Chapter 18: Pact It In
Neon City, The SNaXX Dimension, 3023
It was with a stoic, resigned silence that Megumi watched the tumble dryer spin around and around, the fluffy white towels within getting tossed about in a counter-clockwise motion. The machine's gentle, rhythmic rumbling then stopped, a loud beep sounding as it did so.
"Dryer one has completed its cycle," a recorded female voice with a mechanical quality to it rang out. "Please collect your laundry and have a pleasant evening."
Megumi said nothing as she slowly got up out of her seat, setting down the provided newspaper she had been reading. The azure-haired bandicoot soon collected her towels and left the laundry room on the ground floor of the apartment complex, taking the elevator back up to the floor where her apartment awaited.
The light of the apartment's living room was soft and gentle as Megumi stepped inside, having no doubt been dimmed by Garnet, who was asleep on the couch, which was where the bat girl normally slept; she had only been using Megumi's bed while her host was away on business. Megumi glanced at Garnet's sleeping form, then averted her eyes and proceeded to the bathroom, where she hung two of the towels on the metallic rack before putting the rest inside the nearby hamper, which opened automatically as she approached.
"Welcome back, Megumi," the bathroom's AI greeted. "Shall I prepare a personalised shower experience for you based on your preferred settings?"
"That will not be necessary, thank you," Megumi responded curtly, hardly paying attention to what the AI system was saying. As she made to leave the bathroom, however, she stopped at the doorway, hesitating. Finally, she pushed the door closed and turned to face the shower cubicle. "On second thought, I am feeling that I would be much appreciative of a wash-down with some aromatherapy foam soap," she admitted, allowing herself a reluctant, yet ever-so-slightly sly smile, pulling the white ribbons from her hair as she spoke.
"Of course, Megumi. My systems are currently fitted with six varieties of scented soap: Lilac, jasmine, strawberry, raspberry, rose and lavender. Strawberry is currently saved to your preferred settings, but my programming allows for custom selection should you desire a different option."
"Lavender, please," Megumi said without missing a beat as she started to undress. "I am needing to unwind, and lavender soap will be lulling me to sleep after the fact."
"Understood. Please step into the shower cubicle when ready."
One deeply relaxing shower experience later, Megumi emerged from the bathroom clad in a snowy white bathrobe with the letter 'M' emblazoned on the upper right of it in light blue cursive. As she had predicted, the lavender scent of the foam soap had made her deeply relaxed to the point where her critical mind had practically left the planet; she could scarcely remember what had put her in a less-than-happy mood in the first place. Her full awareness was brought sharply back to reality, however, when she stepped into the dimly lit living room to see that a new light source was illuminating the gloom - one that was even less natural than the electric light fitting.
Garnet's right arm hung down loosely as she lay there on the couch, her fur-coated appendage almost touching the floor. Her fingers were partially curled, a glowing blue orb of Mojo magic shimmering in the midst of them. The bat girl was letting out little fearful sounding moans and whimpers in her sleep, the light of the mystical orb seeming to pulse in time with her vocal sounds.
'Oh, goodness, she is at it again,' Megumi thought to herself, shaking her head. 'If only she would be talking to me about her troubles rather than letting them consume her as she is sleeping…' She sighed quietly. 'My Garnet, what am I to be doing with you…?'
"N-No!" Garnet suddenly murmured in her sleep, her voice trembling. "I-It's not my fault! I… I tried!"
Megumi had half a mind to turn away and head to her bedroom, but despite her frustrations with her roommate, her empathetic side got the better of her as she watched Garnet start to toss and turn, looking like she was about to fall off the couch and onto the floor, the Mojo orb in her palm pulsing brighter and brighter all the while. She sighed and started over to where the bat girl lay.
"Barista," she said gently, kneeling down beside the former minion of evil. "Barista Garnet?"
"D-Don't!" Garnet suddenly yelped, still locked in a nightmare. "Alpha, please! Come back! Come back!"
"Barista, please, be waking up!" Megumi pleaded, gently grasping the bat girl's shoulder and shaking her lightly, Garnet's panicked cries turning into shrill shrieks.
"No! No!" Garnet yelped, now starting to thrash about. "Alpha! ALPHA!" The tormented bat suddenly sat upright, screaming out her former commanding officer's name, every strand of light brown fur on her body bristled, her blue eyes wide with panic.
"Barista!" Megumi cried, and Garnet whipped her head around to stare at her roommate, seeming to take a second to recognise the bandicoot woman, to even realise where she was.
"Megumi!" the bat girl gasped, looking both surprised and relieved. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, the bat girl breathing heavily… and then Garnet's eyes welled up with tears and she suddenly threw herself at Megumi, wrapping her arms around the azure-haired bandicoot, much to the latter's surprise.
