Red Meteor Quest Season 2, Episode 7

"I'm heading to the park mom!" You call out

"Alright, be home before dark and don't go anywhere dangerous and if you see anyone dangerous run away fast!"

"I will, don't worry!" you head outside, closing the door behind you. Things had been crazy these last few days, what with your friends getting into a fight with a bunch of super powered enemies and most recently some guy had given Red and the others a serious beating. The damage was so bad that school had been cancelled for at least a week while cleanup happened.

Man, having superheroes live in your town was awesome.

That said though, your mother had been extremely tired from the fight. Her friend Ms.Sanja was even worse off as she took some especially bad hits during the bout and her condition was pretty bad. Heck, even Red himself had seemed to be tired from the encounter.

Still, for as bad as things wer eat the moment, the city was still (realtively) safe. Though according to Ms.Sadie, the police were doubling down on trying to find out exactly who these weird people were.

It'd didn't matter to you though, your mom and the others had this under control, so all you could do is sit by the sidelines and help out in whatever small way you could.

You arrive at the park in no time. Really, you just wanted some fresh air after being cooped up in your room for so long. Your friends all live closer to the damage, so they can't come unfortunately, still a little bit of time to yourself is never bad.

"Hello."

You look over to see an...interesting girl. Yes. Interesting. That's one way to put it

"Uh...hi?"

"Hi."

"Hi?"

"Hi."

>So uh...can I help you?
>You lost?
>Hi...?
>Who are you?
>Other/Write-in

>So uh... Can I help you?

Well, this girl is definitely weird, but still, even when someone is weird, it is the proper duty of a hero to help them to the best of their abilities. You plan on being one yourself someday, so this is no time to shirk away from helping someone, even if they're a very odd girl.

"So uh...can I help you then?"

"Oh glorious,marvelous,offering me help!"

"Uh..."

"To think I assumed you an intolerable whelp!

"H-hey..."

"But no, to be so kind to one you do not know..."

"Please stop rhyming"

"You are truly a kind and noble hero!"

"U-um...thanks?"

"You're welcome."

Did she just stop rhyming? Is she faking with that? You have no idea, this girl is weird and she's just back to staring at you again. She's smiling still, and you learned absolutely nothing from that little speech of hers.

>Mom told you to leave...so leave
>Look,who are you?
>Well, I am a hero in training
>Other/Write-in

>Well, I am a hero in training

You have to admit that being seen as a hero (especially when you haven't really began your career yet) is somewhat nice, so you decide to play it up, if only a bit.

"Heh, Well, I am a hero in training, so something like this isn't too out of the ordinary."

Her eyes positively light up at these words and she claps her hands together with a smile

"Oh my, a true knight! Splendid! Please would you be so kind to help?"

"Sure, I can help you out, what's the problem?"

A loud gurgling noise comes from the girl's stomach, and the two of you just look at each other. This time instead of the unsettling smile, you get a look of embarrassment.

"You're hungry?"

"Quite, please oh please help this little dove. She is starved, like  one who has never experienced love.

Well you do have some money. Your mom always makes sure that you carry a bit of cash to grab a bite to eat if you really want to.

>Sorry I got nothing
>Take her home for food
>Grab a bite at a food cart
>Attempt to flee from the creepy girl

>food cart

Well, there are usually a bunch of food carts around the park, so getting something to eat shouldn't be too difficult.

"Follow me, I'll get us something to eat. I could use something too, I didn't eat breakfast this morning."

"Splendid!"

The two of you make your way to a random cart (They're all identical really) and looking over the menu, you decide to get two bacon burgers. One for you and one for your new friend here.

"So this is where the food is?"

"Yep, all we gotta do is wait for him to finish cooking."

"Hmmm...."

In an instant, the girl has several...hands appear from around her and an especially dangerous look on her face. The smile is oozing a sadistic desire to hurt the cook, who is now pissing his pants in fear as he stares at her.

"Perhaps now he will give us our food, making a lady wait is quite rude

Okay, you have no idea what this is, and you're scared, but you're a hero right? Y-you can totally handle this!

