Tala's Redemption
by Nyassa Kaiba
"At the end of the day you're another day older
And that's all can be said for the life of the poor
It's a struggle, it's a war!
And there's nothing that anyone's giving
One more day lying about,
What is it for?
One less day to be living!!"- From, Les Miserables
Chapter 2
Tala and Wolborg were unaware of the tragedy that had occurred at that moment. //We must find your doppelganger. He is somewhere in your soul. If we can sort out why you turned to evil in the first place, then we can return to the waking world.// Wolborg explained.
//Sort out why... but how?// Tala asked him.
//We must go back...// The world began to fade out around them.
"woaoaoaoaoaoh!" Tala cried as the desolate land of rock and black swirled into nothingness.
The canyon land was replaced by a playground. It was early evening. "I know this place..." Tala looked around. "That was my favorite swing... and there's the spiral slide... and the monkey bars!"
//More importantly there's you...// Wolborg inclined his head, tone wry, but also smug and amused at his Warrior's surprise.
Chibi Tala was sitting on the swings, a very old, very dusty leatherbound book with the words "Moby Dick" printed on the cover in faded gold lettering, sat in his lap. Chibi was too engrossed in the story to notice an equally red haired figure swagger across the playground until...
"Hey ditface!"
Chibi Tala jumped. "I'm not a ditface Michael!" Tala shouted back, and returned to his book.
"Guess what ditface!" Michael snatched the book from his hands. "My dad's taking me to see the Bronx Bombers play the Orioles! Don't you wish you could go?" Michael had NOT been a nice kid when he was 6. Tala had spent most of his childhood in the bully's shadow.
"I don't care."
"Too bad, the All American past time is baseball! I get to go see some of my heritage! I'll bet you don't know where YOU come from!!" Michael turned to look at the book, squinting to see the faded text and understand the unfamiliar words.
"What's this thing called?"
"Moby Dick." Tala answered, with genuine innocence.
"Moby WHAT?!!" Michael demanded, laughing. "Why you reading Gay Porn at the tender age of six? Who's dick does Moby suck? I don't get it." The future All-Star frowned, then he shrugged and tore the book in half, severing the binding completely.
"OH NO!! THAT WAS MRS. KOLARKO'S COPY!!" Tala exclaimed, paling in fright. The school librarian liked Tala, who was a regular customer at the school library. But she also was very strict about defacing books. That was her heirloom copy, one of the first to be published after Herman Melville wrote it.
Michael laughed at the wanton destruction of property that he had just performed. Then he shoved Tala roughly off the swing. Chibi Tala, who was more innocent than his older counter part, wasn't prepared for the onslaught and skinned his chin and shins on the black top of the playground. Michael tossed the pieces of the valuable book over his shoulder. "See you ditface!"
Chibi Tala lay there, sobbing. Then a pair of red suede boots stopped by his head. "Are you alright?" Asked another little boy with a strange accent. This new boy was a couple inches taller than he was, his face was framed by chin length purple hair. He wore a blue t-shirt with a Dragon on it. The t-shirt read, 'Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.' The new boy reached down to help Chibi Tala to his feet. "My name's Robert. What's your's?"
Chibi Tala blinked, dabbing the tears off on his sleeve. "I'm Tala."
"I found your book." Chibi Robert handed it back to him. "I don't think that it's going to be readable anymore though." He added sadly. "Too bad, my mom says that's a good one. I'm surprised you can read it though."
"It's easy, the spewwings..." Chibi Tala struggled with the word. "Are just diffwrent."
"What school do you go to?" Robert asked hopefully. "Maybe we're in the same class!"
Tala told him. " WE ARE!!" Robert cracked his knuckles as if that settled everything. "I'll meet you on the black top at recess okay? Lee and I have some assignments to do for art, but that's no reason why we can't share the art supplies!" That was a welcome relief for Chibi Tala. Most of the time he spent recess sitting alone on the swings.
"Some day..." Chibi Tala said, balling his tiny hands into fists. "Some day Robert, I'm going to become so powerful that nobody will ever beat up on me AGAIN!!" The words echoed in Teen Tala's mind. He had almost forgot them, yet somehow he had managed to fulfill them. And what had happened?
