Tales of the Alternate Universe
Chapter Fifteen: A Series of Words and a Choose Bruce Man
Quick young feet dashed through the market street, pushing everyone out of their way as the desperate cries of a man in need interrupted the usual bustle and hustle of the small town. A fearful crowd gathered around the epicenter of the disruption, contemplating in resignation how the new self-proclaimed rulers of Junktown punished a defenseless fellow neighbor. Trumo and Tremi enjoyed themselves, kicking and pocking their victim —a humble fisherman, while this one just fought to cover his face with his forearms in a poor attempt to protect himself from their attacks.
"Are you gonna pay us now, Mr. dude?!" Trumo, the blue-haired member of the Destiny Gang demanded with a chuckle.
"Please…have mercy…" the angler begged faintly. "I-I couldn't gather enough money! I have to feed my wife and children, please… I beg you!"
The two ruthless punks shared a look of amusement with each other. Trumo laughed, holding his forehead as he let his partner lift the poor fisherman by his collar.
"Look," Tremi said as his finger pointed a luxurious mansion, crowning a nearby rocky hill. "You see that pretty house? That's Big-D's lair, you know. And Big-D likes to fill it up with nice stuff! But nice stuff ain't free, Mr. dude! You need money to get your hands on it, and that money comes from your dirty pockets, understand?"
"I-I get it but—…" the frightened fisherman replied.
"But?!" Trumo interrupted. "You know why you're still in one piece, man?! You know why your family and home are still safe?! 'Cause Big-D has been far too benevolent with you!" he turned around and pointed the crowd, causing the villagers to reel back in fear. "With all of you! And all he asks for, is for a little monetary contribution… Sadly, if you don't help Big-D, he won't help you…"
Tremi walked closer, holding a knife in his hand with a vicious grin on his lips. The poor angler felt shivers running down his spine as the cold metal entered in contact with his neck and his spiky-haired aggressor whispered. "And that's when the bad stuff happens, Mr. dude…"
"You're wrong!"
Finn Mertens arrived to the scene, sliding along the dusty ground to deliver a well-aimed kick on Trumo's ankle. The blue-haired man lost his balance and collapsed, losing his grip on the fisherman, who ran away from his attackers without thinking it twice. Tremi searched for the farm boy, slashing his knife around in a nervous manner. The swift farmer had just managed to disappear from sight in an instant.
"W-where are YOU!?" the tall thug cried angrily.
"Over here, butt!" Finn yelled.
He was standing behind a group of wooden barrels, filled to the top with fruits and fishes. The farm boy pushed them, using part of his strength to increase their rolling speed and crushed the two bullies under their weight.
"This is where the bad stuff happens!" the young hero claimed in victory.
Tremi and Trumo managed to get back on their feet with much difficulty, snorting and groaning at the sight of their now torn clothes. "This ain't over yet, One-arm!"
"No?" Finn smirked. "Hey, Jake! Finish 'em up!"
The two thugs switched their expressions of rage to more terrified ones at the mention of the golden dog's name. A large domestic beast jumped from out of nowhere, snarling fiercely as he loomed over the two Destiny Gang members. Trumo and Tremi turned themselves around and dashed away from the furious bulldog, crying the word "Retreat!"
"Just wait One-arm!" Trumo shouted, "We still have pending businesses with your family as well! We'll be back!"
"Humph…" the blonde boy sighed sternly as he watched how Jake chased them down.
He knew that messing with the Destiny Gang could endanger his family and friends, but on the other hand, he couldn't stand to watch them abuse innocent people. Life was hard at Junktown, why would anyone wish to step in there?
"Hehehe! Well done, Finn boy!" a merchant in a purple lute suit laughed gleefully as he abandoned his improvised hiding behind his "Vegetables and Other Curious Objects" stall. "You have indeed filled my heart with joy!"
"Hi, Choose Bruce…." Mertens replied weakly.
