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X was prone to nightmares... disturbing recollections from his time at Omicron that would usually fade away once he was fully awake. He didn't often wake quickly, though, and more than once had knocked his small shack down on top of himself during one of his usual fitful naps. The pack of Junkions he associated with generally made wide detours around his small dwelling when it sounded as though he was having a bad dream.
He never learned just why Froggy decided to break that unwritten rule... Perhaps it was concern that prompted her to sneak in that day... perhaps it was something more. She loved him... it was an emotion he still barely understood, and he wasn't certain how to react to it.
He'd been having a particularly bad nightmare that time. Jerking awake at the slightest physical contact, he'd grabbed at whatever was nearest, unaware of his surroundings but intent on tearing something apart.
As usual it was his empathic sense that snapped him out of it, and he stood in the once-again wrecked dwelling, staring horrified as Froggy slipped into stasis. Alerted to the commotion, the others were heading their way.
"Stop in the name of all which does not suck!" Dude said, horrified.
X put Froggy on the ground and backed away, disturbed even more than the others at his own actions. And especially at what he had sensed from Froggy... the sense of confusion, of disbelief and betrayal that was still painfully familiar from his first day at Omicron.
Angelcake knelt down to check on Froggy, and to start repairs with the innate skill at such matters that all the Junkions seemed to have.
The little femme was already starting to regain consciousness. "Hello to the pain," she said dazedly, looking around.
"The pain is not a friend," Angelcake told her, helping to repair the damage.
Concerned, and still shaken by what he'd done, X tried to get closer...
Angelcake frowned at him and lifted her axe slightly in warning. "You may be immortal but I can still do damage," she growled at him. "How'd you like to spend eternity in five pieces?"
Froggy placed a restraining hand on the other femme's arm and shook her head no. She moved carefully over to X and looked up at him a bit sadly. "...and as they both sink beneath the waves, the Frog cries out, 'Why did you sting me, Mr. Scorpion? For now we both will drown!' Scorpion replies, 'I can't help it. It's in my nature.'"
Somehow, she understood. And in that moment, so did he. He hadn't meant to attack her, but he hadn't been able to stop himself either. And though he could tell Froggy had only meant to say that she didn't blame him for his actions, her words held a darker meaning for him.
If this sort of behavior was something over which he would never have any control... if it was part of his nature...
A hand on his shoulder jolted him from his thoughts, but luckily he was able to keep himself from doing anything violent... this time at least.
Dude was just shaking his head a bit sadly. The thin mech patted X on the shoulder again. "Charlie, two words: therapy."
Poet said nothing, as usual, instead just quietly observing. He seemed sad as though he knew something had been changed by that morning's events.
"So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper," Priest muttered quietly, almost to himself.
Froggy shuffled her feet self-consciously. The tiny femme was already completely repaired, but X knew that would make no difference as to his decision.
"I have to leave," he told them, turning his back on the others and heading for where his ship had been hidden.
Dude's shocked voice was the first one he heard, as the others began to follow after him. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say... huh??"
X ignored them and began to toss pieces of debris away, uncovering the ship as quickly as he could. He didn't want to have to think about what he was doing, what he felt he had to do. If he thought about it, he might change his mind, and he couldn't risk that... for their sakes. He was about to board the ship when he suddenly felt something grab his leg. He looked down with a snarl to see Froggy.
"Don't go..."
He stared at her for a moment, disbelieving. Even after what had happened, she still wanted him to stay? He forced the too-tempting thought away, reaching down to attempt to get Froggy to let go without harming her again. There had to be some way he could make her understand... it was just too dangerous.
But he could tell just from looking at her that there was no way to make her understand this. That even though he had learned this lesson from her, she somehow lacked the ability to grasp it herself.
Angelcake interrupted them, looking up from a rigged-together communications panel. "We have just gotten a wake-up call from the Nintendo Generation."
X looked over. "Maximals?"
"Got it in one, this doesn't look fun..," Poet commented, looking over the board.
"Danger? I laugh in the face of danger!" Froggy said, temporarily distracted from her attempts to restrain X. "...and then I hide until it goes away."