//What does this mean?// Wolborg asked. //Perhaps, if you hadn't met Robert, you would have been justified, but not after that.//
//What do you mean?// Tala asked, worriedly.
//I will take you forward a month or so. You will see.// The scene began to swirl around Tala again. This time he stood his ground. Tala found himself on the familiar school playground. He was near the 'Suicide Wall' Suicide was a popular schoolyard ballgame similar to racquetball. Chibi Emily stood about 15 feet back from the wall, racquet and tennis ball in hand. She moved to toss the ball and swing at the exact same moment that Chibi Kevin went streaking behind her on his way to play Shark Attack with Kai. Shark attack was Tyson's brainchild, but Kai had named it, and even surpassed it's creator in profficiancy. The game later became the namesake for Kai's old team, the Blade Sharks.
Two things happened at once. Emily swung too far back to hit the ball and hit Kevin in the head instead, and the ball hit Chibi Emily on the head almost as if on an afterthought. "OW!"
"WATCH IT!!" Emily shouted as Chibi Kevin, half dazed by the hit he'd taken, staggered on his way by power of sheer momentum. She rubbed her head for a moment. "Okay, one more time!" The future All-Star cheered.
Emily moved the racquet back, began the throw, when a gentle hand held her back. The kid facing her had African skin, dark eyes, and short hair. He wore a Michael Jordan jersey. "You're timing it wrong. Here, let me show you..." Emily let the strange, big 3rd grader guide her hands. "If you pull the racquet too far back the ball will hit you in the head. All it takes is a light tap..." Thok! The racquet hit the ball, which sailed leisurely through the air and hit the wall, bouncing neatly back into the chibi's hand. "Now you try." He stood back to let Emily attempt the shot.
"Okay..." Emily tried again, keeping in mind all the things that the strange kid had just taught her. THWACK!! The Tennis ball sailed through the air at 80 miles an hour in true speed. "I DID IT!!" Emily laughed. "Thank youthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!" Emily glomped the older kid. "I'm Emily, what's your name?"
"I'm Eddy, and someday I'm going to be the next Michael Jordan!" Eddy said proudly.
"My name is Emily. I'm going to play Tennis in the Olympics!!" Chibi Emily proclaimed proudly. "I know all the rules... I'm just not good at mastering the technique." Chibi Emily drooped.
"I'll help you... only..."
"Only what?" Chibi Emily asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Watch..." Eddy said, unenthusiastically. He picked up the basketball from where he'd dropped it at his feet, and took off like a shot for the basketball hoop. 20 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet. Eddy jumped, aiming for a dunk shot on the lowered hoop that was used to teach Elementary Schoolers the rules of basket ball. He rose, higher, higher, and then began to drop. Panicking at the thought of being embarrassed again, Eddy shot the ball from his finger tips. Eddy hit the ground, skinning his knee. The basket ball hit him on the top of the head a few seconds later, having bounced off the bottom of the backboard with an almost obscenely cheerful *BOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!*
"Are you alright?" Chibi Emily asked, eyes wide.
"yeah..." Chibi Eddy answered, embarrassed. "It happens all the time."
"That was something... you flew like the wind!!" Tala chuckled at the seemingly innocuous remark Chibi Emily made.
"But I can't dunk!" Chibi Eddy frowned. "Jordan can!"
"He's a pro, you still have to practice. I'll tell you what. You helped me, so I'll help you!" Chibi Emily said happily.
//Do you understand?// Wolborg asked Tala.
//Not really.// Tala replied.
//Follow me then.// Wolborg lead his chosen warrior across the playground.
Tala looked around him, sure enough, he saw Kai and Rei teaching Kevin and
Mariah how to play Shark Attack. "I'm the champion!" Kai proclaimed happily. "Who better to teach a novice?"
"Gee, you're modest." Chibi Mariah rolled her eyes.
"Rei's the next best, so the two of us will demonstrate." Kai said proudly.
"That's not fair Kai!" Chibi Mariah protested. "Tyson was the one who invented this game! Let him explain!"
"Tyson has the chicken pox." Chibi Rei said calmly. "He's out for a week."
"Oh great, so we get to let Kai walk all over us for a week!" Chibi Mariah rolled her eyes. "At least when Tyson's here Kai's so busy yelling at him that he doesn't have time to do his macho act thing."
