Opposites Attract: A Tobecky Story- Wordgirl X Tobey

Reunited

Mrs. Botsford stumbled roughly through the thick greenery of the surrounding forest of Faircity, her legs covered in a menagerie of leaves and sticky sap. They had been following a sloppy set of footprints for a while before watching as they had completely vanished in the vague direction of the forest. The two had been foraging through the plants, trying to find any sign of their children.

"This is hopeless." Claire murmured under her tired breath.

"We know they're here somewhere." Mrs. Botsford replied, continuing forward with her passionate search. "They probably found a place to hide out. I'm just surprised that they escaped together."

Claire nodded. "No offense to you or your daughter, but Tobey isn't normally ecstatic about hanging out with Becky."

"And Becky isn't very fond of Tobey either… maybe they were better friends than we thought."

"Or forced to be around each other… Tobey isn't a nice boy, so him making a friend is…" she went quiet, "unlikely."

Sally shrugged. "Maybe he's changed."

"But why would he try to do something like that? He enjoys making his robots and destroying things…"

"Kids are weird." Mrs. Botsford chuckled, "maybe he decided to try something different?"

"BECKY!" Tobey screamed, racing through the forest once again. He had finished building and was now racing back, trying to find his lost friend. He had no idea where she had gone off to, but he knew that she wouldn't have left the forest especially in her injured condition. He should never have walked away. 

Suddenly the boy froze, before him there was a startling rustle in the bushes. His breath hitched in his throat and he quickly took out a remote control from his back pocket, not in the mood to be tested. A threatening glare settled across his face and he felt his shoulders relaxing in a villainous confidence. 

A woman then sprang into view, her reddish brown hair plastered roughly against her tired face. 

"Tobey?!"

"Mrs. Botsford?!" He squeaked, lowering the remote. 

"Claire get over here!"

Tobey was shocked to see both his and Becky’s parents, unchanged and wandering aimlessly through the forest surrounding Faircity. However, another half of him was annoyed, knowing that there wasn't enough time for him to stop and catch up. 

Mrs. Mcalister appeared through the wall of greenery surrounding the group, her eyes widening in shock to see her son standing before her. Without hesitation she scooped him into a hug, but Tobey shrugged her off reluctantly. The woman put a hand over his bruised face, looking over all of his injuries. "We've been looking everywhere for you, where have you been?" 

The boy looked away, recalling their past conversation. He didn't really feel like talking or showing any type of affection towards the woman.

"Have you seen Becky?" Mrs. Botsford asked desperately, looking around wildly for her daughter.

"I'm looking for her now, and time is really of the essence," he explained briefly, trying to walk away. "You both need to get out of here."

"What are you talking about, we just found you…"

"And that is fantastic, but this is really bad timing, Mother."

"Bad timing?! To find you?!"

"Yes." Tobey sighed, rolling his eyes. For all he knew Becky could be fading between life and death. He couldn’t lose her. Nervously he tapped the remote control in his hands, drawing the attention of his mother.

Her eyes widened in shock-horror. "Tobey, why do you have that?" It was obvious that she was jumping to conclusions, and Tobey swallowed, backing away. He needed to go. "Are you the cause of all of this?!"

"No! Well… yes… but no…"

"You did this…" Mrs. Botsford asked, inhaling sharply.

"I knew it…" Claire darkened hopelessly, taking a step back.

Tobey looked between the women and the remote. "No, this isn't for… this isn't…" He paused, growing angry and pushing past his problems with his mother. There wasn't time for this. "I'm trying to save Becky!" He sputtered.

"Did Becky have something to do with all of this?!"

"What did you do to her?"

Tobey shook his head, growing furious. "If you could believe for one second that I'm not some monster trying to destroy everything around me, you would realize that we are trying to fix everything!" He pointed his gaze at his mother. "And I would never do anything to purposely hurt Becky Botsford. She has been the only person in the world to believe that I am capable of change, and right now, she's in this forest, hurt and possibly dying, and you're here keeping me from finding her!" 

The boy exhaled, looking over the pair's stunned faces. "Now if you'll excuse me, mother, I have to go destroy something so that I can not only save my girlfriend but the whole BLOODY CITY!!" He then turned and began to stalk off through the bushes.

"W-wait."

He froze, annoyed.

"I'm sorry." His mother confessed, hanging her head. "I should have been a better mother to you, and I should have been there for you… "

"It's okay…" Tobey frowned. "It's hard to trust someone like me, but I'm working hard to try and become a better person."

Claire nodded, tears welling in her eyes as she stood tall. "How can we help?"