Unfortunate: Upside Down/Part One

Lee Dryden Prower opened his eyes, blinking a few times to get accustomed to the light in his room. His left arm, icy steel from the shoulder down, had a blanket wrapped around it so the young fox could sleep comfortably. He pulled the soft patch of fabric off it, flexing the silver-black fingers, testing to see if they still worked. Lee grinned, watching the hand changing into a fist, then back again. "One more test," he thought, straightening his arm. The panels shifted open, glowing a light blue moments before unleashing a shield of the same color. "Great to know the new coding works." His left arm had been acting up lately, somehow affected by Savage and the Master Emerald, and he'd put new programming in place to set up while he slept. He slid out of bed, double checking before taking his shirt off to change. The poofy, almost bleached white fur bundle fluffed out, covering his shoulders and upper chest. Lee grabbed a bottle of hair gel off his dresser, squirting some in his hand and coating the fluff with the green gel. With his fur lathered, the fox snatched up a comb, brushing it down. He slapped some in his hair, but even after combing it down.. it just sprang back into its buzzsaw shape. "Jeez," Lee muttered. He sighed, putting his shirt back on. The unwilling cyborg plopped down on his bed. Link, who slept in the hall below Lee's tower bedroom, was still asleep. The Hedgelynx had been out 'til 11 last night, at the movies with his current girlfriend, Jewel the Cat. Link's scarf was tangled up with his spines, making a lot of positions uncomfy. But his thick, brown fur, along with the tuft down his midsection kept him warm pretty much all the time; so it balanced out. Undoubtedly the most physically fit of his siblings, it was pretty obvious why Jewel had fallen for him. Across the hall from him were the androids: Amber, Dee and Forge. The room they inhabited was a group effort, installing charging docks for the robots. Beakers of Nanites lined one whole shelf, in case Dee lost any of hers. The rest was spare limbs, replacement parts and things of the sort. Amber shook awake, which was actually her charging cycle finishing, and sprung up. "Good morning!" she shouted at nobody in particular. The android zipped up her jacket, covering the shining, turquoise core that both kept her alive and held the last remnant of the Ancient, Leoht. "Come on, you two!" Amber started to exit, but ran back to grab a necklace off her desk and clicking it around her neck. "There, that's better." She then exited the room to go grab something to wake up the other robots with. Her metal toes clattered against the floor, throwing the door open… Only to be stopped by Cassandra, the eldest sibling. Amber accidentally smacked right into Cassie, as most people called her, knocking the pajama-wearing fox down, as well as toppling herself. "Eek! Amber!?" Cassie said, standing back up and helping her sister. "You really need to watch where you're going." "Oh... Sorry.. Are you ok?" Amber said. "Yeah, I'm fine…" She brushed her hair back, not having brushed it yet. "I was actually coming to wake you up, to ask you something." The small Razor-Fox smiled. "What's up?" Behind her, Amber's tail was wagging back and forth rapidly. "I was wondering, since us girls don't get much time with each other, if you'd like to take Dee and go to the mall with me..?" she answered. "Just the three of us, I haven't seen Kitty in a while." "Hmm? Oh, sure! I can spare time for my big sis! I'll go ask Dee real quick," Amber giggled, running back to her room. Cassie went to go change, entering her bedroom. She pulled out the black, form-fitting half-shirt and her denim shorts. The fox quickly changed, even clipping the faux earring she commonly wore on. Finishing up, Cassie slipped on a pair of red sneakers. She looked in the mirror, cringing at how her clothes hugged her way-too-tightly; Cassie closed her eyes, shrinking down to where they weren't so constricting. "Better." She took a second look, doing a few poses before falling onto her bed in a laughing fit. "Calm down, Cassie, you're a big sister, not a fashion model."

In the Android room, Amber was poking her niece; Dee. "Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…! Wake up, come on, Reeeeeeeeee…Wait a second, that's not right." She poked harder and harder, until the shapeshifting Android stirred. "Ree! I mean, Dee! You're up!" Dee sat up, stuttering something about not having full power. Probably a teenager thing. Amber hugged her, yanking the faux fox out of bed, pulling her blanket with her. "Cassie wants us!" Amber declared. "WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?!?" Dee screamed, clawing at the bed. This was gonna be a long day.

