Move Out, Heroes! A New Threat on the Horizon!!

Travel Multiversal Episode 1

Chapter 33
“Move Out, Heroes! A New Threat on the Horizon!!”
An RP between CobaltClaw19 and eshonen

There has been an outbreak in villainy lately and one team has been on the ball to keep the threat contained. The gallant Victory Knight cuts down evil ever so gracefully, the powerful Heavy Knuckle has found a lot of confidence lately and is knocking down threats as soon as they appear with her mighty punches, the cunning Masked Eagle uses her transformative armor to adapt to any situation that arises in a fight to get the better of her opponents, and the ever helpful Snoopy provides support with his shields, barriers and restorative powers to help keep the three armored heroines on their feet. And with their new addition to the team, Zero, being their eyes in the sky to give them the locations of crimes in progress and even lend a hand in battle should they need it, there hasn't been a challenge yet that these five haven't been able to overcome. They know that there is a larger more dangerous threat out there but until a clear plan on how to take on this formidable opponent is made they'll just focus on the threats that are within their power to stop. Even now, the five of them are out in town on the trail of another villain; but will this just be another day at work for them or something more...? Zero flies high above the city with his sights set on the insectoid-like man flying through the streets of the crowded city. This mosquito man had been flying from city to city, biting any authority figure, business owner, worker and innocent he could, infecting them with a horrible flu bug, trying to bring everything around him into a chaotic stand-still. Activating his microphone headset, Zero calls into his comrades on the ground trying to catch up with flying disease bug through the headsets recently installed in their suits' masks.

Zero: Zero to Knight, Zero to Knight, over!

Victory Knight: We can hear you Zero, loud and clear...and I told you there is no need for the "over" at the end of your sentences.

Masked Eagle: Aw, come on. Just let him have fun with it, you grump. Over.

Victory Knight: .....Anyway, what is the status from your end?

Zero: I've got visual on our target, he's headed over to the park and there are a lot of people there for the food truck lunch rush. From where you four currently are you should be able to get there before him.

Victory Knight: Roger that. Snoopy and I will go ahead from the front; Ruby, Sally, you two seal off any escape routes from behind.

Heavy Knuckle: Sounds like a plan.

Masked Eagle: Yesssssire~

Snoopy: Right behind you!

Zero: I can't stress enough to be careful with this guy. That needle mouth of his is dangerous; I saw him puncture the brick wall of a building like butter to get somebody on the other side. I'm sure your armor can protect you but he seems to be able to spot even the tiniest chinks in armor; that's how he got past the riot squad's defenses.

Victory Knight: ...... *Looks down at her exposed front* ....Right...got it. >__>;;

*The mosquito man buzzes above the streets at a steady pace with on-lookers getting out of the way and taking shelter to get away from him. Soon he catches sight of the park and all of the people within it and heads in that direction. Victory Knight and Snoopy then appear in front of him, having taken a side street to cut off his approach.*

Mosquito man: Bzzzzzzzz...

Snoopy: *covers his ears* man, I know he's over there but just hearing that sound makes it feel like something is in my ear >_<;

Victory Knight: I know how that feels... Quite annoying. *Summons her lance*

Mosquito man: *turns his head to the side then charges at both Victory Knight and Snoopy*

Snoopy: *creates a water shield and tosses it at the mosquito man*

Mosquito man: *shoots his needle-like mouth out and pierces through the shield*

Snoopy: Gotcha! *makes the water form as a ball at the tip of the mosquito man's mouth then freezes it*

Mosquito man: *falls to the ground due to the weight of the ice ball trapping his mouth but still feebly tries to get airborne again*

Victory Kight: And with the movements restrained.... *Slices and whacks her opponent down using her lance by hitting his back repeatedly, followed by a knock-out blow to the head*

Snoopy: Nice combo, Victory Knight; you're on fire lately!

Victory Knight: Well...I suppose so? Doesn't really feel like I am doing anything differently, though.

