The Rage Beat

By Brian Nguyen

Hey there, it's me, Tiny Heartilly. Yeah, Nicole's big brother. I'm just sitting here waiting for Nicole and Zack since I only came over to visit them. That prick Leo told me that they went out for a walk. Gee, I should of known those lovebirds would be out there. What the fuck are they up to? I'm just sitting here, worrying about my sister… Shit, I need a beer. Anyways, yeah, I only waited until finally, the doorbell rung so I bolted to the door and opened it…

WHAT THE FUCK! There stood Zack with my sister in his arms. "I'm sorry Tiny," all Zack could say. I couldn't hold my anger! I shook Zack and screamed, "What the fuck is wrong with you! I trusted you with my sister!" Zack only stood there emotionless. Leo came scurrying down and once he saw Nicole, he freaked! Nicole… I took her away from Zack and carried her to her room. Why did you have to die on me? Only 21... I felt tears welt up in my eyes. I heard Zack come in. "Damn it Zack, why now?" He only stood there. The usual of Zack… I turned to him and pushed him with my index finger. "You better find out who did this, or else I'm gonna skin you for letting my sister die…" I threatened. We only glared at each other, but the sight of Nicole in bed broke Zack's glare. "Sure…" he muttered and headed off. I turned back to Sis. "I will too, just for you…" I turned and slowly shut the door.

I jumped downstairs where Zack, Leo, and Asuka stood. I looked at every single one of them. I slammed my fist together and said, "Okay guys, we need to find this son of a bitch who did this." They all nodded, all at the same time when Eric just came into the house. "Where the hell have you been?" I remarked. Eric looked around in bewilderment, "Where's Nicole?" Nicole… Everyone looked down (except Zack), so I explained, "She's dead…" "WHAT!" I let out a huge sigh. "Dude, you heard me, she's dead, you can check in her room…" And with that, Eric sprinted up to Nicole's room. I looked at everyone and smack the ground with my metal knuckles. Damn… "Let's go…" I muttered and got outside. It was snowing a little more now than this morning. I could only think about Sis and I…

I was born on December 9, 1980. You could call me one of those kids that was hard to handle since I had a major temper (and still do today.) I craved for a fight back then. I fought even kids double my size and that was fun. Then when I was nine years old, Nicole was born in March 10, 1989. She is a great little sister, I should know since I have been there for her except when I became 18. When I was 18, I was drafted into the army in the Nivida War. There, I fought many battles, but one I can't seem to get out of my mind… It was the Battle of Zeon… There we fought in Toronto, Canada… The enemy had taken refuge in the buildings, so we bombed them until one day; they made a surprise attack on us! We fought back gallantly and only lost one person… That one person was in front of me. He got in my way when I blasted away… I killed him because of friendly fire… His name was Leon Lionheart… Yeah you guessed it, Zack and Eric's father… I couldn't believe it… That image will always stay with me…

I forgot one more thing… My mother, Julia, was a beautiful singer and a great mom, died giving birth to another girl in February 20, 1998. We never found out who she was since the government took her away from us. We never even learned her name… One day, our dad told me that if life were really that simple, than maybe someday it would be better. But he is a general, so he knows what it's like to be in battle. I cursed at my relation with him though. Mom was much more caring and not as bitchy about some issues today. Fuck him. I didn't care what he thought, so I began exploring the world. Yeah that's right, I went around the world, hopefully to find out what the hell was out there for me. Nicole and I sent each other e-mails a lot, so being lonely wasn't so harsh. I never did like to admit it, but Nicole reminds me of Mom sometimes. She is like the one whom freaking cares about everyone. But she wasn't the only person I cared about most…

Around 2007, I met Asuka in Okinawa, Japan. Of course I took Japanese class in military school in case. But who knew that it would come in handy finding the girl of my dreams. I mean, she was in shape, smart, damn hot, and athletic, not to mention she had some awesome strengths. Asuka (I still don't know her last name) was a female ninja who was banned from her clan a while ago. I guess I was like her savior or something, but never to mention that she can kick some ass (even my own!) I remember that day when I asked her to come home with me (and of course, it was in Japanese, so I'll have to translate the fucking conversation.)

"Asuka!" I called out to her before she left the Toko Temple.