You hope...worse comes to worse, you can go call your mom!

Wow that sounded lame.

>Stop right now!
>Tackle her to the ground
>Scold her
>Call mom!
>Other/Write-in

>Scold her
>"A real lady understands that it's also rude to interrupt someone as they're working their craft."
>"You wouldn't want to eat a subpar meal would you?"

"Alright Tim, think..." you mutter to yourself as you try to come up with some idea to calm the girl down. It's then that it hits you. All that prim and proper speech gives you an idea that you (hope) works. You grab her shoulder, to which the girl instantly stops and looks at you with genuine fear

"A real lady understands that it's also rude to interrupt someone as they're working their craft.You wouldn't want to eat a subpar meal would you?"

For a moment, she's still eyeing you, as if waiting for you to give her permission to speak. After a minute or two, she manages to spit out a few words.

"Y-yes...o-o-of course. Forgive me."

Holy crap it worked

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to him." You say jerking your thumb at the cook who had since crouched down in fear.

"Y-y-yes! I-I am sorry!"

The man says nothing. Finishes the food and then high tails it out of there before you can even pay him. Free food? well that's okay too.

"Here." You say, giving the girl her food...only for her to not take it

"Uh...you okay?"

"Don't hurt." She murmurs

"Huh...?

"Please!"

>I won't hurt you
>Just don't do that again
>Forget it and eat
>How can you do that Hand...thing?

>I won't hurt you
>And try to remember other people are the same as you, they don't like getting hurt either

You aren't sure what she's on about, but you try to be as reassuring as you can.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Just try to remember that other people are the same as you and don't like getting hurt either."

"Now that can't be true..." she replied

"What makes you say that?"

"A long time ago when I was but a little girl, a nice man told me that if I and my hands inflict pain upon others, it will be quite fun! They have the most fun when they stop moving. The man gave me a lot of money after that. In fact, another man has told me the same, it's why I must defeat the six demons."

"Six demons?"

"Yes, they are clad in multiple colors, though one is a different shade of red. I suppose their tailor was running out of ideas."

You don't like the sound of this.

"Could you tell me about this person who told you about these uh...six demons?"

"No. He said I had to promise not to tell, even for a brave hero such as yourself I cannot."

Crap, doesn't look like she's talking...

>Touch her shoulder
>Try to convince her(1d100)
>Pretty please?
>Take her home
>Other/Write-in

>Try to convince her(68)
>Pretty please?

"Come on, pretty please?" you moan

Thinking on it for a second, she shakes her head.

"No means no, and it is rude to pry!"

You can't help but let out a growl of irritation  at your failure, but it can't be helped. The two of you finish your food in realtive silence, with you getting up to leave. Maybe your mom could help? Yeah, you should tell her, that'd be useful.

As you begin walking away, you turn back to see that the girl is following you like a lost puppy.

"Uh..."

"Where are we going?"

"Um...home?"

"I see..."

"You have a home right?"

She averts her gaze for just a split second, but really, that's all you need to realize her situation.

"You don't have a home do you?"

"...No?"

"..........."

".............."

>No
>Fine, you can come to my house
>Just where are your parents?
>You can't come with unless you tell(1d100)
>Other/Write-in

>Fine, you can come to my house
>But my Mom has a rule about letting strangers into the house
>Says I can't bring them back unless I know they don't hang out with a bad crowd
>I really do want to help out but what kind of hero breaks the rules?(98)

She wants to come to your house. Just as you're about to accept, you catch yourself and smirk broadly

"Sorry, but I can't help you there."

"Why not...?

"Well my mom has a rule about letting strangers into the house."

"A rule...?"

"Says I can't bring them back unless I know they don't hang out with a bad crowd, I really do want to help out but what kind of hero breaks the rules?"

For a few minutes her face is scrunched up, clearly showing her dealing with an internal dilemma, to hammer the point home,  you begin to walk away, which causes her to make a decision.