*Suddenly, a small spider crawls out of the mosquito man's hair and takes to the sky on a passing breeze by using a parachute made out of spider thread. Seconds later, the mosquito man transforms into what looked like a regular business man.*

Snoopy: What the...?

*Ruby and Sally came by just in time to witness this, and was left just as confused as the other two.*

Heavy Knuckle: ...What just...?

Snoopy: I...don't know...

Zero: Zero to everybody, I just got some new intel from RIFT regarding the mosquito man you just took down!

Victory Knight: Uh.... Okay Zero, um...fill us in, I guess.

Zero: Reports have been coming in of similar encounters with other insect men. The ones that have been defeated turn back into humans after eye witnesses confirm seeing a spider emerge from them and fly away.

Snoopy: Just like now...

Zero: Then seconds later something else comes to that exact location and speedily wipes out the ones who took down the target. In other words...

*Just by chance Snoopy saw the image of something rushing towards them reflecting off of Victory Knight's lance and quickly reacts by quickly making an ice wall barrier behind him just in time as the unknown entity crashes into the ice wall, shattering it to pieces, getting everybody's attention. From the ice rubble emerges what looks like a lady spider Xeno; she was a pink-skinned and sexy beauty wearing a black and crimson colored Chinese dress and had four violet colored eyes, six arms moving in unison and her blonde hair was done up in two big Chinese buns.*

???: My-my-my~ you're definitely the first one to not only see my opening strike but stop it as well~ ^^

Victory Knight: What the- Who are you supposed to be!?

Masked Eagle: She looks like a female fighter in a video game. =I

???: Yes, that's what I was going for today when I got dressed this morning

Snoopy: That's...interesting But, who are you?

Dandelion: Oh, right, my identity. You can call me Dandelion; cute name, no~?

Masked Eagle: .... *Shrugs* I suppose it is kinda cute?

Heavy Knuckle: At least it's not a cliched name like "Charlotte" or a name that directly reference spiders and/or the arachnid family... ^w^;

Dandelion: I know, right? I'm so glad my Mom insisted on this name; my Dad had several names he wanted to give me like Charlotte, Muffet and the like ^~^

Heavy Knuckle: Too be honest, Muffet is a rather cute name though. One of my friends from the underground is named that...I...kinda can't stop munching down on her cookies... .//.;

Masked Eagle: And that’s why you will forever be plump, my friend.

Dandelion: Aww, sounds like you have good friends~ ^3^

Snoopy: ...so...was there any particular reason that you attacked us or...?

Dandelion: OwO;; Oh that? Um...

Victory Knight: Yeah, come on. Speak up. =.=

Dandelion: Well, this is embarrassing. Recently my friends have all ditched me; saying that I "play too rough", that I'm "unpredictable" and that I'm, and this is their exact words: a woman who always acts before thinking ahead or considering consequences for her actions. So I was bored and decided to see if I could find some new friends to hang out with instead. If they were strong as well then all the better.

Victory Knight: ......Really now? Care to define what you mean a little bit more?

Zero: *lands down on the ground next to Victory Knight and the others* you said your name was Dandelion?

Dandelion: Correct~

Zero: *looks up her name in the RIFT database* oh, here you are: you're...classified as a nuisance villain.

Dandelion: Nuisance!? Wait...Villain!? I'm not a villain! >o<

Zero: According to your file you go around create massive panic situations to attract the attention of heroes in order to try and "make friends with them." You've caused no fatalities and in the end nobody is ever really hurt but because of the chaos you stir up the collateral damage is through the roof.

Dandelion: ...col-lat-eral damage? What's that?

Masked Eagle: It simply means you end up destroying a lot of things...

Victory Knight: And if that attack of yours had landed, it would have been more than a friendly little pat on the back. You are either feigning ignorance, or you simply are too dangerous to the people around you and yourself.

Dandelion: But how else will I know if my potential friends are tough or not if I don't go all out with my greetings? If they're tough they'll find a way to withstand the greeting or avoid it, if they aren't tough they'll simply pass out upon receiving it.

Snoopy: Even strong people hit by that "greeting" of yours would have a hard time of not passing out if they received it. And what about this guy right here? Was this your doing as well?