"B-Barista?!" It only took a second for Megumi's bewilderment to be replaced by compassion and she returned the embrace, gently wrapping her arms around the quivering, sobbing bat girl. "I… I am here, my little Garnet. Do not have worrying."
"You… You were right," Garnet managed to choke out between sobs, her words barely coherent. "You were right about me - about everything." She let out a sad, frightened little whine. "I've been keeping… so much from you… 'cause I didn't know… how to deal with it…" Anything else she said was lost amidst her bawling.
"Shhhhh… It is okay," Megumi assured her roommate, gently caressing the bat girl's upper back to try and soothe her. "You are safe, my dear Garnet, and I am here for you."
"I…" Garnet sniffed, reaching up with one hand, the one that had previously held the now dispelled Mojo orb, and wiping her eyes only for them to immediately fill up with tears again. "I wanna tell you everything. Everything that's been on my…" She hiccoughed. "On my mind. I was just…" She screwed her eyes shut. "I was just so scared!"
"Shhhhh… There is no shame in being scared, Barista," Megumi responded softly, her own gripes with the bat girl over the matter of her repressed anxieties falling by the waist-side in lieu of Garnet's obvious need of comfort, support and understanding. "It is natural to be afraid. Just know that I am here for you. I have always been here for you, and I always will be here for you, my little Garnet. We will talk about it when you are feeling ready, but right now…" The bandicoot woman gently relinquished her hold. "Right now I am thinking that you are needing a nice drink of hot chocolate, no?" she said knowingly, smiling compassionately at her roommate. Garnet wiped her eyes once more and, in spite of her current state, found herself smiling back.
"Mmm. Oh, I already feel a little better!" Garnet gasped, lowering the mug of chocolate drink Megumi had prepared for her, North sitting next to her on the couch, the Titan holding his own beverage somewhat awkwardly. The mug Garnet was using happened to be the one Megumi had bought her as a gift; the one with the slogan 'Batty In The Belfry (And Loving It)' written on the side.
"Yes, there is nothing quite like a nice mug of hot chocolate to help one wind down after a bad dream," Megumi said, nodding from her position in the nearby armchair. She paused to take a sip of her own warm, creamy beverage before continuing. "I am reminded of when I was a little girl. I would wake up in the middle of the night convinced that there was a goblin under my bed, and my mother…" The bandicoot woman sighed wistfully, no doubt yearning for the good old days. "She would make me a hot chocolate with two strawberry marshmallows, and she would softly sing to me as I sipped at it." She sighed again, a dreamy look in her eye.
"I… I wish I had a mother," Garnet admitted at last. "That's the most messed up thing about being a clone: You never really have a family outside of your fellow clones, and when those clones are created to serve a singular purpose, a sinister purpose…" She bit her lip. "There's not exactly a whole lot of familial bonding going on."
Megumi said nothing, for once at a loss as to what she should say. After a moment, Garnet sighed softly.
"When I said I was afraid before, I didn't mean I was afraid to tell you about what's been bugging me. Not exactly," she elaborated. "I was… afraid of confronting the matter, afraid of facing my own fears." She downed the rest of her hot chocolate, wiped her mouth and let out a small burp. "I think I'm gonna need a little help to bring it all to the surface. My troubles, I mean." The bat girl took a deep breath and let it out in a long, low whoosh. "Megumi, I…" She hesitated, and then her brow furrowed, a look of newfound determination in her eye. "I want you to be my… my therapist. I said earlier that I'm not your patient, that I don't need to be psychoanalysed, but… maybe I do. Maybe I oughta be, for my own good. I think I'd…" She swallowed and then cleared her throat. "I think I'd benefit from some…" She cleared her throat once more, doing so more loudly this time, suggesting that she was trying to psyche herself up to say the next word. "From some hypnotherapy."
"…I see," Megumi said in a surprisingly calm tone; Garnet half-expected her roommate to jump up in excitement the moment she declared herself open to the idea of undergoing hypnotherapy, given that it was both Megumi's profession and passion, but the bandicoot woman was experienced and sensible enough to play it cool and not get too excited, lest an uncertain client should begin to have second thoughts.
And if anyone was uncertain about the whole 'hypnosis' thing, it was Garnet.
"Are you sure this is what you are wanting, Barista?" Megumi then asked. "I will not force you to engage in something that you are not being comfortable with."
Garnet was silent for a long moment. "I'm already not comfortable with myself, with my thoughts and fears, my doubts and anxieties," she confessed at last. "If there's even a chance that hypnosis, that you can help me with all that… then I'll let you put me under as many times as it takes."
Megumi nodded slowly. "If you are being certain," she said quietly. She then set her mug aside, stretched her arms up and yawned. "But perhaps we should be leaving that until the morning." She got to her feet. "Come along, my dear Garnet."