//This way// Wolborg led him across the playground. But Tala knew where he was going, the black top. They passed Chibi Max on the swings. Tala, a look of joy on his face, waved to where Oliver and Enrique were pouring over the script to some kind of musical, ("How do ya do my names Gavroche! These are me people here's my patch...") Meanwhile, Jonny was trying in vain to master a score that the music teacher had assigned. ("Stupid Music Teacher.")
In a corner of the blacktop Tala found what Wolborg had brought him to see. Chibi Tala, Chibi Robert, and Chibi Lee were flopped on their stomachs in a half circle. Each was bent over an extra large sheet of construction paper. Between the 3 of them was an enormous box of markers, crayons, pencils, and colored pencils.
"Whaddya drawin' Robert?" Lee asked, leaning over to see what the future team captain was drawing. "It wooks wike a burd!"
"It's a griffen!" Robert proclaimed proudly. "It's got the front half of a bird and the back half of a lion!"
"Dat sounds clumsy." Tala said thoughtfully, looking at the picture. He'd lost his two front teeth 2 days ago courtesy of Michael's unfriendly attentions.
"Was she angry about da book?" Lee asked, eyes wide. "I got apple juice on Dragon song and she almost killed me!" Lee waved a marker in the air dramatically before resting the same hand against his cheek thoughtfully. This left a streak of midnight blue ink on his face.
"She said that she knows a printer who can repair the binding for her, and that was just about the only thing that Michael really ruined." Tala said, wiping his forehead in a dramatic show of relief. "What are you drawing?" Tala asked, looking over at Lee's drawing.
"It's a tiger!" Lee grinned impishly.
"Why's it white?" Robert asked, looking over at it.
"Some tigers are like that." Lee said with a shrug. "Mariah's got a picture of one that she used with her animal report last week."
"What's it eating? A snow man?" Tala asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.
"It's Mister Takayama." Lee grinned impishly.
"Mister Takayama!" The three of them giggled hysterically. Mr. Takayama was the very fat 5th grade teacher. Despite his portly figure Mr. Takayama didn't tolerate laziness, pranks, or jokes of any kind. The students, therefore, acted up more around him. Lee had gotten a week of detentions for getting into a fist fight with a fifth grader named Steve. Lee didn't like Steve that much, mostly because he was intimidated by the kid's height.
Suddenly, uproar burst out from the swings. Michael pushed Max off the swings, one of the highest, snarling something at the chibi. Max sat there in the dust, his palms skinned, sobbing. Michael cheerfully sat on the swing previously vacated. Max, seeing that nobody was going to come help him, slowly got to his feet. He limped over to where Robert, Lee and Tala were drawing. "Wobert! Michael... Michael... he..." Max burst into the tears that he'd choked back.
"It's okay Max. What did he say?"
"He...*sniff*... called... sob me a faggot!" Max burst into a fresh set of tears, "Just because of the way I look!"
"That's silly." Lee stated.
"Why?" Max asked.
"A faggot is a bundle of sticks!" Lee and Robert laughed as they looked over at where Michael, with a great air of serenity, worked the swing to greater and greater heights.
"A bunwu of sticks?" Max's eyes grew round in surprise. "Why's that so bad?"
"I don't know." Lee looked up at Robert for an answer.
"I dunno either." Robert said with a shrug.
"Tala, you can look now." Lee said kindly. Chibi Tala had hidden his face in Lee's shirt and covered his ears to try and block out the argument.
"I hate him!" Tala sobbed. "I hope da tigurs eat him up!! I'm gonna get so stwong dat if anybody does dat to me I'll kiww 'im!!"
//NO!!// Tala, the teenage one, cried. //DON'T THINK LIKE THAT!!// Tala fell to his knees, sobbing. //I didn't mean for it to get out of control.// He sobbed. //I didn't mean to hurt everyone!! Lee, Robert, can you forgive me? I... I didn't mean it!! I didn't mean any of it!// Tala fell to his knees. //I was so stupid! How could I do that to myself? They were all there for me. All they wanted was to be my friend!// Similar scenes ran through the Demolition Boy's leader's mind. Tala shutting himself away in his room all afternoon, Tala turning down invitations to get togethers and parties, and finally, the memory he'd been dreading to see.
