A New Friend and the Final Days with Torahne
(This chapter and the next one will be taking place over the course of about a couple of weeks. Ill be doing half of these days on this chapter and the second half on my next update. I'll try to keep the pace the same, but I may rush into a few more things and I'll make sure to get back to that stuff on the last chapter of Victor's saga. So without further or due, I hope enjoy this next installment of the Perfect Trio. We are going right back to the part in 'The Days with Torahne' when Victor met the 'new kid'. Note: a lot of the stuff in the middle portion of the story is from the Eternal Beyond as well if you guys do catch it. For those who haven't read the EB yet, I would just suggest to listen to the music where Sora is regaining his memories in Roxas. It fits well for it, but if you guys have better ideas for read along music, works for me too.)
Victor ran up to the messy red haired kid and saw he had his head tucked into his legs hiding beneath a birch tree. The boy was no older than him, wore shorts and a shirt like him, and what's more the boy had a similar shy nature like him as well. Victor then knelt down and asked the poor guy, "Hi. What's your name?" "Leave me alone!", the boy yelled. Victor then said, "Listen, if I came on a little strong, I'm sorry for that. It's just my friend and I..." Victor poitned to Torahne and as the kid looked up, Torahne smiled and waved, but the kid tucked his head back in again. "...couldn't help, but notice you all alone here. We got a really fun game we want to play, but we can only have two people, and my buddy Torahne has a doctor's appointment in twenty minutes, so I was wondering..." "If I could be another sap. Listen man, I don't know who the heck you think you are, but don't you dare come over here and try to sell me out like a darn pity case, because I'm not. Just because I'm the new guy doesn't mean I don't have feelings!" Then Victor sighed and said, "Things are really tough I take it?" "Why do you care?", the boy asked. "Because, it's my thing around these parts. I know I'm probably acting like a jerk now and for that I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone now since you want to be." Yet as Victor stood up, the boy reached for his shirt and as he grabbed it, Victor turned around and noticed the kid's green eyes begin to water and as Victor knelt down again, the poor guy collapsed on his right shoulder and cried. Victor then turned around and noticed Torahne nodding in such a way that gave Victor the hint, 'Look after him.' as he stood up and ran towards a red car picking him up for his doctor's appointment. So Victor patted the kid's back and then said, "Listen, if you need someone to hang out with, you can always come to me you know." The kid stopped crying and as he raised his head so Victor could get a glimpse of his chipmunk cheeks he asked, "Really?" Victor nodded and the kid hugged him very tightly.
Pretty soon a couple of tall guys walked on over and the guy with a red cap said, "Ain't that cute? The babies are having loads of fun over here aren't they Butch?" Butch, was the kind of guy that acted like he was cool, wore green clothes and was often seen by the other guys as a gullible sucker for stuff he could be humiliated for. Butch then said, "Yeah Harvey, these babies sure know how to act 'cute'. Why don't you get a room for God's sake!" Then Victor broke the warm embrace between him and the kid and said as he stood up angrily, "Two things. One, never use the lord's name invain. Two, the little guy was crying and needed cheering up. Got a problem with that?" Harvey was a guy that everyone loved to hate. He wore a tacky set of pants, a navy blue shirt, always smelled terrible and beat up every kid around him, excluding Torahne, his buddy Butch, and any guy taller than him. He towered over Victor and said, "Yes I do squirt. You see in this school, we're supposed to act like men. That means you get up, go to school here, play sports, and after that you do some work outs and go to sleep, maybe play some video games on weekends. What you guys are displaying is a gay form of men having 'fun'." Butch then lightly punched Harvery saying, "Dude! Don't even say that word. Now we gotta find another word we can use that means were enjoying something." Victor then said, "I don't know what 'gay' means, but I know you only pick on guys because you got no friends except tall and ugly here. Plus you're one of those guys that gets your kicks from other peoples' misery. You disgust me!" Harvey then said, "Butch back up a bit. This kid needs a lesson in manners." Butch did as he said and the kid then grabbed Victor's right shoulder saying, "Let's go. It's not worth it to fight." Victor then said, "No worries. I can beat him. Besides your my friend now. I always protect my friends." As Harvey ran and tackled Victor roughly to the ground, Victor then used his imagination to pick up Harvey and punched him three times. He then tossed him in a trash can and then cracked his knuckles asking, "Want some Butch?" Butch the slightly laughed a bit and ran off screaming.
