Disclaimer: Not enough magic in the world could give me the ability to own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter.
His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Hibiki had taken Metalicana to the side. "I'm warning you boy, any funny business and you'll be stuck in the closest until Christmas."
"I'm not going to do anything, honest," said Metalicana.
Uncle Hibiki still didn't believe him. No one ever did. The biggest problem was that strange things happened around him, and Metalicana gave up on telling the Lates family that he didn't make them happen.
Once, Aunt Jenny was tired of all the haircuts that ended with him looking the same. So she took a pair of scissors and cut is hair to the point where he was almost bald. Jose laughed himself silly at Metalicana, he ended up not getting any sleep just imagining what the other kids would say. He was picked on enough as it is. The next morning, he got up and his hair was the exact same way it was before his aunt touched it. He got a week in the closet for it, even though he tried to tell them that he had no idea how it grew back so fast.
He was also forced to try and wear the ugliest shirt he had ever seen, and the harder Aunt Jenny tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it got. It was soon only big enough to put on a doll. Aunt Jenny just thought it shrunk in the laundry and he wasn't punished.
Another time he was in trouble for being on the roof of the school cafeteria, no joke. Jose's gang had been chasing Metalicana, like every day, then he suddenly found himself sitting right on the roof. A letter was sent home, and he tried to tell Uncle Hibiki that all he was trying to do was jump behind a trash can.
However, nothing was going to go wrong today. It was even worth having to be with Jose and Aria to be out of the house. While driving, Uncle Hibiki complained to Aunt Jenny. He loved to complain: his coworkers, Metalicana, the government, Metalicana, the bank, and Metalicana were just a few of his favorite subjects. Today he was talking about young people and their motorcycles.
"I had a dream about a motorcycle," Metalicana remembered, "It was flying."
Almost crashing into the car in front of him Uncle Hibiki shouted, "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"
Jose and Aria snickered.
"I know they don't. It was only a dream."
Metalicana wished he hadn't said anything. If there was anything the Lates family hated more than questions, it was talking about things doing something they shouldn't. Even if it was in a cartoon, they thought that he might get dangerous ideas.
It was very sunny this Saturday and zoo was packed. Uncle Hibiki bought Jose and Aria large chocolate ice cream cones at the entrance. The lady at the stand asked Metalicana if he wanted anything before his aunt and uncle to hurry him away. So they went and bought him and cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad in Metalicana's opinion. He had the best morning he'd had in a while. He made sure to walk just a little bit away from the others. That way Jose and Aria, who were getting a little board, wouldn't move on to their favorite hobby, hitting him. Metalicana even got to finish Jose's dessert, because there wasn't enough ice cream on top so another for him was ordered.
However, he felt like this was way too good to last. After lunch they went to the reptile exhibit. It was cool and dark, with windows along the walls doing the best they could to get the room lit. Behind the glass was many different types of lizards and snakes, crawling over the wood and stone.
Jose and Aria wanted to see things like poisonous cobras and man-crushing pythons. Jose soon found the largest snake there was. It could've wrapped around Uncle Hibiki's car and crushed it into a trash can. It didn't seem to be in the mood, it was pretty much fast asleep.
Jose had his nose pressed up against the glass, staring at the huge beast.
"Make it move," he whined to his father.
Uncle Hibiki tapped on the glass, but it stayed as it was.
"Do it again."
Uncle Hibiki used his knuckles and tapped on the glass again, a little harder than before. The snake still slept on through.
"This is boring," Jose complained.
He walked away. Metalicana walked in front of the glass and looked intently at the snake on the other side. He wouldn't have been surprised if the snake died of boredom. All alone, except for the stupid people tapping the glass and disturbing it all day. It was even worse than having that closest as a bedroom, he could at least go to the rest of the house.
The snake then started to wake up. It slowly raised its head, until it was eye level with Metalicana. It winked at him, and Metalicana stared back in response. He looked around to see if anyone was watching this, no one was. He then looked back at the snake and winked back. The snake jerked his head towards Uncle Hibiki and Jose.
It gave Metalicana a look that seemed to say, "I get that all the time."
"I know," Metalicana whispered, even though he wasn't sure if the snake could hear what he said.
"It must be really annoying."
The snake nodded his head.
"Where do you come from anyway?"
The snake pointed his tail at the sign in front of the tank. It said, Boa Constrictor, Bosco.
"Was it nice there?"
It pointed to the sign again, this specimen was bred in the zoo.
"Oh, I see, so you've never been to Bosco before?"
The snake shook his head, then a loud shout made them both jump.
"JOSE! MR. LATES! YOU HAVE TO SEE WHAT THIS SNAKE IS DOING!"
Jose came over as fast as he could.
"Out of my way," he told Metalicana, pushing him hard onto the ground.
The next part happened very fast. One minute, Aria and Jose were leaning against the glass. The nest they had jumped back with looks of horror on their face. Metalicana sat up and gasped at what he saw. The glass in front of the snake's tank was gone.
The snake was rapidly escaping and slithering on the floor. People throughout the exhibit where running towards the exits.
Metalicana swore he heard, "Bosco, here I come… Thank you amigo," as the snake went past him.
The keeper of the exhibit was in shock as well, "where did the glass go?"
The zoo director even made Aunt Jenny some tea while apologizing. Aria and Jose could only mumble. As far as Metalicana seen, the snake went and playfully snapped at their heels as it passed them. By the time they were back in the car however, Jose was saying that it almost bit off his leg. Then Aria was saying had he was almost squeezed to death.
The worst for Metalicana was when Aria was calm enough to say, "Metalicana was talking to it, weren't you Metalicana?"
Uncle Hibiki waited until Aria left to go off on Metalicana.
He was so angry that he could hardly say, "Go… closest… stay… no meals."
Metalicana lay in his bed in the closest, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know the time so he wasn't sure if everyone was asleep. He wasn't going to risk sneaking some food from the kitchen until they were.
He has lived here from almost ten years, the most miserable ten years ever. Basically for as long as he could remember, ever since his parents died in a car crash when he was a baby. Sometimes if he really tried hard he saw a strange vison of a green light and a burning pain on his arm. He guessed this was the crash.
He didn't remember anything about his parents. His aunt and uncle never talked about them and he wasn't allowed to ask questions. There wasn't even pictures of them around the house.
When he was really little Metalicana dreamed of some unknown relative to take him. It never happened, this was his only family.
Sometimes he still thought (more like hoped) that the strangers around town seemed to know him. Very strange people too. Once a man smoking a cigar bowed to him while he was shopping with Aunt Jenny and Jose. After making sure Metalicana didn't know the man, Aunt Jenny rushed them out of the store.
Another time, this woman with so much gel that her hair looked like they were cat ears, waved to him on the bus. A bald man with a long black beard actually asked to shake his hand. The weirdest thing was that the people seemed to have disappear after he looked back to see them a second time.
At school he had no one. Everyone knew that Jose's gang didn't like him, and no one disagreed with Jose's gang.