Hey there readers!
In this chapter, as promised we learn how Tania ended up in Mutopia.
Tania the Panda as I mentioned before is owned by Tyroth Darkstorm and he gave me his blessing to write about Tania's past after giving me some details, as well as the short bio of Tania which you can find both on mine and Tyroth Darkstorm's home-page on Fanfiction.
I hope you enjoy the backstory readers, and especially you Tyroth since Tania belongs to you!
And now, one with the show!
Chapter Nine
Monalisa held her glass of wine as she looked at Tania.
"You know you can trust me." She comforted and placed her hand on the Panda's paw.
Tania looked up at Monalisa and seeing the Lizard Lady's gentle look made a light of confidence shine within.
It was true, Monalisa was one of the few people apart from Sephie and a couple of other Mutopians she trusted with her feelings, and she had wanted to speak about how she became to be what she was for a long time.
"I was just thinking about my past," Tania confessed "When I was human and how when I was still at High School, my peers often would ask me to help them with their Halloween Make-Up and outfits."
"I'm not surprised they would ask you!" Monalisa replied "Almost half of Mutopia have asked for your assistance!"
Tania chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"But yes, I was just plagued with memories of how I lost my dream as a human." Tania sighed, her smile fading as soon as it had come to her.
Monalisa cocked her head again as she stayed silent, showing she was ready to listen.
Tania then took a breath.
"It's been years, but I still remember it like yesterday..."
Flashback
Natasha walked along the pavement humming and singing softly to herself.
She had arranged to meet Ashley and Lisa at a bar in the city to celebrate the fact she was going to college to study her dream.
She was dressed in her smart black trousers and her jade top with added sparkle detail that flattered her curves, and she also wore her red heeled shoes and a matching coat as it was quite a chilly evening, despite it being summer.
She was still on a high and she was already planning what she was going to take to college as well as think about who she would meet and what the teachers would be like.
Before long, Natasha headed for the Michigan Avenue Bridge, and she could see the street ahead where she was to meet her friends.
Seeing that she needed to be on the other side of the road, she stood at the kerb and looked both ways.
Feeling confident she was clear, she started to cross the road with an added skip and a hop, her mind still filled with excitement, yet no sooner did she make it to the middle of the road when the screeching of tyres filled her ears, and she heard shouts from pedestrians on both sides of the road.
Natasha wasn't sure what happened next but the last thing she saw before it all went black was the bonnet of a car coming towards her then she felt herself get flung into the air….
Hours later...
"Did it work?"
"I believe so! I can feel a pulse!"
"Horrible injuries she sustained! I almost thought she was dead on arrival when we found her…"
Natasha wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious for, and as she felt herself coming too, she thought she was hearing the voices of doctors or surgeons and she was in a hospital.
Opening her eyes, her vison was blurred, and all she could see were three figures.
"Hey look! She's waking!"
Natasha blinked her eyes and rubbed them trying to clear her vision.
"You feel okay miss?" she heard a male voice say and she felt a couple of hands on her arms.
Natasha lowered her arms and opened her eyes.
As she did, she saw the hands touching her, they looked human, yet a little hairy, even more hairy than that of a normal human hand, it was then she looked up and found herself face to face with a Chimpanzee!
Natasha screamed and the Chimpanzee jumped back, letting go of her and let out a yell that almost sounded like that of a Chimp's cry!
"A Monkey!" Natasha yelled.
"Actually, he's a chimp!" another male voice confirmed, and Natasha looked to the left to see a male warthog.
"Holy Shit! A talking pig!" she screamed.
"He's a warthog chick!" another male voice corrected, and Natasha soon saw a male rhino appear next to the warthog.
"NO!" Natasha cried and tried to crawl away yet her back hit the headboard of a bed "Get away! Get away you monsters!"
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" the warthog said reaching his hands out to Natasha "We're not gonna hurt you!"
Natasha lifted her hands to fight him off yet as she did, she realised that they didn't look like her hands! But rather black and covered in fur!
"My hands!" she screamed "What have you done to my hands!?"
She cried out again and scrambled off the bed.
"Hey! Calm down! Calm down!" the Chimpanzee yelled reaching for her, and Natasha saw the Rhino and Warthog coming towards her.
But Natasha quickly scrambled to her feet and raced away, taking in her surroundings, and seeing that she appeared to be in a stone cave of some sorts.
"Stop her!" she heard the Chimpanzee shout and she saw the Warthog and Rhino running after her.
Natasha took off like a rocket and she ran through what appeared to be a large cave tunnel and she soon found herself in a large cavern with bridges and canals running through it, as well as several crystals.
If she wasn't so frightened, she would have seen how amazing and huge it was.
"Wait!" she heard the two male voices of the Rhino and Warthog behind her, and she came to her senses and started to run again.
As she did, she saw several other residents who all stopped what they were doing to look at her and many jumped out of the way to avoid her charging towards them.
Natasha took it everything and everyone around her and she saw they were all humanoid animals!
There was a badger, a female fox, a male frog, a female cheetah, and a male wolf!
"What is this place?" Natasha cried as she ran "Who are these creatures? Where am I?"
As she ran past a female butterfly and a female lynx who were on one of the bridges, she tripped on a stone and fell flat on her face near the canal, and it was there she caught sight of her reflection!
Staring back at her, she saw the black and white face of a Panda!
