven't you? Cause you're holding hands.
Kurama: Of course. Had to. Weren't many options.
Arteza: So, yeah, Rodney, Skadi, Mel, Erron, Leica, now, Sirena and Drago, know us as the gay/Bi husbands, and well…it's a lot and we've been trying to keep it limited.
Sheila: So, you boys came out partly. Then you kids ought to know I swing both ways too. And yes, I'm their wife.
Rodney: That's what you meant by that you explain later! Diesel, you really have two husbands!
Drago: Wait, so, does that mean…
Kurama, Arteza, and Sheila didn't say a word, confirming Drago's theory that they did have sex, all three. He didn't say anything more, nor did his siblings, not about that, cause it wasn't their business. But, in any case, this could mean they'd have two dad and a mom. It took the five of them a while to find Skadi and Fists, as they were busy trying to find their baby throughout the cave network, not knowing that Shard had fallen away from the herd and was currently with Melody. They found them when Sheila picked up Skadi's voice through the rock.
Sheila: Hey, I recognize that voice. It's the half-Tigrahn girl I told you about.
Kurama: Damn…Diesel, where is she?
Sheila: Close. We'll need to break this wall here. Up ahead is a dead end.
She called out, warning Skadi.
Sheila: Stand clear of the wall, now!
Arteza: Holy s**t, this is gonna be loud!
Skadi heard Sheila, both verbally, and through her bones, and moved Fists out of the way. Then, the wall exploded. And Arteza was right. It sounded like a bomb had gone off, and anyone near Sheila when she'd punched the wall would have gotten their eardrums busted from the shockwaves.
Sheila: There.
Kurama: Skadi, Fists, Melody found your son, and he is currently with her. She told me to tell you to take you two to her cavern in order to pick him up. I would do that, except for the fact she forgot to give me her exact coordinates. It's going to take me forever searching each and every cave in here, trying to find hers. All I could do was create a search area and hope we wouldn't have to get into a firefight.
Fists: Actually, we already know where it is. Just follow us, we will take you there. so, who's this with you?
Kurama: This is my wife, Sheila. Sheila, these are my friends, Fists and Skadi.
Fists (In thought): Melody and Wolfgang are going to flip out when they see Sheila. She looks exactly like Princess Sally…and just like our Sheila as well.
Sheila: Well, any friend of Kurama's, is a friend of mine.
While they're walking…
Skadi: So, what do you do on Gamma 13?
Sheila: I'm the lead combat engineer. Basically, I blow stuff up and fix stuff. (to kurama and Arteza), aw, s**t.
Sheila, realizing what she said, put her hands over her mouth.
Sheila: I'm sorry.
Kurama: It's cool; they've heard worse. Anyway, what prompted that?
Sheila: oh, yeah, sweeties, I almost forgot to tell you that I stashed the truck and my motorcycle in a cave not far from where we are. where you two and the kids found me is a shortcut to it.
Kurama: ok. The six of us will go up when it's safe and bring the truck and your bike back to the base. You kids cool with that?
Rodney: Yeah, that sounds fun!
Drago: Yeah!
Sirena: Yep!
Sheila leans over and kisses Kurama on the cheek, doing the same to Arteza.
Sheila: Thanks.
Sheila starts to shiver.
Sheila: Frak, it's cold. Sweetheart, can I borrow your jacket and scarf?
Kurama gave Sheila his jacket and Arteza gave her his scarf. She wrapped the scarf in such a way that it hid her face and she put the hood up.
Sheila: That's better. By the way, Skadi, Fists, what do you two do here?
Skadi: I am my team's medic/sniper, as well as the head doctor of the entire MKND, as I am in charge of the hospital here in these caves and back in Care-A-Lot.
Fists: And I'm my team's hand to hand combat/weapons expert. I am also the head physical drill instructor at the MKND cadet academy here. And both Skadi and I are the parents to an adorable little angel of a baby hedgehog named Shard.
Sheila: How are you two parents?! You both are too young for that by your looks alone!
Skadi: We found and adopted Shard when he was a newborn. He had no parents or family members to take care of him, so we decided to step in and care for him as his parents, and we love him so much. We just hate having to leave him with babysitters so often because of our jobs, but we are fighting for a better world for our baby to grow up in.
Sheila: Yeah. I can understand that. But I am sure your baby loves you as much as you love him.
Fists and Skadi then stopped in their tracks, stopping the others and pointing to a path that led up to a cliff leading to a cave that had a door fitted to the entrance, including a doorbell, that overlooked the entire cavern that could be seen from the cliff.
Skadi: That path leads to Melody's cave. Nobody ever wanted the cave before Melody took it, as everybody was scared of it, as rumors that a monster lived in that cave. We helped Melody get to the bottom of the rumors and discovered all the signs of the supposed "monster" had reasonable explanations, and nothing was really scary about the cave. Afterwards, I helped Melody turn it into her own condo with help from Fists.
Fists: Yeah, but you still haven't told me how you were able to create so many cavern offshoots and rooms for Melody's condo in the same amount of time it took me to make one using chaos energy and my punches, carving one hallway leading to one room.
Skadi (in a flirtatious tone with Fists as the group walked up the winding path up to Melody's condo): That's just my little secret Roughs. Although you already know what it is if you just think about it and my previous actions in the past.
Kurama, Arteza, and Sheila had to laugh at that, already guessing how she did it. After a while Fists, Skadi, Kurama, Arteza, Rodney, Drago, Sirena, and Sheila reach Melody's cave, and walk into the living room part. Kurama, Arteza, and Sheila were just surprised to see such lavish furniture, wondering how in the world Melody managed to get those pieces.
Skadi: Make yourself comfortable. I know Melody would not mind at all. And don't worry about the furniture, way heavier people than you have sat down in those chairs.
Kurama: Ok, I can't tell if I should feel insulted or flattered.
Sheila: I think it's a compliment.
Arteza; Maybe it's both. I don't know.
Skadi: Anyway, we are going to see where Melody is.
Rodney, Drago, Sirena, and Sheila went and sat down together, Rodney and his siblings catching her up on what happened just before she arrived. They spoke in hushed tones, but really just Fists was there and he didn't know Kurama and Arteza were married or gay/Bisexual, or that Sheila was married to them both and she was Bi as well. They did not have to look at all for Melody. As soon as Skadi turned around, she saw Melody in the cavern doorway leading to the other caves in her place to the living room. She was also holding Shard, who was whimpering and hugging Melody tightly in his sleep. Melody went over to Skadi, and with some help from Fists, handed Shard off to his mother. As soon as Shard was in Skadi's arms again, Shard woke up happy because he saw his mother and father again.
Shard: MOM! DAD!
Skadi and Fists just hugged their little one, happy that he was safe. Kurama, meanwhile, was just staring at the sight of the three, still trying to comprehend the relationship, even though it was already explained to him by Melody.
Melody just went and sat beside Kurama and Arteza, whispering in a tone that she hoped only they could hear.
Melody: Still trying to comprehend their relationship, even though I already explained it to you?
Kurama: Yep. Even though I know how their relationship is, seeing it is still confusing to me.
Arteza: Uh-huh.
Melody: Y'know, I have been wondering something about Shard. I am still trying to figure out how he wound up as a mortal baby hedgehog when he was originally a robot to begin with.
Kurama: How about we secretly get some of Shard's DNA and take it to your friend Susan?
Arteza: Yeah, she can test it, and if she can't figure anything out, we can always wait for my friend and teammate Mira. With Mira's help, we can actually get to the bottom of this mystery, deal?
Melody: Deal, just don't say anything to anybody else about it. Skadi and Fists seem to be content without knowing how Shard became like he is today.
Kurama: Look, we're fine with not telling anyone else, but we'd feel like crap keeping secrets from our wife.
Arteza: Promise us you'll let her in on it and it's a deal.
Melody: Deal.
Kurama: oh, We've got something to tell you. Check this out.
Kurama picked up his HMG-111 and set it on his lap.
Melody: I haven't seen that one. It's bigger than Slavic Dragon.
Kurama: It's one of me and Tezzie's favorites. This model is the 15mm Heavy MachineGun-111 Werehog. I named it after your transformation.
Arteza: Back home, we never had a name for this model of gun, just a service designation. This specific one is called Chaos Nightmare. Kurama's had it since he was 13. It's the ultimate in portable precise firepower.