"I'm sorry to leave you guys, really I am." Tala, 12 now, told Robert and Lee. "Don't worry, when you guys see me again I'm going to be the strongest blade warrior in the world!"
//NO!!// Tala shouted at his past self in vain. //DON'T GO! DON'T NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!// Tala cried as his past self followed Boris into the bus.
//I should have seen it before...// Teen Tala fell to his knees. //I didn't need to worry about being strong. I had my friends to help me... and I turned them away... Robert... Lee... forgive me...// Wolborg had vanished in the interim. //Wolborg?... Robert... Lee...?// Robert and Lee were walking off down the horizon. Wolborg was nowhere to be found. Tala was alone. //please... Kami-sama... let me make it up to them... LET ME MAKE THINGS RIGHT AGAIN!!!!//
The scene began to swirl out before him. All was black once more. Tala slowly opened his eyes. "nnnggg...huh?" Robert, Lee, and their respective teams were gathered around his bed. Tala realized that he was in the warren. "Robert... Lee..." Tala looked around confused. Robert had Tala's hand pressed to his heart, head bowed. Lee was holding his other hand.
"TALA!!" Robert and Lee exclaimed happily. "You're back!"
"You guys..." Tears welled up in Tala's eyes. "I'm sorry... for all the pain and trouble that I've caused you... and if there's anything that I can do... to make it up to all of you..."
"Can you guys give us a moment alone?" Lee asked the other two teams.
"Sure." Oliver led the others out, although Mariah had to drag Kevin out of the room.
"We want you to know." Robert told him, as Lee closed the door.
"That we love you..." Lee took his place on the other side of the bed.
"And that we'll always be there for you..." Robert added.
"Y... you..." Tala looked at them, eyes wide in surprise. "Love me?"
"We do..." Tears formed in Robert's eyes. "We couldn't bear to see..." He choked back a sob.
"What Voltaire was doing to you." Lee finished.
"So we talked to Wolborg, he said that he'd help you see what was going on, but that he needed help."
"The bit beasts..." Robert smiled out into the yard. "They're linked to their Warriors. Even if we're not aware of it. That's why you respect them."
"Then, when my doppelganger attacked me..." Tala's eyes widened in comprehension. "That was you..."
Lee nodded simply. "We couldn't let him kill you. And that's what he was trying to do, because then he could take control of you."
"You guys..." Tala threw his arms around the other two captains. "I love you... thank you..." He turned to each in turn, kissing them gently on the lips.
When Mariah came in later, she saw the three of them curled up under the covers. Robert had ditched the metal accents to his uniform. Lee's necklace was set carefully on the bedside table. Their losened shirts and pants and the hickies on the three of them were unmistakable evidence of their... ah... activities. Chuckling softly, Mariah set the tray of hot cocoa on the table in the room. The scent would revive them pretty fast.
But the scent did NOT revive the three of them. The clock radio did. Lee had set the alarm to remind his team mates that it was chore time. (Kevin especially hated this time of day and nobody ever believed the things he did to get out of it!) What surprised Tala the most was the song that was playing, because it seemed to sum up the days events and lessons pretty well... "It's about life,
It's about fun
It's over before it has begun
It's about you
It's about me
It's about everything between..."
//Well faught Wolborg// Galeon chuckled. //Well faught indeed.//
~owari~
I'll do another one in this timeline. Nyassa hasn't been initiated yet, and there are a few more fanfics to do before this timeline is finished. Don't worry, that's not the end of that!!
Preview...
Emily's got a little crush, "A tiger you say? A tiger maybe, she acts just like a tiger to
me, I've never seen her till she's struck and gone!"
Yo everybody, Tala here, in the next story, Emily tries to get Mariah to notice her, but that's the least of the breakers' problems. And how is the council of team captains going to react when I step down from leadership of the Demolition Boys? and will the Blade Sharks ever get a new captain? Plus, the World Tournament's Opening Dance is coming up! Who's going with who? There are dispandations, assencions, desencions, and initiations of teams in the next story!
Whatever's going on, it's gonna be a wild ride. I sure hope I'm up to it. Since the last adventure, I don't know where to go or what do do! But I do know one thing, now that Voltaire is dead, I'm burning all my bridges to the Abbey, FOR GOOD!!
by Nyassa Kaiba
"At the end of the day you're another day older
And that's all can be said for the life of the poor
It's a struggle, it's a war!
