ATS PROTECTOR File 1

ATS: PROTECTOR
File 1
And a Merry Christmas to All


     A stream of cyan hair flows from under her helmet, blasting backwards with the wind and catching snowflakes. Her wolf ears lie underneath the dome of protective material, pressed uncomfortably onto her head.

     Sarei pushes on the throttle of her bike, causing the engine to roar and draw ever closer to the breaking point. Shifting left and over one side of the streamlined vehicle she zips through the narrow space between two cars.

     “Just a little bit faster…”

     The dashes marking the lanes, already blurred because of her speed, become a single line stretching to the horizon.

*******

     A girl with brown fur and cat ears climbs up the side of a large fir tree, moving around it in a spiral while gripping a shining string of tinsel with her teeth.

     Stopping at the top she ties it onto the star and leaps to the marble floor, “Tada! I give you one completed Christmas!”

     The silence echoes from the building’s high vaulted ceiling a moment before her colleagues applaud her efforts.

     Picking up her bags with a sigh, the cat walks out the door and begins to head home.

     She was tired of missing everyone.

     The street is mostly empty, almost everybody settling in for the Christmas break that would start tomorrow. The hum of a small engine precedes a motorcycle braking directly in front of the cat, covering her in a red glow.

     The biker looks back, as if trying to recognize her, “Hey, aren’t you…”

     Jgirl raises an eyebrow, “what?”

     The person simply turns back around and blasts off through the red light.

*******

     Jeffron, sitting down on a wooden bench, his arms weighted down with fatigue, sighs to the stars above.

     It had definitely been over three years since he and his brother had seen the others.

     A star streaks across the sky, catching his eye.

     Looking back to his blue-scaled brother, he grins, “Let’s go bro.”

*******

     Rob dodges into an alleyway, avoiding a mob of police officers.

     He tosses a small red gem into the air, catching it with a hand held behind his back before finally pocketing it with a smirk.

     Looking upwards his grin fades into a sorrowful frown.

     He hadn’t seen Darkkick or Jgirl for quite a while.

     Nodding to himself he walks out of the alleyway, his mind set.

*******

     Darkkick looks left and right, then raises a fist out to his side.

     A sudden slam marks the fall of a man to the cold stone street.

     Grabbing the man with both hands, the hedgehog bashes his head into a street lamb, causing the man to hang limply with a concussion.

     Whistling, he leaves before the police come, intent on reaching his destination.

*******

     Jgirl closes the door and falls backwards onto the wood, exhausted, “Finally some time to be left alone.”

     “Are you sure that’s really what you want?”

     Jgirl looks up, meeting the blue gaze of a red komodo. Crying in joy she leaps forward, trying to catch him in a tackle.

     Her body collides with a solid object as another person meets her in midair, the two rolling on the ground and Jgirl landing flat on her back.

     Kara, her tail a gray blur, wraps her arms around the cat’s neck in a large hug, “J-CHAN!”

     Justa walks around the corner, dragging a large fir tree with him, “Hey! Don’t kill her before we get everything done!” The blue komodo stands the entire arbor on its end, waiting for a orange fox to finish what he is doing.

     Rob smacks the planter with a foot, the base unraveling into its ornamental design, “Okay, set it down!”

     Justa holds the trunk to the planter as Darkkick pulls on the top of the tree with both hands, the plant swinging up and into the air, only stopping when it is completely perpendicular with the ground.

     Jgirl stands up, watching them, “What are you guys doing here?”

     A gray wolf runs out of the cat’s kitchen, two trays of cookies in his hands. A yellow feline, Flare, follows him, swerving to one corner and placing a large gingerbread village on display.

     Sarei climbs the tree, placing lights, ornaments, and tinsel as she moves. In a matter of moments her entire house has been transformed from an empty space to a festive locale.

     Jeffron raises an eyebrow to Jgirl, “What do you mean ‘what are you guys doing here’, we’ve missed each other haven’t we? All the more reason to have a big holiday get-together.”

     Chris runs by with more cookies, chased by Darkkick, “I blame Kara!”

     The female points to the top of the tree, “Well Jgirl, want to do the honors?”