"What is it Tiny?" she turned, unveiling her beautiful face before putting on that mask.

"I wanted to ask you something before we go…"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering…would you come back home with me for a few years?"

"Um, you sure about that Tiny?"

"Damn right, I'm sure about this!"

"Oh?"

"Dammit Asuka, you know I love you!" I busted out of my gut.

"…!"

"And I want you to see what is like where I live, you'd love it!"

Asuka just looked at me and took a damn long time to think about this. "Well?" I spoke impatiently since my plane was leaving in ten minutes! "Tiny, I believe that you would rather be alone…" WHAT THE FUCK? Where did she get that message? "I don't want to leave you or be alone!" I cried, "Why would I ever do that?" Asuka giggled in amusement. "What the hell is so funny?" I grumbled. I just didn't see anything. "I just needed you to prove it to me, and so you have," she nodded in approval and gave me a peck on the cheek. Damn fine peck I have to admit. "So is that a yes?" I spoke idiotically. "Yes Tiny, only for a year though," Asuka threatened. I laughed out loud and gave her a huge lift. This was probably the best day of my life by far!

Over the years, I'm stuck here with Zack, Eric, Leo, Moe, Asuka, and myself in a world full of mayhem and the damn Devil had caused pain for all of us in one point. I admitted that I had fallen for Asuka, who is like the hottest chick on Earth to me, and my little sister Nicole, who could never be taken away from me. But now, it seems like my nightmare has come true…

"Tiny, you're coming with me…" ordered Zack with a nearly inaudible voice. "Damn right, I'm coming along!" I barked at him. I soon got into his blood; red Dodge Viper (I have to admit, he has some bitchy cars,) and we drove off, hoping that we could find Reptile around here on Earth. If you never knew Reptile, I'll have to tell you another damn long story, so shut the fuck up and listen to who Reptile really is…

Many people believe there is a superior being like God or Buddha or some other shit. No! They are all combined into one being. The real dude you don't want to mess with. His attitude reminds me of everyone here! Of course, he's the creator of the Universe. Hell, he might as well be called "God." But, he works for the light side, I can tell you that for sure. He has saved all of our Asses when we got dragged into this complex world. Reptile has guided us through our lives, and we don't even know it! He is a real party crapper though. Kinda like Zack, only more…humorous. He loves everyone, yet hates him or her as well. I can't blame him, he created us all, or in a way. It just all began 100 quadrillion years ago…

100 quadrillion years ago is one hell of a time for Reptile. The new creator had just created life, and all Hell broke loose. Literally… Satan was born, by Reptile's own hands. He had no intention in doing so, but I guess it had to do with this entire Destiny shit. Anyways, Reptile and Satan got into a huge Universal War, which included Nicole's god-uncle (whatever the hell that is.) Her god-uncle was known as Acrimus Demoius. But we all know him nowadays as Jack. Simple and easy to pronounce. So, Jack and Reptile teamed up with their army of soldiers who look like robotic humans with a near invincible exoskeleton (if you ever played Halo, it's kinda like Master Chiefs except that's a freaking old game!) The War raged on for billions of years and with some spare time, who knows why, but Reptile created Earth, probably as a last haven for something good to happen. Also, He created Angels, his ultimate soldiers of light. I'm guessing that's where Nicole's Guardian Force comes from. But Hell, the Devil himself, created these Demons, led by his Hell Knights. I'll be damned since those "things" give one heck of a duel. This has been going on even to this day. I'm guessing that Zack, Eric, Nicole, Asuka, Leo, Moe, Jack, and myself are like Earth's last defenders from Satan's path of destruction (which I wish I was never involved in…)

Okay, back to the exciting shit, no need for some damn explanations anymore. Zack and I were whizzing through heavy traffic on Interstate 95. "Zack, do you even have a single clue where that prick, Reptile, is?" I questioned while Zack was going 140 mph through the highway. "Maybe…" was all his answer was. What is your problem Zack? "Well, then head on to him!" I barked as Zack pushed the pedal even more. I looked over at the speedometer, and it said, "190 mph." Damn! I have to admit, I was nervous that Zack and I would end up in a pile of scrap metal in this car! Civilian car's horns kept squealing as we past by in blinding speeds. "Dammit Zack, don't you think you should at least slow down a bit?" I flared. "No…" he muttered and hit the pedal even harder. I'm guessing it's the drive to get Nicole back… Finally, Zack hit the brakes hard! I nearly rammed into the shitty dashboard and the clear windshield. "What the fuck, Zack?" I cursed. "We're here…" is all he said and pointed at a place full of…nothing? "WHAT THE HELL!" I cussed and shook Zack, "You brought us to nothing!" He shook his head and kicked me away. "You better have a good reason for bring us here then, and where are we?" I asked with a pinch of annoyance in my voice.

