Track 15 - Children At Their Worst

"So this is your place huh? What the hell happened to it?" S said.

Just as Theo requested, the monster known as S and Nikku arrived at Theo's house just past 10. With you at TGG and Updike presumably there as well S felt he had permission to engage in a little bit of spending.

Using stolen funds he ordered a full on 3D printer and 360 camera. He ordered a lanyard and shoulder mount so that Nikku could carry it around and allow him to see through. He had the printer delivered to your house, the name signed as Sonic o. Earth, the o being "of". He also made sure the package would have been dropped off when you weren't present, S gleeful you actually took Updike's job.

He even made Nikku arrive slightly earlier to unpack and move it to your backyard. It was an expensive one, the only models above industrial-grade and too large to carry.

Now living his best life, S was able to see through Nikku all around. He had also ordered a wireless speaker which was now hooked onto Nikku's arm allowing him to speak and listen in.

It also looked like a pretty cool gauntlet, in S' opinion. Nikku didn't mind at all. If anything it made her feel stronger too, with a second set of eyes watching for any assailants. When Updike had told S to watch her he meant it an off-hand comment. S took it seriously. He made sure no suspicious person was watching...unless there was more news from Mobius. That took precedence. Nikku also remained worried that people at IRIS were looking for her. This made her feel safer.

"What is wrong with my house? I designed it myself." Theo asked as he hauled the 3d printer onto his property.

"Well it's just, weird. I've seen a lot of houses since I came to this place but none looked like this. So...big."

"It has everything I require and more. It is the other houses that are poorly designed. Cookie cutter. They all look the same!"

"Well...I guess if you put it that way then yeah! Your house is pretty cool." S mused.

"I am grateful you think so."

"I think it looks cool." Nikku added.

"Jolly good. Well let us get started." With a push of the door, Theo let the two spacefarers into his house.

They set up in the kitchen, Theo's grand and dense wooden table perfect for space needed for printing and plans. More fit to appear in a jungle hunter's house, the flat wood and vibrant patterns provided the workspace.

It took little time to set up the printer. He remarked in awe that it was a high-quality model. S made up a story that it was yours back from the police station, just that you didn't reclaim it. Nikku knew it to be false and tried to speak up. S made her phone vibrate, the closest thing he could do to a nudge.

"I never took (Y/N) to be an engineer. I simply must discuss with 'em later."

As Theo set up his tools and CAD software, S and Nikku set up the printer. S started by initiating a test print. A small badge, print of the real Sonic.

Satisfied, Theo started designing the parts of the vehicle, covering his table in blueprints.

While Nikku had stayed in the safehouses for a time she'd never seen an interior like this. Those safehouses were so generically set up she though all houses just looked like that. Curiosity gripped her.

She took off the camera and allowed S to stay with Theo. "Can I look around?" She asked, not that interested in schematics.

"Of course." Theo said. "Just don't go in the basement or any locked doors." Nikku nodded, not interested in either. She wanted to explore the house and outside, taking in Theo's wayward designs.

As she stepped outside she cleared her thoughts. Over the weeks she'd become so used to Tess' voice that it became her default. It reached the point where using other peoples voices was awkward now.

The sky grew cloudy, grey clouds covering the natural blue. The sun was somewhere, failing at piercing through what clouds covered it. As she walked around the house she noticed the sheer amount of scattered things around. Wrenches, a beat up car better used for scrap, overgrown grass, various cardboard boxes wilted from rain, plastic bags of junk, bottles of all sorts. It was all very messy. Looking around she even caught a few squirrels rummaging through Theo's junk.

She looked at the house next door, yours. A simple house, bigger than a condo and large enough for you, Tabi and occasionally Huggy. She wondered if you were in, remembering S already said you weren't.

Looking back to the garbage she tried to clean it up, moving cardboard boxes with others and collecting the tools in her arms. She glanced across the street and stopped at what she saw.

Across the street was another house, normal, unlike Theo's and on the front lawn stood a kid. He had a green baseball cap, blue shirt and khaki shorts. He looked at her perplexed, as if she wasn't who he expected. She smiled and put down tools, waving to the kid.

He took a step back, now thoroughly confused. He looked to mutter something before running off, disappearing into his house.