Skadi and Fists then get called on their S.C.R.A.M.s. Both of them were needed to help with an accident that happened in one of the caves, which hurt some kids. Fists and Skadi look at their son, then at each other with sad looks. Both of them knew that they would have to leave Shard with a babysitter while they took care of the mess.
Melody: You can leave Shard here with me. I promise to take good care of him. Go do your jobs.
Shard (looking at his parents mournfully): Go. I'll be safe with Auntie Mel, Rodney, Drago, Sirena, Mr. Kurama, Mr. Tezzie, and Mrs. Sheila. I'll miss you.
When Shard called Arteza "Tezzie", Kurama, Arteza, and Sheila froze, as Shard clearly had some pretty good hearing to catch Kurama and Sheila saying that.
Fists just looked at the Kurama and them, wondering about that.
Fists: Mr. Tezzie? Who's that?
Kurama: Uh….
Skadi: Kurama nicknamed his clone that, now, we have to go, so….
Skadi started ushering Fists out pretty quick after that.
Fists: We'll miss you too, son. Be good for your aunt, okay?
Shard: Okay. Mom, Dad, I love you.
Skadi: We love you too. We'll see you soon.
Skadi then hands Shard back to Melody, and leaves with Fists to deal with what happened. Melody then went over to Kurama and handed him Shard.
Melody: I'm gonna go make myself something to eat. Kurama, Arteza, would you watch Shard while I cook for me? I'll make sure to make you guys something too, that is if you want.
Arteza: Sounds good, Mel.
Kurama: Sure, I am a little bit hungry. Hey, do you guys want anything?
Sheila: Tea would be nice. I'm freezing my butt off here.
Rodney: I'll have some tea, too. How about you two?
Drago: Tea works.
Sirena: Yeah.
Melody thanks him then goes off to her kitchen to make herself, Arteza, and Kurama something, as well as make something for Shard as well and put on some tea for Sheila, Rodney, Drago, and Sirena. While she was busy in the kitchen, Kurama, Arteza, and Shard were just awkwardly staring at each other, not really knowing what to do.
Kurama: So...
Arteza: So…..
Shard (depression clear in his voice): Thank you for helping protect me that night that kid tried to kidnap me, Mr. Kurama. People are always trying to kidnap me for their own weird reasons. It also seems like my family still keeps getting hurt when protecting me.
Kurama (cheering up Shard while bouncing him on his knee): That's no problem kiddo. And cheer up, nobody in your family was seriously hurt and they're all fine right now.
Arteza: And don't call us Mr. That title will definitely get us killed.
Shard: Then what am I supposed to call you then?
Kurama (ruffling Shard's head quills): How about "Uncle Kurama?"
Arteza: And "Uncle Arteza"? Also, Shard, Tezzie is my personal nickname, it's not for everyone to call me. But look, you can call me that, just not your dad and them,
Shard: I like that. By the way, Uncle Kurama, Uncle Arteza, how strong are you guys?
Kurama: Let's just say that we are very strong. Strong enough to rip an oak tree straight out of the ground with our bare hands. And our wife Sheila, who's over there with Rodney and his siblings, she's stronger than me. She can break a tank with a single punch. and don't worry, you can call her "Aunt Sheila". And there's your Aunt Samantha; she's my twin sister. She's as strong as us.
Shard (Clearly Impressed): Whoa. My dad can't rip a tree out of the ground or punch a tank apart, and he was the strongest person I knew before I met you.
.About now, Jenny brought Erron, Leica, and the twins, having gotten held up with some minor troubles along the way,
Jenny: Kurama, brought the kids.
Kurama got up along with Arteza, and of course, when he let Jenny in, the kids were all excited to be back with Kurama and Arteza, and Shard was happy to have them there. Jenny couldn't stay long, though Kurama and Arteza kissed Jenny on the cheek and she did the same, glad that Kurama was back to his old self, then she left after saying goodbye and then Kurama closed the door back, him and Arteza taking the kids to meet Sheila. And well, she adored them. She was super excited about meeting Sienna and Celedon. After a bit, Kurama and Arteza went back to their conversation with Shard.
Kurama: I have to admit, your father is stronger than I ever could have originally anticipated from someone of his age. He is the only one that ever managed to give me bruises while I am wearing full body armor. Normally, that should have been impossible, but your father managed to do it. At least your mother is an incredible medic. She gave me some medicine and the bruise went away in no time. Your dad is lucky to be with a girl like her, and you are lucky to have them as your parents.
Shard: I know. I thank my lucky stars everyday to have them in my life. Uncle Kurama, Uncle Arteza, can you tell me a story? Uncle Folsom told me many that he heard from his life and some from when he met you and your team.
Kurama: Uh…you don't need to hear his stories ... .but, Tezzie and I have so many stories that we do not even know where to begin. Did you want to hear a really funny one that happened two years ago?
Shard (excited with his small tail wagging excitedly): DO I!
Kurama (Chuckling): Man, it is funny. Just don't tell Farid or your parents this story, and whatever you decide to do, never, and I mean it, never ever try to do or replicate what I did. It is completely dangerous and your parents would kill me if they knew I told you.
Shard: Don't worry, I promise I won't do whatever you did, or tell my parents or Farid.
Kurama and Arteza then proceeded to tell Shard the story of what happened on his 22nd birthday, and showed Shard the pictures. The three of them were laughing really hard and they fell on the floor. Luckily Shard was caught by Kurama before getting hurt when they fell laughing. Kurama and Arteza sat back down, holding Shard close to them.
Shard: Uncle Kurama, Uncle Arteza, can I see your powers? Please?
Kurama: alright. but I can only show you a little right now. my powers are kinda messed up for now.
Arteza: Yeah. We're not all there yet.
Kurama and Arteza held out their hands and snapped their fingers. a ball of white phosphorus appeared, burning with a beautiful olive-green flame. a thin white cloud rose around the ball.
Shard: wow! You have fire powers like Uncle Wolfgang!
Kurama and Arteza smiled and shook their heads.
Kurama: This isn't normal fire, Shard. This is white phosphorus. It's way more powerful and way more dangerous than regular fire. It burns in air and underwater. but, it has a pretty color doesn't it?
Arteza: Our mom has a similar power. Her power is napalm. Napalm is liquid fire.
kurama closed his hand before Shard could reach out to touch the flame. Opening his hand again, he concentrated and let an electric current run across his claws. Fuchsia lightning danced along his fingers.
Kurama: We also have lightning powers. Now watch.
Arteza: We're going to mix lightning and fire.
Arteza created a ball of white phosphorus while Kurama had the electric current. And when they interlaced their fingers, a colorful swirling ball of gas collected between their hands.
Kurama and Arteza: and now…
Kurama and Arteza crushed the ball in their hands. When they opened it, they were holding a tiny star. A look of wonder came across Shard's face.
Kurama: Shard, this is our third and fourth powers too. Our third power is plasma, and our fourth power is void. with all my powers, we can make stars.
Arteza: Right now, love is the power that gives us the strength to make this. Love for each other and for Diesel, and her love for us, as well as our love for our babies, and their love for us.
Kurama: And this one's for you. When our powers get back to full strength, we'll be able to use moves like Stars From Heaven again.
Sheila came up at that moment, holding a small device.
Sheila: I saw what you were doing, my loves; so, I used my replicator to manufacture a containment device so this cutie could have the star as a nightlight.
Kurama and Arteza put the star into the device and set it on the table beside him as Sheila returned to Leica, Erron, Sienna, Celadon, Rodney, Drago, and Sirena. By now, Melody came into the room with food for both her and Kurama, set the plates down on the table and went and got Shard's food, Arteza's, too, as well as a bottle of baby formula for Shard. Shard had snuggled down on Kurama's chest, listening to his heartbeat while Kurama rubbed his back when Melody had returned with Shard's food and a high-chair for the baby. She then brought out the tea, with Rodney taking it from her and bringing it over to where Sheila and the kids were.
Melody (gently picking up Shard and putting a bib on him and setting him in the high-chair): I am glad to see you three getting along so well, but it's time to eat you guys.
Shard: It's not any of that yucky vegetable flavored baby food, isn't it, Aunt Melody?
Melody (feeding Shard): Oh no baby. I don't really have any baby food on hand at the moment, so I just made you some regular big people food and put it through the blender for you. I take it you don't like the baby food Skadi buys?
