Disclaimer: I do not own Alvin and The Chipmunks, nor do I make any money whatsoever from writing and posting this fanfiction.
Chapter 4 – Road of Betrayal
Within the mist he pushed himself closer towards the light that he could almost reach out and touch. He was so close that he could feel air blowing on him. It may have taken him years to close the distance but it was worth it. He was almost out of the mist and the pain had disappeared what felt like weeks ago. Finally he would be free of this cursed place and its darn mist. Who knew maybe someone would be able to tell him what had happened in the years he had been gone.
Reaching his arm forward he smiled and let out a shout of victory as his hand touched the light. Warmth flooded through him but before he could do anything he suddenly found himself being pushed backwards. Something was keeping him from exiting the mist. Struggling with all his might he tried to reach the light once again. But it was no use. The more he struggled the further back he seemed to be pushed.
Growling he pushed harder against the mist. Harder than he had ever tried to push against it before. The light moved an inch closer. Grinning in victory he took another step with all his strength and will behind it. The light moved closer. Struggling he put another foot forward, he would reach the light again.
And this time, he would not be pushed back...
Alvin yawned loudly and slowly before carefully pouring the milk into his cereal bowl. Toby had bought them a new alarm clock while he was out and it worked nicely. It was an alarm clock that used music instead. So he had woken up this morning to listen to himself singing, which had not harmed his ears or put him in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Eating a spoonful of frosted flakes, he wondered what today would bring.
Toby had told them the second days was always better but he just couldn't bring himself to believe that without proof. Alvin nodded absently as Theodore and Simon jumped onto the table and got their own breakfasts. Drinking the milk at the bottom of his bowl, Alvin casually sent lunarium through his veins and tossed his bowl into the sink across the room. He blinked a few times and looked around to make sure Toby hadn't seen. Thankfully Toby was still in Dave's room, likely already on the game system.
He was proven wrong though as Toby walked into the room yawning loudly. He dropped down into a chair and poured himself a bowl of cereal. Alvin, deciding he didn't need to watch his brothers or Toby eat, jumped down from his chair and headed into the bathroom to brush his teeth again and brush his hair. Sighing as he ran the brush through a few knots he knew he would need to have a shower tonight. Heading into the bedroom he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder before jumping onto the lounge couch, leaning back into the cushion, and closing his eyes.
He knew Simon would call him when they were ready to go...
Simon yelped as he twisted to the side and dodged an incoming ball. The day had started out great. They had done some math and some science and he had been loving it. But then gym had started. He hadn't been too sure about having to run laps and do pushups but that had been okay. What was not okay was the game of dodgeball they were playing now. The idea of big balls being thrown at him was not something he thought of as fun.
Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if all the football players hadn't somehow ended up on one team and all the others on the other. Dodging another ball, he allowed the lunarium flowing through him to enhance his senses. He had felt bad about using lunarium at first. But after seeing Theodore smacked with a ball and sent flying across the room, he had changed his mind. It was too bad he couldn't enhance his physical abilities like Alvin... or he would be doing the same thing Alvin was.
A few feet beside him, Alvin was catching and blocking everything thrown at him, then throwing balls back with incredible strength and speed. Though his aim was off, he was becoming a juggernaut in the gym. Nothing had hit him yet and anything thrown at his empty hands was caught. Whipping another ball forward, Alvin grinned as he knocked Xander out of the game. He turned and grinned at Simon who grinned right back.
Turning back towards the game they both continued in their own way. Alvin catching and blocking and Simon just dodging everything. Finally though, Ryan and the last two members of the other team teamed up. All of them throwing their balls in such a way Simon was unable to dodge. Alvin watched horrified as Simon was hit from three different directions and sent spinning across the gym before landing in a heap beside Theodore.
