Just to keep myself, and others, from forgetting, the group is DarkMagicianmon, Airnaruto45, Dimensiondude, TLSoulDude, Lunatic121, Hikari Ino, Ranger24, X Prodigy, Roscoso, The Shadow Syndicate, and Nukid
Chapter 22: Aftermath—Regrets and New Lessons
The little flashbacks were a bother, so I stopped for this chapter. And, D-Dude, consider that, if I put in a musical number, I intend for it to STAY there.
TL walked through the halls of the Gummi Ship. He had recovered from his Demon Ultima outburst…physically, but not mentally. He walked into DM's room and knocked on the door.
"Come in." The halfa's voice said.
The door slid open and TL walked in.
"What do you want, Soul?" DM asked.
"DM, I resign from the Author Fighters." TL said.
THIS wasn't what DarkMagicianmon was expecting. He felt like he'd been punched by a Hitmonchan.
"WHAT?!" DarkMagicianmon simply demanded "You can't leave us NOW!"
"I almost caused the death of my partners, my future-self, my brothers, and my best friend." TL simply stated. He then added "I can't stay."
"If you're talking about you going Demon Ultima, that's nothing to quit about." DM stated, "You couldn't control yourself."
"It's not that." TL growled, "That THING relieved me from my morality. The REASON why I can't stay?" TL looked at his boots before saying three simple words, "I liked it."
"TL, what's done is done." DarkMagicianmon said, "Every member of the Author Fighters has regrets. And every member's learned to let go of it…every member except YOU. Dimensiondude told me what happened to your parents. It WASN'T your…"
"YOU DON'T KNOW!" TL shouted. DM only saw the Fictorian Hedgehog THIS ticked off once. It had been during his first week on Earth and they had a fight. "I'VE HEARD THAT SPEECH THROWN AT ME LORD KNOWS HOW MANY TIMES. I'M THE REASON MY BROTHERS GREW UP WITHOUT PARENTS!" TL then wheeled around to leave, but he asked one rhetorical question before doing so—
"Why couldn't I have died in that explosion fourteen years ago?"
He then left without another word.
AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
"Nukid?" Airnaruto asked as the assassin walked over to him.
"What, Airnaruto?" Nukid replied.
"I need you to do me a favor." Airnaruto said, "It's about Loony."
"What about him?"
"Well, once he has his mind set on something, he's a fast learner." Airnaruto said, "And there's barely anything I can teach him, so…"
"You need me to do some teaching, myself." Nukid finished. "I dunno."
"Why not?" Airnaruto asked.
"Look, he doesn't respect ME." Nukid stated, "YOU, yes. ME? Not a chance." Nukid jammed his hands into his pockets as he said, "For a while, until I socked it to him, he called me Pervkid. He mocks my being narcoleptic, my nationality, AND the fact that I'm friends with the Straw Hats."
"Still, he needs to be trained in other martial arts." Airnaruto said, "He relies too much on his jutsu and those chakram."
Nukid sighed. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like this…
AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
TL walked into his room and went to his dresser. He opened a drawer to show a box. He pulled it out and opened it. Inside was a pair of shackles.
Only way to keep the others safe. TL placed the shackles on his wrists and a bar of energy appeared. The Fictorian Hedgehog then sat down, waiting for he didn't know what.
AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
Nukid walked into the training field to see Lunatic hurl his chakram at a pair of dummies.
"Hey, Loony." Nukid said.
Lunatic glanced around and said, "Hey, Pervkid. How's it…" Lunatic's sentence was cut-off when he saw Nukid's fist enter his face.
"I thought we settled this the last time." Nukid said before snarling, "NEVER refer to me by that if you value your life."
Lunatic held out his hand as he spat out a tooth.
"Fine by me." Loony said, "What brings ya to these parts?"
"Well, Airnaruto talked with me." Nukid said, "For the rest of this little quest, I'll be training you."
Lunatic froze in place as this struck him.
"WHAT?!" the Fictorian Ninja screamed, "AIRNARUTO-SENSEI'S HAVING ME TRAIN UNDER A NARCOLEPTIC PERVERT?!"
"Hey, it wasn't MY idea, Loon." Nukid snapped, "Like I said, Airnaruto requested it."
"I don't need this." Lunatic mumbled, "Just leave. Go and sip your tea and…" once again, Lunatic's statement was cut-off by Nukid's fist.
"Git." Nukid simply said.
AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
DM, Hikari, and Sylar were standing in front of TL's room, where the hedgehog sat, shackles tied to his wrists, and staring at the wall as if all life's questions would be answered if he did nothing but stare at it.
"He tried resigning." DM said, "Then he did this."
"He's been there all morning." Hikari added, "Sylar, do you think you can do anything?"
"Well, I'm a monster myself." Sylar replied. He opened the door and walked over to the hedgehog. He flicked his finger and the shackles sprung off. "Those won't be necessary." Sylar said.