Nikku shrugged and started bringing the tools round back.

Theo's house was built in such a way not much of a backyard existed. A space about the size of an alley separated his house and a back picket fence. At least it was a little cleaner here, aside from all the overgrown grass. The back of the house cast a shadow, dimming everything.

Nikku noticed a huge pile of crap stacked at the back of the house. It almost formed a pathway, the way everything clumsily stacked together. A discarded loveseat, couch, large planks of wood, tables and a few chairs had culminated into a mountain of crap she could climb.

But despite the large amount of trash, it wasn't dirty. It was the same observation you had made when he first moved in. Messy, but not dirty.

The pieces all looked maintained. She concluded it must have just been dumped like this, either that or Theo cleaned it up, but that made no sense to her.

She figured this random patch of grass would be a good spot for the tools and dumped them all down. Turning around she saw two other kids watching. They were a little farther out into the houses behind Theo's but she saw them clearly. Two more kids, dressed like the first one, watching her with binoculars. They were seated atop a nearby house.

She thought about waving again but stopped, seeing something else grab the kid's attention. Their binoculars moved to something next to her. She turned and nearly jumped, it was the kid from before.

He had wide eyes and looking at Nikku intently. "He's a murderer you know. Kidnaps kids." He spoke softly.

"W-what?"

"The man in there. You've met him right? He's got kids in his basement. You shouldn't be here."

Nikku was thoroughly confused, both by the kid's sudden appearance as well as his strange words. She almost caught herself copying his voice before she corrected herself.

"T-theo? What do you mean?"

"Have you seen his basement? The door with all the locks and whistles? You're curious aren't you?"

"I don't know..?" Was this a common thing for Theo? Who were all these children? Nikku turned to the houses back, seeing the 2 kids watching her now gone as well.

"Why are you here? How do you know him?"

Now a question Nikku could answer. She cleared her throat again, making sure it was Tess' voice. "We're just helping him build something."

The kid's eyes narrowed. "What kind of thing?"

"Toys." She said bluntly, hoping he wouldn't pry further.

The kid lurched forward and grabbed Nikku's hands. "You gotta help us miss. We're gonna get the key but you need to distract him. We're gonna free them!"

"W-whwat?"

"You gotta help us!" He said, a little louder. "My name is Nicky. What's yours?"

"N-nikku."

From the side of the house the three other kids arrived. They were decked out in sports equipment, shoulder pads, knee pads, bicycle helmets, shin guards and more. It was a crude and simple form of defence but worked. They also wielded hockey sticks.

One of them wielded a water gun and the others carried hockey sticks.

Nikku, even more confused by the appearance took it as a threat and agreed. "O-Okay. I'll uh, see if I can." She nodded and Nicky let go.

Awkwardly trying to get away from them, Nikku scampered into the open window next to her, landing inside with a thud. She was more focused on the kids 'threat' than she was the room. It was a regular room, though all the furniture was glued to the ceiling, giving the whole appearance to be upside down. She just tried a door, opened it and b-lined to the kitchen, worried slightly.

She was so focused on the threat she only barely missed the live bear trap on the ground, tripping around it. It activated, two jaws of steel smashing into each other.

"What was that?" Theo asked, immediately getting up from his designing.

"It's just me. Sorry." Nikku said. She quickly got up and made for the kitchen.

S and Theo were still present, both working on a laptop designing the car. Being able to interface directly with the software, S was designing the car far more complex than Theo intended.

He sat in awe, figuring S to be some kind of engineering genius. Wielding an exacto cutting through plastic bits, he occasionally turned to S for assistance.

The 3D printer was buzzing atop the large oak table along with many scraps of paper and blueprints. S' camera was still present on the table.

"S, you there?" Nikku asked, concerned.

"What's up?" He said from the laptop.

"There's some weird kids all around the house."

"Kids?" Theo said suddenly. He turned to Nikku. "Where? How many?"

Now Playing...

Artist: Koshiro Yoshimatsu & Takafumi Isotani

Song: 二次元少女笑う 第一部

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkXNenKEaCs

Boss Card: https://twitter.com/odaocer/status/1743245555302531556

"I don't know...3. 4? Do they, uh want something?"

Theo put the exacto down.