Alvin growled and turned to face Ryan and the two others. His eyes flashed brightly as two balls ripped through the air and sent Ryan's two accomplices skidding backwards before they fell to the ground. Alvin turned his look to Ryan and Ryan was so shocked he threw his ball with excessive force. Alvin could do nothing but hold up his hands and catch it. The impact of it hitting him sent him skidding a few feet back but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
Alvin looked up and smiled at Ryan as the bell rang. Ryan looked at him with a thoughtful expression, his previous shock completely gone. He called over Xander and they conversed quickly for a few seconds. Alvin was helping Simon to his feet, and they were walking out of the gym, when Ryan called out.
"Hey fur-ball! You're pretty good. How would you like to join the football team?"
Alvin immediately froze. One of his biggest dreams was to play varsity football and he couldn't believe that Ryan was offering. It was common knowledge that Ryan, who was the captain of the football team, hated all three of them with a passion. Which meant that he must be incredibly impressed to throw away his hate and ask Alvin to join the team.
"Hmm, interesting proposition. I thought you hated us?" questioned Alvin.
"The team is more important than petty grudges. You have till school ends today to give your answer Don't take too long to think it over," responded Ryan before standing and walking away.
Alvin nodded absently and turned around to help his brothers to the nurse. Though Simon would recover quickly, Theodore would need some medical care. The lunarium flowing through Simon would help him heal but Theodore didn't have that luxury. Leading his brothers through the hallways they stopped outside the nurses office and pushed the door open. The nurse looked surprised to see them but her caring instinct quickly took over.
She carefully checked over Simon and Theodore for bruises. She was surprised to find that though Simon and Theodore were both covered in them, they appeared to be healing as she watched. Chalking it up to something she didn't know about chipmunks, the nurse sprayed their bruises with some fresh water to clean them off before telling them they would be fine and sending them off to lunch.
Alvin, Simon and Theodore left the office and headed towards the cafeteria.
Alvin jumped and twisted in the air, catching the grape Theodore had thrown in his paws before crashing to the ground. Laughing loudly, he pretended to be a crowd cheering as he threw the grape to the ground like he had just gotten a touchdown. Across from him Simon was absently playing chess against a member of the chess club. To join the chess club you had to be able to beat or at least play incredibly well against one of their junior members.
Simon was currently dominating the game... if you could call it that. The junior member he was playing against was worse than Alvin for heavens sake!. Sighing, Simon made his move and hit the timer before looking up. He was surprised to see Ryan signaling him to catch Alvin's attention. Struggling against himself to decide if he should inform Alvin or not ,Simon's loving nature came through. He tapped Alvin on the shoulder and pointed towards the jock table.
"You're being paged," said Simon softly as he examined the chess board.
Alvin looked up and was surprised to see Ryan waving him over. He forced himself to turn away and look at Simon. He knew that if he went over to that table it meant he accepted a place on the football team. He really wanted that but knew that it was also Simon's decision. Simon was part of his life and if Simon didn't want him to join the football team, he wouldn't.
"Can I Simon?" questioned Alvin
"Go ahead Alvin, we both know how much you want to," said Theodore as he munched on a grape.
Alvin nodded at Theodore but continued to stare at Simon. Finally Simon nodded and Alvin hugged him tightly before spinning around and jumping down from the table. Simon looked up as Alvin jumped onto the jock table and knocked his paw against everyone's hands. He knew that Alvin really wanted this more than anything but that didn't stop the pain of sadness and lonesomeness from striking out at him.
Sighing, he turned back to the chess game he had almost won...
The next few weeks seemed to go by in a blur for Alvin. He spent his days at school hanging out with Ryan and his football gang. He was introduced to the coach and taught the rules and formations of the team. He was told, even if he didn't make it as a player, him already knowing the plays and formations would help him if he did. He even started spending his lunch everyday at the jock table. He entertained the ladies and practiced his catching by catching grapes the team threw in every odd direction. He even heard girls talking about him everywhere. No longer did he hear about his singing voice but how cute and adorable of a football player he would make. His afternoons he spent in the workout room pumping weights and running laps with everyone else on the team.