A ship was landing the next clearing over, with only the most brief of greetings over a com-channel and no wait for permission to land. Apparently good manners was not something on the mind of the pilot.
The rest of the Junkions, as well as X and Poet, stayed under cover, while Dude and Angelcake went out to see what the Maximals wanted.
"Nobody panic. This is all just a big mistake," Dude said, trying to reassure the others, as he and Angel left.
Angel glared at the two Maximals who exited the small scout ship. "Excuse me. Who gave you permission to exist?"
Dude placed a restraining hand on her arm, and, in an attempt to maintain a shred of civility, asked "What are your names? Neil and Bob, or is that, like, what you do?"
They're here for me, X thought... he could feel the truth of that in their minds. They hadn't been told what he was, but they had been paid to track him down. And he knew he had even more of a reason to leave now than he had before. As long as he stayed here, they would never be safe... not only from him, but also from the Maximals, who were still searching for him.
Although he and the others were hidden a bit too far away to hear the rest of conversation in the valley below, he could still see when it began to turn violent. The Maximals had no patience for the Junkion's TV-Talk... or for the run-around answers they were getting. Finally, one of them tried to shove Angel around, only to receive a warning whap from the flat of her axe.
As the fallen Maximal stood back up, rubbing the side of his head, he and his partner both got out weapons.
From where they were watching, Cowboy and Priest exchanged glances.
"We're goin in," Cowboy said.
"I'll cover you."
"I'd be safer if you didn't."
"Fine! I won't cover you."
"All right, cover me."
"You want me to cover you or not?"
"I need you to cover me."
"Fine. I'll cover you."
X started to leave cover as well, but Poet motioned for him to stay where he was. He understood why, once again without having to be told. The Maximals were looking for him. So, of course, they couldn't be allowed to see him there.
"Unless, perhaps... they see me leaving..," X said quietly to Poet.
Poet frowned slightly. He didn't bother again to put his thoughts into the rhymes his unusual speech problem forced him to use, instead knowing by now that X would be able to read his thoughts... that while seeing X leave Junk would likely keep the Maximals from returning to search for him, they would also know he had been here, and be able to follow him... How would he stay safe, alone...
"That doesn't matter..," X said, backing down the slope towards where his ship was waiting. A sudden weight in his tank kibble made him stop short. "Frog... not now, please..."
The girl didn't answer, refusing to budge from her odd perch. X's attempts to remove her were as futile as ever. She leaned over his shoulder again to wave a small portable TV in his face.
All packed, he found himself thinking. Have TV, will travel... "Froggy... no... You can't come with me..." The little femme ducked back down, but the weight in his kibble remained stubbornly in place. X glanced back to Poet, who was watching the scuffle in the next valley with a look of growing concern. The fight was moving steadily closer... although the Maximals were outnumbered, they were better trained than the Junkions were. Junkion fighting techniques tended to rely on sheer numbers, and their near-indestructibility.
But, as X had learned during his stay here, there were fewer Junkions now than there once were. And those that were left wandered Junk in groups like the ones he had fallen in with... no longer acting as a unified force when there was an invader on their world. Their last leader had died rescuing prisoners from the Maximals... including Poet, and a few others whom X had heard of in passing but never met.
Any moment now the Maximals would be over the junk-pile ridge and they would be able to see both him and the ship. He tried again to remove Froggy, without much success. "Froggy, get down. I mean it." He reached for the hatch controls, but even as the door slid open he could tell Frog still had no intention of budging from her perch. Instead, he thought he heard her begin to hum the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey".
He looked back to see the Maximals looking down into the valley. Nearby, Angel was shifting her axe's weight wishing for another strike, and Cowboy was reattaching an arm. Both were being held at gunpoint. There was no sign of Priest or Dude. "Froggy. Down. Now," he said, as quietly as he could manage. "There's no more time..."
"I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that..."
"Hold it right there, X!"
