The next day Omega woke up bright and early, much to Riley's pleasure. The young girl was so excited that she hardly even slept! She had been talking all night, asking Riley what she was planning on doing and just random questions about random topics.
She sort of reminded Riley of Tech when he was her age. He'd always ask her questions about things he wanted to know—he'd do further research on the topic after she answered, just to double check of course. Once, when he and Riley were the first ones awake that morning, he had asked where babies came from—natural babies—and Riley had to explain to him the whole process while she was dying on the inside.
Omega sat up on Riley's bed, looking around the room with wonder. Her brothers had slept in the guest room while she slept in Riley's room with her. Omega's eyes landed on an old photo sitting on Riley's desk. Curious, Omega quietly got out of bed and made her way over to the desk. She picked up the photo and smiled when she realized that the four young boys were Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair.
They were all huddled around an older man—maybe a clone?—with bright smiles on their faces. The older man was in the center, behind the boys. Hunter was in front of him, with Tech and Crosshair on either side of him and Wrecker in the back with an arm around the elder. The boys were all in cadet uniforms, and the man seemed to be wearing something that resembled blacks, only they were white. 'Maybe a maintenance uniform?' She thought.
"'Mega? Whatcha lookin' at, kiddo?" Omega turned around to see Riley sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I-I um, I was looking at this picture...I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to." Omega confessed sheepishly. Riley gestured for Omega to come closer and she complied, walking to the edge of the bed and handing Riley the photo.
Riley smiled when she seen it, and scooted over a bit so that Omega could lay next to her. After Omega was wrapped under the covers Riley spoke, "Do you know who they are?" Omega pointed to the four boys, "I know who they are. But who's the old guy?"
Riley hummed and looked at the old clone. "His name is 99. He's a clone, he was 'defective' like the boys so the Kaminoans made him a maintenance worker. He was a sweet guy, loved his younger brothers to bits."
"'Was?'"
Riley sighed, "He...died a couple years ago. I was contacted and informed by the Kaminoans shortly after he passed. The boys loved him a lot, and I guess they call themselves Clone Force 99 in honor of him." Omega nodded and nuzzled into Riley's side. "That's nice of the Kaminoans to let you know."
Riley chuckled, "Pretty sure someone talked them into doing it." She said dryly. Omega made a small 'oh' noise and nodded. Riley looked at the picture for another moment before grabbing Omega and tossing her onto the other side of the bed and threw a pillow at her. Before Omega could react, Riley jumped out of bed and ran out of the room, laughing the whole way.
As Riley ran out into the living room she seen her 5 boys all sitting on the couch with Jido. They were all watching some sort of kids show on the holonet. Riley seen her sister standing at the door way watching them, Anna with a cam in her hand.
As Riley approached them she seen that Anna was recording the boys. "How long have they been watching this?" Riley raised an eyebrow and looked back at the couch. Mandy shrugged, "Probably almost an hour. We came out and they were just huddled on the couch bored so we told them to watch something."
"This is apparently all they could find." Anna added. Riley chuckled and leaned against the doorframe. She laughed when she seen Omega forget all about her when she seen the cartoon.
[Time skip brought to you by me and a 20-something y/o guy being entertained by Bluey for like an hour and a half bc my brothers had it on while he and his family were at my house]
After breakfast everyone huddled into the living room. The inn was closed for the day so they were debating on what they should do.
"We could...go swimming?" Riley suggested. "Can't, they filled up the only pond in the area, remember?" Mandy countered. Riley sighed and leaned back in her seat.
"Hey what if we go shopping? Maybe just us girls and the boys can stay here." Anna said. "I'm fine with that. Khoan you wanna come shopping or stay with the boys?" Riley yelled towards the kitchen. A few seconds later Khoan came into the living room, "I'll stay I suppose, who else is going to make sure the don't burn down the house?" They joked, earning a glare from some of the batchers.
After breakfast, Riley, Omega, Anna, and Mandy all got dressed and and ready for their outing. As the four excited the house the damp foggy atmosphere seemed to have increased since the night before. "Smells like rain." Mandy sighed, throwing up the hood of her poncho. Anna and Riley did the same as Omega looked up at them with confusion.
"It's not raining yet, why put on the hoods?" She asked. Riley took out a small poncho and handed it to her. "Trust me, you're going to want it when it randomly starts pouring and you've got no time to find cover." She said. "It doesn't rain too often here but when it does it's a lot." Omega nodded and pulled the poncho over her head, putting on the hood as well.
When the girls got the market there weren't that many people there. The four of them went from shop to shop, booth to booth, trying samples of food and just looking at the large array of foreign merchandise.
Omega was having the time of her life, she was amazed my every little thing and the 3 sisters watched her with amused smiles. "You know—out of the 3 of us—I never thought that you would be the first to have kids, let alone 6." Mandy confessed as they followed Omega into another store.
Riley chuckled, "Well I suppose I'm just full of surprises." She said as she watched Omega proudly. Omega had picked up a small piece of jewelry that looked like a necklace. Riley walked over to the small blonde and knelt down to be at her level.
"Whatcha got there kiddo?" She asked. Omega handed Riley the necklace and started fidgeting with her hands. "I-I...um-would it be alright if I got this? I really really like it. But if not t-that okay too...." Omega rambled. Riley handed the necklace back to her and smiled. "Honey, of course you can get it! Do you want anything else or you want to just pay already?"
