Chapter 6 Building Trust

Larry went to his room, picking his superhero costume off the bed. He gave it a brief inspection before putting it on, all while wearing a smirk filled to the brim with excitement. As he set his mask on his face, he thought about a plan that he could use to get Fiery Tempest to trust him. It wouldn't be that hard, would it? Surely, he'd be able to do this without too much hassle or trouble. And… well, this could and probably would become a very time-consuming ordeal. After all, one didn't just build trust overnight. Larry would have to battle his impatience if he wanted to build up trust with her in a natural way.

But that was fine. He could do that; he could do that easily. After everything that had happened to him since he made his wish on Fortune's Comet, he could deal with the silly little inconvenience of building trust gradually. If anything, he was excited about that, mostly because Fiery Tempest was the single most interesting thing that had happened to him since making that wish. He would win the war with his impatience. He would build up trust with Fiery Tempest, and he would find out for certain who she was and what her deal was.

With that last thought, Larry grabbed his cape from off the bed and put that on. Grinning, he went over to his window, opened it, and flew out. He let out a breath as he hovered in midair. This is going to be fun, he thought to himself. This is definitely going to work, and we're all going to be better off because of it.

So, he flew away. He couldn't even contain his excitement; this was going to be awesome!

…

2 hours later

"HYAA!" Larry shouted as he kicked a goomba thug in the face. They went flying, landing with one of the most painful-sounding thuds ever as the back of their head came in contact with the dirt. This was a satisfying sight to see, but Larry couldn't let it become his primary focus. He had about ten more goomba thugs running right at him, and they all looked supremely pissed.

"YOU'RE NOT BEATING US THAT EASY, KID!"

Larry laughed as he got his sonic cannon ready. "Yeah, you wish!" He fired at the goombas, who all toppled like bowling pins. He smiled, impressed at how smoothly this fight was going. Man, if only some of his other fights could be this easy and fun. That would be nice; the last thing he needed was to almost be crushed by a giga goomba or have his arm get destroyed again.

"YAA!" Larry shot one more sonic cannon blast, making the last goomba fall to the floor unconscious. The superhero grinned, relieved that this fight didn't turn into a big deal. He was happy about that… until he realized that Fiery Tempest hadn't shown up once during this fight. This made him frown, and it made his heart sink too. Damn it; why didn't she show up!

Suddenly, he heard some laughter. Blinking, Larry turned to see her, standing right behind him. He blinked multiple times as he took in her appearance, took in the fact that she seemed to be so amused at the sight of him. Frowning, he turned toward her, frankly unsure which emotion he should be feeling.

"Took you long enough."

Fiery Tempest shrugged. "I had other things to do."

Larry raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yep!" Fiery smirked and stepped closer to him. "But it's not a big deal! You seem to have done a good job on your own."

Larry looked over at the unconscious goombas before letting out a sigh. "Well…" he chuckled. "This wasn't too big of a deal. They're just goombas. Regular-sized goombas."

Fiery nodded. "Makes sense." She giggled. "Lord knows that any goomba who isn't their regular size gives you so much trouble."

"Hey!"

"What? It's the truth!" Fiery giggled some more before taking a step closer. "But for what it's worth, I'm glad you weren't hurt or anything."

Larry blinked again before what she said fully sunk into him. "That's sweet," he said with a smile. "Really sweet."

"Thanks." Fiery looked around before gasping and pointing behind Larry. "Look! A sandbird!"

"Sandbird?" Larry turned around, frowning when he didn't see anything. "What are you talking about, there's nothing…"

When he turned back around, he gawked. Fiery was nowhere to be seen. He didn't know how she escaped so easily, nor did he know where she went. All he knew was that he was left standing alone, without any more knowledge about her nor any more trust that he could say he built up.

"Dammit!" Larry felt extreme annoyance fill him before something occurred to him, causing him to chuckle. "It's alright. I'll see her again. And when I do… well, I'll be able to build more trust than she could reasonably handle."

…

2 days later

Larry flew over Berrybark, once again searching for any crime. He figured there would be; after all, this place was known to be where the rich and famous dwelled. Rich and famous people had money, and money was sure to attract the lowest of low-life thugs. It was only natural, right? A crime just had to happen, right?

He continued scanning over the city, determined to have his theory proven right. Unfortunately, for the first fifteen minutes or so, he saw absolutely nothing. No one was experiencing any major distress; there weren't even any old ladies who needed help crossing the street. Talk about a major bummer. Couldn't just one gruesome thug do something illegal? Seriously; this place was a gangster's paradise!

Alas, he still saw absolutely nothing. Right as he was about to officially throw in the towel on this whole search, he saw something. Some thugs were in an alleyway, punching someone's lights out. Larry couldn't help but grin. Oh, this is perfect.

