Last chapter! Don't own Beyblade!
FUTURE HOPE
Last time: Voltaire showed up and basically gave our dear siblings a bit of a challenge. And after Kai managed to get himself gravely injured, Trinity decided to take this challenge up! Will they prevail or will they fall? Read on...
Kirra's eyes widened at her sister's last comment.
"You've gotta be joking, Trin. We're already too weak..."
"Does it really look like I care?" Trinity snapped at her younger sister. "Does it really look like I care if I dare to put my life on the line for our cause?"
"Trin, there's a very thin line between bravery and stupidity, you know. Kai wouldn't have wanted you to go and charge that thing after he sacrificed himself to save you..." Marth started, but Kirra finished for him.
"Yeah, he would want you to pack your bags and get the Hell away from that thing right now!" Kirra snapped at her older sister. Trinity suddenly felt uncontrollable anger towards her siblings. She knew she shouldn't but how was she supposed to just sit there and watch Kai expire?
"Listen! I don't give a flying fuck about what you two do, but I'm gonna fight that stupid, fat thing and kill it's owner..." she gave a golden-eyed death glare to Voltaire, who simply smirked at her hatred toward him.
"... Because I'm not willing to sit here and just watch Kai die... just for the sake of saving me... I wasn't worth it..." Trinity finished, before she felt moisture on her cheeks and realized she was crying. Marth simply stood there, watching his older sister with emotionless eyes, but Kirra was angry. Trinity knew this but she chose to ignore the fact until Kirra decided to start yelling at her. About five seconds afterwards, Kirra decided it was time to do so.
"Trinity, if we charge that thing, it'll just be three more to add to the death toll! And I don't think that Kai will be expecting you to join him, when he's going to wherever he's gonna end up. He was my friend too, but you've got to think laterally here."
Trinity glared at her younger sister and brother and stood up, unwillingly leaving Kai's body on the ground and standing up.
"Well, I'm going to do it, regardless."
Trinity then turned her back on her siblings, parents and friends and started walking towards the Quadroon and Voltaire, slowly. They had backed away and were now about two hundred meters away from her current position. She was walking there slowly, taking her sweet time so she could actually figure out how the Hell she was going to beat this thing alone.
Kirra stood sideways with her arms crossed, so that one side of her face was towards her sister and the Quadroon, and one was directed towards her family and friends, in case of any surprise attacks.
Marth was still looking at Trinity, as if wanting to help but not being able to bring himself to do so.
Kirralee snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Stupid girl... blinded by emotion... well it's her fault that she's going to get beaten up..."
Marth turned to his younger older sister momentarily, as if he was going to say something to defend Trinity's decision, but then decided against it.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gang was watching. Baby Trinity sat perfectly still, gripping onto her mother's shirt to keep her balance. Ray could tell Mariah was angry; she was glaring at her 'children' (AN: Well, to get very technical, they're aren't exactly spot-on hers, are they?) And shivering slightly, although it was hard to tell if this was out of coldness, fear or the anger. But the answer to this question became blaringly obvious when she shoved Baby Trinity into his arms and strode forward towards the two remaining teenagers that were closest to their little group. Kirra noticed this and flicked her fingers towards her mother, signaling for her to move further back, but she didn't stop her journey towards them. Mariah was sick and tired of this... sick of her eldest daughter's courage-cum-stupidity, sick of her second daughter's vanity and anger, sick of her son's passiveness, peacefulness and shyness...
"Look, why in God's name are you backing down now?" she snapped, catching the two neko-jin teens' attentions.
"You three have always stuck together, from what I've seen of you. So why do you fall apart now, when you need each other most? You need to help your sister; even though she's doing a stupid thing and she knows it..." Mariah said loudly, and Trinity stopped her long trek towards the Quadroon and Voltaire at the sound of her name and focused her attention on her mother.