"You're on my hood now…"

"EEK!" I cried and turned to see Reptile! He was in his human form, which I have to say, he looks like Zack, except older, much brighter and no scar.

"Surprised?" Reptile snickered.

"Hell no, just your face got in the way." I teased.

"Whatever, so Zack, you came here for help?"

"Yeah…" he murmured.

"Well all I can tell you is that your assassin is now dead…"

"How?" I was astonished.

"I murdered it."

"It?"

"Yeah, one of Devil's demons…"

"Damn…"

"Why, you were expecting something?"

"No fuck, I did!"

"Quiet down Tiny, Reptile, how the heck will Nicole come back?" Zack questioned.

Reptile looked a bit into the sky and pointed out there were a couple of ways, including one called Time Compression. The others sounded like shit to me since they were basically impossible. But as long as we had Reptile, Time Compression was gonna be a breeze.

Reptile explained the simple process. It goes like this: 1) Asuka, Zack, Eric, Emma, Leo, Moe, and myself would go through the portal made by Reptile. 2) We would come back home. 3) Save Nicole's soul. 4) And get the hell back to our hood, except the only thing is that it was risky since Satan's army was probably searching for her too. Damn Him!

About 20 hours later (more like a day), I was killing for a hot dog! We were waiting for Reptile to appear and get us to Nicole… "What is taking that shit-head so long?" I grumbled to Leo. "Heck, I don't know that question Tiny," Leo squeaked, "He is probably doing something important." I snickered at Leo's lame thoughts. Suddenly, a huge gale blew at us and Reptile walked out of the smoke. "What the hell took you so long?" I asked with a bit of annoyance. He ignored me and spoke, "So, are we all ready?" Eric smirked and nodded for everyone. "So let's go…" muttered Zack, the usual way. I rolled my eyes in dismay, but who cares about acts, let's go!

Reptile began chanting some freaky voodoo shit and began glowing. Holy Crap! What the hell is going on? Suddenly, the world around us shrunk into the void of black, and here we all stood, looking at Reptile as he kept to himself. Then, BAM! I felt myself leave my body, and I was like "Fuck, we're gonna be on one hell of a ride!" Finally, I was reabsorbed into my body and the world came back to normal. "What the?" Leo began. We were back at home? How? Moe exclaimed, "Holy crap! Nothing happened!" Reptile finally looked up and spoke in an freaky, low, cold voice, "Welcome back to 2011." Everyone was astonished, except Zack obviously (Mr. Oh, I'm too cool for you all.) "Damn…" I muttered…

"Who's there?" a familiar voice called from inside. Huh? I turned to see Nicole open the door and peek outside. "Hey!" I exclaimed. I also let out a sigh of relief that my sister is still ok (well in this time period.) "Wha?" Nicole said in bewilderment, "What are you all doing outside?" Everyone froze. Ack! I forgot! Nicole wasn't in the Time Compression thing. Damn. "Uh, we are just checking out the cool garden." Leo smiled and everyone else nodded. "Oh, well get inside, it's gonna rain soon." said Nicole. Just as she said that, a sound of thunder roared in the distance. "Good idea," I remarked; so we went inside.

