I was inspired by a very lovely picture done by StarryHeavenDragon called "Not The End and Not Alone" on Deviantart.
It seems a lot of people are very disappointed in the demo for Balan Wonderworld that was released and there has been a lot of negative comments on it. But what many don't realize is that the creators didn't have to release a demo of the game at all to see if we'd like it and because it's a demo, there's bound to be a few bugs and the creators are no doubt working to make the final product the best that it can be.
I personally loved watching the demo and can't wait for the whole game to be released. :) Plus I just love Balan. For those of you that want the final game, please take the negative comments people are putting up with a grain of salt. The creators have given us the wonderful games of Sonic and NiGHTS Into Dreams and those are some awesome games. :) Remember how Sonic first turned out and how he's improved over the years? It will be the same for Balan Wonderworld, a game that is sorely needed in these trying times.
Okay, I've rambled enough. My point is, there might be a few bumps in the road, but the journey will be worthwhile. :)
Now, on with the story! Balan Wonderworld belongs to Square Enix.
Here For You Like You're Here For Us
Balan let out a sad sigh, feeling a bit down as he sat in a chair. When he looked around at the world, he saw that there was a lot of sadness, so much so that people didn't seem to want to let go of it. This worried him greatly as he knew Lance was just waiting to pounce and bring out the sadness and darkness in people's hearts.
Surprisingly, Lance had been rather quiet for today, which was fine with the maestro. He removed his hat and sighed again. "Will it really be enough?" He asked himself. "Can Emma and Leo really save everyone?"
It was surprising that he was doubting himself, but he was feeling a bit sad himself. Some Tims came up to him and cuddled with him and he smiled gently at their efforts to comfort him. "I'll be alright," he said gently, but his voice still had a sad note to it.
He suddenly heard the front door open and blinked, standing up and putting on his hat before going to the hallway to see Emma looking around and she looked relieved when she saw him. "Balan! There you are!" She said, running up to him and hugging him. "I was so worried about you."
He returned the hug and smiled. "Oh, Emma, you shouldn't be worried about me," he said gently.
"But Balan...I know you can feel it," she protested lightly. "There's a lot of sadness going around today. I don't know why, but it is."
He nodded, his face a small frown. "Yes, it is," he said. "So many sad ones." He sighed. "And the fate of everything rests in yours and Leo's hands."
The teenage girl had never seen the maestro looking this forlorn and she fell deep into thought before an idea hit her. "Balan, I'll be right back," she said before heading out, hoping to find Leo.
Leo was looking around for Emma and Balan's theater, knowing that all this sadness was worrisome. "Leo!" He heard and looked to see Emma running towards him. He caught up to her and looked at her.
"It's Balan, isn't it?" He asked.
She nodded. "He's feeling really sad," she said. "But I have an idea."
"You do?" He asked.
She nodded. "How does Balan cheer us up when we're sad?"
"Well, he tickles us and sometimes puts on a show for us," the boy said before understanding dawned on him. "We could do a show for him."
"Yeah!" Emma said happily. "And he's really ticklish."
"Really?" Leo asked in surprise.
She giggled. "Especially his underarms," she said. "Come on. Let's go. We can use some of the costumes we got from helping those people out."
The boy nodded. "Okay," he said, glad he had brought along his music with him. "Lead the way."
The two headed back for the theater and Leo looked through the costumes, finding the Pumpkin Puncher one. Smiling, he put it on and tested to see if it was good for dancing. Pleased when he saw that it was, he saw Emma come out in the Web Wrangler costume. She had already gotten the spider webs set up. "Okay, so I was thinking of doing aerial acrobatics," she said.
"And I can do some dancing," he said. "We can combine the two."
"Yeah!" She said in agreement. "Maybe I can lift you up to the webs?"
"And I can dance on them," Leo nodded. "I can catch you if you drop down."
She nodded. "And then perhaps we can do something neat for a grand finale," she said.
"How about I pose in a finishing pose and you drop down on my shoulders and pose too?"
Emma nodded before they did a few practice runs, the steps they wanted to do coming to them naturally. The Tims hopped about in excitement as this was the first time the kids would be doing a show instead of Balan.
Leo nodded after seeing they had the routine down. "Okay, we're ready," he said. "Do you think you could toss out some webs and pull Balan from his seat into a web and we could tickle him then?"
The teenage girl giggled. "I can do that," she said.
"Okay," he said before looking at the Tims. "Can you guys go get Balan?"