Omega's face lit up with excitement and she started jumping up and down. "No just this! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Riley laughed hugged the girl. "You're welcome, hun." After paying for the small necklace, the girls moved to the next shop. As Mandy and Anna were looking at things that had caught their interest Omega tugged on Riley's sleeve.
"Can you help me put this on?" She asked, showing the necklace in her hand. Riley smiled and took the bracelet, instructing Omega to turn around. Riley looped the thin silver chain around the young girls neck and did the clasps. "Alright done, let's see how it looks."
Omega turned around with a bright smile on her face. "Ooh very pretty, Omega!" Riley complimented, clasping her hands together. Omega hugged Riley excitedly, causing Riley to smile as she hugged back.
As the girls continued shopping, the boys and Khoan were bored out their minds.
"How long are they going to be gone?" Wrecker asked for the hundredth time. Jido sighed, "It's my girlfriend, your mother, their older sister, and Omega who's never been shopping with other girls. This could take hours, days even." Wrecker let out an annoyed groan.
They had gotten sick of the cartoons after an while and had no idea what to do. The Bad Batchers were soldiers, they didn't really know what to do to have fun.
Khoan sat up from their place on the floor. "Hey is the hologame console still hooked up?" They asked. Jido shrugged and walked over to the console that was connected to the screen. He turned it on and a whirring sound came out before the screen illuminated with the opening scene of the game.
"Guess it does." He said, a smirk on his face as he looked at Khoan. Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, Cross, and Echo all sat around the screen curious as to what this was. Khoan and Jido approached, each with some kind of remote in their hand, and stood in front of the boys.
"Fellas, we're about to make your boring lives a lot more competitive." Jido spoke. The boys looked at each other in confusion.
Khoan gave Crosshair—who happened to be closest to them—the controller that was in their hand and Jido got out several other controllers, giving them to the rest of the boys. The patchers looked at the remotes confused, "What are we supposed to do with these?" Asked Tech. Khoan and Jido grabbed their own controllers and started up the game.
"You are going to use these to race. This game that we're playing is a podracing game, it has different tracks and vehicle customizations. You can also select your avatars." Khoan explained, starting a new game.
Jido showed them how to use the controls, whilst explaining how to pick their avatars. Once they finished getting set up Khoan chose the track and the countdown began.
[Time skip brought to you by Tech beating everyone in Mario Kart]
After a few hours Riley, her sisters, and Omega were forced to come home due to the rain. When Riley opened the front door and immediately ran to the living room when she heard yelling, thinking there was some kind of fight. When she made it to the living room she calmed down at the sight of them playing hologames. Omega, Mandy, and Anna joined her, amused expressions on the older girls faces.
"Looks like Khoan and Jido introduced them to the podracing game." Anna chuckled. Jido, Khoan, and Tech were seated on the couch while Hunter, Crosshair, Wrecker, and Echo sat on the floor in front of them. Riley looked to the screen, Khoan was in first, Tech in second, Crosshair in third, Jido in fourth, Hunter fifth, Wrecker sixth, and Echo in seventh. It surprised Riley that Echo could even play considering he only had on hand.
They were all yelling and playfully insulting each other. Riley had never seen them so competitive before, it was very amusing.
Tech's tongue stuck out as he messed with the controls, shooting a blaster shot to Khoan's engine, knocking them out of the track and making their screen go black. "Oh come on!" They groaned, dropping their controller and flopping back against the couch. Tech smirked as he realized he was now in first.
He approached the finish line but just before he could cross it a blur zoomed past him, winning the race. Tech stared at the screen, baffled. "Shouldn't have used your boost earlier." Crosshair remarked, looking behind him to Tech with a smug grin on his face. Tech glared at him angrily, cursing under his breath.
Riley smirked and sat next to Tech, swinging her arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry Techie, this is the least amount of humiliation you'll experience during hologame matches in my family." She said, watching as the others all finished the race.
"Don't get cocky now Ri, remember who beat your ass in the tournament?" Mandy called, raising a teasing brow at her sister. "Don't listen to her, she cheats." Riley whispered into Tech's ear.
"Can I play next?" Omega asked curiously. "Yeah, we'll go against winners!" Anna said, pointing at Crosshair and Tech. "I would like a rematch." Tech mumbled. Riley and her sisters cheered and pushed Jido and Khoan off the couch, taking their spots and controllers. Echo handed Omega his controller. He liked the game, but it's pretty difficult to play using one hand.
After several rounds, Riley and Tech ended up being the top winners, Tech earning the Elrod's respect for being able to keep up with the self acclaimed champion. They all sat around the living room talking, some still playing the game. Riley sat on the floor against the couch while Omega sat above her braided her hair. For a moment, it was peaceful, like it should be. But that peace was disturbed when a loud beeping sound coming from the boys' comm.
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Word count: 2188
edit: who do you think called them?
cliffhanger frfoeforfoggirbgo5gn
yes the pod racing game is just a sw version of Mario Kart and Riley being self acclaimed champion is a reflection of my Mario Kart obsession-
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I am so kriffing sorry for the wait I lost motivation and got carried away with school 🫣. Comments and votes are greatly appreciated 🫶