| Part Two: Saturday Boy Stu-Pot and the Kite Author's Note: Okay, this is where the story starts getting twisted...we're heading into Coma Trip-land now...*laughs* I was far too fascinated with "The Odyssey" when I was a kid...oh, and I'm sorry for the original character! And it's marked humor because I find the whole concept funny for some reason. Stu-Pot had been carefully tuning one of the keyboards in the shop for the owner when he heard a curious crashing noise behind him. He turned quickly, his eyes widening as he saw something he'd never even imagined seeing in his whole 23 years of life. There was the bumper of a very *tatty* Astra coming at him. He tried to duck, his mouth falling open, but then the shards of glass from the window slammed at him, tearing his 'Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium' shirt, and then the flesh underneath. Stu-Pot whimpered and put his arms up to protect his face, and moments later the pain of the glass shards was nothing compared to the bumper slamming into his hip and tossing him over the Astra's hood. The last thing he felt was his head smashing the glass and a horrible pain in his eye. "...Stu-Pot? Stu-Pot, wake up..." said a soft voice above him. He struggled against the agony in his head, his eye his hips and face, and opened one eye. Everything was blurry, and then he opened the other eye. Things seemed so funny, with everything in one eye fuzzy and weird while the other remained 20/20 like it had always been. He sat up, moaning, and looked around him. The first thing he noticed was a slight girl leaning on a large wooden staff, looking down at him. He blushed a little. She was sort of pretty, in a cute way, and had bright puplish eyes and blond hair streaked with a dark brown. She wore a tight black tank top and huge cargo pants over equally giant army boots, and a sweater tied around her waist. She was tapping one foot and looking impatient. As soon as she saw his confusion, though, her face softened and she knelt beside him, "Well, Stu-Pot, what's wrong?" she asked softly, "Why'd you just pass out like that?" "So-someone hit me...wiv...wiv a car..." he blinked. Since when had he had a lisp? He ran his tongue across his teeth only to discover his right front tooth missing. He blinked and ran a hand over his face to try and clear his thoughts. "Hit you with a car, Stu-Pot? I didn't see that!" the girl sounded alarmed and reached down to take him in her arms, gently placing him against her chest. He sighed happily despite his confusion - it wasn't every day little Stu-Pot got hugged by a pretty girl. He hugged back and she stood back, smiling. "Oh well, Stuey, let's get going, we have to get to the Hoard soon's possible." she said. Stu-Pot shoved himself to his feet, mind reeling in a sudden headache. What was wrong? He never got headaches, why was he suddenly getting them now? He followed the girl, half-heartedly rubbing at his temples. "The Hoard? What's going on?" he asked plaintively, "Where am I? Who are you?" The girl spun around with a hurt look on her face, the chin-length bob of dusty hair swirling with her, "Stu-Pot, it's me Kite, don't you remember?" she asked, voice soft and high-pitched. He tilted his head, something about that voice...was familiar...it was just like... "No...I don't really remember anything...Kite?" She smiled, "Oh that's okay Stu-Pot, I know you forget things sometimes." she comforted, "Well, yes, I'm Kite, and we're going to the Hoard to give the artifact back to the man there." she said, gesturing at the backpack he'd only noticed just then. "The Hoard?" he echoed in something like a child's voice, trying to follow her but being dizzy and confused. The girl continued in her small voice. "Yes, the Hoard, it's a club, remember, in Embattlement City. The owner of the Hoard wanted us to get the Synth Gem for him so he can power his keyboards and rule the world with his music." Stu-Pot nodded. That made perfect sense. Of course someone could rule the world with a synth, right? "Okay." he said. She whirled on him and pointed her staff at his throat, going from small and cute to deadly in seconds. "You're not my Stu-Pot." she said, glaring with her bright eyes, "You don't even know what the artifact is that we're bringing to the Hoard, let alone what the Hoard is." He swallowed hard as she pushed the staff against his throat, "No...no I don't." he whimpered. She glared, "Leave my Stuey alone, Phantom!" she cried, "Because I know that he'd rather die than live with YOU in there!" "What's a phantom!!" Stu-Pot wailed, confused beyond belief, and she lowered her staff. He sounded just like Stuey again, and she was sure there was no phantom using him. She bit her lip and leaned on her staff again, looking him up and down. There he was, the same old Stu-Pot she'd known her whole life, the one who carried the artifact inside him, the key to the power of the world...and he didn't even know it. There were people who would give anything to see Stu-Pot dead, and that's why she'd been assigned to protect him. She smiled at him, because he was cute despite the one crippled eye and the missing tooth...she could get lost in his other eye, bright green as it was. Kite shrugged, "I guess maybe you got hit on the head harder than I thought, Stuey." she said softly, "Let's make camp, we have some catching up to do." |