"But you three need to stay together to reach your fullest potential. So please help your sister. I really don't want to see my daughter's future die..." Mariah finished and looked back at Ray and Trin. Kirra looked like she didn't really understand- how was she supposed to? She wasn't a mother and had no plans whatsoever to become one. But Marth seemed to get the deeper meaning of his mother's little speech and nodded very slowly.
The almost 16 year old stepped forward, closed his eyes momentarily, and was almost instantly surrounded by a golden aura. When he opened his eyes again, they were the bright, liquid-like golden colour that everyone was now getting used to seeing. His jumper had almost been ripped to shreds by this feat, but he didn't appear to notice yet. He then moved his head so he would have been looking at Kai, if he actually had visible pupils at that point, and glared at the slate-haired person on the ground, who was immediately jerked into the air, as if being yanked upwards by invisible strings by his limbs. Marth then flicked his head to the left slightly and Kai flew over towards his father and mother at top speed and landed neatly at their feet.
Marth then removed his Mandarin-style jacket and tossed in that general direction, also.
"Try and reduce the blood flow with this," he said, although it sounded more like a deep growl. Mariah nodded, handed Trinity back to Ray and kneeled beside Kai and wrapped the jumper around the deepest wounds. Sure Mariah and Kai weren't on the friendliest terms, but she didn't want him to die.
Marth nodded, very slowly, before closing his eyes and disappearing in a flash of light. Tyson blinked and looked around from right to left, confused by the sudden move.
"Where'd he go?" Tyson asked, and Ray and Max pointed towards where Trinity had been standing and Tyson looked up to realize that Marth was now standing directly parallel to Trinity.
Kirralee had frowned slightly, before sighing, and clenching her fists tightly. The golden aura surrounded her also and baby Trin sat rigid against her father's chest. Ray gently tried to shake her but she wouldn't move. Ray paled, she was seemingly frozen, staring out towards the Quadroon.
"Don't worry about her. Once our Trinity does the same as myself and Marth..." Kirra stated, and Ray's focus snapped away from his two-year-old daughter, "... she should be all right."
Kirra then sprinted the 150 meters she needed to sprint to reach her brother and sister, and was in there in about 4 seconds. The three of them stood about 25 meters away from Quadroon and about 35 from Voltaire.
Trinity followed suit with her brother and sister and shut her eyes momentarily, allowing herself to be partly taken over by her alter ego, if you could really call it that. Baby Trinity had suddenly snapped out her paralysis-like state and started squirming against Ray's restraint against her, desperately trying to get towards the source of the power she could feel that was so like her own. Mariah walked over and grabbed her roughly from Ray's embrace, which was basically the only way she could do it because she didn't fancy her toddler going on a killing rampage very much.
"Oh, no. You, missy, are staying right here," she snapped at her daughter. Trin didn't appear to care, however, because she just continued to struggle.
Meanwhile, Our three siblings were standing in front of the Quadroon, smiling up at it confidently and with a touch of arrogance.
"Shall we begin?" questioned Marth.
"I do believe we should," answered Kirra.
"Prepare for defeat, Voltaire," stated Trinity.
"Take your best shot!" the old man yelled back at them. All three of them smirked in accordance with each other and all three spoke at once.
"We will."
The three siblings stuck their arms out in front of them, their hands very slightly touching each other, and muttered some form of incantation at the very lowest tones their voices could muster. All three of them then opened their eyes, and three golden flashes of light emerged from their extended palms. Their bodies were blown back several meters by this feat and Mariah screamed out loud in pure shock. The three large masses of light them seemed to combine, and in one single flash of blinding light, the bit beast known as Kintora stood in front of them.
He, she, it... was standing the full 200 meters away from them, but even from that distance they could see it perfectly clearly. It was roughly how big they remembered Robert's bit beast, Grypholyon (sp?) to be, if not larger. It didn't look terribly strong, in fact, it looked rather fragile, but like the humans it had come from, looks could be deceiving. It was white in colour, with rich golden stripes and armor plates on its legs, and it had very large green eyes.