As Victor walked off, the kid then ran up to Victor and asked, "What was that? Those punches and that toss? They were amazing!" Victor then said, "Yeah well those guys had it coming. They've been here for two months and should know better. By the way, I didn't catch your name. It's..." "Todd. The name's Todd McGruff Pepperhue." Victor then asked as he smiled, "McGruff. So your pop is Scruff McGruff then?" Todd then lightly punched Victor's shoulder as he said, "Victor!" Victor then laughed a little and pretty soon Todd joined in too seeing the humour as well. Over the next two days, Victor and Todd then began to hang out a lot during school and when they were asked by the teacher as they passed notes what the commotion was, they just said nothing suspiciously, but were never questioned any further. They also ate lunch together and were doing some of the things Victor normally did with Torahne like fishing, playing soccer, eating icecream, etc. Torahne unfortunately began to notice this and then as Victor left Todd to go 'tinkle his dingy', Torahne grabbed the boy and then said, "I see you and Todd are having loads of fun." Victor then said as he began to dance around, "Listen Torahne, I would love to stay and chat, but I really gotta go. I don't think I can hold it in anymore." Torahne then smacked Victor across the face and said, "How could you just ditch me man? I've watched you guys just playing around doing the stuff we always used to do, and for what? You just left me behind like a little action figure in a laundromat." Victor then said, "The kid was lonely and needed a friend. Besides you did the same thing for me two months ago if you remember." "Yeah, but I didn't say to just forget about me. The way I look at it it's either me or him Vic. You choose." Victor then asked dancing around, "But Torahne..." "I have my answer. See ya Vic, have fun with your buddy jerk!" Victor then began to cry as he fell to the ground and saw his best friend run on off in the long white halls of the academy towards the bunker. Victor then also saw Todd run towards him and Victor then asked, "What's all the commotion?" Todd then said, "It's Butch and Harvey again. They've recently taken up karate." Victor then thought as he danced around with tears in his eyes, 'I really need to go bad!' As Harvey and Butch then ran in front of Victor and Todd and Harvey asked, "So who wants to get creamed first?", Victor couldn't hold it in any more. He wissed all over Harvey and Todd covered his head in fear as Butch laughed his butt off at this.
Victor flushed a little and said, "Oops. My bad man! I'm really sorry." Harvey looked at his ruined pissed clothes and then angrily looked at Victor saying, "Not as sorry as you'll be for pissing on my clothes dork!" Then as the giant brute closed in on Victor to lay the first punch on him, Torahne jumped right in and punched the guy right into his locker. Harvey then yelled as Torahne blew on his fists, "You won't have Torahne covering your back forever buddy!" Then Harvey and Butch ran away as fast as they could out of the vicinity. Victor stood up and as he asked, "Why?", Torahne replied saying, "Victor I was a jerk. Plain and simple as that. You're my friend and even if you want to hang out with some other kid, well that's just fine with me." Victor then grabbed at Torahne's left shoulder and said, "Torahne. You'll always be my best friend. Never forget that." As Todd began to step back he then said, "I'll leave you guys for the time being." Victor nodded as Torahne and Victor began to rekindle things from 'the good ol' days' and they ate icecream together as they had done during the two months they were together. The next three to four days also passed by quickly and Victor began to spend his time in equal harmony with Torahne and Todd and he always managed to bring out the best in both of the boys as well in his sincere actions. Torahne also once again came in second place as there was another battle tournament, but Todd even managed to get placed third with Victor being first place once again. Every day seemed to be in 'the moment' for these boys. The next day though, Torahne had a headache and couldn't go to PE and was laid down in bed by the gym counsellor. Two hours later, the boys then came in from PE practice and Victor, Todd and along with many other boys their age and slightly older began to change out of their smelly gym clothes into their uniforms (pretty much a black pair of pants, white shirt, black tie, and a green vest to top it all off).
"I really don't know about this. Why would you want to be friends with him, Victor?", asked one of the students at the Training Academy. The kid was a small tike like Victor, his hair was messy and red and his short sleeved clothes were all sweaty from the long jogging they had recently done a few minutes ago. As Victor took out a towel from the towel rack in the boy's locker room, and wiped his face and hair, he then said, "Torahne's a cool guy. I don't really see a problem with him. He's good at soccer, has the funniest jokes that anyone's ever heard, and he even bought me an ice cream cone at Canteen too. Why wouldn't you like him Todd?" Todd blinked his green eyes once in mere confusion and then replied, "Listen Vic, I know you're misunderstood and all, but you got to understand when I say this, Torahne doesn't have many buddies for a reason. When he first got here about two years ago, he beat up a guy and knocked his front teeth right out of him. Heck he even gave wedgies to a group of guys who coughed on his clothes."