"They said you're a murderer." She added. "That you had kids in the basement."

"Really?" S said, warping out somewhere. Nikku knew he did because S started to play a sound effect when he did so.

Theo's expression changed to anger. "Those brats have been harassing me for weeks. They think I'm sort of killer."

"You had kids in the basement?"

Theo shook his head vehemently. "I do not! Those kids came up with some stupid rumour that I do. I swear on it. I don't!"

"But..why's it so locked up?"

"I keep a lot of personal things down there. Things I don't want anyone to see. And those kids have broken in several times already! I have to keep my personal possessions safe!"

"He's right." S said, arriving back. "Nothing down there but a bunch of mannequins, paper and weird stuff. Got a weird costume too. Looks kinda like a swamp monster. Kinda cool tbh." S said, even spelling out the acronym.

"WHAT? You looked?!" Theo shouted at the laptop.

"Duh, yeah. Wanted to see if you were as hardcore as me. Whatever, you got all sorts of cameras down there, you think I can't just port in to them and see?"

Theo shook his head, joining the list of people that understood that S does what he pleases. He turned his attention back to Nikku. "Where did you see them?"

"Out back."

"I can't deal with this right now. I will be back momentarily." Theo said. He grabbed a broom and ran off towards the back.

"Should we do something?" She asked S.

"Why? I don't care."

"But, like-"

"Nah. Not our problem. Pick up that exacto. Keep cutting."

Nikku nodded and took Theo's place at the table, picking up the sheathed blade. She had only figured out how to make it 'extend' when loud crash was heard from the front. Someone had thrown something through the window.

"What the hell?" S asked. One second later he had warped in the camera and back. "Whoa, we got an intruder! He shouted.

Nikku got up, worried again.

"We can't let them get to the printer!" S said, now alert. "Get my camera on. Let's do this!"

"Should we call the cops?"

"PFft. It's just a bunch of kids. I've had no problem dealing with them. We're gonna solve this ourselves. Friggin-go to (Y/N)'s house. I know where the guns are hidden."

"What?! No! I'm not shooting a kid!"

"Argh! You're so boring sometimes. Fine. Grab that exacto and let's go!" Nikku complied, though not serious about actually harming them. She hoped it would be a good threat.

The living room was at the front of the house, just next to the lobby. It was where a brick had landed square in the center.

One of the kids climbed through the broken window. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Nikku. She stood in front of the basement, effectively blocking it.

"I can't believe you told on us!" The kid pouted. "You're just as bad as the others. Now get out of the way!" The kid shouted and wielded the hockey stick.

"Uhhh, S? What do I do?"

"Duh. Stab her!"

"He doesn't even have anything in the basement!" Nikku pleaded, ignoring S' murderous advice.

"She's right!" S declared from the TV. "He isn't some monster. I am!" He said gleefully.

The kid just ignored S and walked towards Nikku. "Don't make me do this." They both said in unison.

"Hey! Over here! I'm the villain! Argh." S said again. "Fine you wanna ignore me. Ignore this!"

Just as the kid got closer a baseball flew by, smashing into her side. Nikku glanced aside, seeing that Theo must have set up a pitching machine there. S ported and fired it.

"HA! Direct hit!" S cheered.

"Trinity! You okay?" Someone shouted from a walkie on her.

"The girl's no good. She's got powers or something."

"Those! ARGH! No offense Nikku but you're really stealing my thunder today!" S shouted. The girl got up and blocking the next baseball ran away into the lobby.

"S-sorry?"

"These stupid kids wanna ignore me? I'll show them!" S shouted, angrily. "I'll turn this place into a deathtrap!"

Nikku had little time to be disturbed by S' bloodlust when she heard a crash from the back of the house. Just barely she made out Theo mutter. "What the devil?"

To which S replied. "I got your back old man!"

Another thud from the side of the house. S weaponized all the traps and cameras and started launching his own war, blind off his anger.

Nikku, still thoroughly confused ran to the back of the house, hoping to find S. She spotted Theo from the window, trying to grab one of the kids. The kid ducked, climbing up the pile of crap and making it to the second floor.

Theo sighed and noticed Nikku. "I'm dreadfully sorry for all this but can you help?"

"O-okay."