Chirpring, they headed off to do so while Emma took her place on top of a tall pole that was used for tightrope walkers while Leo stood in a ready pose in the middle of the stage, the music ready to start the moment Balan sat down.
The tall being heard the Tims coming and looked as they chirped in excitement and began talking. He tilted his head to the side. "I'm needed in the main auditorium?" He asked curiously. "What for?"
The Tims chirped again and he blinked. "There's a new act I must see?" He asked and they nodded. "Well...alright. Perhaps I can include this new act into one of my shows."
The Tims could see that the prospect of seeing a new act was filling Balan with some hope and he followed them to the main auditorium, sitting down in a chair as he looked to the stage, blinking when he saw Leo in the Pumpkin Puncher costume on the stage and Emma in the Web Wrangler costume standing on a high platform. "Leo? Emma?" He asked in surprise.
Just then, music began playing and Leo started dancing, his moves fluid and flawless while Emma did the trapeze artist act, taking deep breaths and swinging gracefully before using the webs like trampolines to do some trick flips and such. She then sent out a couple web lines and pulled Leo up to one of the web, to which he kept dancing and the girl kept doing tricks before Leo crouched down and Emma landed lightly on his shoulders, keeping her balance before backflipping off of the boy's shoulders and Leo caught a web line, ziplining down gracefully and jumping down when he was close enough and falling into a perfect breakdance move, holding one arm up and catching Emma as she dropped down before he gave her a push with one of his Pumpkin Puncher fists and she flew back up to the webs, continuing the trapeze act.
Balan was absolutely mind blown at how the kids were doing this and all without magic. Just the costumes and what looked to be natural talent. He had known the two were special when they first walked into his theater and he could now see that they were more than just special.
They were extraordinary.
Leo then finished in a crouch with his arms crossed, indicating the end of his dance and Emma dropped down and landed lightly on the boy's shoulders and posed too just as the music ended. It was quiet for a bit before Balan smiled and began clapping, standing up. "That was magnificent!" He said, feeling better from watching the amazing show.
Leo looked up. "There's one more part of the act," he said as Emma slid off his shoulders and quickly climbed back up to the tightrope stand, going over to one of the larger webs and getting ready.
"Oh?" The tall being asked with a smile. "What is it?"
He suddenly felt something wrap around him and pull him up to the web where Emma was and he landed lightly on it, sticking to the web. The girl giggled. "The final part of the act is...," she trailed off before helping Leo up to the web.
"Chasing away your sadness," Leo said, grinning. "Using something you've used on us multiple times."
Balan's eyes widened before he began laughing as the kids began tickling his underarms, making him arch his back in an attempt to escape, but the web held him in place. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" Emma said teasingly.
"We've got you, Balan!" The teenage boy said with a laugh. "Never would have thought you were ticklish until Emma told me."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KIHIHIHIHIDS!" The tall being laughed out, squirming. "NOHOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHEHEHEHEHERE! THAHAHAHAT'S MY WOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHORST SPOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOT!"
The teenage girl giggled. "We know, silly," she said as she kept tickling his left underarm with one hand and tickled his stomach with her free hand. Leo kept tickling Balan's right underarm and his free hand tickled the being's ribs.
Balan felt like his eyes would almost pop out of his head as the tickling sensation grew and he laughed even harder, a squeak occasionally slipping in as he continued laughing. The Tims, seeing their guardian was laughing, chirped happily and Emma brought up a few of them with her webbing, giggling as they headed over to Balan and began snuggling against his neck, to which he squeaked again, unable to scrunch up his neck because of the Tims.
After a bit, Leo and Emma felt Balan had had enough and let him up. The maestro took some deep breaths before sitting up, cuddling the Tims with a smile before pulling the two kids into a big hug. "Thank you both," he said. "When I first saw you two enter my theater, I knew you'd be the ones to help everyone."
They both smiled. "And we're here for you, Balan," Emma said, snuggling into his side.
"Just like how you're here for us," Leo said with a nod. "You've helped us when we felt down, so it was now our turn to return the favor."
Balan chuckled, hugging them both again. "Thank you," he said again. "I don't know what I'd do without you two."
"I don't either," Emma admitted. "You're needed, Balan, and not just for us."
"For everyone," Leo said. "Never forget that."
"I won't," the maestro said before gathering both of them in his arms and stepping off the spider web, landing lightly on the stage before he looked at them. "Would you two be willing to help me with a show?"
"Sure!" Emma said, smiling.
"You bet!" Leo said, smiling too.
Balan smiled and hugged them again, grateful to have such good friends in his life.
Please give Balan some love. :)
And please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