Victor then took off his sweaty clothes and put on his classical white shirt and blue shorts. Victor then replied, "If you think about it Todd, you'll find that Torahne's a cool guy the way I've found it. I mean everyone's got some bad qualities to them. It's how you use those qualities that really define who you are or what you're going to turn out as when you get older." As Victor said this a group of big, tall tooth pick skinny guys smashed the locker behind Victor and then a blonde freckled guy at the centre of the group put his foot on the bench that Todd and Victor were sitting on and said overlooking Victor's right shoulder with his blue snide eyes, "You got a lot of nerve sitting on this 'ere bench squirt." Todd then got nervous and said, "Yeah, he's right. We should get out of here Victor." Victor clenched his hands on his knees and closed his eyes and the tall blonde then laughed and said, "Hey check this out guys. Looks like the squirt's about to cry. Wah wah I'm Victor. I'm so short. I'm so weak I can't even lift a barbell like the rest of the guys." Then out of the blue Victor shot out a punch right at the blonde guy's left eye. As he collapsed his entourage who were dressed in red sweaters and blue hip-hop jeans got a bucket of water and splashed it on the blonde guy in a black t-shirt and wrecked up jeans himself.
He coughed and said, "I'm hit nimrods, not unconscious." As he stood up with a purple shiner in his eye he stared at Victor who stood off the bench fists clenched and rearing to fight, he then said, "You got a lot of nerve little punk." Todd then ran up and grabbed Victor's arm and panicked, "You've done it now Vic. Now Clyde's really ticked off." Victor then replied, "Somebody has to tell it like it is Clyde. You have no friends either. The only reason you got those guys in their fancy band clothes is because you pay them to follow you. If your parents weren't so filthy rich you'd be alone on the streets. Am I hitting the ballpark on this one or shall I go on?" Clyde then smashed the bench so hard it split in two and Todd fainted when he saw what happened. He then said, "That's it small fry. I've had it with you. It's bad enough they had to accept a squirt like you into this school let alone that punk Torahne, but now you've crossed line." Although Victor was as brave as he could be, he still wasn't as strong as Clyde nor as tall as him. As Victor covered his face to embrace for impact and as Clyde shot his fist towards the boy, Victor heard a smack. When he uncovered his face it was a tall boy at the same height as Clyde being 2"4. He had brown hair, tan looking skin, and he wore a white shirt and a beat up pair of blue jeans. He then picked Clyde up by his arm and karate flipped him into the trashcan near the door just two feet away from the beat up bench. The tall brunette then stared at Clyde's four hip-hop looking entourage and asked cracking his knuckles, "Anyone want to be next?" They then crowded for the door and rushed on out as fast as they could. The tall brunette turned to face Victor and an unconscious Todd and Victor noticed the green eyes and said, "Torahne. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Torahne smiled and as Victor smiled back noticed Todd lying on the ground and got him to come to. Todd then asked, "What'd I miss?" Victor then said, "Not much Todd. Just that Torahne karate flipped Clyde into 'next week'." "Really?", he asked. As both Victor and Todd stared at Torahne in anticipation, he then shrugged his shoulders and asked, "What? He was going to pulverize you guys. Besides, Vic you were right about him. He's a no talent bully. To think his parents actually think he's a responsible guy huh? He can't even find his good pair of Nike shoes." Victor then smiled while closing his eyes and said, "I don't think he ever will."
Later, Victor, Torahne and Todd were in their large boot camp looking dorm eating some gushers and fruit-by-the-foot while relaxing on their bunks. Todd then said looking into Torahne's green eyes with his green eyes, "Listen Torahne, I'm sorry about doubting you. I guess it's just you have a lot of history as being the 'big guy on campus' that's all." Torahne raised his hand facing Todd's direction and said, "Think nothing of it Todd. I'm a kid like you and we need to stick together. Besides I would have done the same thing in your position." "Really?", Todd asked. "No.", came a weird reply from Torahne. As Todd got a sweat drop on the back of his head and turned red, then both Victor and Torahne laughed a little and Torahne said coming out from it, "I'm kidding sheesh. Victor, I like your friend, but he's got to loosen up a bit." Todd then frowned and raised his voice a little and asked, "What's that supposed to mean." Torahne then said, "Okay listen. I'm sorry if you got upset Todd. Trust me though. I have conversations like this with Vic all the time. It means I like ya." Todd then said twiddling his thumbs, "Okay." Then it was dead silent. Torahne then broke it saying, "He doesn't talk a lot does he Victor?" Victor then said, "Not really. He's always homesick like this all the time. His parents just left him here as a baby and hoped they wouldn't have to deal with raising him themselves." Todd then said, "I'm right here Vic. I can hear you." Torahne then took out a package of fruit-by-the-foot and turned his face around and scrunched the jelly like snack everywhere on his face and as he turned around he looked like Abe Lincoln. Victor laughed at his display of humor and said, "Man, what a waste of fruit-by-the-foot." Torahne then sarcastically said, "Oh really." He then turned his face again and then turned back again and he looked like a lion with the fruity colours representing a mane. Victor then said, "Todd, you got to see this. Torahne's nuts with this kind of stuff." Todd then looked at him and kinda giggled saying, "That is kinda funny." Then Todd looked away and buried his face into his legs. Torahne then looked at Vic who looked worried for his buddy and then Torahne ate the fruit-by-the-foot and put on his brown pair of shoes.
