Tales of the Alternate Universe

Chapter Five: Cecile the Mule

Mrs. Mertens finished preparing breakfast and served it on the table; it consisted of just three oatmeal bowls, milk and a piece of bread for each of them. Although she would have loved to prepare some scrambled eggs, her husband had arrived this morning with the terrible news of another egg theft at their farm.

The blonde woman sighed, feeling a little discouraged; between that and the incoming winter, they would go bankrupt in just a matter of time. She didn't like the idea, but perhaps if they could sell Cecile, they would earn a good amount of cash. The fact of that mule being pregnant could be a plus, and they needed the money to survive the winter and start a new harvest on spring.

She'd have to discuss it with her son, the sooner he knows, the sooner he'd get over it "Finn…!" his mother called "Breakfast is ready!"

There was no answer from the boy. That was unusual for him. Finn was always awake and ready to do his morning chores, besides, breakfast was his favorite meal of the day.

"Finn…!" the woman repeated as she untied her white apron and tossed it over the table "Don't tell me you're still asleep, boy!"

Mrs. Mertens climbed the stairs carefully, she didn't want to trip and get herself or her baby hurt. Her knuckles tapped on Finn's door softly and then she turned the knob to step inside.

"Finn, son it's getting late…" his mother said as she sat down on his bed "C'mon Finn, get u-…" she pulled the blankets and gasped in concern, the bed was empty.

"Finn?!"

She rushed downstairs and bumped with her husband, who had just visited the barn. Mr. Mertens had also a worried look on his face, there was no sign of the mule anywhere and Finn wasn't there either.

The couple dashed outside, hoping to find the boy playing his flute on some tree's branch or washing Cecile with the laundry's water, as he always did whenever they weren't keeping an eye on him, but Finn was nowhere to be seen.

The newspaper kid –a mischievous brat known as Jamaica Campbell, passed by on his bicycle, hitting Mr. Mertens' face with the morning's paper. The farmer rubbed his nose and proceeded to read the front page.

Miss Tea Hanks' farm was on the cover, with the following headline: "MYSTERIOUS GANG ENDANGERS PIG BREEDER'S LIFE"

"Oh, no!" Mrs. Mertens exclaimed, snatching the paper from her husband's hands "That's Mr. Gibb in the photo…!"

Mr. Mertens observed the picture closely and flinched, his finger pointed the black and white image of a girl in the back of the picture.

"The Hacksworth girl!" his wife replied "Quick, we must go to the school immediately! Perhaps Miss Bonnibel knows something about this!" she pulled Mr. Mertens' arm hurriedly, leaving their breakfast behind.

With a little luck, all the parents were gathered in the classroom, concerning about their children's safety, especially Mr. Hacksworth.

x+x+x+x+x

Finn's mouth drooled as he stared at Flanna with big pleading eyes; she was enjoying a delicious sandwich while he was starving by her side. Jake on the other hand, was too busy digging some snacks from a trashcan to worry about his owner's hunger.

"F-Flanna…" the boy whispered shyly "I need breakfast…!"

The red-haired girl swallowed another piece and stared back at him "Why don't you eat then, huh?" her face quickly returned to her sandwich.

"'C-'cause I didn't bring any food!" Finn yelled in desperation.

Flanna remained silent for a while; she was still focused on her breakfast "Well, that's a shame…" she gave another bite to her sandwich "But it ain't my fault…"

They were sitting on a bench only a few miles away from Junktown's center. They had been following truck tracks the whole night and after the sun rose in the horizon, the small group decided to make a stop so that they could fill their empty guts with something to eat. Jake pushed a trashcan down and dived into it, Cecile began to graze the grass nearby, and Flanna pulled a large tuna sandwich out of her backpack while Finn begged mentally for a single bite.

The blonde boy tried his best to not smack the girl in front of him "It ain't your fault?!" he shouted impatiently "You were the one who broke into my room at 2:00 am and yanked me out of bed! I-I simply forgot about packing some food, you should be grateful 'cause I agreed to join you on this-…!"

A piece of bread had been jammed into his mouth all of a sudden. His blue eyes rolled down, staring at the sandwich beneath his nose and then drifted back onto the Hacksworth girl.

"You can have the half of my sandwich, but only if you stop complaining!"

"But only if you stop complaining…" Finn mimicked under his breath.

Flanna rolled her eyes and pushed him out of the bench. The boy hit the ground with a thud, but managed to save his food and glared back at her.

"The word you should be looking for is 'Thanks', otherwise I'll seriously consider sharing my lunch with you…" she bit her sandwich "Mertens…"

Finn glanced down at the grass, blushing slightly "You...were planning to share your lunch with me…?"