The small group of people that stood the short distance away from it looked completely terrified, but whether it was terror towards the seemingly dead bodies of their friends/children or the actually incarnation of Kintora itself was unknown.
"Did you not expect this?" Marth flat, emotionless voice erupted through the silence and they looked down at the lifeless form in front of them and realized his lips were moving. They then looked up at the Kintora and its gaze was focused on the small group entirely.
"No matter how much they knew... they still would not have expected this..." Kirralee murmured emotionlessly.
"Forget about them… we must protect them but... we must also take care of the matter at hand..." Trinity muttered, as if she was short of breath. All three sibling's eyes had turned a stark, pearly white colour. It was creepy but it stood to reason...
Kintora then turned its focus from the group of people behind it and trotted idly forward towards its opposition.
Both bit beasts stood perfectly still, eying each other down, as if daring the other to make the first move. Finally the Quadroon lost its nerve and lunged forward towards Kintora, who simply sidestepped to avoid its predictable and desperate attack.
Meanwhile, Kenny had got his laptop out and was asking Dizzi to graph the two bit beasts' powers. Dizzi scanned Kintora and blew up. (AN: Die, Dizzi, Die.)
None of the others had noticed, however, because Quadroon was desperately attacking Kintora, who was dodging every single swipe its opposition aimed at it. The Quadroon paused for just a microsecond to recover from its vicious attacks, but it was the only opening Kintora needed because in that microsecond it had thrown its clawed paw forward and left a huge gash down the Quadroon's armor plated chest. It took a few seconds for the Quadroon's sensory system to register the pain, before in winced and bent over, holding it's chest with it's large and clumsy looking talon.
Kintora's paw was still outstretched, so Quadroon to advantage of that and grabbed it's paw and threw it into a nearby large tree. The Kintora sat, momentarily paralyzed by the impact of the blow, before a fiery golden aura surrounded it and it sprang back onto all fours. It then unthinkingly lunged at Quadroon, and the two bit beasts started a ferocious battle for power over the other. The silvery blood of bit beasts and both animal's fur and plates of armor flew in every direction. Finally, Quadroon managed to get the upper hand, knocking Kintora to the ground and slashing at it angrily with its clawed front legs. Kintora was knocked to the ground and started convulsing due to loss of blood.
It wasn't looking good. The small group of people was shivering, wondering what would become of them if Kintora lost. And it was leaning in that direction currently.
Suddenly, the three siblings' voices shouted out, loud but still without emotion.
"Mystellara."
"Mysticala."
"Mysticisia."
Purple, red and dark green beams of colourful light shot from the bit chips of the three siblings beyblades, and the three Driger/Galux crossbreed bit beasts emerged and jumped to the aid of their master/s. Everyone knew there was no chance they could win, but they would give time to their master/s to rejuvenate stamina.
Quadroon flicked its ears, like the smaller cat bit beasts were irritating flies that it desperately wanted to squish out of existence. Mysticisia pinned it's ears to the top of it's head and hissed angrily at it's opponent, trying to serve as a distraction as the two older of its litter attacked it from behind. Quadroon simply grabbed the smaller male bit beast, and swatted away the attacks of the two female bit beasts behind it, before grabbing them as well and flinging all three away like dolls. The three bit beasts lost their power and returned to their beyblades to recuperate.
Kintora knew it still hadn't gathered enough strength to fight Quadroon... but it knew what to do.
Trinity croaked slightly from the lack of moisture in her soulless body and then spoke softly.
"The four Holy Beings."
Dranzer, Driger, Draciel and Dragoon emerged from their respective owner's beyblades and dashed towards the battle scene. Dranzer arrived first, due to the advantage of flight. It then glowed with heat energy and charged power for what was obviously its Fire Arrow attack. Driger arrived next, being the faster of the remaining Holy Beings, and charged energy for the Tiger Claw. Dragoon arrived next and brewed a small tornado between its claws. Draciel arrived last and charged up for its whirlpool attack. (AN: Draciel attacks with a whirlpool in the third series or what looked like a whirlpool to me. I don't know the official name of the attack.)
