Goldfish Can Be Powerful - Chapter 2

I stepped into the teleporter confident I knew where Fox had gone. I pressed the button and said my destination out loud.

"The New Blidon Police Station Headquarters please," I dictated loudly and clearly. I closed my eyes, ready for the trip that would follow.

Teleporters feel kind of like like elevators, except so fast that they can pass through anything. I had never felt comfortable in teleporters, and had always preferred to travel the old fashioned way: walking, running, or biking anywhere I needed to go. Since teleporters had eliminated the use of cars, they were now the fastest way to travel.

I felt the walls around me tremble as the teleporter prepared for takeoff.

"Teleport commencing in 3, 2, 1." informed the monotoned, robotic voice echoing in the tiny chamber.

The walls around me began to shake and I squeezed my eyes tighter shut, ignoring the tiny voice in my head that said I was about to die.

Suddenly we were moving, slowly at first then faster as our speed increased. I took deep calming breaths and waited for it to be over. That bastard Fox had known my fear of teleporters and betted on my nerves getting the better of me. Not today sucker! I rethought my previous statement as the the teleporter gave a violent shudder, throwing me against one of the walls. 

"If there's a god up there, please let this be over soon!" I begged. It felt like I would be trapped in this evil contraption for all of eternity.

We finally started to slow down, then gradually stopped. The door slid open and I staggered out, in no condition to beat up Fox.

And there he was with his snarky smile and his arms crossed over his chest. 

"I'm gonna... I'm gonna..." I mumbled weakly as I gripped the nearest wall for support.

"You're gonna what?" Fox confidently said," Teach me a lesson? In your condition? I don't think so!"

I glared at him as my stomach protested the teleporter ride I'd just experienced. Even if I was feeling OK, there was no way I could beat up the police commander's son in the police station where he worked. Mr. Harrington adored his son, and there was no way he would allow him to be hurt if he could stop it. 

I glanced behind Fox, straightening as I saw the audience that had just witnessed our conversation. The entire police station and their spirit animals were staring in shock at our interruption. 

A tall broad-shouldered man with a long beard the same red hair as Fox came striding towards us. His orangutan spirit animal walked beside him.

"What on Traea is happening here?" he bellowed. 

"I was just about to teach Fox a lesson!" I remarked.

"What did he do this time?" Mr. Harrington sighed as he rubbed his forehead. I told him about the prank that Fox had pulled. He started to chuckle.

"Good one son!" he chortled as he slapped Fox on the back.

"Thanks pops!" Fox said sarcastically as he plastered a fake smile on his face.

"Don't take that tone with me boy!" he thundered, changing from happy to pissed off in less than a second. His orangutan spirit animal stood on 2 legs and looked menacing, mimicking Mr. Harrington's enraged demeanor. Fox's relationship with his dad was very strange. Mr. Harrington adored Fox while Fox hated Mr. Harrington. When Fox acted the way he felt, Mr. Harrington got very mad.

The fake smile gone, Fox sneered at his father as he stomped towards the teleporter. The teleporter vibrated, the only warning we got before Fabian stepped out of it and right into Fox.

"Watch it!" Fox growled as he pushed Fabian back a step.

"You watch it!" Fabian growled back as he returned the favor. 

Fabian and Fox had always hated each other for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I still had no idea what the reason was behind their hatred.

"You're the one who ran into me!" Fox practically yelled in front of the whole police station and the multitude of animals that were the officers spirit animals.

"ENOUGH!" Fox's father roared as he pulled the two apart, " You are both are acting immature and childish. You decided to embarrass me in front of the whole police station. You should be ashamed of yourselves." His spirit animal started beating his chest, hooting and jumping up and down.

I glanced over at the the two miscreants. Fabian had the decency to look ashamed, but Fox just looked annoyed.

"My level of maturity depends on who I'm with." Fox replied while glaring at Fabian.

Fabian lunged at him, but Mr. Harrington caught him and held him back, his orangutan providing back up.

"Stop it!" an unknown voice ordered,"I will not have my son embarrass this family anymore." A skinny gorgeous woman stepped into the light, her orange poison dart frog spirit animal on her shoulder.

"Mom..." Fox sighed unenthusiastically.

With her strawberry blonde hair pulled up in a bun and dressed impeccably, she was a force to be reckoned with. Her spirit animal seemed small and unimportant, but I had heard stories about how her poison could topple a man in 3 seconds flat.

"Son." she addressed the same way you would address an acquaintance,"Why must you attack... What's your name?"

"Fabian ma'am." Fabian provided with a wince.

"Nice to meet you." Mrs. Harrington said even though she had met Fabian a number of times. Then she pointed to Fox." You, follow me."

Fox sighed and followed his mother. I looked around the room and saw everyone staring at us. There were a few barks and bays in the uncomfortable silence.

"What are you looking at?" I challenged."Get back to work!"

Everyone slowly looked away and focused on their work, their spirit animals pretending I wasn't there. I looked over at Fabian, who pulled himself out of Mr. Harrington's death grip and stalked over to me.

"Let's go." he growled and I rolled my eyes but followed, glad that he decided to walk rather than force me to use the teleporter again.

"Where are we going?" I asked once we made it outside and Fabian started stalking off in a random direction.

"Back to the gym to grab your stuff." Fabian sighed as I caught up to him. "Sorry I was so rude back there. That imbecile just gets on my nerves sometimes. Especially after he knocked me out and escaped."

"It's ok. He gets on my nerves too. I would've done the same thing had I been in your situation." I sympathized as we kept walking through the towering skyscrapers.

We walked in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Suddenly, Fabian looked over at me, smiled, and started talking.

"So something's been on my mind for a while, and I wanted to talk with you about it."

"What?" I questioned.

"Um... I'm just going to spit it out." 

"Go ahead." I encouraged. By this point we had stopped walking and were standing in front of the gym.

"So, I like you. Like, like like you. And I wanted to tell you before the ceremony because I heard that if you're in a relationship before the ceremony you have a higher chance of being soul mates because you have that connection already in place and... Are you ok?"

I was frozen in place. Never had I imagined that Fabian had those kind of feelings for me. We had always been best friends, but I had never had those feelings for Fabian and I had always thought he felt the same way. Guess I was wrong. I tried to come up with something to say, but words deserted me. We made eye contact, and I guess he felt something I didn't because his eyes flicked to my mouth and stayed there while he leaned closer and closer.

I couldn't move. I was a deer caught in the headlights, knowing this was going to change everything but unable to break free and save our innocent relationship that was about to be smashed to pieces.

Continue reading to find out if a friendship is ruined. Also, stay tuned to find out what happens in the bonding ceremony and the adventure that follows!