Lawson stood on his throne, looking over the kids assembled. He had
gotten quite a large force to go on his second incursion to TJville, as he
jokingly referred to it. Getting them to agree was simple, actually, once
Randall told them TJ had a secret generator and was holding out on them,
they were more than eager. So what if most of them liked TJ-a kid's gotta
eat and stay warm.
"Alright troops, march."
"You're overreacting TJ."
"Am I Vince?"
"Yeah, you are. Come on man, I mean we creamed Lawson last time, how could he beat us again the next time, if there even is a next time?"
"Trust me; there will be a next time. Every time we beat Lawson at something, he challenges us again, sometimes even inventing games so he could win. This is more than just territory and food to Lawson, it's personal. If he has to come back here a hundred times, he will."
"I concur with TJ, Lawson will not give up so easily."
"Ok brains, what do you suggest we do?"
"Well, we could always leave, go somewhere else."
"Go somewhere else?" piped Spinelli "Gretch, if we run away, it's even worse than if Lawson beat us, besides, what's to keep him from chasing us down and fighting us again?"
"Spin's right, we have to stand and fight."
"Dude, you just rhymed."
"Oh yeah, cool."
Lawson saw the house come in to view, the house where he had been so thoroughly humiliated before would now see his greatest triumph.
"CHARGE!" He ordered, he would not take any chances this time, this time, he would catch them by surprise.
"Holy crap...you guys..."
"Yeah Gus" they chorused.
"We gotta get out of here!"
TJ ran out to take a look, and at once knew he could not win. Lawson had at least a hundred kids, maybe more, and they were charging, his defenses weren't set up, the kids he had scattered, he saw them run, they're courage failing them, or maybe just their common sense kicking in. Probably a little bit of both, then he felt a sharp pain in his head, he immediately clutched the spot and crumpled to the ground, then everything went black.
Vince, Gus, Gretch, Mikey and Spinelli were in a full out sprint. They didn't know where they were running, except away from the house. Then Spinelli noticed something.
"Guys, where's TJ?"
They all stopped, realizing their leader was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm going back for him, who's coming with me?"
No one objected.
"Well Lawson, looks like we creamed 'em good, all ran off, we dunno where to."
"Find them." He replied coolly. He was trying to maintain calm outside, but inside he was celebrating, he had never felt better. He wanted to scream to the sky that he had beaten TJ Detwieler, for the first and last time.
"Go around and see if there are any wounded hanging around."
"Yes sir."
The gang slowly and stealthily crept through the small woods behind TJ's house, to within sight of his yard. Lawson's troops had fanned out looking for them, there were only a three in the yard itself, carrying some other kid they couldn't make out. Vince picked up three rocks, and stepped back.
"Prepare to be amazed."
He let out the rocks with catlike quickness, each one soaring to its target, each one connecting with a sickening CRACK. The three boys fell motionless and soundless to the floor. They stayed put for a few minutes, to make sure they hadn't been heard, then crept out to the yard, over to the kid, the boys had been carrying.
Spinelli froze. Her insides tightened into a knot, her fists clenched with rage, she ran over to him.
"TJ, TJ"
"Shhh Spin, we can't be heard."
She stayed silent, but was screaming inside. TJ was on the ground, motionless, a pool of blood at his head, bloody rock nearby. She cradled him in her arms, holding him close, willing him to be ok. 'You better be ok TJ, you better be.' The five gently picked him up, and carried him off.
"Where should we go, you guys?"
"I dunno Mikey, where can we go?"
"How about Fort Tender?"
"Good idea Vince."
They laid him out on the floor of the fort, with Spinelli's jacket as a pillow.
"It's important to keep pressure on the wound Spinelli, it'll stop the bleeding."
"That's the third time you've told me that, I got it already."
"Chill Spin, you two Gretch, this is hard for all of us, don't be all up at each other's throats, would TJ want that?"