"If only (Y/N) and Tabi were here." Theo mumbled.

Returning to the living room Nikku did what she guessed best. She grabbed the bear rug on the ground and fashioning it into a cloak donned it. She hoped she could scare one of the kids with it.

As Nikku ran around she could hear traps and all sorts of sounds across the house. Whether the kids understood it or not S had begun activating traps all over with no regards for the kid's safety.

That much became evident when Nikku heard one of them scream.

"Nikku! Get to the second floor! ARGH! Those chumps got water guns!" S shouted.

Nikku ran to the second floor, grabbing an umbrella. It was there Nikku saw what had happened. Short circuiting some of the cameras one of the kids shot a red liquid at them. Judging from the strong scent, red wine.

They took sight of Nikku who tried to roar at them but they just started firing wine at her, not the least bit scared.

She ripped off the rug and threw it at them, just as S let loose a nearby door that spilled water and a shoddy-looking mechanical shark. It nipped at them and they ran, itself tripping out the window.

"Good job Nikku!" He shouted from her gauntlet. "Bit better than before."

"Take this!" A small object smashed into Nikku's back. She stumbled forward, the object not doing much actual damage than losing her balance. She landed in the water, now frustrated.

Getting up she saw the kid had thrown a can of soda.

"You little!" Reaching for the umbrella she chucked it at the girl as if it were a spear.

The girl merely smirked and ran off, easily dodging it. She hopped into the room next, closing the door behind her.

"Get back to the kitchen! One of the kids is eyeing the printer!" S gasped. "Chumps wanna touch my printer. I'll KILL EM ALL!"

"Don't kill them!" Nikku shouted, finally.

"Argh Fine. But let me spook them, alright?" S said, finally relenting.

"Fine."

"Alright let's see. Kid's name could be Trinity..." S trailed off as Nikku bolted down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Don't touch that!" She shouted as the kid was eyeing it. He wielded a super soaker too. It was the first kid, Nicky. He glared at Nikku.

Like holding a hostage he aimed it at the printer. "Tell us where the key is."

But, just before Nikku could react, Theo entered from the back, a pissed look on his face. He was holding a shovel, a glint of fury in his eye.

"What the hell is wrong with you children? Just leave me alone!" He shouted.

"We're the rescue squad!" Nicky shouted. "We know what you're hiding there." He declared. "Move and the machine gets it!"

Theo froze, not wanting to lose the printer.

"Gosh shut up!" S spat from the gauntlet. "You wanna see a real monster?"

"Why do you have two voices?" Nicky asked quizzically.

Furthering the standoff a few more kids emerged, surrounding them all. All aimed and equipped with weapons. It as gonna be bloody. No lethal weapons but any could become one. Nikku didn't know how desperate they were. It still would've hurt like hell.

"I really can't kill, can I?" S asked again.

Nikku was adamant. "No!"

Theo looked uneasy. "All this cause of a stupid rumour." He spat.

"You know what-I'm sick of all of you." S said from all of their phones. Anger had been replaced with annoyance.

"Can't even make this a fair fight cause apparently I can't KiLl KiDs?! You're either gonna leave RIGHT NOW or I'm gonna kill all your parents!"

The kids reacted surprised but sceptical, still thinking Nikku behind it.

One of them took out their phones and looked, seeing a bloodied Sonic lookalike threatening them. He laughed. "And how are you gonna do that?"

He looked back to Nikku. "Stupid trick."

"T-Trick? HOW DARE YOU! YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF!"

S cracked a devious smile, the happiness echoing through his voice.

"Jay Roth, reporter, currently at his desk, Miguel Esposito, reporter, currently at Bigtop Burger, Luanne Roth, currently at the dryers. I got them and more in my sights right now."

"H-how?" One of the kids asked.

"Check your phones, brats."

The lot of kids did, each of their eyes widening in surprise. Through security camera footage and phone tracking S found each of their parent's actual locations. For the touch he put a dot on each camera so it looked as if snipers were targeting each. It was a completely insane bluff, but as the kids looked to each other they believed it.

A struck of coincidence hit as someone had apparently gone up to the one of the parents and motioned to something outside. Like they had spotted a sniper.

"You're move ReScUe SqUaD! You harm my printer, I make sure the orphanage has few less beds tonight."