With that, he landed just a few feet away from the thugs. They didn't even notice him; they were too busy beating their victim to a pulp. Smirking, Larry got out his sonic cannon once again. Without any words, without even much thought, he started blasting the brutes. They immediately stopped what they were doing, with the ones who hadn't been shot shrieking like little girls. They began running away, but Larry just as quickly shot them all up.

"Ha ha!" he exclaimed as he put his sonic cannon away. "Well, they aren't going to beat anyone else up, that's for sure." He directed his gaze down toward the thugs' victim. "Are you okay…" He gasped, disbelief filling him. "Fiery Tempest?"

Fiery Tempest let out a shaky breath, wearing a smile that was surprisingly not forced given the circumstances. "Hey."

With wide eyes, Larry helped her to her feet. "What happened?" he asked as she brushed some dirt off her costume and fixed her hair.

"Well… I had gone after that gang because they had stolen an actress' pearl necklace without the owner realizing it. Speaking of which…" she held out her finger, went over to the unconscious body of one of the thugs, and snatched the pearl necklace out of their hammerspace. "I probably should've realized that I was biting off more than I can chew." She stood still for a second before turning toward Larry with a smile. "I… I owe you a lot, Captain Metal. Lord knows what would've happened it you hadn't shown up."

Larry chuckled. "Well, you already saved me twice. So… all I need to do is save you one more time, and I think we'd be pretty much even."

Fiery beamed, her eyes sparkling. "True. That is true." She adjusted her hair once again. "Well, I personally hope that doesn't happen. Not because I don't like the thought of us being even, but more because…" she put her hand to a black eye that was on her cheek. "Well, needing to be saved is quite painful."

Larry laughed. "Words that you should probably never say to King Bowser."

Fiery laughed, the sound carrying throughout the alley. Larry couldn't help but smile when he heard that sound. It.. it was so clear. So melodic. So… cute.

"Well…" Fiery Tempest stood in place after she recovered for a little bit. She looked down at the pearl necklace in her hand. "I should probably return this." She turned around. "See you later Captain Metal; thank you for saving me!"

It took longer than Larry was prouder to admit for him to realize that she was leaving him again. "Wait!" He chased after. "Fiery Tempest, we need to…"

The second he exited the alleyway, he realized that he had lost her. He looked from left to right, ahead and behind, above and below. She was nowhere to be seen. Just like every other time where she didn't want to be found, she was absolutely nowhere to be seen.

"DAMMIT!" Larry yelled. He stopped for a second before a smile grew on his face. "She did have a pretty laugh though." He put his hand to his chin again. "I bet I can get her to laugh again…"

…

Five days later

Larry sat on a roof in Stonebrim in his Captain Metal costume. He had just got back from battling a very nasty human opponent, one who had showered him with ice balls. It was a miracle that he had even managed to beat him at all, but he had somehow done it against all the odds. And now, he was just relaxing. Relaxing and waiting.

He didn't have a guarantee that he would run into Fiery Tempest again; after all, it had been a while since he had seen her. However, he was really excited at just the mere possibility. Sure, he had been excited to see her every time, but this time in particular was really special. He had something up his sleeve, something he was more than a little excited to share with her.

"What are you doing here?"

Larry beamed as he turned around, coming face to face with Fiery once again. Unlike the other times he had seen her, she didn't appear to be happy or giddy. Instead, she just looked confused as she looked at the superhero who wasn't doing any hero work.

Said superhero just chuckled. "Just relaxing. I got into a real tussle not too long ago."

"I see." Fiery's signature smile returned to her face. "Well, there are worse things that a superhero can be doing when they're off duty, I suppose."

"Yeah." Larry patted the ground beside him. "Come on! Sit with me!"

Fiery did a double-take, for a second looking absolutely terrified. "Uh…" she scratched the back of her head. "S.. Okay…" she reluctantly stepped towards Larry and took a seat beside him. Larry smiled at her, an action she returned. Unfortunately, she also scooted farther away from him when she did.

Huh, Larry thought. Maybe building up trust with her is going to be a little difficult. Even still, he had come this far; he couldn't quit now. So, he put on a smile as he looked at her.

"Hey Fiery Tempest, do you like puns?"

Fiery Tempest did another double-take before smiling. "Yeah. I do."

Larry had to keep his excitement from bubbling over. "Well, you're in luck." He scooted even closer to her. "My brother and I have come up with all sorts of pun-related jokes that. I was wondering if you'd like me to share them with you?"

"Share them with me?" Fiery blinked before chuckling. "Sure! Could be a nice way to spend my break before I have to do my work."