Meanwhile, back in Lee's room; he was putting a few circuits together randomly to see what would happen. Thus far, he'd assembled an EMP device, a data scrambler and a machine capable of cooking tv dinners from a good distance away (about a quarter mile, the neighbors were exceedingly thankful.) "Lee, I feel a distortion…" Onyx, Lee's closest ally, soulmate and ex-enemy, said unheard to anyone except Lee himself. "So? We both know all kinda stuff sets you off." "Even if that's true, it's usually bad. Remember Xophtre, The Trickster, Zero…Need I go on?" Lee groaned. "Fine, fine…what is it?" He set the bundle of loose wires and capacitors down. "If it's a false alarm, I'm watching rom coms again." Onyx whimpered in fear, but resumed speaking. "Not sure, but it feels like the energy from that cursed Psyche Shard." "You still mad about that? That wasn't even your plan!" the Flynx muttered, somewhat loudly. "Besides, Leoht's the one who beat you," "Technically it was all three of you." Lee's shadowy companion said. "So...we gonna go check it out? I estimate the energy is in the downtown area," he informed his partner, tiring of just sitting around and eager for anything resembling action. "Eh, why not. Let me go dust off my bike... I should build a better one sometime…" He grinned lightly, now legally able to drive a motorbike instead of the pedal one. He'd built androids, armors, and more; why not a motorcycle? Lee would have to think about that later, after he gave Onyx something to do. Walking towards the door, his hand hovered over the checkered bandanna that rested on a hook near the door. "No, that was before Zero…before Glitch…" Lee said, his fingers just a bit away from it. "You feel really strongly about that, huh?" "Yep." He snatched up the pure red version of the bandanna. "Gotta respect the sacrifice. Red is fire and I'm the Dryden." Lee went to go dig up that bike. "Very well."

Link carefully wrapped the red cord around his neck and over his shoulders, the bright color setting off his brown fur. The Hedgelynx snagged up his cell phone, an old flip phone, cycling through the numbers real quick. "Dad, Mom, Jewel, Vane…Alexia…I should go check on her sometime," he thought, setting the thought aside and sticking the phone into a hidden pocket inside the scarf. He dashed into the kitchen, throwing a bowl onto the table at super-sonic speed and running to go obtain cereal and milk. Link even tossed a cup of sugar in, a slight addiction he had. Finishing about 1.3 seconds later, any loose fabric or paper item flying off its perch because of the wind from the speedster, he flopped in a chair. The Hedgelynx looked out the window to see Lee rolling away on an old bike from a couple years ago. "Where's he going? All his friends live here..." Link winced at what he'd said. But it was true, after Lumi, none of Lee's friends had ever stuck. "Yikes…" Link decided not to think about that anymore. About that time, Amber walked into the room with Dee over her shoulder. "Morning, Link!" "Mornin', Amber…why are you carrying our niece around?" Amber giggled. "Because we're not part of the main story, so Xoph suggested a girls-only story; Cassie invited me and Dee to the mall." "Oh... Alright…" He'd gotten conditioned to his sister's weirdness in the last year and a half. "You girls have fun." "We will!" she said. "Bye, Uncle Link…" Dee waved goodbye to him as she was carried away. Link waved to her. "Cya, kid."

Cassie knocked on the door to her father's room, shuffling around a bit in the hall. She sung a little bit of a pop song, something about a believer, when her dad, Flyby, opened the door. He stood a few inches taller than Cassie, with five spines protruding from the back of his head. A red bandana adorned his chest, like Lee and Link, apparently a family color. "Good morning, daughter of mine." Flyby yawned. He was the cause of the fur color Cassie, Lee and Dee had (although the last one was indirect.) "Morning, daddy. How'd you sleep?" Cassie smiled. "OK, you?" he counter-asked. "Pretty good…" She twirled her hair around her finger. "Can I borrow the car today?" Flyby cracked a grin. "You never ask to use it, who is he?" Cassie blushed. "W-what?" "Who's the boy you're going to go see." "I'm not seeing a boy!" Cassie said loudly. Flyby just stared at her for a second. "I don't understand kids nowadays…" "Wait, WHAT?!?" "You do you, I guess," he said, handing her a pair of keys. "Dad...I'm taking Amber and Dee to the mall, calm down." "Oh... Ok..." It was his turn to blush. "That's fine with me," He turned and went back into his room. Cassie still blushed, however, as she headed to the car. She'd gotten to the kitchen, which had the front door near the sink area, when she passed Link and waved to him. "Have you seen Lee?" She asked, stopping for a second. "He was going biking or something, left a minute or two ago." Link answered. "Don't know what he's up to." Cassie shrugged. "Well...tell him I said 'hi' if you see him. Lee needs to get a cell phone…" she said, linking two sentences that had little to do with each other. "Maybe for Christmas," Link suggested. "Yeah, maybe," Cassie said, leaving.

