HELP, MY TURTLE IS ON FIRE!
~Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.~
Ronald Reagan
Chapter Two: 44 Songs.
1. I Need Some Sleep
The ball was caught right at the white line.
Ahito yawned and looked at the striker. He appeared to had lost even more weight and his complexion was pale with a grayish tone to it. Dark marks were circling around his eyes.
"You could really use a nap you know," smiled Ahito. "There's plenty of place in the goal, you can rest here if you like."
He kicked the ball to his brother and with a final yawn he fell to the ground, soundly asleep. The striker smirked at the sleeping form, forced a wry laugh and dashed after the ball. The only place he would rest in was his grave.
2. Paranoid Android
Murmuring to himself the robot-cook carefully added salt to the soup, hoping that this time it will satisfy Pirates tastes. He had to get on their good side- you never know when that wretched girl might come back.
3. Sad But True
"Well, after having crush on me it could have only gone downhill," joked Mei. "I know it's weird hearing this from me, but looks aren't everything. I bet she has a wonderful personality."
"I know, but still… Maybe he has some eye defect or something," tried D'Jok. "How can his taste be so off? I mean, first Zoelin, now Yuki… who's next, Clamp?"
4. Stray Dog Freedom
"D'Jok! We're going home, it's getting dark! You too Micro-Ice," Maya called the boys. The sun was indeed about to set and with that the temperature would drop drastically in a matter of minutes. Most of the children had already left the playground.
"Yeah, run to your mommy D'Jok, or the monsters will get you!"
"Shut up Sinedd! Or we won't play with you tomorrow!" young D'Jok yelled back. Nevertheless he looked nervously around, checking if something big and scary wasn't standing behind him. Then he grabbed Micro-Ice' hand and both boys headed to his mother.
"You're just jealous because I'm not afraid of the dark and can stay outside as long as I want to!" Sinedd shouted after them. Quickly the playground became deserted save for his scrawny figure sitting on the swing.
Sinedd tugged the zipper in his tatty coat. It was getting very cold but he intended to stay here as long as he could withstand. This place was not scary. Not at all. The thought of going back to the Children's Home was, for it was where the real monsters were dwelling.
5. Wind In The Wires
"Did you hear that?"
"Oh, it's probably the draught."
Harris couldn't help but shiver as he heard the familiar hiss again and saw a pair of green eyes staring at him in the darkness. When he looked again was nothing there. Was that just his imagination, or will Bleylock's hands always keep reaching to him, even from the grave?
6. This Is Halloween
"Listen everyone! I'd like to introduce you to your new teammate- Sinedd," said Artegor in a chirpy voice and pushed the new guy in front of them. Sinedd gazed at those alien, skull-like faces. I has finally occurred to him that maybe leaving Akillian wasn't such a great idea.
7. Speed Demon
Warren didn't even get the chance to blink before the net was blown away with another goal. Since when heat traveled faster than light?
8. Take It Like A Man
"Come on Ahito, don't be childish," encouraged Simbai. "It will help you fight your sickness."
"Hell. No," growled Ahito, his eyes, wide and awake for once, locked on the jar of suppositories Simbai held firmly in her hand.
9. 2 + 2 = 5
"Aarch are sure that you can assemble a team that will be able to play at the GFC level in such a short time? A team ready to compete against the most skilled players in the Galaxy? With so little training and experience?" asked Cally.
"Of course," smiled Aarch.
10. Run Like Hell
"B-Benneth?"
"Yeah?" he looked at Artie, who in turn had his eyes locked somewhere above Benneth's head.
"I've got a hypothetical question," he stuttered. "What would you do if you saw a giant mummified turkey with a snake head, scorpion tail, bear claws and laser beam cannons attached to its back standing right behind you?"
11. Nothing Else Matters
"Idiot, if you keep going like that the Smog will kill you!"
"So what!"
12. Human Nature
To see Rocket play that Netherball-thing came as a shock to Mark. He didn't expect his predecessor to be this close, to be still on Genesis.
He was definitely going to tell the others about this. No doubt about that. But first thing first, now was the time to make hay, for the sun still shone.
13. We Suck Young Blood
"Guys it's really nice of you to invite me over for a dinner," Sinedd smiled happily, not noticing the primal hunger that lurked in the eyes of his new teammates.
14. Girl Gone Bad
"Well second is not the best, is it honey? Don't you have any ambition? You have to try harder!" she could never forget her mother's hurtful words, no matter how hard she tried. They had followed her everywhere, in bars, in cars. She always remembered them and vowed that when she would become a mother herself her own daughter would never have to hear them, never.
She carried the burden of those words her entire life just for her daughter's sake.
"Defender is not good enough Mei, you have to try harder!" In the end she has forgotten why it hurt, all that remained were those words.
15. More Than A Feeling
I have a bad feeling about this, thought Bleylock, seconds before his spacecraft exploded.
16. Drop Dead Legs
Sinedd glanced at her ass as she was fastening her boot . He knew that at some point Mei longed to be an attacker but he sure was grateful that she had decided to stay on this side of the pitch.