"Yeah, what else?" she had been talking with her mouth full and swallowed "It's the least I can do."

"Yikes Flanna, I was wrong about you…" Finn grinned shyly "You aren't that bad after all…"

The red-haired girl flushed at his comment.

"You're just weird and crazy!"

Flanna clenched her fist and slammed his head in irritation. Mertens' hat fell on the ground while he rolled over it, moaning and rubbing the painful bump she had given him. "I should return the hit, but I won't, 'cause I promised mom and Tea Hanks to be nice with you! … Ow…!"

The girl shook her head in resignation and stuck out her tongue at him with an "Hmmh…!"

"Hmmh…!" the farm boy replied, doing the same gesture.

Cecile's nose twitched slightly; there was an even more delicious scent in the air besides the dried grass that she had been grazing the whole morning. Her hooves tapped the ground silently as she got closer to the source of that smell and pulled it up.

"Yauw! Cecile!" Finn complained, feeling the mule's teeth pulling his blonde hair "How many times do I have to tell you that my hair isn't hay?!"

Flanna tried to repress it, but she ended up bursting in laughter at the scene. The mule was certainly stubborn and her head was too heavy for Finn to push it away. The girl enjoyed Finn's struggle for a while until she decided to help him a little, smacking the mule's back with her palm. Cecile groaned softly and left in search of something else to chew. Meanwhile, Finn rubbed his now sticky hair in disgust, glimpsing a smile on Flanna's face out the corner of his eye.

"So you think I'm funny, huh?"

"Nah, I just think it's funny when you're about to be eaten by a mule!" she chuckled in attempt to tease him.

Finn simply decided to ignore that comment and got up on his feet, Flanna noticed that he was walking away without an apparent reason so she dared to ask.

"Where the flip are you going?"

"Oh well, I was not planning to say it aloud but since you're so curious…" he pointed a hidden spot behind some bushes "I gotta pee."

"Ugh…gross!"

"Whatever, you asked!" Finn shrugged in amusement, he jumped into the bushes and grinned back at her "No peeking, eh?"

Flanna's face blushed "Are stupid or what?! Of course, I won't be peeking! Idiot!" she crossed her arms and turned her face away "What a dork…!"

x+x+x+x+x

Finn zipped his pants exhaling a sigh of relief, he wasn't really sure of where he was standing now. The farm boy used to believe that he knew all the forests and meadows around his house by heart, but a mysterious warehouse in the distance had just proved him wrong.

He decided to sneak towards it on his own; perhaps those Destiny Gang guys were hiding in there… Finn rolled under a window and raised his head slowly to peek through it.

"P-please…!" a man cried, pushing himself against a wall "I'll tell you whatever you want…just…just keep that weapon away from me!"

"Whatever we want?" a weirdo dressed in pink murmured, pointing his sword forward "Big Destiny wishes to rule this miserable town!"

"Yeah, rule…!" an eccentric group of people replied in unison. "'Cause Big-D's got the power and the style to do it, yo!"

"T-t-t-t…" the poor man stammered nervously "H-Hacksworth…"

Finn drowned a surprised gasp with his hands, sliding down before anyone could see him.

"Hacksworth?!" this time a guy with a scar on his eye threatened him with his katana "Who's that? And what's up with him, huh?!"

"H-Hacksworth is the owner of the town's co-…colliery, everyone depends on him to survive, especially during winter… Y-you guys control the coal mines and you'll have the whole town eating from the palm of y-your hands…"

The two strange men seemed to hesitate a little; they turned around to face the other side of the warehouse (where Finn was unable to get a good look at whatever or whoever was there) as if they were waiting for a response.

"Hehe…" another voice chuckled in delight "Big-D likes how this Mr. Trupp Blake thinks…"

"D-does that means… that you'll let me go now?" Mr. Trupp asked nervously "P-please… I'm just a humble pastry cook…!"

"Tromo, please explain this fella the ways of the Destiny Gang!"

The guy with the scar on his face drew his golden katana forward and smirked "Big Destiny can't afford to trust anyone who knows our secret plans, therefore, those people must disappear to avoid any possible interventions in the future, hehe…"

"In other words…" the pink guy added "We'll gladly pay you a ticket to the other world!"

Finn knew what was about to happen, Mr. Blake was going to be killed. Someone had to stop those guys! If only there was a way to save him, where are the heroes when you need them?

"No! Please, I beg you!" Trupp Blake cried frantically "Somebody save me, please!"

"Okay Finn…" the boy muttered to himself "You're crapping your pants, you're just a kid and there's no way for someone like you to defeat five tough grown-ups like them…" he gritted his teeth anxiously "But if I don't save him… No one else will!"

x+x+x+x+x

Flanna stared at the clouds impatiently, wondering what was taking Finn so long. Jake had hopped onto the bench and snuggled on her lap a few minutes after the boy left, so she began to pet him softly while she waited.