Alvin failed to realize as the time he spent with his brothers became less and less. Slowly his senses began to dull and the constant presences he had felt since entering the school began to disappear. He was so entwined with the possibility of joining the football team everything else seemed to disappear. Soon even thoughts of Simon were pushed from his mind by the plays he was memorizing.
Sighing deeply, Alvin pulled up the small machine nut he was using as a weight effortlessly. His normal strength had increased greatly with all the training he was doing so things that he had used lunarium to accomplish could now be done without it.
Never before had he felt so..so..so awesome.
Putting his nut down on the small weight stand a member of the team had made for him, Alvin waved goodbye and headed towards the showers. As he let the water rush over his fur his dulled senses failed to detect the presence of a Tainted outside the school.
Or the presence of Simon rushing off to meet it...
Meanwhile, back across town in the apartment complex, Ian wandered into the hallway and grabbed the newspaper. He had been working tirelessly to renew old contacts to be able to make the chipettes stars. Because without them being stars, he would never be able to ruin the chipmunks. But no matter what he did, no-one seemed to care about the old contacts he had with them.
"Bernie, I'm telling you, the Chipmunks are old news. I've got the next big thing."
But after that he would never get any further. He would always be hung up on and it was starting to annoy him. The only thing he could do was go to their offices and make them want to help. But he knew it was not worth the trouble it would cause. Sighing, Ian looked at the newspaper and his eyes widened.
"Girls, you're going to school," he muttered with an evil grin...
Simon spun around and blasted the Tainted away with a wave of his hand. Jumping backwards, he held up his hand and let the moisture from the air form a spear of water above him. A quick pulse of power later and a thick powerful spear of ice had replaced it. Hurling the spear forward he breathed a deep sigh of relief as it ripped through and destroyed the Tainted. Panting, he allowed the lunarium to leave him and he crumpled to his knees.
He didn't even notice as he reverted to his chipmunk form. He was so tired. This was the thirteenth wave of Tainted that he had been forced to fight alone. With Alvin always with the football team he never had any help anymore. Simon sighed and struggled to his feet. He was incredibly disappointed and angry at Alvin. It was almost like Alvin had forgotten he existed. Whenever he saw him all he talked about what football this and football that. Alvin had even stopped wanting to cuddle at night... said he was too exhausted.
What did Alvin know about exhaustion? He wasn't the one fighting Tainted after Tainted alone. Frowning, Simon allowed lunarium to swirl around him as he teleported back to school. He was late for his second class and no doubt Alvin hadn't even noticed he wasn't there. Pushing the door open he nodded absently as Miss Ortega informed him she wanted to speak to him after school. Climbing into his chair he pulled out a pencil and began to work on the textbook assignment that he was already two days behind on.
He was going to talk with Alvin at lunch today...
Simon walked up to the jock table as soon as he had escaped the classroom. Miss Ortega had wanted to talk to him then instead of after school. As he approached the table he watched as Alvin flipped backwards through the air and caught a grape in his mouth. Jumping up onto the table he took a step forward and Alvin spun around to look at him.
"Yo, what up S!" exclaimed Alvin holding up his paw.
Simon just stared at Alvin with an annoyed expression on his face. Alvin knew he didn't like doing high fives or anything else that required physical contact in front of others. Just how out of it had Alvin become while he hung out with all these damn jocks?
"Wow, don't hate on the high fives," said Alvin emphasizing his hand.
"Yay...high five," said Simon struggling to contain his snarl as he poked Alvin's hand.
"Look Alvin, I know you guys have been busy, with your sporting endeavors and whatnot..." Simon trailed off, unsure of what to say without giving anything away. "But I could really use your help at home."
"Oh, no can do. Ry-Dog is going to teach me how to get pretty girls to do my homework," said Alvin with a grin putting his paws into his hoodie pockets.