Shard (between spoonfuls of food): Mommy keeps buying nasty vegetable flavored baby food for me, as she says that I need to eat it to grow big and strong. But Mommy doesn't listen when I ask her just to get regular veggies and turn them into baby food for me to eat.
Melody: Okay, I'll talk to your mother about that Shard. Hopefully she buys a baby food processor and just makes your baby food at home instead of buying the nasty foods you don't like. Does that sound good to you, Shard?
Shard: That sounds good, Auntie Melody.
Arteza: Heh, I get that. I mean, yeah, regular food processed sounds better. I mean, really the last time me and my husband smelled that store-bought stuff, we gagged.
Kurama: No kidding.
Once he had finished, Melody took the bib off of him and out of the chair. By this time, Kurama and Arteza had also finished his food, so Melody handed Shard to Kurama, and he began to give Shard the baby bottle. That is after Melody explained to him carefully what he was supposed to do with both Shard and the bottle while Melody ate her food.
Kurama: You wouldn't mind writing this down for me, would you Melody?
Melody: Sure.
Kurama: thanks. This is really good practice for when me and Sheila have kids. I only remember a little from when my sister Mia was a baby. I wasn't around all that much. I'll tell you more about that stuff later. Suffice it to say, I was a willful loner as a child.
Melody (Handing Kurama a bag of dried out leaves): I have lots of experience since, for a time being, I was Amadeus's mother when he was Shard's age. By the way, you and the rest of your team may need this plant I found a long time ago. It prevents babies from wanting to eat your tail. You would not believe how many times Amadeus did it to me when he was a baby. Especially when I forgot to eat some of the plants. He was such a pain in my butt, both literally and figuratively, especially when Amadeus started teething.
She rubbed her tail slightly when saying that last little bit, remembering the pain and the scars that Amadeus had given her all that time ago.
Kurama: Man. I'd say 'I know your pain', but, ah, you know what, whatever. I'll just go ahead and tell you.
Melody: Tell me what?
Kurama: You remember calling my family weird; well, I have a twin sister.
Melody choked on her drink.
Melody: (coughing) Now when were you gonna tell me about that?!
Kurama: Well, now seemed like a good time. So anyway, what I was gonna tell you was about the time me and my sister, her name is Samantha, got our tails impaled and stuck to a wall.
Melody: ok; tell me about that, then whenever you feel like sharing another shocker like that, wait 'til I finish my drink.
Kurama: sorry. So anyway, we were fighting against Emperor Armand Kreiger of Dravia, two-bit evil dictator dude I talked about who made the germ weapon I got infected with.
Melody: Ok, go on.
Arteza just sat there, not really talking, since he knew the story, yet wasn't exactly there for it.
Kurama: Well, it was me and Samantha, and we were tearing this guy up. like, he was piloting this big mech suit and shooting at us. and out of nowhere he fires off a canister shell. Me and Saami dodge that, only that led to us getting hit by a dart shell. We manage to block most of the darts, except I get hit by one and it pins my tail to the wall. I'm screaming and cussing, which gets Saami's attention, and then she takes a dart to the tail, pinning her down. and then we're both cussing Kreiger out. and we're so mad, we actually pull the darts out by hand and use them to pry open weak spots on the mech suit. Later, we actually kept the darts and made knives out of them.
Melody: wow. so, do you think she's here?
Kurama: oh, I know she's not here. if she was here I'd sense her presence plus I'd feel her emotions and her pain. we're linked. She's at our home, pregnant with her first child. Samantha and her husband Exile live with me and Sheila. if she was here, you'd go crazy. me and her are exactly alike. and she'd make everyone miserable complaining about not getting to jump into any of the fights we've had. Like me, she likes a good firefight. but, y'know what she's alright. She's my sister. Me and her have fun drinking and causing chaos in warzones. but, when we do both, it gets scary. like we turn absolutely insanely violent. Last time it happened, they couldn't tell if a nuclear bomb had gone off or we had just got drunk. We left that big of a crater, plus, it was contaminated with nerve gas. which, maybe I should have told you about the fact that I have nerve gas grenades in my bag and so does the rest of my team.
She looked over at Arteza, who just shrugged and nodded.
Melody: yeah maybe you should have told me that.
Kurama: Sorry. I just forgot about 'til now. I mean, I've had no reason to use it. What am I gonna do, paralyzed a robot with VX nerve gas? That's not logical.
Melody: Ok, fair point. still…
Kurama: I should have told you; yeah, I'm sorry.
Arteza: Yeah, we're sorry.
Melody: Anything else you want to share like that?
Kurama: Hm…let's see…Roxy has nerve gas grenades, Mira has a whole host of poisons, we have grenades full of Phenol for burning out biohazards, we have acid grenades, we have firebomb grenades full of thermite and white phosphorus, and Tara has missiles with Shield-Killer X-ray laser warheads, which are powered by nuclear bombs, and I have a quarter-Kiloton Blue Fox Modular Tactical Nuclear Device at the base in my room in my closet.
Rodney: No, you don't; remember, Kurama, Arteza? Me and you got it out and put it in the armory. and Melody, it's a little one. like…five mile blast radius. nothing really dangerous.
Sheila snickered at Rodney's description of a small nuke, as did Kurama and Arteza.
Sheila: Yeah, a Blue Fox is a cherry bomb of a nuke.
Drago and Sirena burst out laughing, and so did Erron and Leica. .
Melody: You have another nuke. Well, at least you told me. so, is that all?
Kurama: Yes…'til Liam gets here with the carrier.
Melody: And what's on the carrier?
Kurama: Planes, helicopters, equipment, smaller attack vessels, RHIB boats, CIWS guns, missiles of various types for use against ships, planes, and land targets, torpedoes, depth charges…normal aircraft carrier stuff, just in way larger amounts.
Melody: nukes?
Kurama: low-yield tactical devices up to 10 kilotons.
Melody: Of course. As it is right now, you two may want to put your bags in my armory here.
Kurama: Why? Nothing in it is going to go off, and I know you, Shard,Celadon, Sienna, Erron, Leica, and Rodney, Drago, and Sirena have good enough sense not to mess with any of the things in my bag.
Arteza: Same here.
Melody: Actually I was saying that because I was thinking of what might happen if Shard accidentally fell into your bag when trying to climb up on the side of the couch that has your bag.
Kurama (Under his breath): FRAK! I never thought about that!
Arteza: (in thought to Kurama) Honey, i'm starting to question our "playing dumb" tactic, cause now we look like incompetent parents!
Both spoke to Sheila telepathically, telling her their concern, and she didn't laugh. No, she just realized it as well, and all three knew they needed to head that off pretty fast by showing what they could do.
Shard, meanwhile, had released a large burp, and quickly fell asleep on Kurama's shoulder while Kurama, Arteza, and Melody were talking. Melody had finished her food as well as finishing her drink.
Melody: Here, let me put these dirty dishes up then I can take Shard from you and show you my armory. By the way, my armory here is filled with my more nasty weapons, and some of my more experimental ones.
When Melody shows off her armory, leaving Shard with Sheila, Erron, Leica, Celedon, Sienna, Drago, Rodney, and Sirena...;
Kurama: Your armory is a lot like our normal one.
Arteza: yeah….wow….
Melody: I had a feeling you would like this. If you want, since I don't really use any of the weapons here, you and your team can have all of my weapons and gadgets that I have here. Oh, be careful when you are in here. I have a prototype bomb that is kinda like those Slipspace grenades you told me about. My bomb combines warp ring technology with negative chaos energy. Not really sure what it would do, but I think the blast radius would be about seven or so miles, I think. I never used it, so I have no clue what it is capable of, so just be careful. I put it in a sealed off box and labeled it.
Kurama: This is perfect. I can't wait to start tinkering with this stuff. Although I am wondering how to test those bombs you made.
Melody: They are more like grenades, and the MKND has a special pocket dimension where we safely test out extreme weapons in addition to letting kids who have powers go buck wild with their powers safely without worry that they would hurt anybody else. Wolfgang and I use the dimension a lot when we just want to break loose and be as destructive as we possibly can. And come to think of it, Horus uses the dimension a lot, but normally without weapons. I wonder why. He has no powers that I remember him using.