It was freaking weird being back home one year in the past. I sat down at the kitchen table with Asuka, Leo, Eric and Nicole. Zack was leaning against the wall as usual. "I'm glad to see you guys again," Nicole smiled, "I just went shopping for all of our Thanksgiving party!" WHAT! I turned and looked at the calendar hanging on the kitchen doorway. November 21, 2011! Fuck… The hairy bastard was jabbering again, or better known as Leo after ten minutes. "I just saw the solar eclipse last night as in 2012 and by then, I was blah blah blah…" I didn't want to hear about his lame old crap. "YOU HAIRY ASSHOLE," I shouted out to him, "GET THE HELL OVER HERE!" "Coming!" Leo responded while running. "OFGH!" I heard him screech. Huh? "Leo?" I poked my head out of the door to see Leo down on the bottom of the stairs. "Ha, that's what you get for taking so fucking long you bitch," I sneered and walked out. Leo got up and brushed himself off. "Ow, dang that hurt," Leo expressed, "What?" I grumbled in disgust. "What?" he pushed. "Never mind…" I groaned and went back to cleaning the dishes.

Three hours later, I was sitting in my room, reading my journal over and over again (yeah I have a journal, got a problem?) Suddenly, the door behind me squeaked open. I turned to see Asuka standing there, smiling. "Oh, hey," I managed to say in Japanese while staring (Don't worry, this is translated.) She giggled, "I came here to see what you are up to." Then she sat on my bed, looking at my journal. "Yeah, well," I began stumbling on my words, "I'm just working on my journal, nothing big." She looked at me suspiciously, as if I was a two-headed demon with flaring hands. "What?" I was bewildered, looking all around. "I thought I saw something outside of that window," she pointed, "but it disappeared in those trees." Huh? I looked out my window, only to see nothing at all. "You know what?" I murmured, "I need to take a nap." I jumped onto my good old bed that felt damn fine. "Oh okay," Asuka said, "I'll go and get some food because our refrigerator is basically empty." "Uh huh…" I could barely speak, since by then, I drifted away…

Suddenly a loud scream woke me up quickly. What the fuck? I jumped up and ran out of the door. Whoa! I stood outside to see a man in black with a weird gas mask-like holding Nicole hostage! Dammit! There stood Zack, Leo, and Eric with their weapons drawn. "What took you so long?" Leo asked. "Asleep…" I muttered as I extended my claws out and growled in displeasure… But then, I felt like retracting my claws (which I did) and rushed at the weird freak. I roared in anger as he tried to cover himself with Nicole (The shit-head coward.) I quickly swooped aside and landed at hard hammer fist to his head. You could actually hear the crunching of his skull. The black dude released Nicole, who fell forward, to Eric… I growled, "You freak…what are you THINKING!" He was obviously working for Satan… I swung my foot around and caught him by the jaw that made black blood sputter out of the mask of his. Then I pounced on him, beating the shit out of his face. "Tiny," Leo pleaded, "That's enough, he's dead!" I finally controlled my rage and got up. The guy was laying there lifeless. "So what?" I retorted coldly, "He tried to kill her…" Suddenly, the body began to shake violently. What the hell? It was like having a seizure or something. Then the body burst, revealing a mutilated monster! "Holy Shit!" I exclaimed, "That thing is fucking screwed!" IT had tentacles and freaky-looking skin (You know, like the brown crappy looking skin that freaks you out!) I grumbled in disgust at this horrific sight of what was left of the dude. Leo used his laptop's camera to discover what the hell that thing was… "It's Flujin, an undead monster that is meant to be an assassin for the Devil Fricking weird name and he is totally not the type of thing to fall down so quickly." described Leo. "And how the hell do you know this?" I questioned his details. "It's my laptop," Leo smiled, "Besides, it's great with X-ray vision too!" Thinking of that, Leo has been bringing his laptop around to some bars, looking at chicks…but I never really…damn… "Pervert…" I muttered under my breath. "What was that?" Leo asked while perking up his ears. "Never mind," I growled as I faced the weird demon, fiend, beast, and monster, whatever you call it. Zack and Eric were already battling the thing head on, so why not join the fray? I jumped in and let my fist do the talking, smashing the thing's left rib (Yeah, you could hear the crunching a mile away.) I grinned as Flujin made a weird noise of displeasure from that bone-cracking blow. Then Zack followed up with a brutal slash, making some purple blood rise from the wound. Finally, Eric sort of finished it with a fatal circle slash (You know, the one where the person swings their giant sword around twice, cutting the victim in two, yeah that.) Flujin stumbled back a bit, but lashed back at us with twenty tentacles! It wiped at us like wet towels with acidic stings to them. They hurt like Hell! I roared in pain as seven of them brushed past, giving me a large burn mark on the back. Suddenly, ten tentacles wrapped themselves around me and squeezed the living daylight out! "AGGGHHH!" I yelled in pain! I could barely breath anything! I was gasping for air, as my face became fucking purple. Then as small swish sound whizzed past me and all the tentacles that wrapped around me, released. I dropped to one knee, and looked up. The monster was screaming in pain as ten of its twenty tentacles were cut off, dripping in purple blood. "Damn…" Leo whispered in astonishment. What the hell just saved my ass? I turned to see Asuka standing there with one of her katanas in hand. The other? I looked back to see it stuck inside Flujin's abdomen. "Holy Shit!" I exclaimed, "Accurate hit!" Asuka just smiled and threw the other katana, right into Flujin's head. It dug right through the skull and stabbed its way through the head to the other side. Hell, that sucks to be him. However, the monster was still standing, unfazed by the blow. "GGGRRR," was what it could just say. We regrouped ourselves and attacked that thing again, except this time, Flujin is gonna be jammed…