Larry beamed; already, this was all going according to plan. "Okay!" He cleared his throat. "What do you call a turtle that lives in a henhouse instead of a regular house?"

Fiery snickered. "What?"

"A coopa!"

Fiery's eyes grew wide before she burst into laughter. Larry laughed right alongside her, once again appreciating the sound of her laugh. Seriously, there was just something about it! He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but it was just so pleasing to the ears.

"You like that?" Larry asked. "Well, I've got some more!" He scooted even closer to her. "What does a Koopa say when they are going through a hard time?"

The light in Fiery's eyes danced with delight. "What do they say?"

Larry really had to use all of his self-control to not turn into a giggly mess. "My life has become a living shell!"

Fiery snickered. "Wow." She shook her head, all while laughing. "That one is bad."

"I know!" For a split second, Larry regretted telling it. Lemmy had personally insisted on telling that joke, and Larry had been hesitant about it at the beginning. He had just started to scold himself for not going with his gut when Fiery Tempest broke down into a laughing fit. Larry smiled even wider when he saw this, pushing his doubts about the joke to the side and appreciating how clever Lemmy turned out to be.

"That…" Fiery put her hand to her stomach, trying to get her breathing rate back down to normal. "I don't even know." She chuckled, wiping a tear from her eye. "You said your brother helped you come up with that one?"

"Yep! My brother really likes puns."

Fiery snickered. "That's really cool. My friends aren't really the biggest fans of puns. They usually find them annoying. When they aren't groaning or rolling their eyes, they're usually telling me to not tell such bad jokes."

Larry blinked. "Oof. Sounds like you need to get yourself some new friends."

For the first time since he'd known her, Fiery glared at Larry. "My friends just so happen to be great people, thank you very much."

"Okay! Okay." Larry snickered. "I was just joking." He turned to look back down upon Stonebrim. "If you like your friends, then by all means, keep hanging out with them. Everyone needs people who they can call friends." He paused. "Everyone needs people who are willing to support them."

Fiery seemed to stiffen up when she heard that. "I… yeah." She looked away from Larry, looking like something serious was happening in her head.

Larry turned back toward her, all at once feeling like something was seriously wrong. "Hey. What's up?"

Fiery bit her lip. "I…" she seemed to struggle over the exact right words to say. "My friends…" she shook her head. "My IRL friends and I have been going through a rough patch recently."

"Oh." Larry frowned. "I… I'm really sorry about that."

"It's not your fault." Fiery pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them. "I just… I feel like the times when we were all really close are long gone. I mean…" she shook her head. "They don't even know I'm a superhero!"

"Really?"

"Yeah." Fiery paused. "Granted, I haven't been a superhero for very long, as you already know. But still. I used to share all my secrets with my friends. We were like peas all lined up in the same pod. But now…" her voice trailed off. "It's all confusing. It's all so confusing, and I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with any of the feelings I have. I want to talk to them, and try to rekindle the spark that we had back when we were little. But…" She lowered her head in the lap. "I don't think it'll be able to work…"

Larry frowned. "That… that sucks. But… but I'm sure it won't be like this forever." He put his hand on Fiery's shoulder. "Life is a series of ups and downs, after all. And you don't have to focus on the bad stuff. I mean… what really is the point of focusing on the bad stuff, anyway? All that does is make you feel sucky." He smiled. "I know it's difficult, but you can try your best to focus on the good. Trust me; it definitely helps. It helps everything make more sense, and it helps you feel better. More like a person, I guess you could say."

A silence befell the scene. Larry looked into Fiery's burnt orange eyes, looking for any sign that she understood what he was trying to say. After a little bit, a sparkle returned to them. She even managed to chuckle a little bit, which helped bring Larry's own spirits back up.

"Thanks, Captain Metal. You really are super."

Larry grinned. "Well… I try." He chuckled. "Looks like flying and using a sonic arm cannon aren't my only superpowers, eh?"

"No. No they are not." Fiery looked down at Stonebrim again before sighing and standing back up. "Well… I need to go."

Larry's heart skipped a beat. "What? So soon after we've had a heart-to-heart?" He stood back up. "Come on Fiery, we were having a good time!"

"I know. I know we were. And I'm gonna cherish it forever." She put her hands up to her chest, holding them over her heart. "But we're superheroes. We have duties to uphold." She began backing up. "I promise we'll see each other again." She turned. "Well… see you later!"

With that, she ran toward the edge of the roof and jumped off. Larry, gasping, ran after her. To his dismay, when he looked over the edge, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Dammit." He stomped his foot before taking the time to dwell on what had happened between the two of them. A small smile appeared on his face again. "It was pretty nice what happened." He giggled. "I just hope the next time we meet will be as pleasant."