Dandelion: Oh, him? Yeah, I met him not too long ago. When I'm not looking for new friends I help out people who look discouraged *sticks out one of her arms and a few small spiders can be seen coming out of a hole that opened up in the palm of my hand* these are my little wish granters. Just like mine, their venom is special in that it can do special things when injected into others. This guy here was very frustrated with his job and looked like he could use some cheering up? So I told him to think about this question: what would make you happy right now? He thought about it and I let one of my little wish granters to the rest. I've got to admit that I found it very odd that he wanted to go around infecting those who annoyed him...

Heavy Knuckle: You can't just go around and give people some mutation drug-like power!

Masked Eagle: What you're doing is dangerous, and you are putting the lives of many civilians on the line with your antics!

Victory Knight: Do you think it's okay if these people go around with these kinda powers? What if one of them turns out to be some really shady and shitty asshole who ends up murdering someone with that "wish" of theirs granted!? And before you say "I would stop them before that happens", what would you do IF you were not able to stop that person? Would you be able to live with the stained blood of an innocent cashier on your hands? Or that of a bus driver? Lawyer? Or heaven forbid a little child!

Heavy Knuckle: Or all of those combined, in mass numbers! You can not be this careless with something like that! In fact, don't ever use such a power, it won't do anything but cause trouble in most cases!

Masked Eagle: And then after all is said and done, how would you actually go about making friends if people knew all of this? They'd be scared, terrified even, just by seeing you, fearing that you might do something with them and make them do something heinously and potentially evil of nature when they get drunk on that power!

Victory Knight: Stop doing it! For the better of everyone around, and yourself included!

*It was...quite the rarity to see not just Gaura, but all three of the heroines, taking this matter seriously and giving a thorough scolding to someone, and which such fierce intent as well.*

Dandelion: ...doesn't sound like we're going to become friends after all; if that's the case then *takes a battle stance* SO BE IT!

*Dandelion shoots a few spiders into the air that make spider thread parachutes as the dangle in the sky and begin to get acrobatic as they swing about above the heroes.*

Zero: Crap! *makes his wings grow larger then flaps them mightily to send wind blades to kill the spiders* I'll try and deal with those spiders she makes, you guys focus on her!

Victory Knight: Ugh, and here I thought you said you were not a villain!

Heavy Knuckle: Nnnnggggggh...!! Why does it always have to turn out like this! DX

Dandelion: *charges towards the group, ready to deliver another heavy attack*

Snoopy: *creates an E-nergy shield to block the incoming attack*

Dandelion: *delivers a heavy punch to the shield, shattering it, then creates six whips made out of spider thread for each of her arms and begins brandishing them wildly

Masked Eagle: *Blue appendixes expand outwards from her back* Two can play the whip-game!

Heavy Knuckle: *Charges in to deliver a heavy punch of her own*

Dandelion: *crosses the spider thread whips to make a sticky net then flings it at the heroes*

Victory Knight: *Leaps forward ahead of Sally and uses her lance to slash through the net just enough for Sally to get through*

Heavy Knuckle: "Rumble Fist!" *Aims her fist at the ground and throws her punch, sending a shockwave at Dandelion*

Dandelion: *gets launched backwards into the air by the shockwave but quickly recovers by shooting two web strands out to her sides to bungee back to them and sends more spiders out to deal with them*

Snoopy: Those spiders are beginning to get annoying *releases all three tabs on his glove and transforms into his Fire Guard form* Flame Counter! *makes a shield of fire that he uses to block and incinerate every spider that makes contact with it then the shield retaliates by shooting a flaming pillar out at Dandelion*

Dandelion: *charges through the flame pillar attack then meets Snoopy head on, delivering a flurry of punches with her six arms*

Snoopy: *takes the barrage of punches while charging up a fire attack in the meantime*

Masked Eagle: Indeed...these spiders are beginning to get annoying. Every last one of them. *Releases her red and blue energy orbs and absorbs two additional yellow ones instead, transforming her armor into Beast Form before charging in at Dandelion, using her crusher arms to slash away at her back*

Dandelion: *winces slightly then uses one set of arms to reach behind her and grab Masked Eagle's arms and binds them together using spider thread*

Masked Eagle: *Grits her teeth and bites down on one of Dandelion's hands*

Victory Knight: *Joins Ruby and begins restraining Dandelion's excess arms by using the spider thread which she had cut loose earlier* You are not going to beat us by mere restraining tactics when we got you out-numbered 4-to-1...!