"W-wait! I suppose I can let you know...but you cannot tell anyone else. Okay?"

"Fine, but my mom should hear it too, just so she knows you aren't bad okay?"

"Okay..."

The two of you head home and  as soon as you enter the house, your mother calls out to you.
"Hey Tim, back already? Is everything alright?"

"Kind of...!" You reply

As your mother walks in she lets out a chuckle "What do you mean...kind...of." Her words trail off as she looks at the girl.

"Hello."

"Er...y-yes. hello."

"I will tell you what Tim wishes to know, so that you know I followed the rule."

"R-rule?"

"Yes, the rule that this brave hero follows!"

"She wants to tell us about the bad guys who are going after the six 'demons'." You put heavy emphasis on the 'six' which your mother catches on to.

"H-hang on, I have to make a call!"

You wait around for a bit, until suddenly Red and Jane stop by. The looks on their face when they see the girl are ones of alarm as you can easily tell.

"H-hello." The girl repeats

"Yeah uh...hey there...girl."

"Hands Off."

"Huh...?" you say with a raised eyebrow

"My name. Who are you two?"

"They're friends of my mom. She probably called them in, just to make sure you really aren't lying. okay?"

"Okay..."

She seems a a bit unnerved, but once you're all gathered she explains. It's a man who calls himself the head of a company that deals in diamonds. Hands doesn't know the name of the guy, but he never gave it to her, just the promise of money if she killed the 'six demons.' There were other men there, but she didn't really pay them any attention.

>So uh...I told her she could stay here...
>Tell her he was lying(1d100)
>Pat her head
>So uh, that help at all?
>Other/Write-in

>So uh...I told her she could stay here...
>Pat her head

As your mother and her friends begin to talk (With Red looking a lot paler than usual you notice)  you can't help but interrupt about one more thing.

"So Mom...there's something I forgot to mention."

"And that is...?

"I kinda told Hands that she could stay here."

"YOU WHAT?!"

"C-calm down, she's not that bad! See?"

You take your hand and pat her head, instead of the look of outright fear she had before when you touched her, this time she seems a bit more relaxed.

"Tim is nice. Tim is a knight...he will not give you fright." She murmurs in an attempt to keep her nerves under control

"See?"

"I will be good, of that you can rely, Hands Off does not lie!"

Your mom scrunches her face, but sighs "Fine, I guess it's fine, but you're in charge of her, understand?"

"Yeah I will."

"Good."

"So uh...Hands is it...welcome to my house. I think there's a spare room you can use."

You have her follow you, to which she sticks close, until you show her to an empty room. There's only a bed in here really, something your mom had set up in case some of the extended family came to visit.

"This will do nicely, I can hunt the six demons and come here to rest, truly brave knight, you are the best!" Hands laughs

>They aren't evil!
>Yeah uh...good luck with that
>Other/Write-in

>Be the ten year old boy are and awkwardly accept her compliment of "being the best! "
>They aren't evil, though!
>Are you sure they're really evil?

"Er uh...thanks!" You say at her compliment. you aren't sure what more to say, so you leave  Hands to her own devices.

Or you would have if she didn't decide to follow you around again. The girl has clearly imprinted on you for one reason or another. You decide to take this time to show her around the house, you get the feeling she won't leave after just one night.

As you show her around you run into your mom moving some laundry around, and you quickly pull her aside, saying that you'll keep Hands here to try and get more info out of her...she seems to like you for some reason.

With that done, you retire to your room...with Hands joining you

"If only the demons were like you knight!" Hands exclaims happily

"They aren't evil!" you exclaim

"But of course they are! They hurt me quite badly, and brought a roof on my head."

"Now did they hit you first?"

"Er...well..." she has to stop and think on that for a moment "I suppose not no..."

"And with that being the case can you say that they're really evil?"

"I..."

She doesn't answer, instead going deep into thought. In fact, she remained quiet for the entire day, thinking long and hard on the words you'd put into her mind.Even as she slept, the words still rung in her mind 'Can you say that they're really evil...?'

>To Be Continued