Natasha blinked in shock then reached up to feel her face and she felt the soft fur, and her jaw dropped as she saw her reflection do the same!
"Hey! You kid!"
Natasha rolled over and she saw the Rhino and Warthog appear along with some of the residents she had pushed past.
"She must be the new one!" the fox said.
"No doubt about it, Leona!" the Cheetah agreed.
"Not uncommon to see the newbies freak out!" the frog stated.
Natasha stared up at the humanoid animals then she saw them look behind them as an elderly male voice called out.
"What's going on here?"
The animals parted and Natasha saw an elderly male turtle with a long white beard walk over, his walking stick tapping the ground as he walked.
"We found this chick in the river when we were salvaging, Gramps." The Rhino explained "She was seriously injured yet still alive when we found her, so we brought her back here."
"I see." The turtle replied then he knelt to Natasha.
"What's your name child?" he asked.
Natasha was so shocked she couldn't speak, all of what had just transpired was just too much and she felt slightly faint.
"Miss?" the turtle asked, yet Natasha blinked then all went fuzzy before she passed out on the ground….
End Flashback
"Oh my god…" Monalisa breathed.
Tania nodded.
"Yeah," she said, "My life just changed in a split second, just like that!" she snapped her fingers.
"Once I got over the shock, Gramps sat with me in a spare room and explained where I was and how I came to be there, I was told that the car had hit me so hard I had gone flying into the river below and swept away, I should have died there and then, but fate had other plans, thus I was found by Cam and Barry and they brought me to Mutopia, James had examined me and said there was no way I'd survive my injuries, such as a broken spine, punctured lung and a bleed on the brain so whilst I was unconscious they gave me the magical water, I suppose I was glad I didn't feel the agony one would experience if they drank it wide awake."
Monalisa nodded.
"I saw how much pain Callum was in before he became Diablo." She said, yet she sucked in a breath as she mentioned her young brother "So I can understand."
Tania sipped her wine again.
"After that day, it took me a long time to accept that I couldn't go home, nor even tell my friends and family what had happened to me because it would mean putting Mutopia in danger, as well as them, I spent a lot of time contemplating and wondering what I had done to deserve had happened to me, I kept thinking so many what ifs, like what if I hadn't gone out that night? What if I had arranged to meet my friends somewhere else, what if I hadn't crossed the road."
The Panda sighed.
"But there was no point in thinking that, this was my new life, and I had to accept it, so I started trying to adjust to the life of Mutopia, gave myself a new name, made a few friends, and after about a month, I decided to use my skills down here with my hairdressing, make up and clothes making skills."
Monalisa smiled.
"And here we are now!" she exclaimed.
Tania nodded.
"Yeah!" she said, "Even though there are times I miss my family and friends, I wonder if they would be proud of what I'm doing down here, still in a way achieving my dream, but in a different way."
"I think they would!" Monalisa reassured "I'm sure, or at least I hope mine would be proud of me what I do for the humans above, even if they don't know."
She then looked serious again.
"Did you ever find out about the outcome of what happened to you topside?" the lizard lady asked curiously "Like what happened to the driver of that car? Or how your family dealt with it?"
Tania looked down and stared into her wine glass.
"I did yes." she replied "It turned out the driver was drunk and was speeding the wrong way when he hit me…. I was his only victim that night, he was found guilty of death by dangerous driving under the influence and sentenced to twenty-five years."
"Good sentence." Monalisa said with a dark frown on her face.
"My family were devastated." Tania continued "And they got their own life sentence that day, from what I found out Mum was heartbroken and spent time in hospital after trying to take her own life, but she soon became a member and an advocate for 'Mothers Against Drink Driving' and gives talks in schools, University's and other places about drink driving and how it wrecks lives, I suppose she felt that I wouldn't have wanted her to die or suffer, so she tried to do something positive, try and carry on living in my memory, and help save lives."
Tania then felt Monalisa's hand on her paw and saw the lizard lady's eyes were wet.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you Tania." She said, "It looks like we have a lot more in common than I thought, having our lives taken away so suddenly."
"Yeah." Tania agreed "Yet I could never had had the strength you have Mona, surviving on your own in New York for two years before the turtles found you."
Monalisa blushed.
"I don't know about that." Monalisa said truthfully "I don't even know myself how I survived that long on my own, maybe it was my anger, or my want to find my killers, but I don't think about that, now that I've got a good life with my new family, as well as everyone here in Mutopia."
Tania held up her glass.
"I'll drink to that!" she chuckled.
Monalisa grinned and clinked her glass with Tania's then both girls took a sip.
"I did find out some good things sometime later." Tania said, "Through Hugh, I found out that Ashley and Lisa had arranged to have a charity set up in my name to help support people in poverty and donate clothes, they called it 'Natasha's Wish' and Lisa became a mum herself five years ago and named her daughter after me!"
"Awww! That's wonderful!" Monalisa smiled.
"I know bad things happened." Tania continued "But I still found my happy ending, just like the rest of us did here."
"And I'm glad you did Tania." Monalisa answered sipping her drink.
"Thanks for hearing me, Mona." Tania said gratefully.
"Anytime!" Monalisa winked.
So now we've learnt about Tania's past and how she became what she is now, I hope you enjoyed it, even if it was a bit sad.
And yes, a big thing here, Never, Ever Drink and Drive.
See you next chapter!