Kurama (in thought with Arteza): Come to think of it, Horus is always jittery and hesitant when around me. And he always has that pouch belt always in a certain position that covers the back of his right shoulder and he always wears those thick aviator goggles, even though he doesn't need them on the ground. What is he hiding from everyone? And why doesn't he wear a shirt if he doesn't want others to find out what is on his shoulder. And why doesn't he wear pants, yet he wears a belt? Man, Mobian culture is really weird! A lot of kids seem to be content walking around naked, or partly naked! (Aloud) Maybe we'll find out why Horus goes into your pocket dimension a lot some other day. Right now, I just wanna relax and wait out this storm.
Melody nodded, as Kurama and Arteza set their bags down on a table and went back to relax on Melody's couch, intending to watch television, snuggling up. Kurama managed to find Melody's television remote and turned on her TV, while Melody was putting Shard to bed for the night. Unfortunately, it was turned on to the MKND News channel, and they were just beginning their evening news broadcast.
Kurama: Yuck, the news. Yo, I wanted to watch something good, like CSI.
Arteza: Aww…..
TV:
1st Reporter: Hello and good evening. I am Number 2099, and this is my co-reporter, Number 8711.
Number 8711: Thank you 2099. First story tonight; Gamma 13, Are They Friend or Foe?
The thumbnail image that they used while saying the headline was one of Rodney, Kurama, and Arteza(still disguised) just walking down the street of the outdoor Care-A-Lot smiling, armed with rifles. With every second, Kurama and Arteza were liking this even less.
Kurama (Worried/slightly pissed off): YO MELODY! YOU BETTER GET IN HERE AND SEE THIS!
Melody ran into the room when she heard Kurama shout and saw the headline on the TV.
Melody (Horrified): Oh no. They didn't...
Kurama(Worry turning into being pissed off): They frakkin' did. Watch.
The three of them watched the entire broadcast, up until the commercial break. Thankfully the news channel was going to report a different unrelated story after the break.
Kurama: What the frak! That's total crap! If it wasn't for us, that mess the other day would have ended with casualties! So would this hurricane crap right now! My team once spearheaded an assault during a frakking hurricane! And the crap Barrett pulled the first night would have been worse without me!
Arteza would have tried to calm him down, but Arteza was just as pissed. As soon as the commercial was on Melody turned off the TV and then she got a call on her telephone in her cave. She answered it, and it was Susan who was calling.
Susan: Did you see the news?
Melody: Yes, I did, both me and Kurama and his clone did. Before you start though, let me put you on loudspeaker, Kurama and him are with me, and they deserve to be part of this conversation. After all we are all in deep crud with the news because of that broadcast.
After she put Susan on loudspeaker:
Susan: So, I assume you watched the broadcast with Melody, Kurama, you and your clone?
Kurama: Yes, I did. Let me tell you I am not happy about it. I mean, really, yo, they're making us and Rodney look bad! it's complete crap! And I'm getting SO pissed off! That was Rodney's first day on patrol with me! These mudaks are gonna ruin that memory for him!
Arteza: Yeah! I'm as pissed as he is!
Susan: I know how you feel, Jenny and the rest of your team were watching the news with me, and they all saw it. I think that Jenny and Folsom may have went to try and beat up the reporters. Hopefully, Kai and Farid can stop them from doing anything bad.
Kurama: If anything, it'll be Kai. Jenny scares the crap out of Farid when she's mad. OH CRAP.
Susan: Why 'Oh crap'?
Kurama: Did Jenny look different when she left?
Susan: Yeah. Fangs, claws, and the markings on her face were blood red. why?
Kurama: We call that "Dark Jenny". Only me, Sheila, and Kai can stop her.
And then another thing hit them - Folsom! Folsom would actually do something! Jenny and them would just scare the kids, not hurt them.
At that moment, Shard began to cry very loudly because of a nightmare, and Melody went to see what was wrong with him, while Kurama, Arteza, and Susan continued the conversation, calming down completely while talking. Or rather, they would have, as Kurama and Arteza jumped up and ran to get their bags, telling Susan that they needed to stop Folsom.
Kurama and Arteza: Susan, we're gonna head that a**hole off and shut him down!
They rushed out, just as Melody came back on hearing them say that.
Melody: Oh no….
Kurama and Arteza rushed down the tunnels, both armed with MAX-41a smgs. These were the perfect smgs for the task, as they were 9mm/6.5CBJ modded, plus they had under barrel shotguns.
At the same time, Folsom was rushing ahead of Jenny and Kai and well, neither wanted Folsom with them. They'd already told him no, and he didn't listen. And the fact that he was outrunning them, well, they were even more pissed off, and when he gave them the slip. They were cussing him out and calling Kurama and Arteza.
Jenny: Copper, that a**hole on the loose! We told him to stay back, but he ran off, and now he gave me and Kai the slip!
Kurama: I know, and we're on it! We're going to shu his a** down right now! I still wanna kick his a** for traumatizing my sweet Leica!
Kurama and Arteza may have had stun bullets loaded, but they weren't holding back. Racing through the tunnels, of course, Skadi had seen the news and she knew what was going down, so she decided to help Kurama and Arteza when the fight started.
Skadi: Everyone, keep on going, i'm soon gonna have to help Kurama and his clone, and i'll have to focus!
They all acknowledged her, and Skadi began pinpointing where the combatants were and called Kurama after she went behind some crates so she could talk to him and Arteza, bringing Fists with her. She had him stay right there, saying that there was stuff he needed to know.
Skadi: Roughs, there's a secret you need to be let in on, and it's very massive. But now is not the time. When it's settled and we go get Shard, you'll know the truth.
Fists: Ok. I just wanna be in on this, cause I know something's up with that clone of Kurama.
Skadi: Yeah, there is. (over the radio to Kurama and Arteza through a private channel between them with her S,C.R.A.M. and their M-5s) Kurama, Arteza, i know what's going on, and i know this is gonna be bad. Can I help you deal with this?
Kurama: Skadi, of course; we appreciate any and all help you can give us! We can't let that a**hole flood any of the tunnels!
Skadi: F**K! He's gonna try to flood the tunnels?
Arteza: We're sure of it! He'll be sure at some point to attempt to kick our a**es via his water magic, and if we don't stop him, he'll cause chaos! But he won't start with that, he's not stupid, just mean, and that's a bad combo! Tactically, what we need first is lots of breaches in the tunnels, where we can push the battle in the direction we want and not in the direction he wants!
Skadi: Right! Kurama, Arteza, stay safe and bring him down fast!
Kurama and Arteza: Got it, Skadi!
Fists: That a**hole…..he's going too far…..
And that's exactly what everyone was thinking of Folsom now. Kurama and Arteza were still rushing through the tunnels when they caught up to Folsom, opening fire on him with the stun rounds when they entered the large room that he had to pass through same as them.
Kurama: Hold it, a**hole!
Folsom dodge them, and began cussing at them, mad cause they shot at him.
Folsom: Kurama, what f**k are you doing? You gone dumba** on me now?
Kurama: Shut the' f**k up!
Arteza popped the pin on a stun grenade and tossed it, the two trying to flank Folsom, but he threw up a water shield and knocked the grenade back toward Kurama and Arteza. They dodged that and fired on Folsom's shield, trying to overwhelm him.
Arteza: You're not gettin' anywhere near those kids!
Folsom: You heard what they said about Gamma 13 then, didn't you? They oughta taught a lesson-
Kurama: F**k yer lessons!
By the time Kurama and Arteza were forced to reload, the shield popped and Folsom was on the run again, now shooting back at them.
Folsom: You know that I'm right!
Kurama and Arteza reloaded and chased down their rogue, and when Kurama gave Skadi a signal, she gave Kurama and Arteza a quick shunt down to the next floor, giving them time to head Folsom off again. When Folsom thought he was clear, of course he was wrong, and he took a stun round in the shoulder, but it didn't have the full effect.
Folsom: Dammit! F**king jacka**es!
He fired back at Kurama and Arteza, who took cover behind a rock that Skadi had made for them. Folsom emptied the whole mag of his Skink smg, the 60 round casket emptied in time, and Folsom ran off again immediately as he reloaded. This led to battle that became more and more intense, especially when Folsom tried to nearly drown Kurama and Arteza. He just wanted to sweep them away and knock them out, but this was an awful move. Kurama and Arteza took advantage of this to release a blast of electricity, signaling to Skadi to open another tunnel to drain the water. When it was drained, Folsom was still standing and so were Kurama and Arteza, but Kurama and Arteza had better endurance, and were in much better shape, so when they started marching toward Folsom, who once more tried to stun them, they opened up with their under barrel shotguns and pelted Folsom repeatedly with stun shot, begging him to just comply and get down. It wasn't easy and when they were done, having taken an hour, Folsom causing everyone to worry, and Kurama and Arteza cuffed him and dragged him back up, where Jenny and Kai were waiting with Farid.
