Tatanga was sitting at his desk, staring out of the window in his room, watching the rain starting to fall. He thought it was beautiful, but his expression sure didn't show it. His face had a blank, unemotional stare for a long time now. Tatanga knew about this though, but he accepted it since he thought he couldn't feel any kind of emotion whatsoever.

He noticed two girls walking towards his house. They were both carrying umbrellas and had backpacks. Tatanga immediately recognized who these two were.

"It's her and her friend again...why does she always come to my house every week? Our conversations are very short and I can always tell that she's frustrated with trying to get me to 'be happy.' I can't just be happy. But I can't just be sad or angry either. I feel nothing...I AM nothing. Isn't nothing better than having to feel pain and cry your eyes out for hours on end? Isn't nothing better than having to have so much rage inside you and make people think that you're some psycho? Being happy...no such thing as that anymore these days. We are born, forced to go to school and pressured to abide by society's rules, struggle with finding a job, finding a partner who always has a chance of cheating on you, grow old, and then die. Not really my idea of a happy world," Tatanga said to himself in the same tone all the way through.

The sound of the front door opening then closing was heard. The two girls entered. Tatanga didn't really care that they didn't knock on the door, because one of them has been here so many times that she really doesn't feel the need to do it anymore. Tatanga sighed and walked over to his bed. He laid down, waiting for his friend to come in.

The door opened and in came a Toad girl with shiny black hair that barely went past her shoulders with side bangs. She walked over to Tatanga's desk and sat down at the chair.

"Hey Tatanga...how are you feeling today?" She politely asked.

"The same as usual, Rena. How about you?" Tatanga asked back, not bothering to look at her.

"I think I'm coming down with a cold...ugh, just another reason to hate winter I guess! Anyways, I brought you the homework from school once again. We also have to write an essay about overprotective parents for English class. It's due next week on Wednesday," Rena explained and handed Tatanga a yellow packet. Tatanga slowly grabbed it from her, opened it up, and dropped the contents on to his bed.

"Fun..." was all he said, almost in a depressing voice. "So...how come you brought your friend over? What was her name again...was it Yuki?"

"Yeah, that's her name. I brought her over because after this, we're gonna go to the library to do a research project for History class," Rena explained.

Tatanga didn't reply, he just stared at the school work he got. Rena sighed, looking a bit annoyed. It honestly seemed like a job for her to go to his house every week, give him the school work he needs, and ask him how's he doing, all for very little response. Tatanga could tell for a while that Rena wanted to give up on him, but since she was too nice, she had to put up a front and act like a caretaker.

"Hey...can I ask you something? What color are your dreams? Are they just...colored?" Tatanga asked, staring at the ceiling.

Rena raised her eyebrows, probably thinking that it was a very random and weird question. "Um...yeah, I guess. Why?"

"My dreams are in black and white...they're always in white and black. Nothing ever seems to have life in it. Nothing exciting ever happens. I'm starting to wonder why I even have them in the first place if they have no meaning or life..." Tatanga said.

Rena didn't reply, but she kept her eyebrows raised and thought about what he said. It's like Tatanga didn't even have a soul, he was lifeless...and his dreams reflected that, apparently.

"Well...I better get going now. I really hope you come back to school soon. I want you to graduate with me and be happy, you know?" Rena said as she got up and started to head out.

There was that word again. Happy. The word itself made Tatanga feel a little nauseous.

"Hey, you know what I really wish for?" Tatanga spoke, making Rena stop in her tracks and turn around to him. "I want a...time machine. So I can go back to being who I was before. Or maybe something that can make me powerful...and unstoppable. Something that would make me feel on top of the world. But...that's never gonna happen, is it? It's something that only exists in our dreams."

"You CAN go back to your old self, Tatanga. You just need to push yourself to it. Nothing's ever going to be done just by you laying there all day," Rena pointed out.

"Don't you get it, Rena? This is me now. Obviously, life has turned a huge direction for me and this is what it wants me to become. My fate is sealed to be like this. If it wasn't, then I wouldn't have gotten into this situation in the first place," Tatanga explained.

Rena just shook her head, thinking that he was being ridiculous and weak. She walked out of his room and shut the door.

"So how did it go? Is he doing okay?" Yuki asked. Tatanga could hear her from beyond his door. Even though he was on the second floor and they were probably talking on the floor below, he had good hearing. Tatanga met Yuki a few times before, because of Rena introducing her to him. She and Rena look like they could be sisters actually, which amused him back then. Only difference is that Yuki has longer hair, puffy cheeks, and smaller eyes.

"If by 'okay' you mean lifeless and unenthusiastic about everything, then yeah," Rena scowled.

"Geez, what the hell is up with that dude? What made him so distant these past two months?" Yuki asked.