And there's nothing that anyone's giving
One more day lying about,
What is it for?
One less day to be living!!"- From, Les Miserables
Chapter 2
Tala and Wolborg were unaware of the tragedy that had occurred at that moment. //We must find your doppelganger. He is somewhere in your soul. If we can sort out why you turned to evil in the first place, then we can return to the waking world.// Wolborg explained.
//Sort out why... but how?// Tala asked him.
//We must go back...// The world began to fade out around them.
"woaoaoaoaoaoh!" Tala cried as the desolate land of rock and black swirled into nothingness.
The canyon land was replaced by a playground. It was early evening. "I know this place..." Tala looked around. "That was my favorite swing... and there's the spiral slide... and the monkey bars!"
//More importantly there's you...// Wolborg inclined his head, tone wry, but also smug and amused at his Warrior's surprise.
Chibi Tala was sitting on the swings, a very old, very dusty leatherbound book with the words "Moby Dick" printed on the cover in faded gold lettering, sat in his lap. Chibi was too engrossed in the story to notice an equally red haired figure swagger across the playground until...
"Hey ditface!"
Chibi Tala jumped. "I'm not a ditface Michael!" Tala shouted back, and returned to his book.
"Guess what ditface!" Michael snatched the book from his hands. "My dad's taking me to see the Bronx Bombers play the Orioles! Don't you wish you could go?" Michael had NOT been a nice kid when he was 6. Tala had spent most of his childhood in the bully's shadow.
"I don't care."
"Too bad, the All American past time is baseball! I get to go see some of my heritage! I'll bet you don't know where YOU come from!!" Michael turned to look at the book, squinting to see the faded text and understand the unfamiliar words.
"What's this thing called?"
"Moby Dick." Tala answered, with genuine innocence.
"Moby WHAT?!!" Michael demanded, laughing. "Why you reading Gay Porn at the tender age of six? Who's dick does Moby suck? I don't get it." The future All-Star frowned, then he shrugged and tore the book in half, severing the binding completely.
"OH NO!! THAT WAS MRS. KOLARKO'S COPY!!" Tala exclaimed, paling in fright. The school librarian liked Tala, who was a regular customer at the school library. But she also was very strict about defacing books. That was her heirloom copy, one of the first to be published after Herman Melville wrote it.
Michael laughed at the wanton destruction of property that he had just performed. Then he shoved Tala roughly off the swing. Chibi Tala, who was more innocent than his older counter part, wasn't prepared for the onslaught and skinned his chin and shins on the black top of the playground. Michael tossed the pieces of the valuable book over his shoulder. "See you ditface!"
Chibi Tala lay there, sobbing. Then a pair of red suede boots stopped by his head. "Are you alright?" Asked another little boy with a strange accent. This new boy was a couple inches taller than he was, his face was framed by chin length purple hair. He wore a blue t-shirt with a Dragon on it. The t-shirt read, 'Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.' The new boy reached down to help Chibi Tala to his feet. "My name's Robert. What's your's?"
Chibi Tala blinked, dabbing the tears off on his sleeve. "I'm Tala."
"I found your book." Chibi Robert handed it back to him. "I don't think that it's going to be readable anymore though." He added sadly. "Too bad, my mom says that's a good one. I'm surprised you can read it though."
"It's easy, the spewwings..." Chibi Tala struggled with the word. "Are just diffwrent."
"What school do you go to?" Robert asked hopefully. "Maybe we're in the same class!"
Tala told him. " WE ARE!!" Robert cracked his knuckles as if that settled everything. "I'll meet you on the black top at recess okay? Lee and I have some assignments to do for art, but that's no reason why we can't share the art supplies!" That was a welcome relief for Chibi Tala. Most of the time he spent recess sitting alone on the swings.
"Some day..." Chibi Tala said, balling his tiny hands into fists. "Some day Robert, I'm going to become so powerful that nobody will ever beat up on me AGAIN!!" The words echoed in Teen Tala's mind. He had almost forgot them, yet somehow he had managed to fulfill them. And what had happened?