But instead of unleashing the attacks directed towards the Quadroon, they aimed them just above its head and the three beams of energy formed a sort of bond against the Quadroon. It hissed angrily at its bonds, but could do nothing. The Kintora then opened its eyes jadedly. It was completely void of energy, but it knew this was its last chance.
"Eternal Sleep..." whispered the three siblings' bodies together, and the Quadroon was engulfed by golden flames. It cried out angrily, trying to rid itself of the burning attack that had been inflicted on it, but to no effect. It finally gave into its pain and was engulfed by the flames and disintegrated.
Kintora collapsed onto its stomach tiredly, but suddenly four beams of light appeared from the spot where Quadroon had stood. From those four beams of light emerged the Demolition Boys' bit beasts. Wolborg stepped forward and eyed its defeater.
"Thank you... I have only been beaten in such a manner once before..." muttered Wolborg, who turned around to Dragoon, who simply shut its jaws and blinked serenely.
"But our deepest gratitude goes out to you for freeing us from that state. We must return to our masters now..." the beast's voice suddenly became sad.
"They will be expecting us."
The four bit beasts then disappeared in a sparkling flash of light.
Kintora wrenched itself shakily to its feet, and stumbled over to the small group of people. It stopped directly in front of Kai, and its parents, and one third of itself at a younger age.
"I promised I would heal you..." murmured Trinity's mouth, and a golden light erupted from the beast, and surrounded Kai. His wounds were suddenly wiped off, as if some sort of sponge had been rubbing the scars off his skin. The slate-haired teen then groaned deeply and forced himself to sit up. His mahogany eyes shot open and he looked around wildly before noticing the glowing golden creature in front of him. (AN: There guys, HE DIDN'T DIE.)
"Trinity..." he muttered, before reaching out to touch the beast in front of him like a small child exploring previously unknown territories.
Kintora blinked at Kai's touch and forced itself into what seemed to be a low and straining bow, before it began glowing so brightly that the small group of people surrounding it had to shield their faces.
The figure split back into three entities and life returned to the three Kon children's bodies. All three sat up, groaning from the aches and injuries they sustained in the battle with Quadroon. Trinity shivered as she mustered the strength to get to her feet, but she then realized persons unknown had offered a hand. She looked up into the bright glare of the winter sun and Kai was standing there, ready to pull her to her feet, much like that morning, and to keep her on her feet, like so many times before. She smiled jadedly and let him pull her to her feet and into an embrace. The two toughest people any of the other Bladebreakers, the two White Tigers, one All-Star and the two remaining siblings were shivering from pure relief and holding each other close, considering the proximity of death that had been, but no longer existed. Tyson, nor many of the other people, seemed interested in what was happening between Kai and Trinity (or maybe they just thought they needed some time alone after what had nearly occurred) so they began looking everywhere for something unknown.
"What happened to Voltaire?" questioned Tyson. Kirra shrugged and once again made an attempt to get to her feet, this time finally succeeding and also helping her brother up.
"He'll be long gone by now. But I don't think he'll try anything like that again, not in the near future at least," muttered Marth.
"Which means we won't have to come back here much anymore, if not at all."
These comments made Kai lose interest in Trinity, much to her disgust, and spin around to try and catch more of the conversation.
"It's true. Our job was to protect you and make sure you didn't get it as bad as our parents or we did, so there's really no point in us coming back here anymore."
Trinity sighed; she knew this day would come eventually.
Kai turned back to her, and looked like he was about to say something, but Ray coughed to get everyone's attention.
"Let's not think about that right now. Let's go back to the house... well, what's left of it, and celebrate a bit."
Everyone agreed that they definitely deserved this time for recreation.