Dandelion: *pulls Victory Knight hard, lifting her up off of her feet and towards her* then I'll thin your numbers a bit with this: Mystery Poison! *speedily bites Victory Knight's neck with her sharp fangs, puncturing her armor and injecting a special mix of venom into her body*

Victory Knight: *Gags and gasps for air before her body stumbles over and starts twitching on reflex, the venom taking quick effect*

Masked Eagle: GAURA!!

Heavy Knuckle: *Grabs and suddenly smashes Dandelion into the ground, firmly grabbing at her neck* YOU THINK THIS WILL GET YOU ANY FRIENDS, YOU MULTI-EYED CREEP!? *Punches her in the face. Hard.* DO YOU!? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT!?

*As Heavy Knuckle continues to whale on Dandelion, both Snoopy and Masked Eagle rush over to Victory Knight to assist her.*

Snoopy: Crap-crap-crap! Zero, my bag, quickly!

Zero: Here you go! *hands Snoopy his medical bag*

Snoopy: *opens his bag and scrambles for one of his all-purpose anti-venoms* I don't know exactly what kind of venom she was injected with but this should at least slow it down enough to give me time to make a proper anti-venom *fills a sterilized needle with the anti-venom and injects it into Victory Knight when he suddenly remembered something* Zero, we Dandelion alive; stop Heavy Knuckle before she kills her!

Zero: *dashes over to Heavy Knuckle and restrains her, forcing her to drop the now unconscious Dandelion to the ground* Sally! Sally! Stop! We need her alive if we're going to save Gaura! Calm down!

Sally: *Pushes against Zero's grip while panting and growling through grit teeth, until she starts to calm down, nearly breaking into tears as her transformed state comes undone, unable to mentally keep it up anymore. At which point she falls to her knees, exhausted.*

Ruby: *Undoes her transformation as well* It's...been a long day...even though it has just been a couple hours...

Snoopy: Let's get back to base so you all can rest up and I can get to work on properly healing Gaura up.

*Some time later, back at the heroes' base of operations, Ruby, Sally and Zero sit together anxiously waiting outside the medical bay for some good news on Gaura. It had been about an hour since Snoopy began work on synthesizing an anti-venom and they haven't heard anything since then. A few more minutes later and the three of them had a sudden visitor: it was Rocky Raiko.*

Rocky: I got the news from Snoopy and rushed over here with some of my special soup as soon as I could. Is she alright?

Ruby: ...We are still waiting...

Rocky: I hope that she's okay; if anything happens to her...

*Snoopy emerges from the medical bay.*

Snoopy: She's going to make it, everybody.

Zero: Alright! Yes! ^o^

Rocky: Thank goodness

Sally: *Breathes a sigh of relief* T^T

Ruby: *smiles faintly* Good to hear...I do not know if I could have continued if something bad happened...

*Gaura emerges from behind Snoopy on shaky legs. She was trying to be tough but everyone could tell that she was still out of it. When she goes down to her knees Rocky quickly goes over to her aid and helps her up.*

Snoopy: G-Gaura, you're still not 100% just yet. You still need to rest; doctor's orders. Rocky, can you make sure she gets to her quarters and watch her for a bit? There are some things I need to discuss with the others.

Rocky: Sure thing

*Rocky picks Gaura up bridal style, making her blush furiously, and carries her off, making Ruby chuckle to herself a bit.*

Ruby: She is not good with that kinda stuff~

Gaura: O//^//<; F-fool, I didn't tell you that you could do this....