//What does this mean?// Wolborg asked. //Perhaps, if you hadn't met Robert, you would have been justified, but not after that.//
//What do you mean?// Tala asked, worriedly.
//I will take you forward a month or so. You will see.// The scene began to swirl around Tala again. This time he stood his ground. Tala found himself on the familiar school playground. He was near the 'Suicide Wall' Suicide was a popular schoolyard ballgame similar to racquetball. Chibi Emily stood about 15 feet back from the wall, racquet and tennis ball in hand. She moved to toss the ball and swing at the exact same moment that Chibi Kevin went streaking behind her on his way to play Shark Attack with Kai. Shark attack was Tyson's brainchild, but Kai had named it, and even surpassed it's creator in profficiancy. The game later became the namesake for Kai's old team, the Blade Sharks.
Two things happened at once. Emily swung too far back to hit the ball and hit Kevin in the head instead, and the ball hit Chibi Emily on the head almost as if on an afterthought. "OW!"
"WATCH IT!!" Emily shouted as Chibi Kevin, half dazed by the hit he'd taken, staggered on his way by power of sheer momentum. She rubbed her head for a moment. "Okay, one more time!" The future All-Star cheered.
Emily moved the racquet back, began the throw, when a gentle hand held her back. The kid facing her had African skin, dark eyes, and short hair. He wore a Michael Jordan jersey. "You're timing it wrong. Here, let me show you..." Emily let the strange, big 3rd grader guide her hands. "If you pull the racquet too far back the ball will hit you in the head. All it takes is a light tap..." Thok! The racquet hit the ball, which sailed leisurely through the air and hit the wall, bouncing neatly back into the chibi's hand. "Now you try." He stood back to let Emily attempt the shot.
"Okay..." Emily tried again, keeping in mind all the things that the strange kid had just taught her. THWACK!! The Tennis ball sailed through the air at 80 miles an hour in true speed. "I DID IT!!" Emily laughed. "Thank youthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!" Emily glomped the older kid. "I'm Emily, what's your name?"
"I'm Eddy, and someday I'm going to be the next Michael Jordan!" Eddy said proudly.
"My name is Emily. I'm going to play Tennis in the Olympics!!" Chibi Emily proclaimed proudly. "I know all the rules... I'm just not good at mastering the technique." Chibi Emily drooped.
"I'll help you... only..."
"Only what?" Chibi Emily asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Watch..." Eddy said, unenthusiastically. He picked up the basketball from where he'd dropped it at his feet, and took off like a shot for the basketball hoop. 20 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet. Eddy jumped, aiming for a dunk shot on the lowered hoop that was used to teach Elementary Schoolers the rules of basket ball. He rose, higher, higher, and then began to drop. Panicking at the thought of being embarrassed again, Eddy shot the ball from his finger tips. Eddy hit the ground, skinning his knee. The basket ball hit him on the top of the head a few seconds later, having bounced off the bottom of the backboard with an almost obscenely cheerful *BOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!*
"Are you alright?" Chibi Emily asked, eyes wide.
"yeah..." Chibi Eddy answered, embarrassed. "It happens all the time."
"That was something... you flew like the wind!!" Tala chuckled at the seemingly innocuous remark Chibi Emily made.
"But I can't dunk!" Chibi Eddy frowned. "Jordan can!"
"He's a pro, you still have to practice. I'll tell you what. You helped me, so I'll help you!" Chibi Emily said happily.
//Do you understand?// Wolborg asked Tala.
//Not really.// Tala replied.
//Follow me then.// Wolborg lead his chosen warrior across the playground.
Tala looked around him, sure enough, he saw Kai and Rei teaching Kevin and
Mariah how to play Shark Attack. "I'm the champion!" Kai proclaimed happily. "Who better to teach a novice?"
"Gee, you're modest." Chibi Mariah rolled her eyes.
"Rei's the next best, so the two of us will demonstrate." Kai said proudly.
"That's not fair Kai!" Chibi Mariah protested. "Tyson was the one who invented this game! Let him explain!"
"Tyson has the chicken pox." Chibi Rei said calmly. "He's out for a week."
"Oh great, so we get to let Kai walk all over us for a week!" Chibi Mariah rolled her eyes. "At least when Tyson's here Kai's so busy yelling at him that he doesn't have time to do his macho act thing."