"Go away." TL muttered.
"DM told me what you did this morning." Sylar said.
"I said go away." TL growled.
"He also told me that you almost lost your temper." Sylar continued.
"LOOK, I WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE, GOT IT, WATCH-BOY?!" TL snapped.
"Hey, I'm trying to help here." Sylar simply said. "That Demon Ultima wasn't you. Well, it kind of is."
"It's my rage turned into a physical being." TL said, quietly.
"From what I can hear, you think that everything bad that happens in your presence is your fault." Sylar said, "You need to grow up and face the facts."
"It's not that." TL murmured, "It's…everything bad that happens in my presence seems to be aimed at me…"
"Face it, Soul. I'm the winner in this argument." Sylar said after a bit of an awkward pause.
TL's tears burst out and he began to cry. Sylar saw the Fictorian Hedgehog had suddenly shifted from a happy, go-lucky warrior to an emotional child. He placed a hand on the hedgehog's shoulder, showing his new empathy.
"Your parents' deaths wasn't your fault." He whispered, "It wasn't anyone's fault."
He then walked out, leaving TL to let his tears out. The Hedgehog then passed out for some reason.
AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
Later, Sylar was in his room. Hikari was disturbed by what she sensed in TL and asked the watchmaker to make a painting to see what the future held for the Fictorian Hedgehog.
He finished one painting to show the black form of Anti-TL, dead. His face was swollen, bloody, and blackened from bruises. The Anti-Author Fictorian was beaten to death.
He finished another one to show Future TLSoulDude, also dead. He was smiling, eyes closed, a half-burned cigarette in his hand, and a huge slash in his midsection. He died from a stab-wound.
The final one was of the original TL. He was dead. His left arm was bent out of shape, apparently broken, and there were bloody patches all over him. He probably died of blood-loss.
Hikari looked at these with horror.
"How could this happen?" she asked.
"I don't know." Sylar said, "I don't immediately know how things are going to happen, I just paint them as I see them."
"Three forms of TL." She simply said, "All three…dead."
AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
Lunatic woke up to feel an unsual pain in his wrists and ankles. When he gathered his senses, he found that he was hog-tied to a blade on a ceiling fan.
"This is the weirdest thing I woke up to since…well, last Monday." Lunatic said.
"Now, will you take back the insults made at my nationality?" Nukid asked, holding the chord the ceiling fan.
"HECK, NO!" Lunatic shouted.
"Okay. You brought this on yourself." Nukid sighed. He pulled the chord and the fan began to spin around at high enough speeds to make Loony scream. He stopped it and held out a finger (A/N: I got this from Nukid's War with the Zodiacs. Hey, it was a funny line), "How many fingers do you see?"
"Sixty-four and a half." Lunatic replied, dazedly.
"That dizzy, huh?" Nukid asked. He then asked, "Will you take it back now?"
"Never…" Lunatic moaned.
Nukid sighed before starting the ceiling fan again. At the sound of retching, the assassin pulled out an umbrella just as some puke hit it.
X Prodigy, D-Dude, and Airnaruto walked through the hall.
"So, how's Loony dealing with Nukid as his instructor?" Dimensiondude asked.
"I dunno. I'm just going to see how it's going." Airnaruto replied.
"I wonder how Nukid is dealing with the little pest…" X Prodigy said. The three then saw Nukid torturing Lunatic on the ceiling fan.
"That answers one question, but raises so many others…" Airnaruto said.
"I vote we leave now and don't get involved." D-Dude said. He and X Prodigy promptly left.
"Alright, I give up." Airnaruto said, walking over to Nukid, "WHY are you doing this?"
"You mean why I'm not training the little neck-pain or why he's tied to the ceiling fan?" Nukid asked, innocently.
"Well, you'll have to explain BOTH sooner or later. So, start where you want and end when I tell you." Airnaruto simply replied.
"Hey, HE mocked my nationality and called me Pervkid…AGAIN. I CAN'T take that lying down." Nukid simply said. The rope tying Lunatic to the ceiling fan snapped and the Fictorian Ninja hit the ground with a crash.
"Hey, Airnaruto-sensei, there's SEVEN of you. How's that possible?" Lunatic asked before passing out through dizziness.
"You've been planning that, haven't you?" Airnaruto asked.
"A little bit." Nukid replied, "It felt like I over-did it. Did I over-do it?"
"Only a bit." Airnaruto replied, "It could've been a bit more subtle."
TLSoulDude: Okay, now I'm trapped in my own mind, like last time and there's no one here…
(crickets)
TLSoulDude: Just when I need others, the epilogue starts. Anyway, where am I?!
Echo: Am I…am I…am I…
TLSoulDude: B-E-A-utiful…
???: Thank you, Bruce Almighty.
TLSoulDude: Hey! Who's there?!
???: You'll find out in the next chapter.
Next time: Grow Up—Accepting the Unacceptable!