Rocky: Great to see that even a near fatal experience hasn't extinguished that fire of yours

*Gaura groans and blushes, turning her face away from Rocky to avoid his gaze and to hide her embarrassment. Snoopy motions for Ruby, Sally and Zero to enter the medical bay to discuss something important with them. Once inside they see Dandelion fast asleep and tightly restrained to one of the beds; from the way she struggled and mumbled in her sleep she seemed to be having some sort of intense nightmare.*

Snoopy: I've already discussed this with Gaura and I think the three of you should also know what I've uncovered from our "guest" here.

Sally: .... *Rubs her arm* Okay...

Ruby: What do you have for us, love~?

Snoopy: When I was trying to secure some of Dandelion's venom I noticed that this was embedded in the back of her head...

*Snoopy shows Ruby, Sally and Zero what looked like a flat circular device with bloody wired tentacles coming out the bottom of it.*

Zero: What the...!?

Sally: *Steps a bit back in disgust* W-what is that nasty-looking thing...?

Ruby: *Patting her friend on the back* Breathe Sally, breathe.

Snoopy: I sent a picture of this to multiple places like the Helping Hand Guild, the organization that Rocky works for: RIFT, the Sweet Foundation and even the Saturn Family; they all recognized this thing and where it came from: the Vacuum Co.

Ruby: ....Oh great.... -.-;

Snoopy: Basically this thing is some sort of man-made cyber parasite. They install it in the head of their victim and it basically takes over their body and mind, rewriting them to become somebody completely different from their real self. They can then be controlled manually or have commands uploaded to them through things like Wi-Fi, satellite and such. And this isn't even the worse part...

Zero: What can possibly be worse than all of that? O_O;

Ruby: I believe he was about to get to that part... ^_^;

Snoopy: It would be one thing if their minds were taken over but the Vacuum Co. goes the extra mile when it comes to pure evil apparently. They engineered this parasite so that even though it takes over its host mind and body the real host themselves are conscious and fully aware of everything that they're now doing. They are being forced to do and say things they would never dream of doing and all they can do is watch as they do whatever it is that they're doing.

*Upon hearing that Ruby, Sally and Zero became sick with disgust that this was going on.*

Snoopy: *looks at Dandelion* there's no telling how many atrocities this girl was forced to commit and had to sit back and watch as she did them. Just looking at her I can tell the mental damage must be massive...

*All four of them looked at Dandelion as she continued to struggle in her deep sleep, obviously having an incredibly bad nightmare as tears begin streaming from her eyes and she begins muttering in a frighten voice.*

Sally: .... *Walks over and sits by Dandelion's side, placing her hand on hers* ...I am sorry... I promise to make up for hitting you senselessly. So...please, just relax. We will help you through this...

Ruby: What a disgusting mess this turned into...

Snoopy: You can say that again. And from what little I know about this group I can say for certain that all of us and all our friends have already been marked by them.

Zero: Seriously? What have we done to them to get on their bad side?

Snoopy: Either by what we choose to be or simply being the born the way we were. -~-

Ruby: Racism is not good for anything! D8<

Snoopy: I agree with you there.

Dandelion: *struggles and mutters in her sleep* no, stop saying that! Leave me alone! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!! *wakes up and looks at her surroundings* oh-no, where am I now? *sees that she is restrained to the bed* I can't take this anymore. My past, my present, my future, my free-will, it's all been taken from me and I can't get it back; please, somebody just kill me...

Sally: ... >~<; *Leans over and kisses Dandelion square on her lips*

Ruby: Hello!!? O/w/o ??

Sally: *Breaks away carefully* S-sorry, had to calm and quiet you down. L-Look...it's okay now. It's never too late to make amends. Besides it..it was never your fault what might have happened before, and...y-you can still do good things. Right? Oh gosh, I am so bad at this...>///<;

Dandelion: O///O What the...why would...wha...?? *moves her head around, flexes the fingers on her hands and then moves her wrists in circles before finally moving her feet* My...my body...I've...I've got control of it again. And you all...you can hear me? OoO

Zero: Yep, sure can

Dandelion: And you aren't with the Vacuum Co.?