X scowled at the Maximal. "Or...?" There wasn't a choice... It looked like Froggy was going to get her way in this after all. X started to back into the ship hatch. If the Maximals saw him leave, surely they'd follow... and leave everyone else alone...
As soon as they saw him move, they opened fire. X fell to his knees, but found himself laughing. Yes, there was pain, but he'd felt far worse... This was meant to bother him? So what if some of the blasts went clear through him... he'd heal in a matter of seconds.
"What's the matter, Maximals...? Scared of something?" He taunted as shocked expressions crossed their faces when they saw the injuries heal up. Even now, their fear was amusing... But then he sensed something worse. Or rather, could no longer sense something that had been there a moment before. The weight in his kibble, almost familiar enough to be temporarily forgotten, had shifted. Yes, the blasts had gone right through him. And Junkions, although nearly indestructible, were not immortal...
Switching their aim to X had proved a fatal mistake for the Maximals. X looked up, feeling frozen at the thought of what must have happened to Froggy, as Angelcake brought her axe down on the head of one of the Maximals, chopping him almost completely in two. Dude had apparently recovered, and was helping Cowboy dismantle the other one.... Priest had made it over the ridge, helping a limping Poet, whom he'd likely been trying to repair.
X still didn't move. Not even when Angel came over and removed Froggy from his kibble. The tiny green and copper femme had half of her chest missing from a blast. Random thoughts seemed to drift through X's mind, as though his grip on the situation was a shaky one at best... and most disturbing of all was how Angel hadn't immediately started to repair Froggy...
He barely felt himself stand up. He was completely healed. Had he really started to think that they were that much like him? He backed into the hatch in a daze, watching the door shut and trying to make sense of what had just happened... but he couldn't.
Death was certainly not unfamiliar to him... but this was. Aren't I supposed to cry?, he thought detachedly. On TV they always cry... The strange numbness persisted, as he set the autopilot controls... and as Junk faded into the distance he had the strangest thought that perhaps he hadn't yet woken from the nightmare he'd had that morning. That the whole day had been just a part of it, and that soon, perhaps, he would wake to find he'd knocked the roof down on himself again... and when he moved it aside, Froggy would be there with her mischievous unrepentant grin. Give the Frog a kiss...
Legal stuff: All characters in this story are the trademarks and/or copyrights of their respective holders, except for those that aren't. Any resemblance to anyone who actually exists is coincidental (and pretty darn amazing), etc., etc. It's just a fanfic, guys.
JUNKION QUOTE LIST:
Dude - "Stop in the name of all which does not suck." - Butt-head, Beavis and Butt-head
Froggy - "Hello to the pain." - Buffy, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Angelcake - "The pain is not a friend." - Willow, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Angelcake - "You may be immortal but I can still do damage. How'd you like to spend eternity in 5 pieces?" Xena, Xena: Warrior Princess
Froggy - "...and as they both sink beneath the waves, the frog cries out, "Why did you sting me, Mr. Scorpion? For now we both will drown!" Scorpion replies, "I can't help it. It's in my nature."" - Jody, The Crying Game
Dude - "Charlie, two words: therapy." Tony Giardino, So I Married an Axe Murderer
Priest - "So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire." - Tick, The Tick
Dude - "I think I speak for everyone here when I say... huh??" - Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Froggy - "Don't go." - the little girl, Three Fugitives
Angelcake - "We have just gotten a wake-up call from the Nintendo Generation." Cereal Killer, Hackers
Froggy - "Danger? I laugh in the face of danger!...and then I hide until it goes away." - Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Dude - "Nobody panic. This is all just a big mistake." - Chris Parker, Adventures In Babysitting
Angelcake - "Excuse me. Who gave you permission to exist?" - Cordelia Chase, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Dude - "What are your names? Neil and Bob, or is that, like, what you do?" Ford Fairlane, Ford Fairlane
Cowboy and Priest - "We're goin' in." "I'll cover you." etc. - Lloyd Gallagher and Tom Beck, The Hidden
Froggy - "I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that." - HAL, 2001: A Space Odyssey
X/Rampage - "What's the matter... scared of something?" - a bit of a paraphrase on Helen's last line in Candyman.
