DetectiveRed

Characters have been set-up and the stage has been set. Things are gonns get more fun and intense from here on out.

Was I dead? I kinda hoped I was. That would be the best way for me to go out, saving people who were worth saving. I couldn’t see, and everything hurt, most of all my back. I was lying on something cold and hard? Maybe metal. It seemed like I was still alive, but my eyes just hadn’t adjusted to the dark. Now the question was: where was I?

“Hello?”

The lights came on and I immediately recognised it as the inside of Roo. We must have taken a tumble. 

THUD THUD THUD

Someone was here. I needed to morph, I needed to hide. Muffled voices came from outside the door.

“Justin, are you okay?” Stella shouted. Presumably to me.

“Is it seriously Justin?” one of the others whispered. I assumed Clay, they didn’t seem to like me, for obvious reasons. 

“Are you there? The lights came on. Can you come out? We need to get you some medical attention.”

“I’ll be out in a second.” Why wasn’t my morpher working? I couldn’t let them see me like this. I couldn’t let them see me at all.

“Justin, if you don’t come out now, I’m going to come in there and drag you out. I’m the leader. I have that power. Don’t test me.” Joanne sounded angry, really angry. I’d made her angry and it was time to face the music. Maybe she’d kick me out. I wouldn’t blame her. 

The doors opened as I walked. It was ominous, especially with the lights flickering. Maybe it would have been easier if I had just pretended to not be here. That way I could have stayed in the creepy mech instead of having to deal with something even more terrifying: confrontation. My eyes adjusted as I kept going. How were people going to react to me? Clay was already tired of me as Gold. Alex was probably smart enough to be annoyed by me, and Blain? I don’t know how he would think of me. I’ve never seen him be mad at anything at school. The final door opened and the bright light of the command center blinded me.

“Huh, it really was him. Cool!” Blain said with a smile. 

“Last person I would’ve guessed.” Alex laughed. 

“Give him a break, he’s pretty badly beat up.” Stella told the other two off like she was a teacher dealing with a rowdy class. I appreciated it. Even if it was only putting off the inevitable. 

“Where’s Joanne?” 

“I’ve convinced her to take some time to calm down before she talks to you.”

“She’s that mad?” 

“She’s worried, Justin. She’s the leader of this team; if anything happened to us she would never forgive herself. Even if you tried to leave, you are still a part of this.” The way Stella talked about Joanne was soft, her concern was obvious. “Now come on, we are gonna get you patched up.”

The walk to the med bay was slow. I didn’t realise how hurt I was until I had time for the adrenaline and anxiety to wear off for a second. Each step was a pain, and if it weren’t for Stella offering to let me lean on her, I probably wouldn’t have made it. I was too tired to care about feeling creepy. I’d have plenty of time to apologise later.

“Ay yi yi, what happened to you, Goldie?” 

“They know who I am now Kepler, there’s no reason to keep using that name.”

“But that’s what you asked us to call you, so that is what I will call you. What happened?”

“The kangaroo got a gash in it from the sword. The Cuttle Copier pushed him into it,” Stella explained.

“Oh, no!”

“And before that, he took on the thing alone.”

Kepler walked over to me and effortlessly picked me up. How could so much strength fit in such a small robot?

“You must lie down.” Kepler gently put me down onto one of the med beds. Maybe it wasn’t the worst time for a nap.

------

“He almost died because of me, Astrus. He didn’t even want to be there in the first place!”

My eyes reluctantly opened. Joanne was so loud that there was a hoarse quality to her voice. Was this what she sounded like when she was mad? It was different from the way she yelled for me to get out of Roo. I wanted to let her know I was okay. No, I needed to. I couldn’t let her worry about me.

“It’s not your fault that he was pushed in front of your sword.”

I tried to stand, but the ground seemed to sway beneath my feet. I tried leaning on the wall, but it didn’t do much to steady me. I tried to stumble along the wall.

“I felt it. Astrus have you ever been in one of those things? You can feel things.” 

“I have. I’m sorry.”

She sounded like she was crying. I didn’t deserve for people to care about me like this. I wanted to comfort her, but that would probably only make things worse.

“You know? I have to ask: why were we chosen for this? We are 17! Why does the fate of the world sit on our shoulders?”

“I wish I knew, Joanne. I’ve been trying to understand the Power ever since I was in your shoes.”

“Why do you let us do this then, Astrus?”

I’d asked the same thing. Did she want to leave?

“Because regardless of whether I’m involved or not, people will be chosen. I want those people to at least survive. If I told you to walk away, would you?”

“I wouldn’t.”

“That’s what I learned. If you are chosen, you won’t leave unless you have to. Gold chose to come back, because he has a heroic heart. Just like you do.”

I laughed. Heroic? Me? I ran away like a coward because I couldn’t handle the pressure.

“Goldie, are you awake?” Joanne called out.

Darn.

“Umm- yeah, sorry. I just woke up.”

“We’ll talk about this again later, Astrus,” she said, before I heard the sound of quick footsteps. 

“I’m sorry, Joanne,” Astrus said solemnly.

The doors opened, revealing Joanne. Her face was red, and her hair was a mess. The only time I’d seen her so beat up and freaked out was when she was thanking me for saving the team and I was too embarrassed to talk properly. How was she so beautiful and rugged at the same time? 

“Thank the Power, you’re alright.”

“I am, thank you.” It was way too hard to keep calm. I didn’t want to freak her out by getting emotional.

She came over and sat down next to me. Now how was I meant to keep my composure? She was just so cool, and she cared about me for some reason. My heart was pounding, she was just being friendly and my heart was pounding? Why was I so bad with people? Why was I so weird?

“So how was your first near death experience?” she laughed. Was that meant to be a joke? How many times had she gone through this? Was this a normal thing? 

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“You apologise a lot, don’t you, Justin?”

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologise for apologising.” Why was she being nice? I left them out to dry earlier. 

“But--”

“No buts, Justin--”

“I’m sorry, but can you keep calling me Goldie.” Was I in any position to be selfish right now? After I screwed them over. 

“Look, Goldie, I’m not Stella. I can’t read your mind, but she did let me know I have been too harsh on you. I’m sorry. She’s the one with the emotional intelligence. If you still want to leave, I understand, but I want you to know that you belong here, and I want you on my team, this time as a proper part of it.” Was she seriously offering this? Why would she ask me this after I just screwed everything up? Why would she ask this flustered moron to hang out with them? “You’ll train with us, hang out with us at school, and you will come to the bonding time stuff that Stella will inevitably drag us to.”

“Are you sure I’m allowed?” My face was scrunching up. 

“Stella was right, wasn’t she? You’re lonely?” Yes I was lonely. That’s what I deserved. After all my screw ups, after all the times I’d pushed people away and made things harder for everyone, what else did I deserve aside from loneliness? “You’re crying.”

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed out. 

I felt her put her arm around me. I must have been blushing so hard, I just hoped she wouldn’t notice. I was trying to stop the tears but they just kept coming.

“There, there,” she said awkwardly as she patted me on shoulder

“I’ll stay on the team, if you’re sure I won’t be a burden,” I mumbled.

“I’ll let everyone know.”

DetectiveRed

Next chapter we get into the big meat and potatos of the story.