Simon forced his jaw not to drop open in shock. What in the world was going through Alvin's mind lately? Just what the hell had happened to cause Alvin to become such an idiot? Simon continued to talk to Alvin for a few more minutes, arguing about how he had promised Theodore they would watch Meerkat Manor and how it was his turn to do the laundry, but Alvin shrugged everything off and sounded like he didn't care at all.
The final straw though, was when Ryan threw an apple at the garbage can and missed. Simon politely asked him if he was going to pick that up. Ryan of course told him that he was going to do no such thing. Growling softly, Simon turned and looked at Alvin who just shrugged. Simon literally had to struggle not to unleashed his lunarium and slam a blast of energy into Alvin's face.
Their crystal connected them to nature and having once lived in nature they knew how bad littering was. The old Alvin would never have allowed Ryan to litter without doing anything. Was Alvin so desperate to be on the football team that he had forgotten everything else?
Jumping down from the table Simon picked up the apple and threw it into the glass with perfect accuracy so it rebounded and landed in the garbage can. With a parting shot at Ryan's crappy jock skills, Simon spun around and left. Alvin was so horrified at how Simon had embarrassed him in front of his friends he missed the faint glow of Simon's eyes and the energy crackling around his body. Telling his jock friends that his brother was a joker, Alvin quickly rushed after him.
Running through the hallways he skidded to a stop beside Simon.
"Why are you trying to embarrass me in front of me friends?" Alvin demanded.
Simon whipped around to face him and struggled to contain the lunarium flickering all around him. The hallways were crowded and it was definitely not the place to lose control. But the look on Alvin's face almost caused him to lose it. Alvin looked like he believed that was what was really happening. That Simon was the one embarrassing him.
"You gotta be kidding me! They're the ones you should be embarrassed by," growled Simon before spinning around and continuing down the hallway.
"Good luck with the show guys," said a girl in the hallway pinning up a music mania poster.
"I got front row seats," added the girl behind her.
Theodore jumped down from beside the poster and rushed to join his brothers.
"So, what song are we going to sing?" he asked.
Alvin and Simon both looked thoughtful as they started walking down the hallway. Theodore immediately fell into step beside them and they quietly talked back and forth. Simon was shocked when Alvin said it didn't matter. No one would be able to beat them anyways. About to knock some sense back into Alvin he was forced to stop in shock as three lockers closed in front of them.
Standing beside each of them were three of the prettiest girls Simon had ever seen. If he didn't know he was already in love with Alvin he might have instantly fallen in love with one of them. The one with purple glasses most likely. She was quite a bit prettier than the other two girls, who he assumed were her sisters. But what was really impressive was that the three girls were chipmunks. And by the look of them they could obviously talk.
It had been a long time since they left the forest and Simon had given up hope on ever finding another like him ever again. He had always thought his brothers and their mother were the only talking chipmunks around. Looking at Alvin, he saw he was looking at the chipette with blue eyes quite strangely. Theodore was also looking at one of the chipettes funny, almost like how Simon looked at Alvin.
Before they could introduce themselves though, the bell rang and the chipettes walked away. Simon and Alvin looked at each other and shrugged before shaking Theodore out of the daze he was in. Nodding at each other, they made their way to the music classroom for their first practice with Miss Ortega.
Simon watched with his mouth hanging open as the chipettes sang Hot N Cold in the music room in front of them. The music practice had been going fine before they arrived. They had been harmonizing well and were taking a break, and a quick picture with Dr. Rubin, when Toby had arrived. Toby had made a complete fool of himself in front of Miss Ortega, who it turned out he had a crush on. and had even broken quite a few things before rushing back out to the car.
Simon was promising to get everything replaced when something he had never thought possible happened. Their worst...okay, second worst... enemy in life walked into the room. Ian Hawk came strolling in criticizing their 'chipmunk honesty' and offering his girls for music mania. But to make matters even worse, Simon could clearly sense an incredible amount of taint on Ian. It was obvious that Ian was becoming, or already was, a Tainted.