Lee pedaled onto the sidewalk, traversing the light snow that had fallen the night before. His speed was lacking, putting safety over efficiency; this didn't go over well with Onyx, who was whining about the pace. "Moooooooooooooooove faster!" He said. "You want to drive?" Lee snapped. "I'd love to! But I don't see any Chaos Emeralds; do you?" "Even if there were any, I wouldn't let you. I don't trust you in anything but combat." "I'll take that as you saying I kick butt." "If you want to." "I love these little talks we have, Lee," Onyx concluded, emitting a…happy noise? The red-souled being was hardly ever joyful, so the noise was new to Lee. "What kinda noise was that?" Onyx didn't respond, but Lee felt a certain warmth coming from him: he was blushing. The two didn't talk much after that. They passed a few more streets, which began to look less and less like the city and more like a remembrance of how the town started. Statues and monuments lined the streets and decorated the small parks that comprised most of Downtown Mobotropolis. There was a statue of Sonic the Hedgehog, who'd died months before at almost 80 years old, and had given up running long before that. The statue held up a flag, but it was blank, because Sonic only served the wind. Lee blinked at the statue, knowing his grandfather would soon rest next to his best friend. "You think we'll get statues after this mess ends… or after we end?" "I'd be surprised, seeing we've never had a fight in public," he said, glancing around. "Whatever's giving off the signature is close." Lee could feel it now, a positive energy that seemed to invade his mind. "Mind helping me narrow it down?" Onyx scanned the area, not limited to Lee's vision. "It's closer to the waterfront, but not quite in the water." The young fox pedaled in the specified direction. The area was oddly quiet, the only sound coming from a lamp post that buzzed with an electric song made by old wiring. "I don't sense it anymore…" Lee muttered, stepping off the bike and putting the parking stick out. He took a few steps forward, placing his right hand on the brick wall separating the water from the land. Memories flooded back… Twelve years ago, Lee's parents had done a charity event; a humongous picnic, the profits going to various organizations that helped people. Lee was 4, and had just had his birthday. The Prowers had brought their kids in hopes that they'd find friends in the group. Lee didn't, the other kids had made fun of him for his…unique brain structure that left him slow. But one person hadn't made fun of him. Her name was Luminious, a young girl his age who took a quick liking to the quirky child. They sat on the brick wall for hours, getting to know each other. Lee himself had a hard time saying her name, and instead called her Lumi. The nickname stuck up until she died. Lumi was the last friend he'd had that wasn't related to him. Onyx interrupted the flashback. "Sh-she meant a lot to you, huh..?" Lee removed his hand from the wall. "She meant the world to me." "I'm…sorry I took her from you…" With a sad smile, Lee gave Onyx a mental hug. "Don't be…I miss her, yes...but I never would've beaten you without her sacrifice." "You can't lie to me, I see you still want her back." He grinned, over the hostilities of the duo's first meeting. "Hush you," Lee huffed.

Mercy ran from street to street, the beast pursuing her breaking everything in its path to get to her. She sensed the Dryden was near her current position, so she headed that way. Mercy hadn't gotten a good look at the beast, but instinct told her that it was one of Zero's monstrous creatures. A car tumbled into her path, confirming her suspicions. She spun to look at the monster, and a gasp emerged from her mouth.

Lee turned to look at a sudden crash coming from the parking lot of the waterfront park. "What was that?" he asked aloud. "Not sure, but the energy is there." A sky blue airboard formed under Lee's feet and he flew towards the noise. Toppled cars, screaming people and broken buildings left a trail of destruction across downtown…right to where he'd been moments before…He looked back, and the Psyche Shard was standing there, waving at him. His board started moving, zooming towards the piece of his friend. Then a chunk of building hit him. Thankfully, he'd raised his left arm and produced the shield from it; the attack had only knocked Lee off his board. The beast didn't know this, and thusly turned back to Mercy. The energy being got her first look at it. The monster stood about 15 feet, rippling muscle lining its body. The muscles were distorted by the beast's build, however; the very fabric of the monster was constantly changing, but when it would stop shifting, if looked like someone had made a piñata and used origami for half of it. Obviously, the glitches in Zero's power were spreading to his creations, and the beast was having trouble staying in one existential plane. It stomped closer to Mercy, opening its mouth to spray Mercy with a disgusting, organic goo. Mercy summoned a thin layer of energy, hoping to slow the beast down. She knew she couldn't stop it completely, so she'd come to find Lee…only to watch him get smacked by the monster. Just as she thought that, the chunk of building that had hit Lee flew at the monster, plowing into it with a blue beam behind it.