For those of you who never figured it out... Yes, 'Poet' there is Wheelie.
He never learned just why Froggy decided to break that unwritten rule... Perhaps it was concern that prompted her to sneak in that day... perhaps it was something more. She loved him... it was an emotion he still barely understood, and he wasn't certain how to react to it.
He'd been having a particularly bad nightmare that time. Jerking awake at the slightest physical contact, he'd grabbed at whatever was nearest, unaware of his surroundings but intent on tearing something apart.
As usual it was his empathic sense that snapped him out of it, and he stood in the once-again wrecked dwelling, staring horrified as Froggy slipped into stasis. Alerted to the commotion, the others were heading their way.
"Stop in the name of all which does not suck!" Dude said, horrified.
X put Froggy on the ground and backed away, disturbed even more than the others at his own actions. And especially at what he had sensed from Froggy... the sense of confusion, of disbelief and betrayal that was still painfully familiar from his first day at Omicron.
Angelcake knelt down to check on Froggy, and to start repairs with the innate skill at such matters that all the Junkions seemed to have.
The little femme was already starting to regain consciousness. "Hello to the pain," she said dazedly, looking around.
"The pain is not a friend," Angelcake told her, helping to repair the damage.
Concerned, and still shaken by what he'd done, X tried to get closer...
Angelcake frowned at him and lifted her axe slightly in warning. "You may be immortal but I can still do damage," she growled at him. "How'd you like to spend eternity in five pieces?"
Froggy placed a restraining hand on the other femme's arm and shook her head no. She moved carefully over to X and looked up at him a bit sadly. "...and as they both sink beneath the waves, the Frog cries out, 'Why did you sting me, Mr. Scorpion? For now we both will drown!' Scorpion replies, 'I can't help it. It's in my nature.'"
Somehow, she understood. And in that moment, so did he. He hadn't meant to attack her, but he hadn't been able to stop himself either. And though he could tell Froggy had only meant to say that she didn't blame him for his actions, her words held a darker meaning for him.
If this sort of behavior was something over which he would never have any control... if it was part of his nature...
A hand on his shoulder jolted him from his thoughts, but luckily he was able to keep himself from doing anything violent... this time at least.
Dude was just shaking his head a bit sadly. The thin mech patted X on the shoulder again. "Charlie, two words: therapy."
Poet said nothing, as usual, instead just quietly observing. He seemed sad as though he knew something had been changed by that morning's events.
"So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper," Priest muttered quietly, almost to himself.
Froggy shuffled her feet self-consciously. The tiny femme was already completely repaired, but X knew that would make no difference as to his decision.
"I have to leave," he told them, turning his back on the others and heading for where his ship had been hidden.
Dude's shocked voice was the first one he heard, as the others began to follow after him. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say... huh??"
X ignored them and began to toss pieces of debris away, uncovering the ship as quickly as he could. He didn't want to have to think about what he was doing, what he felt he had to do. If he thought about it, he might change his mind, and he couldn't risk that... for their sakes. He was about to board the ship when he suddenly felt something grab his leg. He looked down with a snarl to see Froggy.
"Don't go..."
He stared at her for a moment, disbelieving. Even after what had happened, she still wanted him to stay? He forced the too-tempting thought away, reaching down to attempt to get Froggy to let go without harming her again. There had to be some way he could make her understand... it was just too dangerous.
But he could tell just from looking at her that there was no way to make her understand this. That even though he had learned this lesson from her, she somehow lacked the ability to grasp it herself.
Angelcake interrupted them, looking up from a rigged-together communications panel. "We have just gotten a wake-up call from the Nintendo Generation."
X looked over. "Maximals?"
"Got it in one, this doesn't look fun..," Poet commented, looking over the board.
"Danger? I laugh in the face of danger!" Froggy said, temporarily distracted from her attempts to restrain X. "...and then I hide until it goes away."
A ship was landing the next clearing over, with only the most brief of greetings over a com-channel and no wait for permission to land. Apparently good manners was not something on the mind of the pilot.