Ray raised his glass of his water, which was all they had left after the youma had attacked their house earlier, and pulled Mariah closer to him. She giggled a bit and Ray sniggered a bit and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Lee gave the pair a look, something resembling this: ¬¬ and the rest of the group, minus Lee himself, and Kai and Trinity, who were just string at each other, oblivious to the world around them. Once Ray had stopped laughing, he re-raised the glass and ran his spare hand over the bulge in Mariah's stomach. Baby Trin yawned from on her mother's lap and shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position, but found it impossible to sleep anyway due to the level of noise the adults were making.
"I propose a toast. To Trinity, Kirralee and Martheo, who saved our asses in their spare time."
Everyone nodded and raised their glasses.
Tyson then raised his glass again, and everyone stared at him strangely.
"And to us, because we rule."
Max smiled and gripped Emily's hand more tightly.
"Can't contradict that," Emily smirked.
Kai and Trinity were sitting across from each other, and the far ends of the couches. Kai's eyes flickered towards the hallway and Trinity got the message. Both of them got up and headed in that general direction. Mariah was the only one who noticed the two people moving away from the festivities, but she ignored the fact.
When the two people reached the privacy of the hallway, Kai wrapped his arms tightly around Trinity and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, while Trinity ran through the darker blue back of his hair. When the pair broke off, Kai smirked and pulled away very slightly, just so he and Trinity could look each other directly in the eye.
"I've been thinking..."
"Mm-hmm?" Trinity signified that she'd heard him.
"And I want to go back to your timeline with you."
Trinity's golden eyes widened and she pulled away slightly.
"I don't know if it's possible..." she started, but Kai silenced her.
"I'm dead in your timeline, aren't I?"
"I can see your tombstone from my bedroom, yes."
Kai shivered a bit, but continued.
"So it stands to reason that I can go to the future with you," he smiled. Trinity smirked back and kissed his cheek.
"I think we could bend the rules a little more than we already have..."
Kai's lips curved upwards into a very slight smile, and wrapped his left arm around Trinity's waist and started dragging her back to the lounge room. She giggled a bit, which Kai recognized as almost identical to the one he heard Mariah emit just before the moment they had left the room.
"Why do we have to go back now, Kai?"
"I'm not going to tell all my friends I'm leaving them alone."
The rest of the group understood why Kai was leaving, so after the celebrations had ended, they all went outside to see him, Trinity, Kirra and Marth off.
Marth smiled and stepped forward. He nodded to Max and Emily, who were standing out of the way and just generally enjoying each other's company, smiled at Tyson and Lee who smiled back who smiled back, and then faced his parents.
"All that time ago, after we saved you from Bryan, I told you to take care of each other. Make sure you keep catering to my wish."
Marth smiled at the small group one last time, before rushing out of site. A bright flash of light was emitted from over in the direction in which Marth ran, and he was gone.
Kirra's mouth twitched into a small smile and she blinked serenely at the small group of people in front of her.
"I'm going to miss you all dearly. I hope one day we will see each other again. In fact, I'm sure we will. You taught me a lot, you know..." she stopped momentarily, trying to find the right words, but found she couldn't.
Eventually, she just gave everyone a small finger wave and dashed in the direction Marth had gone, and in a repetition of events, was also gone.
Trinity smirked and grabbed Kai's arm.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he comes to visit you guys once in a while."
Kai smirked.
"She'll have to drag me kicking and screaming."
But by the tone of his voice, they all knew he was lying.
The two lovers nodded to their comrades, and dashed over the hill.
And in three bright flashes of light, four of their dearest friends, who they had shared so many bad and good occasions with, had left this time.
Kitty: Awww...
Marth:
Kitty: Don't leave yet! There's still the epilogue!
FUTURE HOPE: THE ALMIGHTY EPILOGUE
Trinity wandered through the permanently shining corridors of her home, wondering if the glare from her spotless white surroundings could cause permanent deterioration to your eyesight. It was barely a week after she and her brother and sister had defeated Quadroon, in their alternate forms, or, more accurately, their souls' alternate forms, and saved their past from being ruined by warfare. She supposed her parents; her siblings, and herself, from that timeline at least, would never experience the same thing that she and her family had endured. They would be lucky enough to grow up in times of peace and probably never have to utilize their powers.