Garnet blinked. "Huh?"
"I am hardly going to be letting you fall back asleep on your own after a nightmare like that," Megumi stated. "Come along; we shall share my bed for tonight."
Garnet's eyes widened at her roommate's words. In truth, this wasn't the first time Megumi had offered to share her bed with the bat girl; the colder nights in Neon City apparently warranted such, but the idea made Garnet's head spin a little bit. After all, sharing a bed with someone whom she'd only known for a couple of months, during much of which Megumi had been absent thanks to her work? It didn't help that the former minion of Cortex had heard horror stories from her fellow Brat Girls about how some of the older students at Evil Public School would occasionally sneak into the staff dormitory after hours, looking to vent some of their frustrations on their tormentors… and curb their teenage hormones while they were at it. In short, Garnet's heart was thumping against her ribcage as she uncertainly followed Megumi's into the apartment's lone bedroom… though not before clicking her fingers and returning North to her pocket.
"Here we are," Megumi said a moment later, placing down Garnet's megaphone-patterned pyjamas at the edge of the bed. "Freshly laundered with a floral fabric softener."
"...Huh? Oh, uh, thanks," Garnet managed awkwardly, having been standing there in uncomfortable silence. Her nervousness then shot through the roof as Megumi fetched a set of her own pyjamas - garments of silky, powder blue fabric with dainty, fluffy white cuffs on the wrists and ankles - placed them on the bed next to Garnet's… and then proceeded to start undressing with her back to the bat girl.
Megumi hummed to herself as she removed her bathrobe, revealing the strap of her lacy white bra, which was tied in a cute little ribbon, the orange-furred back of the bandicoot woman's upper torso looking soft and almost glossy following her recent shower. Garnet began to tremble, having no idea how to deal with this situation; her roommate, a remarkably kindhearted and, in Garnet's eyes, breathtakingly beautiful woman, was stripping down to her frilly undergarments even as the bat girl watched!
It was only after a particularly pronounced whimper of Garnet's that Megumi finally looked up from unfolding her pyjama top with a puzzled, "Hmm?" She turned to see Garnet standing there, looking as though she had caught a most nasty chill, such was her shaking. "Are you alright, Barista? You're… Ah," she said, a knowing smile forming on her muzzle. "You are feeling embarrassed, yes? You needn't be; I am having nothing that you do not have." The bandicoot woman then chuckled. "Well, I am lacking your bat wings, but other than that…" She slid her pyjama top on, inserting her arms into the sleeves while keeping the garment unbuttoned, leaving the middle of her torso exposed, only her partially see-through bra between her breasts and Garnet's still wild, boggled eyes. "Come closer; do not be afraid."
Garnet barley had time to register Megumi's words before her roommate had closed the distance between them in one graceful stride and gently wrapped her arms around the bat girl, embracing her in a tender, caring hug…
…That had Garnet's cheek lightly pressed against Megumi's upper body, the bat girl feeling the lace of the the azure-haired bandicoot's bra through her own light brown cheek fur.
Garnet was at a loss for words. She couldn't even bring herself to move, let alone utter a single sound. Her entire body was rigid with absolute shock, and then…
'Is that… lavender?' the bat girl thought to herself, her snout twitching in response to the scent. It wasn't quite as pleasing to her senses as the scent of lilac, but it was just as soothing, and it did indeed soothe her, the former minion starting to relax, her rigid posture easing off. 'Her body, it's… Her fur is just so soft and… so warm…'
Megumi smiled gently as she felt Garnet relax into her embrace, once again gently running her hands up and down the bat girl's back, careful to avoid her wings. "Better, my Garnet?" she asked softly, her voice a soothing whisper.
"…Much better," Garnet mumbled after a moment, positively sinking into her roommate's hold, no longer terrified, but rather comforted. "You're so warm, like a big, fluffy blanket…" she added in a quiet murmur. Then she realised what she had just said and she blushed. "That was a stupid thing to say."
"It was a very sweet thing to say," Megumi corrected/assured her, still gently stroking her roommate's back. A moment later, a look of puzzled surprise crossed the bandicoot woman's face. "Um, Garnet? Barista?"
Garnet didn't answer, for she had, despite still standing upright, managed to fall asleep in Megumi's arms. Megumi was perplexed at first, but then she smiled warmly.
"Good night, my little Garnet," she whispered before gently guiding the dozing bat over to the bed, laying her down gently upon it, and planting a tender kiss upon her roommate's forehead before moving to put on her pyjama leggings and then clambering into bed beside her fellow mutant animal, careful not to wake Garnet up. Megumi then reached over to turn off the bedside lamp before lying back against the pillow and slowly closing her eyes.
