Casper and Ashley left the fast food joint, leaving the pair of pink Synthetics and the rubber pony Synthetics, beginning to make their way back to Casper's apartment.
They were both quiet as they walked, the only sounds the wind, the leaves and the soft squeak of their latex bodies as they moved.
Ashley was truly sorry for getting upset at Casper, she knew that he had reasons for using the ring the ways that he had. She guessed that maybe she did get caught up in the feeling of the moment, watching humans being changed into Synthetics, naked rubber animal people. She had never really been into latex before, so maybe it was just her new mode of thinking, but the idea was kinda hot to her. And, knowing that another Synthetic couple just got pregnant...maybe she and Casper...no, she thought, I've gone and screwed everything up. She continued walking beside the rubber ram.
Meanwhile, Casper had his own thoughts to occupy him. He thought about what Ashley had said, a city just for Synthetics. That didn't really jive with what he had in mind for him and those like him. After all, if everyone was a Synthetic, were they special anymore? He had hoped that he could build a world where Humans and Synthetics could live together, but Ashley seemed to be interested in a Synthetic dominant world. That was exactly the kind of thing the wizard had warned him about. He could chalk it up to human nature, but Ashley was no longer human, perhaps it was just nature? The desire for one's own kind to be dominant? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He had thought that he and Ashley were getting closer...and after seeing that couple in the theater, a part of him wanted to...no, he thought, they'd only known each other for two days really, even though the ring created memories of their entire lives together.
Ashley stepped closer to him, brushing her rubber body against his. She looked at him, genuine worry in her face. "Casper," she whispered, "I think someone is following us."
A cold fear swept over Casper, and a few steps later, he hazarded a glance in a nearby shop window. Someone was behind them, a human, wearing a baggy sweatshirt and jeans, with brown shoes. He had the hood pulled up so Casper couldn't make out his face. He seemed pretty intent on the Synthetic couple as they walked along.
Casper adjusted their course through the city, trying to take them closer to populated areas, but in their distracted wanderings, they had gone pretty far from the active night life areas of the city.
Casper knew he could no longer sweat, but even still, his palms felt cold and clammy to him. He put his arm around Ashley, and quickened their pace a bit, trying to put distance between them and this human. A few more minutes went by and Casper checked again. The man was still following them.
Where was a Synthetic cop when you needed one? he thought, heck, where was a human cop when you needed one.
He glanced about, but they were the only three people in the street.
Casper didn't know what this man wanted, but he knew that he had to protect Ashley. He bent low to her, and whispered, "Whatever happens, stay behind me."
Before she had a chance to react, Casper whirled on the man following them, one arm thrown out to guard the rubber lizard girl.
The man following them stopped immediately, and stared at them. Casper looked him up and down, noting that he appeared twitchy, his eyes bloodshot.
An instant, and a flash, and the man withdrew a knife from the pocket of his hoodie, aiming the point menacingly at the pair of naked balloon creatures. Casper had seen that a kitchen knife posed no danger, nor did a piece of broken glass or a rusty nail to Synthetics like himself, but those were accidental, he had no idea what would happen if that man tried to use his knife on them.
Casper slowly raised his arms, showing the man that he was unarmed. "Easy," he said, "I'm sure we can-"
The man cut him off. "Shut up," he spat, "just shut up you rubber freak!"
Casper just stood there, waiting for the man to continue.
"Gimme your cash, or I'll stick you, heh, pop yer little head and the yer girl won't have anything to snuggle with at night."
"I don't have any cash," Casper said, "I don't really carry a wallet or anything."
"SHUT IT, FREAK!" the man shouted, "I know you got cash somewhere, hand it over."
"I told you, I don't have any cash. Listen, why don't you just let us go, we go our way, you go yours, we won't even call the cops, honest."
The man seemed to get even angrier, and started to rush Casper and Ashley. Before he got within two steps of them, however, Casper felt the ring activate.
One second the man was standing there with the knife, ready to cut them open, the next, there was a lime green turtle girl standing there, holding a rubber knife. The naked rubber turtle girl didn't look much older than 8 or 9 years old, and she looked just as shocked as Casper and Ashley. She stared at them, wide eyed, sniffed and began to cry.
"Uaaahhhh, I want my mommy! I'm scared!" she bawled.
Ashley seemed to recover and looked at Casper, "What did you do?"