She had no idea where Kai was, or her sister and brother, or her parents, or anyone else for that matter.
Except for Emily.
And she knew she was headed towards the aforementioned woman. She also knew why. She and Emily kept the secret together, because Trinity never felt it was the right time to break the news to the rest of her family and friends.
She sighed jadedly as she climbed the stairs to the Medical Wing of their house-cum-base, and eventually entered the room which was probably more spotless and white that the rest of the building. Emily liked to be efficient, and she usually had to be, seeing that her patience regularly came in with severe injuries, so she didn't need a lack of cleanliness to become a hindrance.
Emily's electric blue eyes shot up from whatever paperwork she'd been tackling, and she smiled at Trinity, who smiled weakly back. Emily led the auburn-haired teen into the more secluded of the consultation rooms.
Once the two people had taken their seats, Emily smiled at Trinity and clasped her hands in a doctor-esque way. Trinity began fidgeting and tracing circles on the ground with the very tips of her toes.
"How are you?" Emily questioned, but it sounded more like a statement than a question. Trinity shrugged.
"I don't know and I don't care."
Emily frowned momentarily.
"Well why are you here?"
Trinity sighed and explained her suspicion, or more appropriately, fear, to Emily. After Trinity had finished pouring her heart out to the orange-haired woman, she began biting her lip, as though afraid that a giant blade would come hurtling across the room and swiftly decapitate her. Emily blinked, staring at Trinity from across the top of her intertwined fingers.
"Well, I'd better check anyway..."
Once Emily had finished prodding at her stomach, Trinity looked at her inquisitively.
"Yes... sure as Hell there's something there. The only question now is: what exactly do you plan to do about it?"
"I don't know..." Trinity trailed off. She hadn't really considered this ever happening.
"You can always get rid of them..."
Trinity felt what little colour that was left in her face fade.
"Did I detect a plural structure in that sentence?" she snapped. Emily nodded and blush returned to Trinity's cheeks, although she was sure the rest of her face was still pure white. She probably looked like a Sno-Cone with strawberry flavoring.
"Too many lives have already been lost due to my own choices... this would just add to the toll." She spoke very slowly, clearly afraid. Emily nodded and smiled.
"I'm glad you made that choice..."
Emily suddenly seemed unfocused and faraway.
"It's a wise choice... if I'd thought it through more than once..."
"Huh?" Trinity was confused by Emily's sudden distracted nature. Emily shook her head violently to clear her thoughts but still did not look back at Trinity.
"Ask your mother... she'd understand," Emily blinked serenely and turned her face back to Trinity and looked her directly into her eyes and grinning in a somewhat childish way.
"She made the right choice, too."
Trinity was still confused, but let it go. Emily once again took a serious tone to the situation.
"I suggest you at least tell Kai. Assuming this is his handiwork, of course."
"Who else?" Trinity snapped. It was a statement, not a question, really, and Emily knew this.
"I was only kidding. But I wasn't kidding about telling Kai. He, at least, should be the one to find out before anything else can be decided."
"But he hates kids."
"I don't believe that for one microsecond. As grumpy as he may be, you've got to remember that he was the one that was best at taking care of you when you were young and your parents were busy. You wouldn't have had it any other way, otherwise you began crying and didn't stop until he entered the room you were in."
Trinity nodded and sighed.
"I suppose I'd better get to it then, while I still have courage to spare. Thanks for your help."
"Good luck. You'll be needing it," was Emily's response to the last statement.
Trinity found the strength to make a forced, almost unnoticeable grin grace the corners of her lips, and left the room.
Kai smiled. Mainly because no one was in the room to provide evidence that he'd done so. Sunlight streamed through the window into Trinity's bedroom, onto her bed, which he was currently lying on. Ever since he had been able to travel forward to Trinity's timeline, his life felt completely and blissfully whole.