First, I kneed the monster's stomach, making it puke. Eric came from behind and split it in two. Zack then swung his gunblade hard into the monster's neck, opening up the jugular vein. Asuka helped out by slicing the legs, making it immobilized. Perfect… I summoned all my strength into the soul inside my two hands and clasps them together. I slowly closed my eyes and imagined power, destruction, love and all that shit. "Sekiha Tenkyoken!" I yelled as I aimed my palms at Flujin, exposing a gigantic beam that was gonna go into that thing's face. (Beat that Sucker!) And with that, the huge beam came out and pierced through Flujin's entire body, leaving only dust and smoke. "Simple and clean…" Eric said quietly and headed back home. I grinned with pleasure, knowing that it was all over, and everyone was okay (except for that fucking bitch.)

When we finally got inside, everyone went their separate ways, leaving me and Asuka standing there, looking at the familiar living room that many of us became friends. "I forgot to thank you back there," I said while putting my hands behind my head, "You saved my ass." Asuka turned and looked at me, "It's no problem, just don't into that situation again." I chuckled, "Yeah, I'll try."

"That was freaky how that human could become such a hideous beast."

"Uh huh."

"I mean, you were heroic enough to stand up to It." she smiled at me.

"What?" I was bewildered by that comment, "But what about Eric, Zack, and Leo?"

"Yeah, but who was the one who got me here?"

"Oh…" for a big guy, I blushed!

She nodded and grinned at me, "And thank you."

"Heck, No problem," I smiled back, "Hey, why don't you and I go out to a restaurant and have dinner tonight?"

"Sure."

"Great!" I jumped since I almost wanted to yell since this girl wasn't gonna leave me!

That night, Asuka and me got to one of those offshore restaurants, candle lights, sound of the sea, everything I could wish for! (Except the bill.) I got a large steak, fries, lasagna (my favorite,) and diet Pepsi. It was all good, except Asuka only got a medium salad with water and sushi. She's Japanese, what else can I say? Damn, makes me look like a obnoxious pig. But that fight gave me a very large appetite. I was slurping, crunching, and gobbling everything in front of me. Asuka just her food slowly and quietly. It was astonishing that she could actually space out and ignore all of my bad manners. Being embarrassed by my behavior, I slowed down and tried to quiet down (even though there were some sauce on my fucking good shirt!) "Damn," I cursed, trying to wipe off the stain before it got worse. Asuka just giggled at the sight of me (yeah me,) cleaning my shirt without much luck… "You can clean it once we get home," Asuka finally said after three minutes of watching me still clean. "This is so embarrassing!" I exclaimed, but just then, everyone's head inside the restaurant turned at me. Oh shit… I hate it when my mouth catches the attention (which it usually does!) "Yeah, let's go home…" I murmured.

What a day huh? I wish it would of went better, but hell, you couldn't ask for something more (well, maybe not sauce on my shirt, thank you.) So, you could have guessed that Asuka and me went back home to have a quiet day of relaxation. Yeah, nothing much. I quickly got onto the couch and turned on the darn television. It was only some music videos on MTV, the usual shit. I was bored though, and embarrassed that my date didn't go as planned. I let out a big sigh of disappointed just remembering that little stain and yelling. I wish I could of taken them back, but the damn time doesn't do that, so I'm stuck….Shit!