Ruby: It's tempting to smack you for even thinking we are part of their group of sickos.

Sally: *Strokes her forehead, being careful not to touch her extra sets of eyes* We...had a run-in with you. Y-you might not want to move too much. I kinda...made a number on your body. o//o;

Ruby: Sally might not look like it, but her plump body packs quite the "Megaton Punch".

Dandelion: I'm-I'm sorry; it's just that ever since the Vacuum Co. took me it has been nothing but pain and suffering for me. They told me they would spare my village if I joined up with them but used some messed-up loophole reasoning to go back on their word! >o<

Snoopy: ...let me guess, it had something to do with this, right? *shows Dandelion the man-made parasite he had removed from her head*

Dandelion: Yes, exactly...and please keep that thing away from me ;-;

Sally: *Loosens her holds so she is not restrained on the bed anymore* Don't worry your head about that. You're in good hands, now.

Dandelion: Thank you; thank you so much and I'm sorry for biting your friend...

Snoopy: Yeah, about that, when I went to work trying to create an anti-venom from the venom I milked from you earlier I found something strange. Your venom...it isn't really a venom at all, is it?

Dandelion: In truth it really isn't. When injected into the bloodstream my venom has the immediate effects of what other poisons would do like making it hard to breathe and move around but those effects are only temporary. My venom can be anything except poison. It can become a truth serum, provide heating or cooling effect for extreme weather conditions, it can even provide various buffs for combat purposes.

Snoopy: So...what was the one you injected our friend Gaura with?

Dandelion: Let me think...back then when I bit her...the venom I gave her was... O///O;; *her pink skin becomes beet red with embarrassment upon remembering the venom she injected into Gaura*

Ruby: *Sees the look on Dandelion's face and starts grinning from ear to ear* Oooohohohooooo~ You naughty NAUGHTY girl~! >//w//<

Sally: Wh-what? ...Wait, she didn't...did she? o//o;

Dandelion: It...it was a potent mixture of both truth serum and aphrodisiac that I call "Mighty Love Potion No. 9." When in front of a person that the injected deeply desires they are unable to keep secret how they feel about them anymore and basically...attacks them >///< But as long as she's not around such a person she'll just sweat the venom out over time.

*Snoopy, Zero, Ruby and Sally then remember that Snoopy had Rocky escort Gaura back to her quarters and watch over her.*

Snoopy: O_O;; Uh-oh...

Ruby: Ooooooooh booooooy...She is going to DIE of embarrassment after this ordeal.

Sally: Is that a l-laughing matter? o//o;

Zero: So...um...should we...shouldn't we...y'know?

Snoopy: We shouldn't have anything to worry about. After all, their feelings are definitely mutual and Rocky wouldn't let Gaura do anything that she would regret later.

Ruby: Hopefully it lets the stuck-up and prideful leader of ours to be a bit more loose and free, honest with herself and her feelings. -w-

Sally: ....Y-yeah, sure....

Dandelion: ...would it be alright if I asked a big favor from you all?

Sally: ...What do you want, Dandelion?

Dandelion: If it's not too much trouble...I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to... .///.; ...PLEASE, LET ME JOiN YOUR TEAM! >//o//<

Ruby: Oh, is that all~? Sure, go ahead.

Sally: Y-yeah...we'd love to have another member on the team with us. ^//^

Ruby: Aaaand since the two of you already kissed, it makes it easier to place her room, her belongings...her "partner"~ >w>

Sally: Q///A///Q; *flails* R-Ruby, d-d-don’t say it like that!!

Ruby: Whaaaaat~? You would be cute together. All THREE of you. Hehehehe~

Sally: Ruuuuubyyyyy...!!! >///A///<

Zero: O///O;

Dandelion: Oh thank you-thank you-thank you! I promise I'll make myself useful; I was trained as a tailor back in my village so I can patch up clothes or even mend your armor with the special spider silk I make *sticks out one of her hands and one of the tiny spiders she used earlier appears in the palm of her hand* and my little helpers make for good tracking devices on evasive targets.

