Tybalt's Revenge
Tybalt's Juliet
A finger gently traced the words written on the old piece of paper. The young man hated the story, every single version, yet Tybalt couldn't fathom destroying his eclectic collection. He stood in his study, taking in the words written down by the great William Shakespeare, or as he preferred to think, the man who cursed his destiny. Every day he read the words in some version or another about his young life being ripped away because of the foolishness of his cousin and her lover.
For his own mentality, perhaps, he should have destroyed the collection put together by his father's decedents. His death and all renditions ate away at his heart, his mind angry at having his future ripped away because of his cousin's strong-willed lover. Over the course of history, their romance became remembered no thanks to that man in a manner which left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Ten years ago, he awoke from a chamber covered in slime in front of a group of men and women dressed in what he came to know as lab coats. The age they selected for his new physical age was that of a six-year-old boy. He'd come from what they called a birthing chamber, and they considered themselves his parents and treated him like a child.
His mind though was as sharp as when he died, remembering the event of Romeo plunging his blade in, but also the way his heart painfully slowed, and his eyesight dimmed, his breath dying. Ironically, he'd dreamed all those years ago – despite his fiery temper – of having his own Juliet. Everyone, it seemed, wanted their Romeo and Juliet story, something nobody stopped talking about.
He wanted revenge and planned said revenge for ten years.
Moving over to the computer sitting on his desk after placing the old book back in its glass case, Tybalt played the Italian newscast released by his aunt and uncle.
"I am hearing that the beloved Juliet will be reborn through the Albero Vitale program we've heard so much about," said the reporter in Italian, the mike held out to the two parents. "Does this mean that the romance between Romeo and Juliet will continue? Will this mean the conflict between the two families will finally end?"
Lady Capulet lifted her hands to the top of her belly, which protruded slightly. "I am definitely looking forward to seeing my Julien again. He was always the delight of my eye."
The reporter flinched, backing off slightly from the Capulet patriarch and matriarch. "Wait. Did you say, Julian? Are you saying you decided to change Juliet's gender? Whatever for?"
Lord Capulet placed a hand upon his wife's shoulder. "My wife is with a child. Our second child, but a female child. We took this as a sign from God that we should take this magical technology which brought us back to life as a miracle, one which means Julien may become the heir he was always meant to be upon his rebirth, as the rebirth is a second chance at life."
"That was why the trouble started," the man continued. "It started because Romeo was attracted to Julien's female body of yesteryear, and took advantage, but as a male, Julien will not be taken advantage of, nor will we be seeking to marry him off to maintain our family security. Instead, another family will be seeking us for security."
"But what about the tale of Romeo and Juliet?"
"We are the property of the Capulet estate, and said estate has decided Julien shall not only find his own Juliet, but the young ladies of this era will find themselves a chance to become a princess of their own fairy tale. Also, Julien and his newborn sister will share the same birthday, making the day doubly joyous for us."
A laugh left through both Tybalt's nose and mouth. The fools in the long family feud had always been the adults, not the children, yet Tybalt still hated his cousin's lover. Romeo was simply to strong-willed, but the one who gave the killing blow. With a flick of his finger, Tybalt turned to the next scene, this one with the Montague family.
"Sir Montague and Lady Montague, how do you feel about the news that the Capulet family is changing the gender of their daughter to fulfill the norms of a patriarchal society long disposed of?"
Sir Montague turned, while Lady Montague hid slightly behind him. "How do I feel?"
His anger was evident as he continued speaking, getting into the reporter's face. "It's an abomination. The entire Albero Vitale project is. We're an abomination ourselves, but having prayed to God for answers, we're to do away with our pagan ways and take our rebirth as a chance to live in His ways. As such, we've abandoned Project Romeo and received a complete refund from Albero Vitale. Romeo is their property now."
"Make that my property." Tybalt took a deep breath, knowing full well how Albero Vitale was set up as a company. Sprung from a third party, that of his father's line. One side, he was the property of the family estate, but on the other, he was the official head of said estate.
A knock came at the door, and he bid the person come in. "Sir, your property has been delivered to your warehouse in Gotham."
"Good. Good. About time." Tybalt took a deep breath, before calling for his driver to take him to the warehouse. Late at night, the lights flashed through the sky. Tales of the city told of a man people called Batman, but heroes were of a different era. Rumor had, that, in recent weeks a Batman had returned, yet nothing Tybalt did was illegal.
The limo pulled into through the gate, and he took a deep breath upon stepping out.
He walked along, his steps firm as he headed into the warehouse, going to where he knew his property would be located. The property took up a fifteen-by-fifteen-foot area of the warehouse, and two scientists monitored the birthing chamber. Tybalt felt good as he approached the chamber, wondering how far along the gestational cycle Romeo's fetus was at.
Tybalt planned to kill Romeo.
He planned on making sure Romeo was awake during his awakening but planned on taking advantage of the weak state the birthed fetus remained in within the first month of after birth, the only ability being the ability to speak. He planned on Romeo knowing the wrath of his anger as he slowly tortured and killed the young man, taking away his masculinity.
However, another idea came about due to learning more about the tech, but also how the body worked.
Specifically, he came to know of another manner to emasculate which would prove, far, far more satisfying. The first stage, after all, involved the fetus aging to the age wanted and the second stage involved the full development of vital and sensory organs. The last stage was gender. A laugh escaped Tybalt's mouth, seeing the androgynous figure of the sixteen-year-old Romeo which looked so beautiful.
One of the two scientists flipped through their chart. "Romeo's fetus has gone through the first development stage of reaching the age the Montague's wanted their son born at. Also, all vital and sensory organs – the second stage – are developed. The only stage left in the gestational cycle for Romeo's fetus is gender. They never got to that particular stage before deciding they'd have nothing more to do with the project and getting a refund from the company."
"A Rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, but a Rose by any other gender would smell a hundred times sweeter."
"Sir?" The scientist's eyes blinked.
"What I'm saying is, I'm choosing the gender, and I'm choosing female."
"Sir, the public is already upset with the fact Juliet is now Julien, thus ruining the tale."
"The project was never, ever done to protect that sanctified bullshit. But if you're really, truly worried about public image, then I'll handle it. The last stage when started takes less time than the others, so I'll be staying here for the next forty-eight hours."
The other scientist started working on the configurations but then paused. "Is there any other settings you would like to change, such as whether they awake before their rebirth, or after?"
"After. This will make everything even more priceless." Tybalt smiled. "Also, when Rose is to be reborn, you may take your leave. Only I am to see her precious rebirth. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
He sat there, having meals brought to him by one of the loyal servants, a man swore to serve the family through their own family and finally, the hour came.
Romeo's – Rose's – birthing chamber opened, and he – she – fell into Tybalt's arms unconscious. One free hand brushed away the short locks of hair he planned on making Rose grow out, before leaning over to lightly kiss her lips and a few other places, not caring she was covered in the birthing slime. He then said, "Romeo, the price you'll pay for taking everything away from me is to be my Juliet, my rose."
