Skyline Gang One Shots and Short Stories

Sky Crystal

Spoilers for the Skyline Gang stories that I have written so far.

This is also technically a follow up for the one shot "Sensory" as this takes place a week after it ended.

It had been a few months since the Sceptre of Darkness was destroyed. Months since Dawn had been destroyed for good. It was turning into autumn now. Less visitors would come, the schools now welcoming back their students from the summer break. The green leaves started to slowly shift to a light orange. The wind went from refreshingly cool to bitterly cold. It was honestly a little refreshing for the seasons to change, especially after the last minute heatwave that ravaged the land. Days showed signs of becoming shorter, the sky becoming darker the closer it got to nighttime. The flowers slowly started to lose their petals, withering away to give way for the oncoming frost that was soon to come. Mist lingered longer than usual and the morning dew was more prominent. Birds have slowly started to migrate to warmer climates. Squirrels squabble over food and territory as they started their winter preparations.

The Skyline Gang similarly started their own preparations for the colder months. Dude (much against his will) needed to prepare everything related to finances and other major work related stuff. How the board members decided that he, a teenager, should do it all on his own is a mystery. They refused to help when he asked for it. Thankfully, Bud had volunteered to help and both of them were able to handle it smoothly. Everything else went as normal for the most part. Shows went on as normal, Pip's arts and crafts spot remained to be popular, and the sensory room was well taken care of. The only thing that was different was the infrequent number of guests that would visit. Everyday felt different.

Nevertheless, everyone remained busy. So when the Skyline closed for the evenings, the Gang would just relax at home and not worry about much of anything. Just chill, eat a home cooked meal (or delivery meal depending on their collective fatigue), watch a movie or some TV and sleep. Things would circle around smoothly like clockwork.

One night, after one of these infrequent days, the Gang had settled down for an early start the next morning. Rainbow was curled up in his bed, occasionally kicking or licking his lips as he dreamed of chasing juicy bones. Misty, who was usually a night owl, had gone to sleep pretty fast. It was unusual for her, but it wasn't unwelcome. Just meant a peaceful night for everybody. Bud had fallen asleep to the comforting clicks and whits of his robots before they went into power down at midnight. Candi snuggled into her mountain of plushies after feeling uncomfortable. The plushness helped to lull her to sleep after hours of tossing and turning uselessly. Pip had fallen asleep to humming her own music that she had made drafts of, trying to get a better fix on the melody. Mimi had drifted off to her dreamland, humming occasionally in bliss with a smile. Sprout had fallen asleep in one of the most awkward looking positions known to man, but he was seemingly comfortable like that. Dude had been pretty much knocked out the moment his head hit the pillow. It had been a draining day, one of many more to come, so sleep was gratefully welcomed.

However, it didn't last the whole night.

Overtime, Dude had gotten sensitive to his surroundings as he slept. It made him a borderline light sleeper. It was rare for him to wake up unless a particular noise or even a presence disturbs him. Heck, there was one time when he felt someone sneaking in his room and caught Misty attempting to plant something in his desk. She didn't after being caught thank goodness, but Dude almost woke up everyone because he had a burst of fight or flight response kicking in. Needless to say, she hadn't tried again since. For now at least. So when Dude felt something in his room this time around, he almost opened his eyes completely. He turned toward it, getting ready to scold or hear out whoever this person was that came to his room. A blue light met his eyes. That wasn't his. Did someone light up his room? Groggily, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.