Sure he missed his friends, but technically they were all still there. They were the same people, but not the same people. All of them still looked practically the same, except slightly more aged. But all he was really concerned about at this point in time was looking after Trinity.
'Must be my paternal instincts stirring,' he thought sarcastically to himself.
He suddenly heard the door click open, revealing Trinity, standing in the doorway. She looked a trifle pale and shocked, but he smiled at her in what he hoped was in a reassuring manor as he came over to the bed and flopped down onto it.
He gently rubbed her back to try and comfort her, but she seemed completely unresponsive. He blinked once, very slowly, and kissed her hurriedly, once, in question. She looked up to meet his eyes and sighed.
"Kai, there's something I've gotta tell you..."
(Approximately 2 and a half years later)
"And do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" droned the priest.
"I do," replied the man standing at the front of the church.
Chibi Trin, who was no longer the Chibi of her family, yawned in a manor that suggested she'd rather be dead than listen to some old dude raving on about eternal cherishment of each other's souls. Meanwhile, the almost two-year-old Kirralee had tried to make her gallant escape by crawling under the pews of the church and out the back door, but had been recaptured by her father before she'd managed to get too far. The two-week-old baby Marth yawned without opening his eyes, and his dummy dropped onto the pew the children were sitting on. Kirra dusted it off, slid off the pew and ran to the back of the church to wash it in the Holy Water, returned and placed it back in her little brother's mouth, and he then returned to sucking on his pacifier contentedly. Mariah yawned, taking the same strain of thought as her five-year-old daughter and murmured softly, but with a slight trace of boredom, to the infant rested against her chest, trying to prevent him from being stirred. Ray was keeping a very close eye on his two older children, who seemed to continually be plotting escape.
It had taken Max almost 2 years to gather the courage to propose to Emily, and when they'd eventually organized the occasion, it had been designed to be a small affair, with only family and close friends, namely the Bladebreakers, White Tigers and All-Starz. No bridesmaids, because Mariah had been a little too preoccupied with her two girl children and the quickly approaching event of the birth of her son. Max, however, had chosen Tyson as best man. The priest was still raving on, and seemed like he'd like he'd be doing so for another while, which was a good thing.
Because currently, Tyson was making a gesture to Ray with his left ring finger. Ray stared at his friend for a moment before realizing what he was trying to say and placing his palm to his forehead. He leaned over to his wife and tapped on her shoulder to get her attention. Mariah's head jerked around so she faced Ray and he whispered Tyson's plight to her. Mariah stared down at her own fingers: two rings on her right ring finger, one golden topaz and one emerald, both left to her by her mother, and on her left finger, her mother's engagement ring which was small but shiny, and her own engagement ring which she wasn't about to give up because the diamond set in it probably could have choked a horse.
She shook her head vigorously, and Ray sighed and leaned forward to converse with the other White Tigers. Kevin smirked and produced one ring, which Ray also smirked at. One down, one to go.
A while later, and they still hadn't found a female ring. Ray looked stressed and so did Tyson, but Kirra tugged on her father's shirt and submitted one of the kiddy-rings that adorned her fingers. He grinned at her and gave the thumbs-up to Tyson, who looked hugely relieved.
Tyson whispered something to Max, which looked suspiciously like "Back in a tick," and dashed to the back of the church and Ray offered the rings. Tyson sweatdropped but took them anyway, in the style of an utterly desperate man.
The priest stopped yakking and asked Tyson for the rings. He produced them, and the priest's eyes widened.
Once the rings had been exchanged (one shaped as a skull and crossbones and one ridiculously large, plastic and pink) Emily and Max walked back down the aisle and everyone followed them out.
"Hopefully that will be our last crisis for a while..." Ray muttered.
These people do not know what their futures hold for them, only time can tell which way the odds will turn- for them or against them. But, looking at all that has happened and all that is still to come, you can be assured that all hardships, challenges, happy times and victories will be taken together.
Done! The sequel, Present Hope, is now up.