Mei gazed at his frame not noticing D'Jok waving to her form the far side of the pitch. There are some advantages, she thought, as having Sinedd on the opposite side actually meant having him on her side.
17. Tell Me What You See
"So, what do you see?"
"What do you mean?" asked Rocket looking at the glass of water.
"Well, what do you see- is the glass half-full, or half-empty?" Rocket looked at her and then again at the glass.
"It's cracked."
18. Kick Him When He's Down
He looked at the big screens: the score was seven-two and only nineteen seconds to go. Stevens was more than pleased with himself. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Now just to add a cherry at the top of his whipped cream of triumph. He lightly kicked the ball to his opponent.
"Here, have a go," he encouraged the other striker mockingly and couldn't believe the guy actually tried to dribble despite that pathetic condition he was in. The Pirate laughed, wondering whether the striker was so stupid and so naïve that he didn't see the mockery behind this offering.
The laugh died in Stevens throat as he saw the sheer determination breaking through the anguish in Sinedd's eyes. In the most glorious moment of his life Stevens couldn't have felt more ashamed of himself.
19. This Weather
"This royally sucks," said Wuwamboo, shivering badly, after he and his team had landed on Akillian for the first time in fifteen years.
20. Personal Jesus
Artegor looked at Aarch knowing that he didn't deserve such a friend. He couldn't stop thinking about the time that was lost, time they had wasted because of him, time that no one could ever return to them.
Aarch looked back at Artegor and smiled. He couldn't stop thinking about the wonderful times they had ahead of them.
21. Take It To The Limit
His body screamed in agony as he released another mass of black energy. The Smog was slowly sucking the oxygen from his lungs, his blood, his heart. As he dashed to the goal none could notice how his legs trembled from exhaustion. He knew he was going too far this time; there was no other way to see how far he can actually go.
22. Alone Together
"I'd like to be left alone!" growled Yuki without sparing them a glance. Angry tears were already gathering her eyes.
"If you say so," said Thran as he and his brother sat down at both sides of their cousin. They've stayed like that till early morning.
23. My Family's Role In The World Revolution
On Duke Madox' desk stood a picture. A tall, slightly overweight man, a woman with brushy hair and a young boy with an eye patch, sitting in front of them in a wheelchair. They were all smiling, although the child was born as a cripple, unable to use most of his limbs as his body was consumed by a incurable disease. They were happy even without knowing that in few years the father's attempts to restore his son's health with self-crafted mechanical parts will revolutionize the world of modern technology and give birth to a new empire.
24. Ghosts
As a man of science, Clamp didn't believe in ghosts. But that didn't stop them from following him everywhere.
25. Come Out And Play
"Aw, come on D'Jok! We still have to finish it!"
"There's no way in hell I'm going to duel you. After the last scare you gave me I wouldn't even duel you in a children's card game!"
"Ok then, lets have a snowboard race!"
"No."
"Starring contest!"
"No, forget it. Stop being so obsessed about beating me! Can't you just get a life, find yourself a girlfriend for Christ's sake!"
"Is that the challenge?"
"… you stay away from Mei."
26. Black and Blue
Aarch could have sworn that for a brief moment he saw a spark of electric blue breaching through the black smoke. But surely it was impossible, right?
27. Light Pollution
Warren smiled to himself as he saw Rocket kick Sinedd in his chest, swiftly finishing their Netherball match. Serves him right, that selfish brat. That double-crosser. This is what you get for polluting such a beautiful sport like football. That's how trash should be dealt with.
28. Supermassive Black Hole
"So basically the true source of the Smog is a black hole, right?"
Nihlis nodded.
"A black hole that is situated close to the Shadow Archipelago?"
A nod.
"So you're living near a black hole that can swallow the entire Archipelago at any time and thus bring and an end to your civilization?"
Nihlis nodded again.
"Oh," said Sinedd. "Cool."
29. Waste Of Paint
Tia stared. The person in the mirror stared back. It definitely wasn't her, not her at all. She sighted and reached for a clean cloth to wipe her face. Then she carefully put back Mei's make-up kit and went back to bed.
30. Me And My Monkey
"Well if it isn't the Jock and his monkey!"
"Shut up Sinedd, go find some real friends!" yelled D'Jok as he cradled Micro-Ice in his arms and gave him another banana.
31. Eyes Were Blue
"But it strange, don't you think? His eye used to be lilac, now they're all black."
"They were always blue to me," sighted Mei.
32. Today Will Be The Day When Mourning Ends
Today, he told himself, will be the day when the mourning ends. And it almost was the Day, if it weren't for the shame that he felt for still being alive while the others, so many others had died.
33. Smoke Without Fire
Rocket knew something was wrong even before he saw a massive cloud of black smoke slowly consuming the entire pitch. He was also the first to be by his side, holding the limp body in his arms. The Smog was getting thicker. He shook the unresponsive frame, he screamed inhaling the black flux. But despite Rocket's efforts, Sinedd did not open his eyes.
And then everything went pitch black.