Kurama: He's f**king lost his mind, we can't let him loose down here. He's gonna go 'round punishin' kids for all sortsa s**t they ain't done jus' cause he's….i don't know if he's tryin' ta win points or something' after that s**t tryna save us emotional pain about punishin' Leica.
Arteza: He has ta be dealt with, an' we think he oughta be made to live outside in that f**king hurricane!
Right then, Melody arrived, stopping Kurama and Arteza from doing that.
Melody: Wait! Don't do that, he's liable to f**k up and hurt himself or drown, and if you have to keep your MPs with him, that's wasted manpower! What if there's a reason we'd need everyone but Folsom, and they're babysitting him?
Kurama looked at Arteza, both knowing that Melody was right.
Kurama: Yeah, that's right…..crud….
Arteza: We gotta do somehin' with 'im.
Melody: Oh, we will, cause I'm not letting this go either. He's freaked a lot of kids out now, and he needs to be locked up. So, how about we lock him up in a completely different cavern system? One not connected to this one.
Kurama and Arteza grinned, knowing that if Folsom was there, he'd be unable to escape and cause trouble, cause both guys were actually worried he'd get vindictive and brave and want to screw with them. He was showing that kinda behavior already, so this could make him worse unless they really spelled it all out for him.
Kurama and Arteza: That works perfectly.
And so, Melody led them to a perfect cave system for Folsom's prison and they headed in,Jenny and Kai carrying Folsom while the others kept watch as they moved through the storm. Even if it was close, the storm was hell, and they still thought of just leaving him for a moment, but still….it was better this way. He'd be alive, but he'd still get punished for what he did, considering he broke so many rules, and now, Kurama was going to do it.
Farid: Copper…..when you punish him, how far down is he going?
Kurama: I'm stripping him of his rank and dropping to the lowest of the low, for good. I already punished myself, but he needs to learn as well.
Kurama turned to Farid.
Kurama: And you deserve the rewards you were denied. Farid, you're getting your commission. You deserve a lot for every good thing you did over the last 4 years, and this a**hole doesn't deserve anything.
Farid nodded, knowing that Folsom was very much likely to get vindictive again now.
As soon as they reached the deepest cavern, the end of the trek, Kurama and Arteza signaled Jenny and Kai to drop Folsom at the far end after they tossed some flare to light it up.
Kurama: This is where he's gonna have his solitary confinement. Take his M-5. takes his guns. Take everything but the clothes on his back and the clothes he might need 'til the hurricane is over.
Both nodded to Kurama and then did exactly that, tossing Folsom's clothes in a big pile, since they took his armory gear, and with everything gone, Folsom only had the very basics, and his clothes were scattered through the caves for him to find. Of course, he'd get food and water, and he had shelter, but Kurama and Arteza were punishing him by making him miserable. By the time they were done, Folsom was waking up, and of course, he started struggling and cursing, and Kurama grabbed him by his collar, hauling him up.
Kurama: Right now, you stop squirming, and don't you say a word. From this point on, you and Farid have swapped ranks, and he's getting ranked up after this too. I'm not gonna let you use your rank to get your way. You're jealous of everyone who tries to show me affection? The f**k is wrong with you? Did you think i didn't love enough so you went f**king crazy? There's a hell of a lot wrong with you if you can't admit this s**t. So, if you try to get out, you're going to get your a** shot and dragged back in here, and if you keep trying, we're going to chain you up and we'll confine you to a single room. Do you understand me, dips**t?
Folsom was still seething, but he held his tongue and nodded, angry at Kurama and Arteza now most of all, and when Folsom found himself completely alone in the cavern, the light of the flares dying out and leaving Folsom in the dark, he punched the wall, making a crater.
Folsom: He's gonna be sorry for doing this to me, and that clone is gonna be sorry too, and so is Skadi, and Melody, and RODNEY. Rodney….this is his f**king fault…..
The more Folsom thought about them, the madder he got and if Kurama had heard him right then, he'd have snapped Folsom in half. Kurama swore that no one was going to ever hurt his kids without being made to suffer, and Folsom was going to be very lucky when he made the stupid mistake of trying that. They also did three things before leaving: 1. Ask Horus to make some drones with shock weapons to act as nightwatch guards since Kurama would send a pair of void clones out during the day; 2. Have Skadi seal the cave up remotely; 3. Kurama left two clones there. Back with Kurama and them, Jenny and Kai, headed back to their area and Kurama and Arteza went back to Melody's cave home, still seething, and she held their hands all the way. When they got back, of course, Susan was still on the phone, being extremely worried about the situation.
Susan: Kurama? Are you and your clone there?
She'd heard them breathing heavily, and when Kurama and Arteza tossed off their jackets and put their bags away, and all, they flopped onto Melody's couch.
Kurama: Yeah, we're back, Susan. We kicked his a** real good, and those reporter kids are safe.
Arteza: And that a**hole tried to f**king drown us!
Susan: He tried to drown you!?
Kurama: Yeah, he flooded a tunnel, but we zapped his a**ed and when Skadi drained the tunnel for us remotely, we filled him full of 00 buck stun shot, 10 times. That's what it took to take him down, as pissed as he was.
Susan: This…this is a f**king mess….
The two then started talking about other things.
Kurama: ugh. anyway, so guess who showed up?
Susan: another Gamma Thirteen member.
Kurama: Yep. My wife, Sheila, showed up while me and Rodney were looking for Fists and Skadi. Turns out when she got transported, so did our personal truck and her motorcycle. She hid them in a cave and tunneled down. That's when she found us. I can't wait to introduce her to the others.
Susan: Does Melody know?
Kurama: More or less. I mean, I think it's obvious, it just wasn't a proper introduction. I'm holding off until Sheila's ready. she got soaked and now she's trying not to freeze her butt off.
That was when Melody came into the room with a sleeping Shard in her baby absolutely refused to go to sleep when left alone because he was too scared from the nightmare, and the developing situation only made it harder, as when Melody came back, she'd found Shard upset again after getting him settled the first time. As for Celadon and Sienna, Sheila had gotten them settled long ago and taken care of them. Melody just didn't see that.
Melody: I am glad to see you two have started to calm down after all of that, both Folsom and the newscast but because of it, I think it would be the best for you and the rest of Gamma 13 lay low for now. As it is, I am going to have a news conference as soon as I can. Hey Susan, do you think you can arrange that to happen tomorrow?
Susan: I can, but really girl? You know that I'm a scientist, not your assistant. Why can't you call Number 731 for that, since she is your secretary and all?
Melody: For the simple fact that Number 731 wanted to stop being a secretary and begin to write her own books. Did you forget that we had a retirement party for her not too long ago?
Susan: Right, I had forgotten about that. I actually just finished reading her first book. It's a real page turner. Hey Kurama, if you have the time, you should totally read her book. I can get you a copy if you want.
Kurama: Sure. I could use a new book to read to not get bored when on long missions.
Arteza: Yeah, we need more new books.
He and Arteza laughed, thinking of the whole secretary deal..
Kurama: And secretary; I ended up with Kai as my secretary. I've seen him plan parties half-drunk, and they ended up perfect. I'd say Jenny was my secretary, but you know she hates all that paperwork crap. I've also seen Kai type mission reports while sloppy drunk. and he has perfect grammar. Now, what's weird is that Kai actually doesn't mind it, plus nine times outta ten, he's sober when he's doing all the paperwork. and yes, I know I should do most of it, but… Ask Kai about my handwriting. only my team can read it. well, plus Rodney. (To Rodney) Yo, Rodney, how can you read our writing?
Rodney: I have no idea. it's not that bad. I mean, mine's no better. Guess if you got sucky handwriting, you can read someone else's sucky writing if it's as bad as yours.
Drago: And we aren't much better on that front.
Sirena: You can say that again.
Sheila: Yeah. Both of you suck at writing. stick to typing, guys.
Rodney; oh yes, type with our freakin' index fingers. take for freakin' ever to type a report.
Erron: And we all know I live up to the old saying that doctors have bad handwriting, even Skadi knows mine sucks!