As the sun rose several hours later, the first traces of the morning light revealed an azure-haired bandicoot and a brown-furred bat with small wings wrapped in each other's arms as they lay upon the bed, still fast asleep, dreaming peacefully as they shared a loving, compassionate embrace.
A few of the hover cars could be heard honking their horns as they passed by both overhead and below, the morning traffic already dense even as the sun rose over Neon City. From atop a building in the West District, Tawna watched the golden rays of light filter through the early morning clouds, basking the futuristic metropolis in a humbling glow.
"It's… been a while, hasn't it?" she said aloud in a soft, hushed voice, gazing up at the sky as she spoke. "Hard to believe it, though. Feels like it was just yesterday that we were all adventuring across our own world, nosily slurping Wumpa Whips like there was no tomorrow, greeting each day with toothy grins and spin attacks, smashing crates for the sheer fun of it…"
The adventurous bandicoot let out her breath in a long whoosh and cast her gaze downward before speaking again.
"That fiend, N. Tropy… When she took you both from me, I thought my life was over. I didn't know what I was supposed to do, how I was supposed to cope. I thought I couldn't bring myself to go adventuring ever again… but then the world started to break open, quantum rifts tearing holes in reality left and right… and I knew." Tawna lifted her head, gazing up at the sky once more. "I knew that I couldn't just sit there and do nothing. I couldn't just wallow in self-pity and let the world crumble around me just because it felt like mine had already crumbled around me. I had to do something. I had to do what was right, what was necessary… what you two would've done. I had to do it without you. Alone… or so I thought."
The bandicoot woman felt a warm morning breeze ruffle her partially dyed blue, partially buzz cut blonde hair and she closed her eyes for a moment, a single tear trickling from her right eye and running down her furry cheek.
"When I saw them making their way across the multiverse, I couldn't believe it. I… truly couldn't believe it," she continued, her voice cracking. "Against all odds, out of nowhere, I was suddenly being given a second chance. I chance to protect you, to save you. Well, versions of you, at any rate. It was like some higher power had suddenly decided to throw me a bone, a once-in-a-lifetime bone… and I chased it. I chased that bone like a mad, desperate dog to the very edge of reality… and I don't regret it one bit. They needed me… and I needed them."
Tawna unsheathed her cutlass, putting the tip of the blade to the index finger of her free hand, allowing the sharp point to ever-so-slightly pierce the skin beneath her fur, allowing a single drop of blood to bleed forth.
"I know they're not you," she said, speaking more clearly, her voice no longer hushed. "I still remember how we made a blood pact all those years ago to always have each other's backs… but that was in the past. Our pact exists in the past, as do you." She sniffed, her next words tearful. "I can't keep clinging to that pact, knowing that I failed to hold up my end of it, knowing that I failed you guys…" She reached up and wiped her eyes, "But you can rest assured… Nay, rest in peace knowing that I will not fail again. I will keep them safe. I will always have their backs. I will do for them what I couldn't do for you. I will be the big sister they need for as long as they need it."
Tawna stepped up to the edge of the building's roof, turned her bleeding finger over and allowed the drop of blood to fall towards the streets below. It landed on the windshield of a passing hover taxi, much to the surprise of the anthropomorphic lemur driver, who swerved slightly, startled at the sight of the crimson droplet on his windshield. A few passing hover cars honked their horns angrily in response to this sudden manoeuvre that had disrupted the flow of traffic.
"Consider this my new pact," Tawna said more calmly, more assuredly, "And my final goodbye." She sighed and turned away from the edge of the building, sheathing her cutlass and readying her grappling hook as she started forward. "Stay rad, Crash and Coco, wherever you are. "On that note, she twirled the rope, tossed it forward and the grapple caught on the open window of a nearby skyscraper. Tawna then leapt from the building she was currently atop and swung down towards the district below before the momentum of her swing started to take her upwards again. She retracted the rope, flung it forward again, latched onto the next building and kept going, swinging her away through the streets of Neon City like she was Spider-Man.
A little while later, on the thirty-seventh floor of a high-rise hotel near the city's centre, Coco Bandicoot slowly opened her eyes, sitting up in bed and yawning sleepily. She glanced up at the open window in time to see Tawna swing through it, a large brown paper bag clutched in one hand.
"Tawna?" Coco said, surprised, sounding like she was still half asleep. In the bed across from hers, Crash stirred, mumbling in sleepy gibberish before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Did you… go somewhere?"
"Just took a short walk and swing to clear my head," Tawna assured her surrogate little sister as she retracted her rope, sheathing the grappling hook in its clip at her belt before reaching into the paper bag she held and pulling out a small stack of white, rectangular take-away containers. "I grabbed us some breakfast while I was out there," she went on brightly, putting on a cheerful smile. "Hope you're in the mood for pancakes!"