Seeing that the young farmer wasn't in the mood for talking, the funny-looking man began to whistle a made up tune while his eyes observed the dispersing crowd, as people returned to their usual tasks as if nothing bad had ever happened. That kind of dreadful shows were already an everyday event to deal with for the people of Junktown.
"Umm… hoho…!" Bruce's eyes fell upon a much brighter character, which had just walked inside the market, pulling the reins of a black steed behind her as she gazed at the town with a certain look of nostalgia. "Well, I see you're not in the mood. But perhaps, that familiar face over there might blow your sadness away for good…!"
Finn leaned his back against Choose Bruce's stall in a lazy manner and raised his face, following the merchant's gaze. His heart literally jumped out of his chest when his eyes distinguished a unique shade of red standing out from among the many other dull-colored heads of the passing multitude. There she was, walking aimlessly like a total foreigner, probably trying to remember each path and alley of her former town. Finn didn't know how had he managed to recognize her. The Flanna Hacksworth strolling before him wasn't the same messy girl that used to punch him in the nose and usually cause him to endure long boring hours of detention at school.
This one was a city girl, a high-class city girl. Just like Miss Bonnibel, her feet had learned to drive her gracefully and swiftly through the dusty roads without tripping clumsily or losing her rhythm. Her back remained straight at all times and her chin was held up high, never looking at the others from below. Impeccable garments covered her delicate skin, accenting a sort of new features in her body that Finn was unable to ignore.
Flanna looked so much smoother and curvy at the same time, that our young hero couldn't help himself from digressing into an unknown place in the back of his mind where the word "pretty" wasn't enough to describe her and was immediately replaced with a new term of his vocabulary, which the poor dazed boy had never thought of ever using on a girl, much less in the once annoying and irritable Flanna Hacksworth: "attractive." Finn knew that Flanna was indeed attractive when he couldn't keep his eyes off her now well-defined bust, her slim waist and her beautiful, beautiful face. The farmer felt a strange heat engulfing his body, she was driving him crazy.
"Ahem!" Choose Bruce cleared his throat in an attempt to rescue the fourteen-year old from his own wild teenage thoughts. "Are you by any chance checking out that young lady? 'Cause you know, that has been considered way too impolite lately… hehe!"
"Yeah… I know…" Finn replied, not really being aware of his own words or thoughts. "I-I mean! What?! No! It's just that–…! She's just–…! Wow… Definitively not the same…"
Bruce let a hearty guffaw escape from his system as he noticed Finn's face growing redder and redder. "What are you waiting for, boy? Go to her while you still have some youth time to enjoy!"
"Yeah… I will…go to her and— No!" Finn Mertens jumped inside Choose Bruce's selling booth and hid his face within his hands. "I can't do it! I can't do it!"
The merchant scratched the short brown hair under his mid-century hat with a remarkable look of confusion on his face. Everybody in Junktown knew how much the young Mertens boy had been waiting for the Hacksworth girl's return. In fact most of the adults were aware of Finn's growing feelings for her (Courtesy of a small conversation that Miss Bonnibel had with Tea Hanks, and the lovely old woman ended up spreading the news around the town) and now that she was just a few inches away from him, Finn simply decided to chicken out and hide between a bunch of vegetable crates.
"Finn, what's wrong?" Bruce asked, crouching down beside the boy. "You have been waiting for her for so long…"
"Are you blind, man?! Look at her! She's so… so beautiful…" Finn blushed. "She's from the city. Look how much she has changed, she's all fancy and…clean and…fancy! Far more educated… She's probably not even interested in me anymore! She came looking for Miss Bonnibel, not for me…!" Mertens' blue eyes drifted slowly towards the ground. "Who am I anyway…? Just a poor farm boy… who's not even complete!"
Bruce noticed how the boy stared at his metal arm sorrowfully, how could he think of himself in such a despising way? "Hey… I know exactly what's wrong with your head!" he said. "You're just confused 'cause you were waiting for a girl and a lady came instead!"