Kurama, Erron, Arteza, Leica, Rodney, Drago, and Sirena started laughing while Sheila snickered to herself. Melody shook her head as Susan laughed.
Susan: Doesn't mean that I wanted the job of being Melody's secretary. I much rather be doing science related things than secretarial paperwork. SERIOUSLY MEL, GET YOURSELF A NEW SECRETARY ALREADY!
Melody (To Rodney and ignoring Susan's shout, which just made Kurama and Arteza laugh even harder): So, anyway; hey, Rodney, I need you with me at the press conference. Can you do it?
Rodney: Yeah, it's cool.
Susan: Just tell me, do you think you need to dress up for the event, or will your normal Supreme Leader armor that you normally wear for a conference?
Melody: I think I will be okay with wearing my normal Supreme Leader armor. You might want to tell Rodney that he can wear his normal clothing, as he does not have to wear anything specific because he is my successor. (to Kurama and Arteza) I hope that this conference does not mess with your training routine with Rodney, Kurama, and his clone. If it does, I can always reschedule the conference to not mess with the two of you and your time together.
Kurama: By all means, do the conference. The faster you get it over with and straighten the facts from the lies from that broadcast, the faster we can get on with all of our lives. And look, we're going. If you and Rodney have to deal with this, we're gonna stand by you. We're gonna let them know exactly what Gamma Thirteen is.
Arteza: And on the topic of clothes, since Rodney's sticking with gear like ours, we'll make sure he tones it down. We'll skip the jackets and carry just a compact carbine, each. t-shirts and forest camo pants will work. We're not carrying Chaos Nightmare or Slavic Dragon to the conference, for safety reasons. I mean, seriously, that wouldn't help. But there's no way we're going without guns, and neither is Rodney. We're taking this head-on. Deal?
Melody: Deal. Bye Susan.
Susan: Bye.
After Susan hung up…
Susan: Great! Now I have to waste my time scheduling a press conference instead of taking my special bath that I wanted to take. *Beyku fakya ranjo!
*Translation: What a f###ing waste!
Back with Melody and the others;
Melody turned around to Kurama and Arteza, and she had to smile a little at seeing Kurama cuddling with Arteza. .
Melody: Things like what the MKND news just said makes me sometimes regret giving kids the right of free speech. Oh Kurama, you forgot to introduce me to your friend.
Kurama and Arteza snickered at Melody's comment on regretting giving kids free speech, as Melody looked over to where Sheila was sitting with Rodney and them. Sheila had shed Kurama's jacket and Arteza's scarf. Melody became unnerved and her eyes widened. Melody couldn't believe it- Sheila! Her Kurama and her Sheila and they really were married to Arteza! She just knew this had to be her Sheila!
Melody: Excuse me.
She went out of the room, after handing Shard to Kurama, to her kitchen, locked the door behind her, and cussed in a really long string of curse words in the MKND special language at the top of her lungs. Kurama, Arteza, Sheila, Rodney, Drago, Sirena,Erron, Leica, and Shard could hear what Melody was saying very clearly. Rodney became beet red with embarrassment, as he understood every single word of what Melody was saying, and so did Errron and Leica, who actually weren't embarrassed. Kurama and Arteza were busy laughing to themselves, getting the idea of what she was saying, and Sheila was just wondering what was going on with Melody, who she swore had to be their Melody, but she really needed to sit down and talk about that with her husbands. Shard heard Melody's cursing shouts, and woke up crying because his sleep was interrupted, as did Celadon and Sienna, so Kurama and Arteza went and got those three. When she stopped cussing, her doorbell rang and Melody answered it. Wolfgang was there because he wanted to talk to her about the strange new tunnel that he had found. (It was the one Sheila had created.), as well as why there were even more new tunnels, as he'd missed the whole fiasco that Folsom created. Melody took Wolfgang to talk about the matter in her personal library with the door locked.
Melody: Ok. we got a problem.
Wolfgang: What are you talking about?
Melody barely opened the door and pointed to Sheila. Sheila and Rodney were talking. The rest of the kids were playing cards with a deck that Sheila let them use. Shard was sleeping on Kurama's chest, while Kurama was singing softly to him in Kitseili. And Arteza was doing the same with Celadon and Siena, the three babies now sleeping peacefully again. Wolfgang saw Sheila and the two of them pulled the door closed quickly. Wolfgang just let out the MKND language equivalent of Frakking heck in a whisper.
Melody: Her!
Wolfgang: That's impossible! The princess is currently roboticized remember? It couldn't possibly be her! Then again...there's only one other person who could look like that…..Sheila. Sheila Kouzan, the girl our cousin Kurama wanted to marry.
Melody(nodding): Yeah. We need to check this out. What if she's an auto-automation of Princess Sally, or worse, of Sheila? We cannot risk Eggman finding out about this place. He could have captured Sheila and made an Auto-Automaton of her. We are going back to MKND HQ, gearing up, then we are going on a mission to investigate this matter. Just let me tell Kurama and his clone that we are going on an emergency mission, and that it is only a three-person job and we need Farid as our scout. And we are leaving here by my secret entrance that I have.
Melody then proceeded to do just what she said she would and then the two twin hedgehogs and Farid went on the investigation mission, and to their relief, found out that Princess Sally was still Roboticized and that the intruder was not a mechanical replica of their close friend, and they also were relieved that Sheila hadn't been captured and copied as well. They did however find out about Eggman's newest plans on capturing Shard and the kids from Care-A-Lot. Needless to say, they immediately blew up any and all of the tools and machines that Eggman was going to use in said plans with extreme for Princess Sally, the real one….
Melody: Farid, hack into that robot.
Farid: Sure.
Farid hacked into Sally and found out who she was and managed to give her back a little control. And the thing was, this really broke his heart cause he knew Sally back from when they were younger, and knowing this had happened…..he knew that Kurama and them had to know.
a little later…
Farid: What. The. Frak. Melody! That was a person?! How?! When I did that, I was thinking you wanted me to take control and cause some havoc!
Melody then explained about robotization.
Farid: That's freaky. Look, until now, I personally knew one "full" cyborg. and that's Mira's brother Techno, and he got his cybernetics because he messed up with a landmine. For him, it's his chest and arms. That took a while for everyone to get used to. Everyone else my team has minor is just weird and freaky! (in thought) Never mind that you just had me hack into Sally!
Melody: And yet, you and your team never questioned why Susan is a cyborg. Ever wonder why she is one in the first place?
Farid: Yes, but I didn't say anything because I don't want to get into trouble with Susan and have her shoot me! And she's more like Techno than this girl in that regard.
Melody: To be fair, you did hack into her personal memories first instead of waiting for her to make the first move.
Farid: Yeah, but Kurama told me to do it first! He is my team leader and CO, so he makes the 's how he knew how to scare the s**t outta her. Look, i don't wanna get into an ethics discussion about covert ops and s**t. And I'm not blaming Kurama, because I stand by his orders.
Melody: Yes. Yes, he does. And Farid, I didn't say you were blaming him. He had to make a call, and you guys don't exactly seem to believe in any rules of war, do you?
Farid: Not really. We just don't do immoral nasty s**t that'll get us sent to hell.I'd like the damn feather to weigh more than my heart, y'know? Anyways, could you tell me Susan's story on the way back? I don't think it will be quite as detrimental to my health if I ask you.
Meanwhile with Sheila, Kurama, Arteza, Leica, Erron, Rodney, Drago, Sirena, Celadon, Sienna, and Shard…
Kurama: So that was weird, wasn't it, Diesel, Tezzie?
Sheila: Yeah.
Arteza: Yep. Think there's something going on?
Sheila(nodding, gently wiping away some drool she saw coming out of Shard's mouth):Yeah. So anyway, who's this little sweetie?
Kurama smiled.
Kurama (resting his hands on Shard's back and butt so that he could turn to face Sheila): this is Shard. He's Fist's and Skadi's son.
Sheila: ah. that goes with what Erron, Leica, Rodney, Drago, and Sirena told me. They did say that you must have had quite the impression on the little guy, as Shard kept wanting to get to know you better. And he's as precious as our new twins, and this brings the three of us up to 6 babies, including our precious Erron.