The rest of the Junkions, as well as X and Poet, stayed under cover, while Dude and Angelcake went out to see what the Maximals wanted.
"Nobody panic. This is all just a big mistake," Dude said, trying to reassure the others, as he and Angel left.
Angel glared at the two Maximals who exited the small scout ship. "Excuse me. Who gave you permission to exist?"
Dude placed a restraining hand on her arm, and, in an attempt to maintain a shred of civility, asked "What are your names? Neil and Bob, or is that, like, what you do?"
They're here for me, X thought... he could feel the truth of that in their minds. They hadn't been told what he was, but they had been paid to track him down. And he knew he had even more of a reason to leave now than he had before. As long as he stayed here, they would never be safe... not only from him, but also from the Maximals, who were still searching for him.
Although he and the others were hidden a bit too far away to hear the rest of conversation in the valley below, he could still see when it began to turn violent. The Maximals had no patience for the Junkion's TV-Talk... or for the run-around answers they were getting. Finally, one of them tried to shove Angel around, only to receive a warning whap from the flat of her axe.
As the fallen Maximal stood back up, rubbing the side of his head, he and his partner both got out weapons.
From where they were watching, Cowboy and Priest exchanged glances.
"We're goin in," Cowboy said.
"I'll cover you."
"I'd be safer if you didn't."
"Fine! I won't cover you."
"All right, cover me."
"You want me to cover you or not?"
"I need you to cover me."
"Fine. I'll cover you."
X started to leave cover as well, but Poet motioned for him to stay where he was. He understood why, once again without having to be told. The Maximals were looking for him. So, of course, they couldn't be allowed to see him there.
"Unless, perhaps... they see me leaving..," X said quietly to Poet.
Poet frowned slightly. He didn't bother again to put his thoughts into the rhymes his unusual speech problem forced him to use, instead knowing by now that X would be able to read his thoughts... that while seeing X leave Junk would likely keep the Maximals from returning to search for him, they would also know he had been here, and be able to follow him... How would he stay safe, alone...
"That doesn't matter..," X said, backing down the slope towards where his ship was waiting. A sudden weight in his tank kibble made him stop short. "Frog... not now, please..."
The girl didn't answer, refusing to budge from her odd perch. X's attempts to remove her were as futile as ever. She leaned over his shoulder again to wave a small portable TV in his face.
All packed, he found himself thinking. Have TV, will travel... "Froggy... no... You can't come with me..." The little femme ducked back down, but the weight in his kibble remained stubbornly in place. X glanced back to Poet, who was watching the scuffle in the next valley with a look of growing concern. The fight was moving steadily closer... although the Maximals were outnumbered, they were better trained than the Junkions were. Junkion fighting techniques tended to rely on sheer numbers, and their near-indestructibility.
But, as X had learned during his stay here, there were fewer Junkions now than there once were. And those that were left wandered Junk in groups like the ones he had fallen in with... no longer acting as a unified force when there was an invader on their world. Their last leader had died rescuing prisoners from the Maximals... including Poet, and a few others whom X had heard of in passing but never met.
Any moment now the Maximals would be over the junk-pile ridge and they would be able to see both him and the ship. He tried again to remove Froggy, without much success. "Froggy, get down. I mean it." He reached for the hatch controls, but even as the door slid open he could tell Frog still had no intention of budging from her perch. Instead, he thought he heard her begin to hum the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey".
He looked back to see the Maximals looking down into the valley. Nearby, Angel was shifting her axe's weight wishing for another strike, and Cowboy was reattaching an arm. Both were being held at gunpoint. There was no sign of Priest or Dude. "Froggy. Down. Now," he said, as quietly as he could manage. "There's no more time..."
"I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that..."
"Hold it right there, X!"
X scowled at the Maximal. "Or...?" There wasn't a choice... It looked like Froggy was going to get her way in this after all. X started to back into the ship hatch. If the Maximals saw him leave, surely they'd follow... and leave everyone else alone...