34. Learn To Be Still
The urge to kick the ball out of the penalty area was almost impossible to fight. But Kernor knew better than to leave the goal unguarded and waited penitently for the ball to come to her. It always did.
35. I've Got Your Number
The fact that D'Jok was first of the team to claim a jersey, and a jersey number 9 it was, was not a coincidence. According to D'Jok nothing about him was a coincidence, he made sure of that.
The fact that the last jersey that was left for Sinedd to take had number 11 printed on it was also not a coincidence. It was a foreshadow.
36. If Winter Ends
"I'll come back for you when I become a star," were the last words Norata had heard his wife say before she left for the bigger, better world. He promised to himself that no matter what, he would go after her, he just had to help rebuild the planet first. After that, he will search for her. After he gets a job, he'll go to Genesis and find her. After Rocket gets a bit older, he'll go after her. After the flower business calms down a bit, he'll…
37. House of Pain
He had wandered into the far side of the city. This was the Old Town, the part of the capital that never got to be rebuilt after the Great Explosion. His mother had told him never to go there, for "people like us are not very welcome in the Old Town". But sometimes listening to what your mother says is not that easy, especially when you're a ten-year-old boy named Micro-Ice.
Across the street one meager tenement caught his eye. He'd heard of this place all right. Children lived here, lots of them. He was told that this house was full of children and personally he couldn't imagine a better place to live in, with so many kids around he would play all day long. And he wouldn't have to hang out with D'Jok's stupid friend Mark because there would be so many other kids to play with!
But what he saw didn't really meet his expectations: the house was ugly, nobody was playing any games and the noises coming from the building could have never been mistaken for laughter.
Micro-Ice decided that some really boring children must be living there.
38. Somebody Get Me a Doctor
One stubbed toe, an acne, two pulled muscles, a diarrhea. Simbai put down her patient's records and wondered when it was going to be her turn to be sick.
39. Animal I Have Become
"What you need human," Fulmugus said one day, "is a pet."
Sinedd looked dumbfounded at the box his captain had just given him. Then he looked dumbfounded at Fulmugus.
"A box?"
"You open the box human," said Fulmugus patiently, " you look inside the box and what you will see there is your new pet. This is how the box works."
Sinedd didn't buy it. A house pet inside something so small? In no way could a bear fit in it, and neither could a pony. And since those two were the only pets he could think of, Sinedd was highly doubtful. Nevertheless, he opened the box.
"You gave me an ashtray?"
"I and the entire team concluded that a turtle is a pet that would suit you perfectly."
"Why, because of its superior speed or fetching exterior?" snarled Sinedd, remembering the turtle as one of those species that went extinct on Akillian shortly after the beginning of the Ice Age.
"No," answered Fulmugus. "Due to its long lifespan you do not have to worry about the turtle dying on you anytime soon. And also," the captain smiled, " not unlike you, it lives in a shell."
40. Is It Scary
At the day of their second loss in the GFC finals and after the first wrinkle had appeared on his face was when Warren started to worry whether he would ever get the chance to hold the Cup again before his days as a footballer are finally over.
41. My Secret Life Of Violence
"What are thinking about?" asked Tia.
"Nothing," he lied not daring to look her in the eye.
42. Knocking On Heavens Door
He didn't feel pain anymore. He didn't feel anything at all. His mind was clean of any thought, clouded by the brilliant light. His body was weightless, not touching the ground. He could not feel it at all. He could not feel his body, was it even still here?
In the intense light he saw two figures floating above him. A silhouette of a woman and, much closer, a dark-haired man. He knew that man.
"Dad…?" whispered Sinedd.
"Close enough," said Artegor with relief. The kid woke up, he going to make it.
43. Teenage Angst
"Sometimes I really hate those brats, you know. The bimbo refused to play because she had broken her nail, the freaky afro guy with fish lips is always whining that nobody likes him and so does the ugly carrot-head girl, the midget always screws up, the other defender with goatee gets angsty about his brother's sickness, who on the other hand doesn't give a damn that he has a terminal disease, the dreadlocks is torn between being a great wuss or just a regular wuss, his girlfriend appears to have forgotten that she has nothing left to be emotional about and persists on getting more and more depressed. And the jock's just pissing me off. I mean, look at those hair!"
"Yeah, tell me about it. The emo kid almost blew up the entire universe last year."
44. Everybody Wants To Be A Cat
Green eyes followed their every movement. The Professor. The Pirate. The Traitor. He was watching them all, gathering information about their whereabouts, habits, weaknesses. About their close ones. Every bit of information transformed into columns of ones and zeros, millions of columns folding into one scheme. And all of this for the Master, for the Master always had the final laugh, even if it were to come from a metallic snout.
End.
A/N: This chapter was heavily inspired by Gerkyhen's "22 short stories" and "50 short stories". Go and read her fanfiction, support this truly creative author, not a thief like me xD
Thank you people for reviewing! Knowing my ungodly pace I'll probably update sometime around Easter holidays. GF doesn't belong to me, but if it did, I would have Yuki wear a paper bag to cover her face. And she would dump Micro-Ice for Clamp to breed fugly children.
