Alex Quest (WORK IN PROGRESS!)

Chapter 6: Groccering the Vase Base part 2

(Part 2 of the previous chapter, the vase part! Also, bear with me, I have not finished playing Shantae: Half Genie Hero yet, so sorry if the writing for Ammo Baron and Techno Baron, or 'Ammo' and 'Tech' as I call them, seems off. Have fun reading)

Alex had got everything that she needed. Now all she had to do was get the vase for the potted plant, go to the dry clean, water the plants, take out the trash, and return the book. "This last thing should be easy as pie!" Alex boasted, confidence oozing out of her soul. She waltzed over to the vase section, to see the sizeable selection on the ceramics there. "Wow... so many pretty colors!" Alex whispered in a wonderous tone, she felt like a little kid in a candy store. She was admiring the sculptures that were the vases. There were small ones, large ones, of red, blue, green, yellow, all colors!

There were vases of varied shaped and sizes, patterns galore, designs of flowers, snakes, and dragons flew across the room. It was a wonderland for Alex, filled with plentiful colors and patterns. "Wait... He didn't specify which vase he wanted!" Alex panicked, as she looked around. They were calmly frantic, searching for whichever vase spoke out to her thoughts, 'It has to be dark, yet bold, powerful yet soft-spoken...' Alex reminded herself of how Lord X was around her most the time. To her, X was dark, yet caring, as bold as the sun, and powerful, yet carefully aware.

There were some vases that spoke to her, but were not bold enough, not normally unique. She felt like that the boat of her hope would sink, until she found a vase that had spoken out to her well enough. It was a black vase, with cracks of gold. The pattern on the vase was filled with ravishingly rouge red roses. Alex's eyes lit up! She had found the perfect vase for the flower that needed it most! "Huh, seems that you took a liking to that vase, eh, kiddo?" An echoed voice was heard, it was louder than a lions roar, but soft enough to be deafeningly loud to the human ears.

Alex turned over to see an opaque dark purple ghost, not resembling close to a human, who had a tail, and dark fur the same color, almost looking like a beard. His jack-o-lantern-esque expression lit up a bright yellow, "Well well... If it ain't Snatcher himself. Why ain't ya in ya forest?" Alex questioned, holding on to her suspicions. "I decided to get a job! Being a soul stealing ghost doesn't pay rent all that well..." Snatcher asserted awkwardly. There was a swiftly sinking, somehow definingly deafaning silence between the two. Alex's eyes widened a bit, "Wait, you pay rent? Aren't you living in a tree in the forest?" Alex inclined in a confused tone.

"Yes, but the guy I'm renting it from is a greedy man... Not even a man, he's a... racoon? Or mayhaps he is a tanooki, I think. Well he looks like one... I am unsure, but, he's honestly kind of a dick." Snatcher gossiped. Although with him being dead, the stories he told were more lively than his ghoulish appearance. Alex looked slightly upset at the new news not nodded much long ago, "He does sound like a prick! He's a bastard for charging rent to someone who's dead!" Alex concluded, her face red like a tomato, she was fuming from the ears. "Tell me about it." Snatcher replied. "How about you just take his soul like with your other victims?" Alex pondered. Snatcher chuckled, "Kiddo, he would have to make a deal with me first," "Oh." "And besides, he looks soulless. I've looked into his eyes before, and there was nothing behind them." Snatcher whispered, bending down close to Alex's height, then flinging back to his original position. "Welp, I better be off!" Alex abruptly amused, and added the vase into her cart. She waved goodbye to the ghost, who waved back.

Alex was in the check out line. Barely anyone else was there, because she got there on a lazy afternoon. It was an intentionally calm day in the store. Alex saw two familiar faces at the register. A gigantically tall cyclops, strong enough to break a mountain in one hit. He wearing an orange tunic, along with a blue coat, and khakis. The most catching thing was a blue hat with a face, and a small blue tail. There was a smaller creature on his shoulder, a small, scaly anthro lizard looking fella, who wore some sort if helmet, covering his eyes. He wore a red button up sweater with purple pants, and had a black coat. They both had name tags saying 'Ammo Baron' and 'Techno Baron'. Alex's eyes blinked in confusion, a feeling of freely inducted questioning danced within her brain.

"Well well well... Why are the-" "If your wonderin', rent got way more expensive... we sorta work part time-" "IT'S THAT DAMN RACOON! HE'S A ROBOT SPY FOR THE GOVERNMENT! THERE IS NO LIFE BEHIND THOSE EYES I SWEAR!!" The small reptilian being yelled, clutching the cyclops' shoulder tightly. He seemed to be a soldier before the war was even declared. The cyclops glanced at his small friend in concern, "Woah, easy there, little buddy. Don't wanna end up being too paranoid-" "HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN HIS EYES, AMMO?! THEY HAVE NO SOUL IN EM'!" Techno Baron barked, hus voice cutting through the peaceful atmosphere. Ammo sighed, facepalming. "Tech... How many cups of coffee did'ja have?" Techno seemed offended, as if the most embarrassing of his deepest secrets were spilled. "Uh- I dunno... 2, maybe 3? Was it 4? Er- What's it to ya?!" Techno asked in a salty wording of vocals. Although his eyes were not visible, his expression seemed upset.

"Tech, light of my life, you drank more than that, didn't ya?" "Uh-" Techno was cut off when ammo squeezed him close to his chest. Techno sighed and melted into the hug. The hug was sweeter than any candy or confectionary treat either of the two could have. Ammo looked at Alex after the little reptilian rascal cooled down. Ammo glanced at Alex, realizing that she was still standing there. "Awww, how adorable. I wish I could have someone to hug me like that." Alex sighed, looking downwards. Ammo chuckled, "Eh, one day soon, Al. Heheheh." Ammo blinked, and got back to the point.

"Anyways, what'cha here for?" "Just buyin' stuff, doin errands." At the sound of that, Techno jolted up. It seemed lik a flight or fight response went off like a light. Alex saw this and had thought that there would be more paranoia. "If you were wondering, X had decided to get a job, so I'm doing errands whilst he is out." Alex groaned, knowing that if she didn't explain, Techno would try to prove that she was an impostor of sorts. Placing the things on the checkout, Alex thought to herself, 'Hey, those two are fairly nice for powerful barons of another place', her brain wandering off. It took her a bit to snap back to reality. "That'll be $45.87." Ammo spoke. Alex pulled out her wallet and payed them the amount needed. "Thank you for shopping at Jerry's Stop n Shop!" Ammo cheered, joy in his voice, "Thanks, you too!" Alex replied.

The whole store went silent. The quietness swept them all of their feet. A stare-down of the three went down. Ammo blinked unphased. Techno scratched his head, unsure of what words wandered in the air. Alex was attempting to leave. She simply dashed off, afraid of confrontation. The two barons looked at each other, and shrugged. Alex put the bags in her car, and put the cart back. She scribbled 'Groceries' and 'Buy a vase' off the list. "Ok, tome to return the book before I die of embarrassment!" Alex panicked, and drove off.