Spinelli knew that Vince was right. She just cradled his head in her arms, with her jacket on the wound, pressing sown, trying to stop the bleeding, with four words running through her head over and over. 'You better be ok, you better be ok, you better be ok, you better be ok, you better be okay.'
"Alright troops, march."
"You're overreacting TJ."
"Am I Vince?"
"Yeah, you are. Come on man, I mean we creamed Lawson last time, how could he beat us again the next time, if there even is a next time?"
"Trust me; there will be a next time. Every time we beat Lawson at something, he challenges us again, sometimes even inventing games so he could win. This is more than just territory and food to Lawson, it's personal. If he has to come back here a hundred times, he will."
"I concur with TJ, Lawson will not give up so easily."
"Ok brains, what do you suggest we do?"
"Well, we could always leave, go somewhere else."
"Go somewhere else?" piped Spinelli "Gretch, if we run away, it's even worse than if Lawson beat us, besides, what's to keep him from chasing us down and fighting us again?"
"Spin's right, we have to stand and fight."
"Dude, you just rhymed."
"Oh yeah, cool."
Lawson saw the house come in to view, the house where he had been so thoroughly humiliated before would now see his greatest triumph.
"CHARGE!" He ordered, he would not take any chances this time, this time, he would catch them by surprise.
"Holy crap...you guys..."
"Yeah Gus" they chorused.
"We gotta get out of here!"
TJ ran out to take a look, and at once knew he could not win. Lawson had at least a hundred kids, maybe more, and they were charging, his defenses weren't set up, the kids he had scattered, he saw them run, they're courage failing them, or maybe just their common sense kicking in. Probably a little bit of both, then he felt a sharp pain in his head, he immediately clutched the spot and crumpled to the ground, then everything went black.
Vince, Gus, Gretch, Mikey and Spinelli were in a full out sprint. They didn't know where they were running, except away from the house. Then Spinelli noticed something.
"Guys, where's TJ?"
They all stopped, realizing their leader was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm going back for him, who's coming with me?"
No one objected.
"Well Lawson, looks like we creamed 'em good, all ran off, we dunno where to."
"Find them." He replied coolly. He was trying to maintain calm outside, but inside he was celebrating, he had never felt better. He wanted to scream to the sky that he had beaten TJ Detwieler, for the first and last time.
"Go around and see if there are any wounded hanging around."
"Yes sir."
The gang slowly and stealthily crept through the small woods behind TJ's house, to within sight of his yard. Lawson's troops had fanned out looking for them, there were only a three in the yard itself, carrying some other kid they couldn't make out. Vince picked up three rocks, and stepped back.
"Prepare to be amazed."
He let out the rocks with catlike quickness, each one soaring to its target, each one connecting with a sickening CRACK. The three boys fell motionless and soundless to the floor. They stayed put for a few minutes, to make sure they hadn't been heard, then crept out to the yard, over to the kid, the boys had been carrying.
Spinelli froze. Her insides tightened into a knot, her fists clenched with rage, she ran over to him.
"TJ, TJ"
"Shhh Spin, we can't be heard."
She stayed silent, but was screaming inside. TJ was on the ground, motionless, a pool of blood at his head, bloody rock nearby. She cradled him in her arms, holding him close, willing him to be ok. 'You better be ok TJ, you better be.' The five gently picked him up, and carried him off.
"Where should we go, you guys?"
"I dunno Mikey, where can we go?"
"How about Fort Tender?"
"Good idea Vince."
They laid him out on the floor of the fort, with Spinelli's jacket as a pillow.
"It's important to keep pressure on the wound Spinelli, it'll stop the bleeding."
"That's the third time you've told me that, I got it already."
"Chill Spin, you two Gretch, this is hard for all of us, don't be all up at each other's throats, would TJ want that?"
Spinelli knew that Vince was right. She just cradled his head in her arms, with her jacket on the wound, pressing sown, trying to stop the bleeding, with four words running through her head over and over. 'You better be ok, you better be ok, you better be ok, you better be ok, you better be okay.'