The next day, I slowly woke up groggily, and I was very grumpy. "Good Morning," said a sweet familiar voice from back in the kitchen. "Ah Hell, good morning," I grumbled as I went into the refrigerator to look for some Florida Orange Juice. There was one, except down to like drips and nothing more. "Damn," I cursed, "Leo drank it all!" "Sorry Tiny, do you want me to get more?" I turned to see my little sister smiling at me. That seemed to be the one that woke me up. "Huh, oh yeah, sure…" I managed to say while shutting the refrigerator door quietly without anger. "Okay, talk to you later," Nicole winked and ran off to go to the market. I always did love my sister. She is the best one I know.

As I waited for Nicole to get the sweet orange juice, I sat at the recliner just looking outside, where it was raining with orange, red, and yellow leaves. Fall time was one of the bests… For some reason, it reminded me of Japan in the fall when I visited it. "Tiny?" I looked back up at the staircase, as Asuka was coming down. I was like "Shit, she is so damn fine!" "Yeah?" I answered back quickly. "What are you up to?" She asked as she sat down next to me. "Hell, I don't know, maybe just waiting for some juice," I smiled, "And probably just being bored as usual." Asuka giggled, "Don't tell me that you are letting your little sister do the shopping again." I laughed and nodded. She shook her head and told me that sometimes, I need to do things myself. Nonetheless, she laid in my arms, and we just began talking about our time together. It was cool, until Nicole came back with some juice and our breakfast. Nicole noticed that Asuka and I were having our alone time, so she left us alone and went into the kitchen. I slowly settled back down and relaxed. There wasn't a care in the world for that moment… "Tiny, I think you better help out your little sister," Asuka said as she got up after a bit (Damn!) "Yeah, sure," I said with a grin and headed into the kitchen. It's cool that life had been okay so far, but it was gonna get better. I can just feel it! (Oh baby!)

Then next morning, I was awaken by Leo's girly cries of pain. What the fuck is going on now! I got up and put on my pants while heading out the door. I found Leo on the ground, in front of the stairs. "Again?" I remarked. "Aw Hell, yeah," Leo groaned as he got back up, "Dang, her butt is nice." I slapped Leo across the head and told him to keep his potty mouth shut. Nicole greeted me with a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Wow, this isn't something I get everyday," I joked. Nicole laughed, "Since you're my brother!" She has a point. Zack walked up stairs and gave us all a cold glare before heading into the kitchen. Eric got out of his room by then, and I was stand in front of the stairs with Nicole around my neck and Leo at my feet. Yup, good morning!

However, that morning didn't last long since Zack called me to go downstairs with him. "Well, this is a first…" I smirked. "…" Zack only kept to himself until we got to Leo's "Secret Laboratory" desk. Zack sat down, meaning business (Kinda like in the Mafia movies.)

"So, why the hell did you bring me down here?" I asked with a bit of impatience.

"It's about Nicole…" Zack said without emotion (always brings chills!)

"Yeah, what about her?"

"The future…"

"Zack, stop speaking in riddles, get to the fucking point!"

"…I'm just concerned about that assassination, and all the experience we had in the next year…"

"Oh, that shit."

"I'm promised her that I would do anything for her…" Zack looked back at the small window, with a dim light shining in.

"Yeah, I think everyone here knows that, Mr. Knight," I snickered.

Zack ignored that comment, "But how can I change the future?"

"Jeez, let's think: One, It's called Destiny, Two:…"

Zack cut me off, "Destiny is meant to be broken, and changed…"

"Not really." I thought aloud.

"…"

"Hey, are you there?"

"Yeah…" Zack must of thought that I wasn't the person to talk to again.

"Yo, we'll worry about it when it comes." I tried to reassure him.

"Yeah, and the future comes in too fast…" He got up and left me sitting in this room, wondering if he was correct. (Damn, something smells funny, Leo's Lab sucks.)

I finally got upstairs to meet Asuka, waiting for me patiently (or from what I can tell.) "I've been waiting for you," Asuka smiled. "Yeah," I winked, "What do you say we head off to Lincoln Park and have a small picnic, just you and me, and please, no sauce." Asuka laughed, "Sure thing." Alright! Kick ass! Tiny

End