Nikku was aghast, Theo likewise. Neither expected S' level of brutality. It hadn't occurred to them he could, or would.

And as the kids looked at Nikku and Theo's shocked expressions they finally understood it wasn't them.

"W-what are you?" One of the kids asked Nikku.

"No! NOT HER! LOOK BACK AT YOUR PHONE! I AM SONIC."

"AND I'LL BE YOUR BIGGEST NIGHTMARE." S said, giggling maniacally.

From where Nikku stood she could see S in the laptop along with all the camera feeds. Theo too, standing nearby could see S wasn't bluffing.

Nicky was the first. He nodded and put down his weapon. He wanted no part in this battle, at least not while this girl and 'being' were with Theo. The other kids, seeing Nicky withdraw did as well, awkwardly walking away from where they came. The kids didn't have a defeated look on their faces, instead one of scorn and worry. Scorn because they found out Theo had powerful friends and worry, unsure about just exactly what S was. They had no idea just what S was capable of, S himself silently cackling that he would deal with them later, relishing the time we he now spend with them.

"You can't keep your son locked up forever." One of the kids said.

Theo sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with you kids. For the last time, he's at school!" He bellowed.

The kids didn't react, instead slunking away and running off.

Nikku looked to S once the coast was clear, but Theo was the first to ask.

"That was abhorrent." He commented. "Did you really mean it?" He walked to the laptop so he could get a better look at S.

"Pfft. No. Just wanted to get them out of here. Kids are like me, unpredictable. You don't use force they'll never learn."

Theo took the comment as meaning S a father but shook his head. "I don't know if such tactics are...educational but I thank the both of you for helping. Were those actually their parents?"

S nodded.

"If you could, would you get me their contact info? I must have a word with them, end this now."

"Ehn. I could. Or I could also harass them a bit more. Make 'em really scared of me."

Theo rubbed his chin, thinking on it. "I shall get back to you."

S' smile grew wider, taking it as Theo meant he could harass them more.

"Anyway. Thank you again for helping. Nikku, would you like some beer nuts?"

"I, uh, don't drink."

"Nonsense. They are just a snack. Just sugar-coated peanuts."

"Oh, well sure." As Theo went to get them from the cupboard, Nikku couldn't help but ask.

"So did you really lock your son away?"

Theo sighed. "I've done lot bad things in the past."

"Amen to that." S said.

"And a lot I regret. Including doing that to him. But I was grieving, I wasn't thinking straight. I had just lost my daughter and wife. I couldn't bear to lose another. I ended up moving cities to here, but alas the rumours still follow. I'm sure S can see just fine, he's at school right now. It took a bit, but I managed to overcome my emotions." Theo poured some of the peanuts from the tin into a small bowl.

"It is also my belief that assisting you all will help me seek peace for what I have done."

Nikku nodded. Had you been there you would have saw right through that last statement. You'd seen Theo's eyes. He was just as crooked as the rest. No atonement, he just wanted to join a supernatural team.

"Did they hit you with those water blasters?" Theo asked, now noticing Nikku wet and shivering slightly.

"No. I just tripped."

"I shall get you a towel too. Dry yourself off."

"W-why do you even have a room filled with water?"

"Ah, that is for my pet mechanical shark. And I swim in it sometimes."

"O-oh." Nikku said flatly. She didn't bother mentioning the water had drained all over the above floor and shark flew out the window. None of it made sense.

"Yeah, yeah, that's cool. I got a question."

"What is it, S?"

"Do you think you could build me a body? Like a robot one. I can get all the schematics and crap easily."

"Well I suppose I could. After we finish these vehicles of course. I can build anything with your help."

"Hell yeah. Let's get to it then!"

"Right. Here you are Nikku." Theo handed her a bowl of the peanuts. "We've wasted enough time." Theo declared and they got back to work.

She took one, finding them a peanut covered in some kind of sugar. Despite the strange appearance it tasted good!

Meanwhile, at TGG's headquarters you were scrolling through your phone, bored. You had gotten a notification that movement was detected from one of the side cameras. Clicking it, you see a group of kids pass by the side of your house and leave Theo's property.

"Huh. Weird." You mumble.

The next chapter will be called The Firebrand.