Kurama handed Shard to Sheila and she moved so that she sat down between Kurama and Arteza, the kids all cuddled up with them on the couch, and well, Erron wanted Kurama to hold him, since the kids had agreed on taking turns so they'd all get cuddle with Kurama, Sheila, and Arteza. So, Kurama took Erron in his arms, the sweet little ibex boy laying his head on Kurama's chest. Kurama's phone then rang. He pulled it out and a small image of Skadi appeared. He walked into the kitchen to take the call, carrying Erron with him. While Kurama was in the kitchen with Erron, Sheila checked Shard's diaper, finding the infant had soiled himself, and Rodney went off to find the baby supplies Melody had on hand, quickly returning with them. Sheila took the items from Rodney, and laid the changing mat that Rodney had found on Melody's coffee table, and laid Shard down on it, and proceeded to change the baby. Rodney took and threw the soiled diaper into a small bag and tied it off, then tossed the bag with the dirty diaper into the trash, while Sheila picked Shard back up and began to sing to the infant in Tigrahn, continuing the song Kurama was singing to Shard earlier. Leica, Drago and Sirena, meanwhile, watched TV with Arteza, Celadon and Sienna being quickly changed by Arteza immediately afterwards. With Kurama...
Skadi: Hey Kurama. How's Shard? Has he been any trouble?
Kurama was walking around, his phone switched to handsfree with his subvocal setup, though it was in normal mode now.
Kurama: No. He's been a perfect angel. Sheila's got him right now, and if anything, really, Folsom caused us way more trouble, which thanks again for helping me and Tezzie. Hopefully, Melody will get back so me, Sheila, Rodney, Drago, and Sirena can go get our truck and Diesel's motorcycle. Like, you gotta see our truck; Diesel built it by hand. It's perfectly designed for combat and everyday life. But seriously, Shard's been a joy to keep.
Skadi (In thought): You haven't seen how Shard is when he tries to get out of getting baths. (Aloud): You're welcome, Kurama, and I'd definitely like to see your truck. So, where is Melody?
Kurama: Hell if I know. She ran off with Wolfgang and Farid on some recon mission. I got this feeling she was telling me a crappy cover story, but I didn't say anything. Her aura was wonky, like staticky grayish-yellow. Her nerves were all torn up.
Skadi: Did something happen?
Kurama: I'm not sure. It was weird. Right before I could introduce her to Diesel, Wolfgang came by. Melody ran off to talk with him, and then she told that crappy cover story I told you about, and then they left. It was absolute nonsense. I told her, "don't rush; get all the info you need and then some". (quietly) I think she realizes we're the real deal.
Fists (in the background): I KNEW IT! MELODY AND WOLFGANG DID FLIP OUT! HA! YOU OWE ME TEN RINGS HORUS!
Skadi and Kurama laughed when they heard what Fists said, and both smiled, and a bit broader at the idea of Melody realizing that it really was them, like Skadi did. .
Skadi: I think the words 'Frak that noise' are appropriate. And you played her.
There was quite a bit of their conversation that was created for the benefit of those who didn't know he was the real Kurama, Melody and Wolfgang and them's Kurama. But Skadi knew and she loved having her Kurama back.
Kurama: Heck yeah. And it looks like you've picked up something from my team. You should have heard Melody cuss in Kitseili when Amadeus asked about hanging out with Joey and Apollo. Or just now when she went to the kitchen and started cussing in your MKND language. I'm not repeating it or anything she just said; but it was funny as all get out. It had me, Tezzie, and Rodney and them laughing our butts off when she used Kitseili, and I was laughing to myself when she started cussing in the kitchen. Rodney just turned red with embarrassment. I'm not repeating it; but I was funny as all get out. It had me and Rodney laughing our butts off. Anyway, so, when are guys coming back?
Skadi: oh, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. It turns out we're gonna be here for a good while longer. Only about a day or so, hopefully. Thank you for taking care of Shard for us. Oh, before I forget, does Shard have his favorite stuffed triceratops with him? It helps keep him calm when Fists and I are not around.
Kurama: I have no idea. Maybe Melody knows. I'll ask her when she gets back. And you won't ever have to worry about your son. Shard is safe with me, Diesel, Tezzie, and Rodney. We have more than enough firepower if trouble comes knocking. and trust me; If trouble comes knocking, trouble is going home in a body bag. And that's a Marine Corps guarantee. And Skadi, you're welcome. If you ever need a babysitter, I don't mind. Look, Diesel is gonna start teaching Rodney about combat engineering when we start back with his training. But since me, Tezzie, and Rodney have to help Melody deal with that junk the press said about Gamma 13, Sheila can watch Shard, if that's ok. Drago and Sirena will be there with them, too, and Leica as well.
Skadi: That's fine. And in any case, it'll be good for him to bond with Sheila. He needs that, plus more time with your twins. And if you ask Rodney, he'll tell you the translation of what Melody said exactly. That is why he was so embarrassed. Just don't let Shard be in the room when he tells you the translation. And Kurama, look, we have to bring Fists in on this as well, he has to know. It's not right.
Kurama: I know, Skadi, and I'd rather have him know too. I'll talk to Diesel and Tezzie about it.
Skadi: Good. Well, I'll let you get back to what you were doing. Tell Shard we love him, and we'll be back as soon as possible. Bye.
Kurama: Got it. Bye. (quietly) Love you, kitten.
Hearing that warmed Skadi's heart, as she loved hearing Kurama call her that like he used to. Kurama put his phone back in his pocket and walked back into the living room. He sat back down with his wife and husband and the kids.
Sheila (letting Shard sleep in her arms): So, can you give me a mission update Honeys? I am completely in the dark here, and I want to know who your new friends are.
Kurama and Arteza proceeded to tell Sheila exactly what had been going on, leaving out the part with Melody's transformation when Rodney and Shard and them were in the room. Melody had told him who she was okay with them talking about her "condition" with, and Rodney and Shard were not on that list. Not yet anyways. Rodney had left the room to try and find where Melody had set up a place to sleep for Shard, Celadon, and Sienna, with Drago and Sirena talking to Rodney, and Erron went and helped, as did Leica, which gave Kurama and Arteza more than enough time to tell Sheila about the deal they had just made with Melody, and how to keep Fists and Skadi in the dark about it, and about what Skadi asked to do regarding bringing Fists in on their secret. He and Arteza also told her about Rodney and his secret, but told her to keep the fact about Rodney's wings to herself, as Rodney was still sensitive about the topic.
Kurama: Diesel, please do not tell a frakking soul about Rodney's wings.
Arteza: Now, at some point, I want him to show you his wings, when it's just the four of us.
Sheila: Yo, I got it Aggro, Tezzie. don't worry. so, he's part dragon. a koala-dragon hybrid. That's new. You know, I was thinking about it, he doesn't have a callsign yet, does he?
Kurama: no, but you've got something in mind don't you.
Sheila: You read my mind. How about Firestorm? I mean he is half dragon.
Kurama: That's perfect. but let's keep that to ourselves, make it special.
Arteza: Now, considering how smart he is, how about Shiza? He did help you put together Shard's nightlight.
Sheila: He's an absolute genius inventor, so a term meaning an improvised weapon is appropriate. He can have his normal callsign be that.
Kurama: Okay, and I have another big bombshell for you.
Arteza and Kurama grinned, leaning in,
Sheila: What is it?
Kurama and Arteza: Skadi heard your voice through her bones and her real name isn't Skadi.
Sheila: That matches up. I made a detailed list of everything that seemed off about her.
Arteza: You think she's our Skadi.
Kurama: Well, her mother is named Ako'rra Kouzan, and I think she may very well be your big sister, but I don't know for sure. But I know Skadi is our Skadi. I was waiting for Skadi to get me some pictures of her mother first. And I have another bombshell for you about Melody that you have to keep secret from the others until Melody is ready to tell others herself.
Sheila: Okay, I can do that, so what is it?
Kurama: Melody is some sort of werewolf hybrid thing now. She calls her werewolf form her "Werehog" form, and yes she does know that the word translates to "man pig," but she likes the sound of it better than saying werewolf hedgehog.
Arteza: It seems close to Kurama's Aggro state.
Sheila: That's weird. How did you find out about this form in the first place?
Kurama: The very night we were transported here. I had just finished letting Skadi medically examine me and give me some medicine for the bruise on my chest that Fists managed to give me while I was wearing full body armor. She tried to keep it a secret from everyone except for Amadeus. I followed them to a small lake outside of Care-A-Lot, and that was where Melody transformed. When I tried to see if she was okay, Melody tried to eat me, but thankfully I stopped her by grabbing her around her neck, but she tried to get free by kicking and swiping at me to no effect. Then after Melody got shot by Farid with the friggin .50 cal, she ran away, then when I caught her, I made her tell me how she became a werehog in the first place.
