Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Lightning. Dur.
A/n: Yes, I know some people have been waiting for this, so here it is. First romance for me and I've tried not to make it overly mushy so reviews are wanted. If you don't like romance, read it anyway. There's some other interesting stuff in here… but that would be telling. ;)
Fight the Tides
"You stupid dog, where are you?" grumbled Kat. Julie had run off when Kat had taken her for a walk and now she was nowhere to be found.
"Hey, Kat! What's up?"
Kat looked around, confused for a moment as to where the voice was coming from. Then she looked up. "Sparx! Sorry, I didn't expect to see you, um, up there."
"Ah, my fault," Sparx replied. She lowered the lightning flash down to ground level.
"My dog's gone and run away," Kat complained. "I can't find her anywhere."
"Guess we've got he same sort of problem then. I was just seeing if I could find Lord Fear. But I doubt we'll see that bonehead until he's ready."
"He can stay away as long as he likes for all I care. Those guys are way too freaky." Kat hadn't been too impressed when she'd been kidnapped by the evils and trapped in the carnival. The only good thing coming out of it had been meeting Sparx.
"So… I suppose you and Ace have got nothing to do until then?" she added suggestively.
Sparx sighed. She liked having Kat to talk to but the human girl seemed to see through her all too easily. When Sparx had explained to Kat about Ace and Lady Illusion she'd immediately picked up that Sparx's annoyance at the relationship had to do with more than just the fact Lady Illusion was evil. "Like I'd sink that low. I told you, he's in love with Lady Illusion. I'm not going to try and change his mind. Besides, I'm not really sure how I feel."
Kat shrugged. "Fair enough."
"Anyway, now we've got the girly moment aside why don't I help you find your dog. I've got nothing better to do."
"Thanks. I think she ran off into the junkyard. I was going to check in there next."
"Ah, you really don't want to go in there."
"Why not? It's just a junkyard."
"Yeah, but Random Virus lives there."
"Wait, I thought he was a lightning knight. Doesn't he live with you and Ace?"
"No, he lives in the junkyard. Remember I said he had anger issues? Well, that was a bit of an understatement. You walk in there and he'll probably try rip your head off."
"Ok…" said Kat, "that's a pretty good reason. But what about my dog?"
"Relax, I'll go get her."
"What if Random tries to rip your head off?"
"Let's just hope he's in a good mood," muttered Sparx. She revved the lightning flash and took off.
"Sparx!" shouted Kat, but she was already out of earshot.
Random Virus pushed open the door to his ramshackle shack and squinted outside. The sun was nearly halfway up the sky and it was already getting hot under the tin roof. At the other extreme, whenever it rained, the stupid thing leaked. Random somehow felt it was strangely appropriate. Extremes, after all, seemed to be the story of his life.
"Yap!"
Random looked down to where the sound had come from. Something that had to be a dog, but looked more like a rat looked up at him.
"Yap!"
"What do you want?" grumbled Random.
The dog cocked its head to the side and made a whining noise.
"Well you'd better go before my evil takes over. The last dog that came in here I tried to kill."
The dog ignored him and started sniffing around his wheel, then proceeded to lift its leg.
"Hey!" growled Random, rolling out of the way. "Go away if you're going to do that!"
"Yap!"
"Go on! Leave me alone!" He gasped and held his hand to his head, his evil side suddenly stabbing into his mind.
At that moment Sparx flew around the corner on the lightning flash. "Have you seen a dog?" she asked having decided to use the direct approach.
"What?!" demanded Random. "Do you want to mark your territory on me too?!"
"Excuse me?!"
"Why can't everyone just leave me in peace?" Another wave of evil overtook Random.
"I don't think it's everyone else that's the problem…" observed Sparx, startled by the severity with which Random's evil side fought for control.
Kat's dog whined, confused as to what was happening, then turned and ran out of the junkyard.
Sparx realised now would probably be a good time to leave. She'd rescued the dog and Random's evil side was obviously taking over. To stay would not be a good idea. But it suddenly occurred to her that while she and the dog could run away, Random could not. And one thing a lightning knight did not do was desert a friend during a fight. At least, that was the reason she gave herself.
She jumped off the lightning flash and walked up to Random. "Hey, calm down, alright?"
"Go away!" growled Random, actually backing away from her.
"Look, if you need help…"
"I don't need help from a coward!" shouted Random, his evil side snapping fully into control. He swung his claw and Sparx suddenly realised she was way too close. She ducked and ended up falling over into the dirt. Her mind automatically searched for an insult, as it did in almost any situation. But she had been so startled when Random nearly hit her all she could come up with was: "Cut it out, wheelbutt!"
Random raised his claw again.