But in the school there was nothing they could do about it, and to make matters even more worse than before, the chipettes had jumped onto the stage. Apparently Ian was managing them and they thought he was incredible. Simon had almost blasted Ian out of the building right then but before he could do anything, Ian had suggest Dr. Rubin listen to the girls sing first. It was to his surprise that the girls immediately burst into song.
He had been shocked to discover they were incredible. It was obvious to him that Ian was using them for something but at the moment there was nothing he could do about it. He watched and listened as they sang and the music classroom began to fill with students. Ian had 'accidentally' turned on the P.A. system so the whole school could hear. As the girls came to a stop everyone watching burst out into applause and Ian turned to grin at Dr. Rubin.
Simon had been thankful when Dr. Rubin immediately shot him down again. But then horrified when she was forced to make a deal. This Friday there would be sing-off between the Chipmunks and the Chipettes. They would both sing one song and whoever got more applause would represent the school at music mania. Simon had been forced to restrain Alvin as he prepared to attack Ian. Dragging his brother out of the music room and towards the car, Simon wondered what they were going to do.
Things just kept getting better and better...
Alvin sighed as he leaned back against the thick cushion of the chair. Simon had managed to force him into watching Meerkat Manor with Theodore but that didn't mean he liked it. He was content to simply watch the show and not say anything, until that is he heard Simon speak up.
"I'm so glad that Miss Ortega is going to be able to help us practice everyday after school," said Simon happily.
Alvin's eyes widened as he sat up and turned to look at Simon. Simon knew he had football practice and stuff after school. There was no way he was ditching that for some crummy music practice. Besides it wasn't like they could possibly lose. Sure the girls were good but they were just so much better.
"Whoa! Everyday?" questioned Alvin in shock before continuing, "But Ryan and I have..."
"Alvin, stop right there. We're a team, we need you," interrupted Simon.
"Relax Si, we're not going to lose. We'll talk about it in the morning," said Alvin turning over and closing his eyes.
Simon growled and his eyes glowed brightly. He was so damn sick of Alvin's attitude. What had happened to the Alvin he had fallen in love with because this certainly wasn't it. Struggling to calm himself down, Simon closed his eyes and rolled over in bed. Hopefully Alvin would listen to reason in the morning.
Theodore looked at his two brothers and sighed. Alvin was being an idiot lately and it looked like Simon wouldn't be able to handle much more. Hopefully he would be there when Simon finally snapped.
Or who knew what could happen...
At the edge of the mist the lone figure grinned as he finally got right in front of the light. This time he would not be pushed back. He would touch that light and go through even if it killed him. Reaching his arm forward he smiled and let out a shout of victory as his hand touched the light. Warmth flooded through him and knowledge instantly filled his mind. He knew exactly who he was and what had happened. Stepping into the light with his eyes closed, he stretched and cracked his neck from side to side. Tilting his head back he breathed in the fresh air and warm sunlight.
Life was everywhere around him and he could feel it. The baby birds sitting in the tree in front of him waiting for their mother to return. The beautiful flowing river a mile to his right where fish were jumping in and out of the water. The bears slowly making their way towards him and the deers grazing in the grass to his left.
Opening his eyes he took in his surroundings. He was in some type of forest and it was obviously an untouched one.
Letting the lunarium inside himself grow he felt his features change. And as he reached out to search for Simon's presence he couldn't help but wonder... what had changed in the years he had been gone? How had Simon and Alvin developed in the time he had been gone? What would life be like now that he was complete? Now that Shade was gone what differences would he discover in himself? A massive cyclone of black lunarium began to cycle around him.
A smile broke out across his face, and Aaron began to disappear, only to suddenly let out a pain-filled scream and drop to the ground unconscious...