"If you wanna know, then I'll tell you. Tatanga told me everything...Tatanga was raised by two parents in a small apartment at a complex in downtown Chai City. His dad got a better job and became extremely successful so the family moved to this house. Everything was going perfect for them until his mom and dad started arguing and fighting a lot. They became distant and cold to each other until one day, Tatanga's mom said she was going out to go shopping...but she never came back. His dad, distressed by this, then also became distant and cold to Tatanga and because there was no second income coming in to pay off the house, his dad had to work more hours during the week to make ends meet, which meant that Tatanga only saw his dad a few hours per week basically..." Rena told the story.

"Oh my goodness...poor guy, he's really had it rough, hasn't he? I just wish there's something we can do to make him feel better..." Yuki gasped, trying to take in the sad story.

"But it doesn't end there. While all of that was going on, Tatanga was almost killed twice. The first time was this past summer. Tatanga got involved in drug dealing because he thought that drugs would be a perfect escape from his dramatic home life. Unfortunately, he got caught in with a lot of shady people and ended up getting beaten to near death because he had no idea what he was doing, being new to the drug business and all. He was left there for a while, but somehow managed to drag himself home and told his dad this, but he didn't care apparently. He told me his dad said 'Well, you deserve it for getting involved in that shit!' That's one of the most awful things you could ever say to your kid. The second time happened two months ago. He was driving his car that his dad bought for him and I guess he wasn't paying attention to the road, so he crashed into a van and his car rolled down a hill and into a lake. He was knocked out from the impact, so he couldn't get out right away. He said that he saw his life flash before his eyes and really thought that it was going to be it for him. Luckily, he managed to save himself by getting out of the car, but...it seems like that was the final straw for him. Ever since then, he's become distant and lifeless..." Rena finished up the story.

"My god...I don't know what to say...but, going through all that crap can definitely change a person for the worse. He needs therapy, Rena. He can't just stay like that forever!" Yuki sounded like she was about to cry.

"I know he does, but he's convinced that he can't be helped because he's too far gone now. Maybe he really is..." Rena led on.

Tatanga didn't want her to tell Yuki that story. The only reason he told Rena the story is because she constantly asked every single day so he gave in. No one else needed to know about what he went through. He thought that since now Yuki knows everything, she'll either wanna try to help and invade his personal space, or avoid him like the plague and only pretend to care when it's convenient for her. For the first time in two months, Tatanga actually felt a bit angry. This emotion overwhelmed him since it was gone for so long. He had forgotten what it was like to feel anger, to be mad at someone. He absolutely hated what he was feeling, but no matter how hard he tried, he could feel the anger still there. He had to do something about it.


"TATANGA!" Yelled a familiar voice.

"Wha-AH!" The alien yelled and fell off his bed. He quickly got up and saw Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss stand there in the doorway of his room.

"Oh! It's you three...what the hell are you doing in my room? I told you guys to knock on the door if you needed to see me!" He yelled in frustration.

"Um...we DID knock on the door. But you were taking forever to answer so we just decided to come in...I assume you were taking a nice nap?" Doopliss said.

Tatanga looked at him in confusion for a few seconds. He must've been really deep in that dream if he couldn't hear anything from the outside world.

"I see...yes, I was taking a nap. But that doesn't matter right now. What do you guys want?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"We came to tell you that our mission to retrieve the platinum gem at Luigi's mansion had...um...failed. That stupid group of heroes were more powerful than we imagined! One of them was this big ape who punched me square in the face! How dare he hit an old woman like that!?" Beldam complained.

Tatanga wasn't sure if he wanted to feel angry or disappointed about this. Perhaps he had underestimated the heroes after all...

"Don't worry about it, you guys. They only have two gems, they still have seven more to go, so there's still plenty of time to stop them. Unfortunately, I have no idea where the hell the next location of the gem is. What I saw from what Merlon told those guys was that the third gem is in a large city where there are 'odd looking' creatures and people have these creatures as their pets. I have no idea where exactly this place is, actually, I'm not even sure if it's in this world! So, Beldam and Marilyn, I want you two to go back to where you captured Merlon and see if you can find more information about where the gems are in the next worlds. Bring Dimentio along with you too. Try not to get caught as well, because if you do, I'm sure all hell would break loose and there's a chance that you guys might be overpowered by the people there," Tatanga instructed.

"Wait, how come I can't go with them!? I'm just as strong and sly as those two are...if I put the effort in!" Doopliss said, trying too hard to sound tough.

"Because I need you to go around the island and make sure everything is where it should be. We have to be prepared in case a huge group of those bastards comes onto this island and tries to blow this place down. We can't take any risks," Tatanga answered.

"Well, not to sound offensive or lazy or anything like that, but why can't you go over there and find the info yourself? I'm sure you could easily destroy those assholes and get the info much quicker than we could!" Beldam pointed out.