Kurama then recounted the rest of that night for Sheila.
Sheila: Okay, so we are on the same page. She does look a lot like our cousin Melody Avro. And that orange hedgehog looked so much like our cousin Wolfgang. And if that's really our Skadi, it's gotta be our Mel and Wolfgang.
Kurama: I got that feeling too, but they have a little brother by the name of Amadeus. Wasn't that the name of Aunt Hannah and Uncle Leonardo's newborn baby before they left for that unknown dimension?
Sheila: Yes, it was, but I don't think they are the same person. I mean sure Amadeus should have grown up into a kid by now, but if he's related to this Melody and Wolfgang we know now, he couldn't possibly be our cousin, or he could.
Arteza: There's a lot of variables here and we gotta weed them out.
Kurama: Yeah. There are too many mysteries surrounding these three right now. We have to take on each mystery one at a time if we want to get to the bottom of this giant one. But all we know for certain is that Aunt Hannah and Uncle Leo are gone.
Sheila(sighing heavily): Agreed. As to the children, they seem quite taken with you.
Kurama: By Rodney's account, at least in his subconscious, Arteza and I are his fathers. He called me 'dad' in his sleep when we spent that second night together.
Arteza: And he called me "Poppa".
Sheila: By the way you speak, you're convicted in your heart to care for him, but you do so with joy. And you've extended that to Drago and Sirena. You already show this to Leica, and we now have Erron, Celadon, and Sienna.
Kurama: We made a promise to Skadi to take care of Rodney. And if these are his siblings, they deserve to have that promise fulfilled to them as well. Tezzie and I swore to Skadi that we would on our word of honor, and we intend to keep my word.
Arteza: Yeah, and by the way, she also made me promise to make sure that you'd be the best mother you could be to Rodney, which we did because we already know that you'd be a great mother to him regardless.
Sheila: Well, if it is true that Skadi is Akorra's daughter, then I know her heart to be pure. And I will be the best mother to Rodney, Drago, and Sirena too. It has to be if she adopted Shard as her own baby, despite being a kid still. And another thing, about Leica, you really shoulda given her a good spanking for what she did.
Kurama: We were gonna, we were really gonna, until that dumbf**k Folsom barged in and traumatized her and left f**king handprints on Leica's butt.
Sheila: That bastard!
Arteza: That's especially why we wanted to kick seven shades outta him.
Sheila: Then i'm glad you kicked his a** so badly. By the way, any idea where the kids went off with Shard, Celadon, and Sienna?
Kurama: No, but we can go find them. They haven't left this condo that's for sure. I can feel their presence nearby.
Sheila: Let's go then.
Arteza: Yep.
The three adults got up and went off to search for the 8 children. Sheila, Arteza, and Kurama found them in Melody's big bed, both asleep on top of all the covers. Kurama, Arteza, and Sheila just chuckled to themselves at the sight. Kurama, Arteza, and Sheila walked over to the children, and Sheila picked Shard, Celadon, and Sienna up and carefully cradled them as Kurama and Arteza took the gear off of Rodney and Drago and set it to the side, Sheila helping Sirena after handing Shard and the twins to Kurama temporarily.
Sheila (gently rocking Shard in her arms after taking him back, while Kurama and Arteza have the twins separately): Rodney looked just like you with that rifle in his arms. He is such a sweet Drago and Sirena looked so adorable too, and a lot like you.
Sheila handed Shard to Kurama as she put her arms around Kurama and Arteza in a hug.
Kurama (bouncing Shard in his arms and resting his head against Sheila and Arteza's): And Rodney has the true heart of a warrior. He took after me so quickly, in every way. He's a joy to work with.
Arteza: He wants to learn how to fight like us more than anything. I mean, when me, Kurama, and him were fighting side by side, he used what we taught him. He's a genius, and a naturally born warrior. And though we haven't spent as much time with Drago and Sirena, I feel that they are like that too.
Kurama: So do i,
Sheila (rubbing Shard's sleeping head gently, then doing the same to Celadon and Sienna): They are just like you. I'm so happy for you. You know, that was a wonderful choice of song. I think Shard liked it, and so did Celadon and Sienna. .
Kurama: Funny. I wasn't really thinking. I just had that song in my head. Ain't that something; me singing Not Broken by Girl on Fire as a lullaby.
Arteza: Y'know, we played that song for Rodney when he poured his heart out to us that night. How about tomorrow we let Shard listen to some of our music?
Sheila: That's a wonderful idea, honey. Speaking of that, Rodney told me he introduced you two to show tunes and classical music.
Kurama: Yeah. and by the same token we introduced him to grunge and all the stuff we like.
Sheila smiled.
Sheila: The way you boys have treated him, it's like he's our son, and you treat his siblings the same way.
Kurama: I know. I really feel like they are less of subordinates, and more like my children to me. He acts like he's our subordinate, but yeah, deep down, I know he wants to be our baby, especially cause he liked having me and Tezzie as his gay dads.
Both of the guys giggled at that, and Sheila kissed Kurama and Arteza.
Sheila: I know you'll make wonderful fathers to these three in the time being. If we are only meant to care for them for a time, then it is the will of the Ancients. I mean, really, they gave us Aiden, Peach, Chern, Celadon, Sienna, and Erron.
Kurama: Think Melody would mind if all of us slept in her giant bed?
Sheila: I don't think she would. This "Melody" sounds like she wouldn't get mad about it. I mean she took Rodney under her wing when she knew nothing about him and he was a complete stranger. And she showed kindness to Drago and Sirena. And she was compassionate to Leica allowing her to join us.
Kurama: You do have a point. Besides, Melody still does not really know anything about him, or his siblings.
Kurama then handed Rodney to Sheila, who cradled him in one arm and Shard in the other, so that Kurama could turn the bedsheets down, and Arteza and another clone got the rest of the kids.. Once Kurama did that, he set Drago and Sirena down, took his own gear off, took Shard from Sheila, and got into the bed, Arteza setting down the kids he was holding, and doing the same. Sheila then temporarily set Rodney down besides Kurama and she went to the bathroom to finally get out of her wet clothes, as she already saw where Melody's laundry room was. After Sheila changed into some pajamas that she had replicated (as Melody had set up a personal replicator in her condo, after asking Kurama for one, for her own personal use), Sheila put her soaked clothes to wash and went back to the bedroom, picking up Rodney again. Sheila tenderly cradled Rodney, who snuggled close to her in his sleep, hugging her like she was a stuffed animal. Shard was also hugging her, and she cradled him closely too. Kurama, on the other hand, had Drago laying on his chest and Sirena cradled in the crook of his arm, her head under his chin. And then, there was Arteza with Leica and Erron, and Celedon and Sienna ended up in the middle where Kurama was. Sheila, Arteza, and Kurama smiled at the sight, and the three sang a lullaby to the children, easing them into a deeper and more peaceful sleep. When Sheila, Arteza, and Kurama finished the song, they turned in, snuggling close to each other, with the children sleeping on their chests, pulling the covers over them. Kurama, Arteza, and Sheila hugged the children tenderly and protectively, like loving parents, as all three adults knew that these children needed as much family love that they could muster.
Kurama, Arteza, and Sheila (kissing the children on their foreheads): Goodnight babies. We love you with all our hearts.
They may have not had a conventional marriage, but no one could deny how much they loved their children. As for Folsom, well, he was still literally in the dark and his anger was rising. But the thing was, he was unfortunately going to get support from Wolfgang soon. Now, if Wolfgang was cursed, and Folsom wasn't so jealous, and the cave wasn't Folsom's deserved prison, Wolfgang and Folsom could help each other, and eventually, they'd need each other, just not now. Now, they'd be feeding and encouraging the jealousy and curse. As for Melody, Wolfgang, and Farid, well, they still weren't back, but Melody did ask Farid to drop off some baby supplies for Kurama and them, Melody making sure Farid had a key to her cave condo, and he carefully did that while Kurama and them were sleeping. Of course, he peeked in on them to make sure they were ok, and he didn't see Arteza's face good, but he did see Kurama smiling, and he left quickly, happy that Kurama and Sheila were ok.