Torahne got off the top bunk that was above Vic on the bottom bunk and climbed up to Todd's bunk and sat down next to the kid. "You miss your parents don't ya?" Todd then said, "More than you'll ever know. I didn't even matter to them. The first time I heard this from one of the camp counsellors I couldn't believe what I was hearing. They were talking about sports at first and then before I knew it they got on to the topic of where I would go after this place. Then they just got the idea that I would die. My parents said I was a 'mistake' and that I shouldn't have been born." As Todd buried his face again and cried his heart out, Torahne patted his back and said, "I wouldn't believe everything you hear Todd. I mean take me for instance. My old man put me here because A: he along with my mother were too broke to put me into school let alone care for me at the time. B: they also wanted me to be strong when I grew up and C: they knew I was a bright kid and just had a funny way of showing it. Plus it's like you told me before. I was and am the 'big man on campus'. A lot of people are afraid of me, but I don't let it get to me. They don't know what I'm like. That goes for you and Victor too. They don't know what we can do. I can also say your parents love you as well. Do you want to know why?" Todd then nodded his head as he brought his head up from his knees and Torahne took out a package from under Todd's sleeping bag. It read from Lorraine and Dudley Pepperhue to Todd Pepperhue. Todd then said, "They said I wasn't allowed to open it." Torahne replied, "Who's gonna stop you? I want to know as much as you do as to what the heck is inside there too." Todd then ripped open the package as fast as he could with delight and as he opened it he found a set of cash, fancy clothes, a picture of his parents, and a letter. Torahne then replied, "Well read the letter my good man. Let's hear it."
As Todd read the letter, he was both shocked and crying for joy from what he heard. It read: Dear Todd,
I apologize if we didn't do this sooner, but under the circumstances it was next to impossible for us to keep you. Your mother and I wanted to tell you sooner about you being our son and heir to our family fortune, but we were being challenged by various black hooded gangs who wanted to take you away from us. The leader of whom I challenged and beat up was Mr. Abe G. L. Walker. He was a court attorney at law for over twenty years. He caught and put away many people for serious crimes, but was eventually relieved of duty when they hired a new attorney. He swore revenge on us because I was that attorney at law. He figured he would take you away because we had always wanted a child and that was why we sent you here. We said that you were a 'mistake' to the counsellors just in case he had spies looking for us. I guarantee nothing could be further from the truth. I am proud to call you my son no matter what happens. I am also coming by to pick you up since Mr. Walker has been dead for five weeks now. He apparently died of food poisoning in a hot dog he ate. I have enclosed you things that you'll need to be a successful man like me when I do arrive. In the mean time, Take care Son.
Until we meet again,
Dudley.
Torahne then said, "There you go then Todd. I told you so." Todd then said, "But what about you guys? I can't just up and leave you and Victor." Torahne then said, "Maybe we could hitch ride. My old man sent me a letter about a month ago saying he just became an attorney at law like your old man. Heck he even said they were the best of buddies. He just told me he could take me and Vic. He said that his parents miss him a lot." Victor who overheard the conversation then asked, "Having fun up there ladies?" Torahne noticed a small brunette kid jump on him and Todd and smack him with a pillow. Torahne then yelled, "Oh it's on now Vic." As the kids smacked pillows on each other and laughed while doing it, a dark figure was watching them outside from a tree, but more or less Victor. He was dark figure, the same height as Victor and had a shady set of yellow eyes. He snidely said, "Enjoy your little happiness Victor. Have fun with your friends. But note this. Some day we will meet when you least expect it and I will have you under my control." With that the dark being disappeared into the night.
(There you have it. All of these events up to the point where Torahne will become dark and become Xehanort! Dun Dun Dun! lol. In case I did not make it known as to the sequence of events I'll clear that up now. Victor arrives at camp-Victor meets Torahne and spends two months with him- one month later (during his time with Torahne in the 'The Days with Torahne") he meets Anastasia and they have their first grudge match against each other-one month and three weeks later (during his time with Torahne) Victor meets Darkness for the first time and fights him-three weeks later Victor starts hanging out with Todd and you know the rest. So pretty much in the course of two to three months, Victor has been at the Training Academy for a while. There still is a lot more to come in the conclusion of the saga though so stay tuned.)
(Next Time: Xehanort: The end of Good Times.)
(Review.)