Sally: That sounds wonderful. But, um...yeah, like I said, for now it is for the better if you just rest up. No need to stress yourself up. ^//^; *Strokes her cheek* You have been through a lot.

Dandelion: But this is the first time I've been back in control of myself in years; I've got a lot of lost living to make up- *suddenly falls asleep and starts snoring cutely, having exhausted the last of her strength*

Sally: ... ^///^ Such a cutie~

Snoopy: Those Vacuum jerks must've worked her extremely hard for her body to be in this condition.

Ruby: Then we just gotta work extra hard in turn to make sure that kinda stuff does not happen anymore.

Snoopy: Right And now we know what to look for on future ones we encounter and I'm pretty sure that once Dandelion recovers she can tell us more about what our enemy is up to.

Zero: But to take on an entire evil organization that works in the shadows we're going to need to keep our strength up; which means, we'll need to eat both nutritious and tasty energy providing meals. I'll get started on dinner; any requests?

*Sally immediately perks up upon hearing that. Not only was her boyfriend strong, kind and loving, he was also an excellent cook that could make any dish taste great.*

Sally: W-what about some beef stroganoff? Nicely chopped slices of beef in a homemade sauce, a good salad bowl on the side and a good chunk of prepared jasmine rice to the side of it? A-a-and make the portions big....so Dandelion can get something when she wakes up. O-or we could warm it up for supper or anything else...right...?

Ruby: If you keep stuffing yourself with Zero's cooking, you are going to truly get fat again.

Sally: >///<; ...

Zero: Okay, I'll get right on it

Snoopy: And make sure to make enough for Rocky as well...I hope that he's okay

Ruby: I wonder how they are doing~

Rocky: I'm doing really fine, actually ^^

*Everybody turns around to see Rocky standing in the door way to the medical bay.*

Snoopy: R-Rocky, are you...is Gaura...?

Rocky: I'm okay and so is Gaura.

Ruby: .w. ......Okay then.

Sally: ^w^;;

Rocky: I know what you're thinking and I want to set the record straight: nothing super steamy happened, honest

Ruby: Bummer.... -w-

Sally: So...all is well and alright, then... .//.

Rocky: Yeah, everything is alright...although I'd doubt that Gaura would say the same thing. Knowing her character she'll probably avoid me for a while

Zero: But I thought you said everything was alright...

Rocky: It is and while nothing super steamy happened between us she did do a few things that were definitely out of character for her that will definitely embarrass her when she realizes that it wasn't a dream...

*Rocky begins blushing bright red as he remembers what had happened, which reignites Ruby's curiosity.*

Ruby: Soooooo...does her tan lines look less or more appealing with her unique skin tone~? Were you pleased with what she did? Hmm? Don’t leave out the juicy bits~

Sally: Ruby, that is enough. >//<

Rocky: She ate some of the soup I gave her and immediately conked out for a few minutes. When she woke up I asked her how she was feeling and I suddenly get this awkward but super cute confession along with a complete strip show and tons and tons of kisses before I could even respond. The tan lines definitely add to her charm and sexiness, that's for sure. Believe me when I said that it took everything I had to restrain myself and remain a gentleman. -///-

Ruby: She really wants you, Rocky. >w< She is just too prideful to go the extra mile. Not that that is something wrong, I mean, I have seen how close and cuddly you two can be in your free time.

Sally: Well I am proud of you for being so strongly willed... ^//^

Rocky: Thank you, really I just wish she hadn't fallen asleep again so suddenly after all of those kisses before I could give her my response to her confession

Ruby: Maybe another time, when she is fully able to confess without the help of a truth serum of a drug. -w-

Rocky: Yeah... -w- *sees Dandelion sleeping* so what's the story with spider girl here?

Snoopy: A rescued victim of the Vacuum Co. who wants to join up with us. Which reminds me *grabs the cybernetic parasite off of the desk and places it in a confinement capsule* this is what they're using apparently; take it with you when you go back to RIFT and be sure to share your findings with the Helping Hand Guild.