Lee was standing there, the blue glow hovering around him like a solar system. "Nobody attacks my friend and hits me with a building." "You need a better catchphrase." "You need to learn how to tell distances, this is not the waterfront." The monster changed targets, rushing at Lee. A second blast struck it in the face, throwing it off balance. Lee took this chance to close the distance between them, dropping into a sliding kick and forcing it to one leg. Next came the power blow; he charged the energy in his left arm, covering it in SolTech Nanites, which assumed the density of high-grade steel, to give it even more power. He swung, planting over 1000 pounds of force in the monster's ribcage. The two forces smashed into each other, both the glitched armor plating of the monster and Lee's arm cracked. The beast…wasn't done. It grabbed Lee's splintered forearm, lifting the teen over its head with a earth-trembling roar. Once it had finished, it threw its captive back into the rubble of the building it'd smashed through. Mercy threw a weak blast at the creature, but it did nothing. It dropped to four limbs, moving like a gorilla with another roar. Its hands and feet slammed into the concrete like sledgehammers, throwing the enormous, armored beast forward. She could hear the terrible beast's goop charging up once again, so she covered her face and prepared for the worst. Instead, she heard a slashing. Lee had both feet planted firmly on the monster's back, with a bright blue sword stabbed into it. "Lumi…uh, Psyche Shard…RUN!" He released the blade, doing a backflip off the scaly surface and leaving the blade behind. His sneakers, made of the same substance as Link's boots, kept the boy from taking damage during the risky jump. Mercy eeped, ducking behind a monument sign from one of the statues. Lee swung his left arm forward, generating his shield just in time for his Nanites to do their thing. The blade changed shape, now resembling an oversized version of a blasting cap you'd find in mining facilities. All the beast's armor was on the outside, so stick it inside and… Chunks of broken, scaly armor (along with some greenish goop) rained, and the monster was gone. "Eeeewww…Please tell me we're never doing that again? It was OK with Malware, but this is disgusting." Onyx complained, closing his senses off at the gruesome sight. The few Nanites that hadn't exploded flew back to Lee, absorbing into his chest. "It was desperate, I'll give you that." "Whatever, now let's go find out what the Sol Zone is happening."

Lee turned to where Mercy had hidden. "You can come out now, it's dead." The psuedo-armadillo poked out. "Sorry for dragging that thing behind me…" Lee grinned. "It's OK, but what was that thing?" Mercy sighed. "It'll be best if we go someplace. It's a long story…" "Will my lab work?" He asked. "Perfect, show me the way, please."

A bike ride later, one where Mercy floated alongside Lee, brought them to the former warehouse that was essentially Lee's second home. Upon arriving, Lee checked the surrounding area before letting Mercy in. Despite the surgeries, refittings and construction, it looked like always; bits of random technology piled high on every shelf, it was Mercy's guess how he found anything in this disorganized mess. "You…have…quite the place here…" she said. Lee shrugged. "It's a mess, you don't have to dodge it." He pulled his hand off the light switch, having turned on the overhead lights when they'd first entered. "Need a place to sit?" "Um…if you please." He pulled a chair out from under a shelf. It didn't look super safe, so Mercy was glad she didn't weigh much. Being made of energy, a small child could lift her, so the rusty office chair probably could. She swept her dress under her and sat down. The teen just jumped onto one of the shelves, putting his hands over his knees. "So… what it it this time?" "Hmm? Oh, yes." Mercy took a deep breath, obviously ready to release a good amount of information. "So, I—we didn't tell you everything last time." "We?" "I'm getting there; I'm just one half of the Psyche Shards who helped you against Onyx. My sister, Justice, was the one who endowed you with the power of Leoht and allowed you to best your dark adversary. Yes, Onyx, I know you can hear me." Lee was taken aback a bit, since usual mind reading and mental attacks were null against him, but recovered quickly. "So, I guess that monster has something to do with why you're alone?" "Correct. I believe you're familiar with Zero the Bushdog?" she asked. "Nobody's more familiar with him, but you probably know that." Lee had faced a powerful Zero down months before, a mortal standing against a literal god. Neither had survived, but Lee returned with the sacrifice of Glitch, an ally of the Fox Hybrid. Lee saw Glitch as a true hero, and had promised to save everyone in his name. "Fair enough. Me and my sister were searching for a questionable energy source we'd sensed in a desert, several hundred miles away from here. We had no idea what we'd uncovered…" Mercy looked down. "What was left of Zero's soul was there, much like how yours hung between life and death. He begged us for help, and I sensed something was off, but Justice…" "What happened to her?" "She tried to save him, but he tricked her. Absorbing her energy and combining it with his own, Zero began unraveling reality around him. I ran, but he sent that beast after me to keep me quiet…" Lee's face changed to something sympathetic. "So you came to me…" "You have the most experience with Zero, plus I believe you can pass through the barrier surrounding his distortion." "Distortion? So that means he's contained…" Mercy got out of her chair. "For now, yes. But I fear he is simply building an armada to conquer Mobius, maybe more." "So what is this distortion?" Lee asked, getting off the shelf. "It's a nightmare world, created by his twisted mind and filled with people he's pulled away from their homes across time and space." "So… everyone might be at risk, no matter where they are?" he asked, his face changing again to a determined glare. "You are correct." "Give me a day… I have a world to save," Lee scooped up a pair of goggles. "But I need a ride first."