He was flabbergasted, "I didn't do it, it was the ring! It did this by itself. When he moved to attack me, the ring seemed...angry." Casper stared at the ring in disbelief.
Words flowed into his mind from the ring. The weilder was about to come to harm, this device could not let that happen, this device acted in self defense of the wielder.
"The ring acted in self defense of the weilder? In defense of me. I was just trying to protect you." he said to her.
"We should get out of here, " she said, "but we can't just leave her, I mean him, here."
Casper agreed. He crouched down to the turtle girl, seeing that she had a thicker rubber shell in the front and back, but still the same nozzle and barcode as the rest of her kind. She had no external sexual characteristics to define her as female, save for her body language and her voice.
"There there," Casper spoke softly to her, "I know you're scared, do you know where your mommy is?"
The turtle girl stopped crying, sniffed again and nodded, "Uh huh."
"Can you take us there?" he asked.
Again, the turtle girl said, "Uh huh."
"Can I pick you up?" he asked her, "and then you can point us to her?"
"Uh huh."
Casper gently scooped up the turtle girl into his arms, supporting her, and she wrapped her arms around his thick neck. She pointed in the direction of the other side of the city, ironically the direction that Casper and Ashely were first walking. The three of them started walking again. Soon they came to a retirement facility. Casper approached the front desk, as they had not yet closed their doors for the night.
"Excuse me, we found this little girl wandering a few blocks from here, and she said her mother lived here?"
The receptionist looked at him, then Ashley, then to the little turtle girl without batting an eye, and asked, "Name?"
The rubber turtle girl spoke up, "Minerva, Minerva Bolton."
The receptionist flipped through some papers on a clipboard, and then said, "Second floor, room 208."
The trio thanked her, and as they turned to head for the stairs, Casper couldn't help himself. A moment later, the receptionist was a pink rubber panther, naked like the rest of them, except for a cardigan and a name badge, declaring her 'Ms, Clouseau.'
As they walked up the stairs, Ashley giggled and hummed "dodo dodo dodo dodo dodo dodododoooooo!"
They knocked on door 208, and were answered by a old woman calling for them to come in. She looked old, and not in the best of spirits. An oxygen tube ran under her nose and she was lying propped up in bed. Snoozing in a chair off to one side of the bed was an old man, presumably her husband.
Casper sent a thought to the ring, and watched as the pair of elderly humans seemed to regress in age until they were in their thirties, their clothes vanishing (and the oxygen tube) and blue and green rubber skin taking their place. Hard rubber shells formed on both of them, the woman's shell having formed breasts, sans nipples, while the man's shell bulged out at his groin. Nozzles appeared at their usual place at their belly buttons, and the little turtle girl cried "mama!" and ran to the bed, flinging herself into the arms of her rubber turtle mother.
438.
They hugged and the mother, Minerva, turned to the newcomers "Did my little one run off again?"
"Yes ma'am," Ashley replied, "We found her a few blocks over."
Minerva turned to the little girl, "You have got to stop running off." she scolded.
The turtle girl looked shamed, "I'm sorry mama."
"There there, you're safe now, that's all that matters. Thank you." she said, turning back to Casper.
"You're welcome, ma'am." he said.
As they left the newly re-united turtle family, the ring said in Casper's mind, 'She will have a chance at a new life this way, possibly a better life, depending on her choices.'
They walked the rest of the way back to Casper's apartment in silence. Once there, Ashley turned to Casper and said, "Casper, I'm really sorry how I acted earlier."
At the same time Casper turned to her and said, "Ashley, I'm sorry I got mad at you."
They both stopped and giggled. Casper motioned for Ashley to continue.
"I'm sorry, I got caught up in things and didn't think about your feelings."
"Its okay, I didn't think about your feelings either. I forgive you." he replied.
"I forgive you too," she said.
"God, I was so scared when that mugger attacked you," she said, "I was afraid that you'd be killed."
"I was afraid that you'd be hurt, Ashley. I couldn't let that happen. I know we have only really known each other for two days, but we have memories of growing up together...and...I think I love you." he said, blushing as he did.
Ashley smiled back at him, blushing as well.
"I think I love you too, Casper." she said.
They stepped into each other's arms, hugging each other tightly, and their lips met.
They stood there, hugging each other and sharing a kiss for a long moment, before Casper broke the kiss and took a step back.
"So," he asked, sheepishly, "do you want to spend the night here again?"