Rocky: Sure thing, cousin *takes the capsule from Snoopy* well, I'll be on my way then. I'll see you guys later; keep up the good work

Ruby: Will do, sir. =w=

Rocky: *stops before walking out the door* ...and tell Gaura when she wakes up that I'll give her my answer the next time we meet

Ruby: Noted, once again.

Sally: ^//^ ...heh...

*Once Rocky leaves Zero gets to work in the kitchen, making a grand dinner for everyone. They all sit down and eat together, with the exception of Gaura and Dandelion who were still asleep and recovering. After making sure to set aside some portions for both Gaura and Dandelion the four take some time off to finally relax for the day. Snoopy and Ruby get comfortable on some bean bag chairs while Zero and Sally take the couch. Sally rests her head on Zero's lap while he gently rubs her belly which was making angry noises from being overstuffed.*

Sally: Nyuh...why do you make such delicious food..... =///=;

Ruby: Better question is why you can’t resist it.

Sally: *whines in a cute, embarrassed tone*

Zero: ^u^ *rubs Sally's belly gently*

*Gaura walks into the room wearing some casual clothing; her usually serious nature seemed to be shaken a bit as her body language greatly suggested that she was nervous and a bit embarrassed.*

Snoopy: Oh, Gaura, you're up if you're hungry we left some food for you...

Gaura: ...Thanks...I appreciate it... *Rubs her arm as she walks by*

Ruby: ..... *Whispers to Snoopy* I think I will refrain from...saying anything...she looks so distraught. It’s a cute expression, but I can feel how uncomfortable she is right now.

Snoopy: *Whispers to Ruby* Yeah, I've never seen her like this before...

Gaura: ... *Gently shuffles over to Sally and sits down with her* ...I need a hug...

Sally: *Nods and gently puts her arms around her* Is this better? If there is anything else, just-

Gaura: No, it is fine. Really. *Leans into the hug*

Snoopy: ... *feels his phone vibrating and checks the message left for him* hmm, I don't recognize this number but the message is marked urgent *opens the message and reads it* ...uh, excuse me for a moment, guys.

*Snoopy leaves the room for a few moments to check out the front door of the HQ. He returns moments later with a very young visitor: a young Lobinu girl with glasses and her long flowing blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing a long pink dress and carrying a bag full of stuff.*

Snoopy: Hey everybody, we've got a guest that apparently has an important message for us.

Lobinu girl: H-H-Hi... .///.

Ruby: Awwww, who is this little apple pie~? *Walks over and kneels down* She is so cute.

Sarita: S-Sarita, my name is Sarita

Ruby: That’s a nice name.

Sally: Very much so. ^w^

Gaura: .... *Nods softly*

Snoopy: So what brings you by, Sarita?

Sarita: Oh, that's right. It's about the major villain at large right now: Benjamin Koco. According to my informant he doesn't have much time left to live so he's going to make his big move sometime this week.

*This was definitely big news that got everybody's attention. They had known about Benjamin Koco for some time and had heard about his encounters with the others but the one thing they didn't know was that he was dying; right now he was at his weakest but at the same time his most desperate so he would be even more dangerous than before.*

Gaura: ....Are you sure? That is quite the statement to come with...

Sarita: Yes; my informant's information has been very trustworthy so far...even if she is a bit difficult to deal with. She has kept me, my best friend and my cousin informed about his activity so far.

Gaura: .... *sighs and rubs the back of her head* Alright then... I guess I will go and send a distress call to the others, letting them know...

Ruby: Could be wise.

Sarita: *phone rings* oh, hold on *answers her phone* Hello? Brendan, I made con- WHAT!? NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!! TRY AND STOP HER, I'LL BE RiGHT THERE!! *ends the call* I HAVE TO GO! *bows politely then dashes off as fast as she can*

Snoopy: O3O ...I'm gonna go and make sure that she's okay; I'll keep the rest of you informed *runs off after Sarita*

To be continued…