Twenty minutes more passed by and Finn hadn't returned; at first Flanna thought that he had ran away because he might be afraid of dealing with the Destiny Gang, but then she remembered how much Finn cared for his puppy and his mule, he wasn't going to abandon them just because, right?

She sighed, glancing down at the small bulldog on her lap "J-Jake?" the dog was snarling and growling; his ears had gone up a little as if he was hearing something "What's wrong? Is it…?" Flanna sprung up in realization "Finn!"

The red-haired girl pulled Cecile's rein to drag her along with Jake into the bushes where Finn had vanished only moments ago. The mysterious warehouse wasn't very far, she could hear shouts and groans getting closer with each step she made.

"Hehe, this will show you not to mess with us…!" Tromo chuckled viciously as he kicked Finn's stomach.

The farm boy was lying on the ground, feeling completely defenseless as four thugs enjoyed themselves, beating him up. His face was covered with bruises as well as his arms and knees. Despite it all, Finn was fighting to get back on his feet; he couldn't let those guys do whatever they wanted with his hometown and its inhabitants. For some unknown reason, the members of the Destiny Gang stopped their aggressiveness towards him all of a sudden and stepped aside, letting his blurry vision catch a glimpse of a taller man, making his way through his followers.

"Y-you're Big Destiny, huh…?" Finn said weakly.

Big-D grinned with pride, "It seems that I'm starting to earn some fame around these neighborhoods…!" he leaned down and grabbed Finn's shirt to pull him up "But why is it that only tiny runts like you dare to face me?"

"Because you're too lame to fight something better!" Flanna Hacksworth lunged over him unexpectedly, delivering a powerful kick on his groin.

"M-MY STUFF!" the orange-haired bully moaned furiously as his hands let go of the semiconscious boy to fall on his knees, covering the damaged area.

Flanna rushed to Finn's side and cradled him in her arms "I never thought you were that stupid, Finn Mertens! Just-… look what they have done to you!"

"F-Flanna…?" the boy mumbled weakly.

"Yeah, who else?" she answered, trying to get him up "C'mon, I gotta get us on Cecile before Big Destiny recovers or-…!"

"Or what, Firefly?" the man known as Tromo interjected as the other members of the gang gathered around him.

Flanna felt how the fear began to conquer her body; there was no escape now, those guys were going to kill them both for sure. All she could do was to cling onto Finn's body as if he could keep her safe and close her eyes.

The Destiny Gang loomed slowly towards them, some of them chuckling evilly while others cracked their knuckles, hoping to smash them against the young duo.

"Don't touch them!" Big Destiny's voice roared, there was nothing but rage reflected on his features "They are mine!"

"I don't think so!"

Finn and Flanna opened their eyes in surprise. Someone was standing up for them; he was a strong looking man with chocolate-colored skin, his face was adorned by a pair of thick eyebrows, a mustache and a pink round nose above it. He was wearing a blue apron, which was covered by flour and white creamy frosting.

"M-Mr…Trupp Blake…" Finn whispered in awe.

"That's right my boy, you risked your life to save mine, and now I must to do the same!" Mr. Blake pulled out the same rifle that Big-D had used to scare Flanna the other night and smirked "Can you believe this fools? They let their gun all sad and lonely in their truck…"

"C-careful dude…!" Trami, the pink-haired guy stammered raising his arms "That thing ain't a toy!"

"Oh, hoho…! I know son," Mr. Trupp chambered the rifle "I know…"

"He's going to fire that thing! Run! Get into the car!" Big Destiny's men cried in fear, getting their butts out of the scene.

Big Destiny stepped back, gritting his teeth in a weak attempt to contain his anger. His back bumped against Cecile, who was grazing peacefully around them "Very well…!" Big-D admitted, "You win this time; Mr. Cupcake, Hero boy, Firefly… But let me tell you this…" his hands grasped the mule's reins "Big Destiny never leaves with empty hands!"

"D-Don't…!" Finn yelled in a weak manner.

Big-D jumped over Cecile's back and kicked her sides "This ain't over yet, the Destiny Gang will rule this pathetic town! Just wait and see! Hyah!" The mule brayed in pain and trotted away.

"Ce-cecile…" the boy murmured, stretching his arm towards the vanishing figure that was galloping in the distance "Bartram…"

"I'm sorry Finn…" Flanna whispered, pulling him closer "I shouldn't have dragged you into this…"

"Bouw…" Jake moaned sadly as he sat by they their side.

2/06/13 Update: Grammar mistakes corrected.