Just when Finn was about to deny his statements and excuse himself pathetically once again, Choose Bruce attacked him with a series of rhymes about how he was being a stupid boy for taking unreal thoughts for granted and forgetting about the content of each weekly letter that Flanna had written to him during those two years. And finally, after a series of silent tantrums and arguments, the good merchant had finally convinced the boy about stepping out and speaking to Flanna.
"Now practice…" Bruce ordered with a happy grin.
"This is stupid…" Finn muttered but obeyed anyway. "Ummm… ugh… Hi Flanna, I ummm… well, I noticed that—it's been a long time and you… you certainly grew up…a bit…"
Choose Bruce face-palmed himself. "'Flanna you've grown'? Well that's the lamest compliment I've known!" he laughed, "You know what? Forget it. Here take a flower…!" Bruce pushed Finn out of his stall —completely against the boy's will, forcing him as well to hold a white rose on his flesh hand. "Now go ahead! Hehe! And good luck, tiger!"
Mertens tried to turn around and return to his hiding behind Choose Bruce's stall, however, the looney man had made himself sure of pushing the boy as far from his improvised store as possible, and now if he tried to run or something Flanna would surely notice him.
Flanna… Finn tightened his grip on the rose that Bruce had given him (not really realizing that he had actually crushed its petals) as he walked towards her, multiple uneasy thoughts gathering in his mind. By the time he had gotten close enough to her, Flanna had centered her curious attention on a lumber stall and then gazed upon Big Destiny's lair, probably wondering who was its owner. She didn't notice Finn getting closer until he dared to call her.
"F-Flanna…?" the farm boy said, feeling the heat engulf his body again. It was almost like a burning sensation produced by fear, embarrassment and excitement… All because of her troubling presence, standing so close to him.
The red-haired girl turned around nervously, unsure if the voice calling her was real. Their eyes met. Flanna recognized him immediately, not because of the bear cap or the mechanic arm, but because of the concerned look on his face, the same one that he had given her every time she showed signs of pain along their dangerous quest to stop the Destiny Gang's plans. Finn felt even more nervous when he realized that none of them had reacted. The awkwardness of the moment made him want to turn his sight away, however the boy found it impossible to unlock his eyes from hers. He had waited for so long to see them again, even though there were tears clouding the soothing green of her irises. Why were there tears on them? The young farmer wondered as he raised the crumpled rose at the level of his chest, not knowing how to greet her.
Perhaps a simple "Hi, what's up?" would have been better than offering her a flower with one or two petals left, but there really wasn't a need to do any of those things, for Flanna suddenly seemed to have left all her manners and sense of decorum in the city, by simply charging towards him and invading his personal space with a tight embrace. The boy would have never expected that, Bruce was right. Maybe Flanna hadn't changed on the inside despite how much her appearance actually did. There was no reason to be afraid now that he knew that she was still his friend. He slowly gave himself permission to relax and surround her body with his arms —making himself sure that it was his human arm the one entering in contact with her skin.
They kept themselves from sharing a word between each other, fearing that the interruption of the silence around them could ruin the bewitching sensations, growing within their bodies —just by enjoying the softness of their faces being buried into each other's neck. A silent "I missed you" became tangible between the two.
Wishing to finally greet her with something fairly comparable to a hug, Finn slowly pulled away from Flanna. Driven by his instincts, the teenager found himself holding her chin with his human hand, delicately guiding her lips towards his. It could have been so perfect; he could already taste her breath, feel her soft lips assaulting his, as her hands ran through his hair. However...
Sadly for the young hero, a fat mass of golden fur fired itself over the girl and knocked her down, achieving his owner's goal before him. The bulldog licked Flanna's face, expressing how much he had missed her as well, while she giggled joyfully, glad to see the now full-grown dog that she had met as a puppy two years ago. An embarrassed look on Finn's face combined with a sudden burst of annoyance that he had never felt towards his furry buddy before, erased the many confusing sensations that the red-haired girl had just caused on him. And of course, those repressed feelings had to be immediately exteriorized in one strong word.
"JAKE!"
Update: Grammar checked and corrected.