//This way// Wolborg led him across the playground. But Tala knew where he was going, the black top. They passed Chibi Max on the swings. Tala, a look of joy on his face, waved to where Oliver and Enrique were pouring over the script to some kind of musical, ("How do ya do my names Gavroche! These are me people here's my patch...") Meanwhile, Jonny was trying in vain to master a score that the music teacher had assigned. ("Stupid Music Teacher.")
In a corner of the blacktop Tala found what Wolborg had brought him to see. Chibi Tala, Chibi Robert, and Chibi Lee were flopped on their stomachs in a half circle. Each was bent over an extra large sheet of construction paper. Between the 3 of them was an enormous box of markers, crayons, pencils, and colored pencils.
"Whaddya drawin' Robert?" Lee asked, leaning over to see what the future team captain was drawing. "It wooks wike a burd!"
"It's a griffen!" Robert proclaimed proudly. "It's got the front half of a bird and the back half of a lion!"
"Dat sounds clumsy." Tala said thoughtfully, looking at the picture. He'd lost his two front teeth 2 days ago courtesy of Michael's unfriendly attentions.
"Was she angry about da book?" Lee asked, eyes wide. "I got apple juice on Dragon song and she almost killed me!" Lee waved a marker in the air dramatically before resting the same hand against his cheek thoughtfully. This left a streak of midnight blue ink on his face.
"She said that she knows a printer who can repair the binding for her, and that was just about the only thing that Michael really ruined." Tala said, wiping his forehead in a dramatic show of relief. "What are you drawing?" Tala asked, looking over at Lee's drawing.
"It's a tiger!" Lee grinned impishly.
"Why's it white?" Robert asked, looking over at it.
"Some tigers are like that." Lee said with a shrug. "Mariah's got a picture of one that she used with her animal report last week."
"What's it eating? A snow man?" Tala asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.
"It's Mister Takayama." Lee grinned impishly.
"Mister Takayama!" The three of them giggled hysterically. Mr. Takayama was the very fat 5th grade teacher. Despite his portly figure Mr. Takayama didn't tolerate laziness, pranks, or jokes of any kind. The students, therefore, acted up more around him. Lee had gotten a week of detentions for getting into a fist fight with a fifth grader named Steve. Lee didn't like Steve that much, mostly because he was intimidated by the kid's height.
Suddenly, uproar burst out from the swings. Michael pushed Max off the swings, one of the highest, snarling something at the chibi. Max sat there in the dust, his palms skinned, sobbing. Michael cheerfully sat on the swing previously vacated. Max, seeing that nobody was going to come help him, slowly got to his feet. He limped over to where Robert, Lee and Tala were drawing. "Wobert! Michael... Michael... he..." Max burst into the tears that he'd choked back.
"It's okay Max. What did he say?"
"He...*sniff*... called... sob me a faggot!" Max burst into a fresh set of tears, "Just because of the way I look!"
"That's silly." Lee stated.
"Why?" Max asked.
"A faggot is a bundle of sticks!" Lee and Robert laughed as they looked over at where Michael, with a great air of serenity, worked the swing to greater and greater heights.
"A bunwu of sticks?" Max's eyes grew round in surprise. "Why's that so bad?"
"I don't know." Lee looked up at Robert for an answer.
"I dunno either." Robert said with a shrug.
"Tala, you can look now." Lee said kindly. Chibi Tala had hidden his face in Lee's shirt and covered his ears to try and block out the argument.
"I hate him!" Tala sobbed. "I hope da tigurs eat him up!! I'm gonna get so stwong dat if anybody does dat to me I'll kiww 'im!!"
//NO!!// Tala, the teenage one, cried. //DON'T THINK LIKE THAT!!// Tala fell to his knees, sobbing. //I didn't mean for it to get out of control.// He sobbed. //I didn't mean to hurt everyone!! Lee, Robert, can you forgive me? I... I didn't mean it!! I didn't mean any of it!// Tala fell to his knees. //I was so stupid! How could I do that to myself? They were all there for me. All they wanted was to be my friend!// Similar scenes ran through the Demolition Boy's leader's mind. Tala shutting himself away in his room all afternoon, Tala turning down invitations to get togethers and parties, and finally, the memory he'd been dreading to see.