As soon as they saw him move, they opened fire. X fell to his knees, but found himself laughing. Yes, there was pain, but he'd felt far worse... This was meant to bother him? So what if some of the blasts went clear through him... he'd heal in a matter of seconds.
"What's the matter, Maximals...? Scared of something?" He taunted as shocked expressions crossed their faces when they saw the injuries heal up. Even now, their fear was amusing... But then he sensed something worse. Or rather, could no longer sense something that had been there a moment before. The weight in his kibble, almost familiar enough to be temporarily forgotten, had shifted. Yes, the blasts had gone right through him. And Junkions, although nearly indestructible, were not immortal...
Switching their aim to X had proved a fatal mistake for the Maximals. X looked up, feeling frozen at the thought of what must have happened to Froggy, as Angelcake brought her axe down on the head of one of the Maximals, chopping him almost completely in two. Dude had apparently recovered, and was helping Cowboy dismantle the other one.... Priest had made it over the ridge, helping a limping Poet, whom he'd likely been trying to repair.
X still didn't move. Not even when Angel came over and removed Froggy from his kibble. The tiny green and copper femme had half of her chest missing from a blast. Random thoughts seemed to drift through X's mind, as though his grip on the situation was a shaky one at best... and most disturbing of all was how Angel hadn't immediately started to repair Froggy...
He barely felt himself stand up. He was completely healed. Had he really started to think that they were that much like him? He backed into the hatch in a daze, watching the door shut and trying to make sense of what had just happened... but he couldn't.
Death was certainly not unfamiliar to him... but this was. Aren't I supposed to cry?, he thought detachedly. On TV they always cry... The strange numbness persisted, as he set the autopilot controls... and as Junk faded into the distance he had the strangest thought that perhaps he hadn't yet woken from the nightmare he'd had that morning. That the whole day had been just a part of it, and that soon, perhaps, he would wake to find he'd knocked the roof down on himself again... and when he moved it aside, Froggy would be there with her mischievous unrepentant grin. Give the Frog a kiss...
Legal stuff: All characters in this story are the trademarks and/or copyrights of their respective holders, except for those that aren't. Any resemblance to anyone who actually exists is coincidental (and pretty darn amazing), etc., etc. It's just a fanfic, guys.
JUNKION QUOTE LIST:
Dude - "Stop in the name of all which does not suck." - Butt-head, Beavis and Butt-head
Froggy - "Hello to the pain." - Buffy, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Angelcake - "The pain is not a friend." - Willow, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Angelcake - "You may be immortal but I can still do damage. How'd you like to spend eternity in 5 pieces?" Xena, Xena: Warrior Princess
Froggy - "...and as they both sink beneath the waves, the frog cries out, "Why did you sting me, Mr. Scorpion? For now we both will drown!" Scorpion replies, "I can't help it. It's in my nature."" - Jody, The Crying Game
Dude - "Charlie, two words: therapy." Tony Giardino, So I Married an Axe Murderer
Priest - "So once again, we find that evil of the past seeps into the present like salad dressing through cheap wax paper, mixing memory and desire." - Tick, The Tick
Dude - "I think I speak for everyone here when I say... huh??" - Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Froggy - "Don't go." - the little girl, Three Fugitives
Angelcake - "We have just gotten a wake-up call from the Nintendo Generation." Cereal Killer, Hackers
Froggy - "Danger? I laugh in the face of danger!...and then I hide until it goes away." - Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Dude - "Nobody panic. This is all just a big mistake." - Chris Parker, Adventures In Babysitting
Angelcake - "Excuse me. Who gave you permission to exist?" - Cordelia Chase, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Dude - "What are your names? Neil and Bob, or is that, like, what you do?" Ford Fairlane, Ford Fairlane
Cowboy and Priest - "We're goin' in." "I'll cover you." etc. - Lloyd Gallagher and Tom Beck, The Hidden
Froggy - "I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that." - HAL, 2001: A Space Odyssey
X/Rampage - "What's the matter... scared of something?" - a bit of a paraphrase on Helen's last line in Candyman.
For those of you who never figured it out... Yes, 'Poet' there is Wheelie.