"Because first off, despite how much more powerful the scepter that I have is, I can't teleport anywhere. Believe me, I've tried and nothing happens. Secondly, I have to supervise the 'machine' that's being worked on. I want to make sure everything is going according to plan," Tatanga clarified.

"Oh yeah...teleportation. I could've sworn with the power up we did on that scepter, that ability would've been usable, but I guess not. It's tricky to do anyways and can take a lot of you. Okay, me and Marilyn will get Dimentio and then we'll go. We'll see you later!" Beldam said and then she and Marilyn disappeared into the shadows.

"I guess I better get going too. Peace!" Doopliss said and ran off.

Tatanga was relieved that they were gone, because he could now have a moment to himself.

"Why did I have that dream? Why was it a continuation from last time? I was hoping that I'd never be able to remember that terrible part of my life ever again. Why is it coming back now? This needs to stop. I need to do something to keep my mind off of that bullshit!" Tatanga angrily said to himself and then stomped out of his room.


Grodus was in his room, staring at his shoe on the floor, with the black magic book open on his lap. He was focusing on it very carefully, putting all of his energy towards it.

"...Levitatus..." He softly spoke. He waited a minute, but absolutely nothing happened. Grodus tried to keep himself from getting frustrated.

"Levitatus!" He said louder this time. Still, nothing happened. He got more frustrated and impatient with this.

"LEVITATUS!" Grodus screamed now, and suddenly the shoe shot up in the air which almost scared the life out of him. The shoe was simply floating right in front of him and Grodus started to smile and laugh. He calmed down and focused on the shoe, floating it towards him ever so carefully. He grabbed it and laughed again.

"I did it...it actually worked! I can make stuff float...I knew the dark arts wouldn't let me down," Grodus said in excitement. He then put his focus on the book.

"Levitatus!" He said and the book slowly floated up in the air. He moved it to where he can read the text better with his mind. He laughed once more, feeling very accomplished.

"This is perfect. I can't believe this is actually working! Now then...let's see what other kind of magic I can do..." Grodus said, still keeping that smile on his face. He managed to turn a few pages of the book just using his mind. This excited him even more. He hasn't felt this satisfied in a long time.

His eyes lit up when he found something that was also of use.

"Huh, what is this? It's called Ultrices, the ability to shoot electricity from your hands, also known as electrokinesis," Grodus read out loud from the book. "Interesting...let's try it out!"

He extended his right arm out and pointed his fingers to the door. "ULTRICES!"

Suddenly, a small ray of electricity shot out from his fingers and bounced all over the room. Grodus screamed and ducked, shocked that it all happened so fast. The electric ray kept bouncing off the walls until it smashed through his window, leaving a little hole.

Grodus smiled again. He was having success in using these magics and it made him feel strong, which is a feeling he almost forgot about.

"This is just excellent! God, with this book, I can practically do anything that I want to...I can even get revenge with this! Heh heh heh, but I'm gonna need more practice though. It's going to take a lot of energy and power to take Tatanga down..." Grodus said to himself, already scheming and planning out what he could do.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Grodus jumped at the sounds. He hurriedly slid the dark arts book under his book.

"Uhh, come in!" He called out, trying to calm himself down. It was Tatanga who came in, which made him even more nervous.

"Grodus, I need you to do something..." He asked.

"W-what is it?" Grodus replied, expecting the worst.

"I need you to help Doopliss with checking out the island, making sure is everything is placed where it should be, just in case some 'invasion' happens by chance," Tatanga said.

"Oh! S-sure, I'll get on that right away!" Grodus replied.

"Good. Now, there's else something else I need to tell you..." Tatanga led on. Grodus almost wanted to roll his eyes, because he wanted Tatanga to be gone already.

"Yes? What is it?"

"It's...well...umm...nevermind. It's nothing. Don't worry about it. I gotta go," Tatanga awkwardly replied and started to head out. This confused Grodus a bit.

"Tatanga? Is there something wrong?" He asked.

Tatanga stopped in his tracks and sighed, not bothering to look at him. "Let's just say it has to do with family...but I doubt you'd understand because you never had a family anyways." He coldly said and exited the room, shutting the door.

Grodus couldn't believe what he just said. That really hit him in the heart. How dare he say something so cruel?

Grodus clenched his fist, feeling the rage grow inside of him. He wanted to kill Tatanga. He was nothing but a cold and selfish bastard who tried to put down anybody who he viewed as weak. Grodus let out an angry scream and stomped the ground. The window suddenly shattered in full which made him jump. He looked at the now open window, surprised that he just did that.

EOC.

Just to clarify, the flashback scenes take place in Chai City, Sarasaland. Chai City is just a fictional name I created for story purposes only. Next chapter will be the variety show.