"I'm sorry to leave you guys, really I am." Tala, 12 now, told Robert and Lee. "Don't worry, when you guys see me again I'm going to be the strongest blade warrior in the world!"
//NO!!// Tala shouted at his past self in vain. //DON'T GO! DON'T NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!// Tala cried as his past self followed Boris into the bus.
//I should have seen it before...// Teen Tala fell to his knees. //I didn't need to worry about being strong. I had my friends to help me... and I turned them away... Robert... Lee... forgive me...// Wolborg had vanished in the interim. //Wolborg?... Robert... Lee...?// Robert and Lee were walking off down the horizon. Wolborg was nowhere to be found. Tala was alone. //please... Kami-sama... let me make it up to them... LET ME MAKE THINGS RIGHT AGAIN!!!!//
The scene began to swirl out before him. All was black once more. Tala slowly opened his eyes. "nnnggg...huh?" Robert, Lee, and their respective teams were gathered around his bed. Tala realized that he was in the warren. "Robert... Lee..." Tala looked around confused. Robert had Tala's hand pressed to his heart, head bowed. Lee was holding his other hand.
"TALA!!" Robert and Lee exclaimed happily. "You're back!"
"You guys..." Tears welled up in Tala's eyes. "I'm sorry... for all the pain and trouble that I've caused you... and if there's anything that I can do... to make it up to all of you..."
"Can you guys give us a moment alone?" Lee asked the other two teams.
"Sure." Oliver led the others out, although Mariah had to drag Kevin out of the room.
"We want you to know." Robert told him, as Lee closed the door.
"That we love you..." Lee took his place on the other side of the bed.
"And that we'll always be there for you..." Robert added.
"Y... you..." Tala looked at them, eyes wide in surprise. "Love me?"
"We do..." Tears formed in Robert's eyes. "We couldn't bear to see..." He choked back a sob.
"What Voltaire was doing to you." Lee finished.
"So we talked to Wolborg, he said that he'd help you see what was going on, but that he needed help."
"The bit beasts..." Robert smiled out into the yard. "They're linked to their Warriors. Even if we're not aware of it. That's why you respect them."
"Then, when my doppelganger attacked me..." Tala's eyes widened in comprehension. "That was you..."
Lee nodded simply. "We couldn't let him kill you. And that's what he was trying to do, because then he could take control of you."
"You guys..." Tala threw his arms around the other two captains. "I love you... thank you..." He turned to each in turn, kissing them gently on the lips.
When Mariah came in later, she saw the three of them curled up under the covers. Robert had ditched the metal accents to his uniform. Lee's necklace was set carefully on the bedside table. Their losened shirts and pants and the hickies on the three of them were unmistakable evidence of their... ah... activities. Chuckling softly, Mariah set the tray of hot cocoa on the table in the room. The scent would revive them pretty fast.
But the scent did NOT revive the three of them. The clock radio did. Lee had set the alarm to remind his team mates that it was chore time. (Kevin especially hated this time of day and nobody ever believed the things he did to get out of it!) What surprised Tala the most was the song that was playing, because it seemed to sum up the days events and lessons pretty well... "It's about life,
It's about fun
It's over before it has begun
It's about you
It's about me
It's about everything between..."
//Well faught Wolborg// Galeon chuckled. //Well faught indeed.//
~owari~
I'll do another one in this timeline. Nyassa hasn't been initiated yet, and there are a few more fanfics to do before this timeline is finished. Don't worry, that's not the end of that!!
Preview...
Emily's got a little crush, "A tiger you say? A tiger maybe, she acts just like a tiger to
me, I've never seen her till she's struck and gone!"
Yo everybody, Tala here, in the next story, Emily tries to get Mariah to notice her, but that's the least of the breakers' problems. And how is the council of team captains going to react when I step down from leadership of the Demolition Boys? and will the Blade Sharks ever get a new captain? Plus, the World Tournament's Opening Dance is coming up! Who's going with who? There are dispandations, assencions, desencions, and initiations of teams in the next story!
Whatever's going on, it's gonna be a wild ride. I sure hope I'm up to it. Since the last adventure, I don't know where to go or what do do! But I do know one thing, now that Voltaire is dead, I'm burning all my bridges to the Abbey, FOR GOOD!!