The D&D Chronicles: The Adventure Begins
Chapter 12: One-Hit Wonder
Brady Oaks, Main Street (Aftermath of Ghoular's Attack), the same evening...
Judy had just had a good first day.
She managed to get 200 tickets before noon, and had just completed her shift for the day.
But on her way back home, she noticed that several ambulances had passed by her way, and upon arriving at the main street of Brady Oaks, she was shocked at most of the damage there was.
She then spotted Deputy Chief Brooks, currently writing down what had happened by a witness (a female construction worker) he was with at the moment and approached him.
"Excuse me, Deputy Chief Brooks?" she said as she approached him, "What just happened here?"
"Oh, nothing much, Meter Maid." Brooks replied as he saw her approach him.
"Nothing much?!" the construction worker exclaimed, "There was some sort of creature that came through the town, and wrecked up a storm!"
"A creature?" Judy asked.
"Yes, as I was explaining to this gentleman, it looked like some kind of black bear, but had horns like a bull!" the construction worker explained, "It came out of nowhere and ambushed us inside the open sewer trench we were working at and attacked us. Most of us managed to escape, but one of my guys, Vinny, didn't make it. The ambulance had just come by to collect some of the wounded to the hospital."
Judy was a bit stunned about this, "That's terrible… and a bit strange…"
"Indeed, it's pretty clear to me something did happen here…" Brooks said with a stern look… before letting out an (idiotic) smile as he added, "and there's nothing we can do about it."
"Wait, what?!" both women said.
"But Brooks, there was-" Judy tried to remind Brooks what happened, only to be cut off by the Deputy Chief.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey… we're not set up for this, Meter Maid." Brooks said, as he then pointed out, "Our motto is 'to serve and protect.' Not 'to serve and protect from man bears… or whatever.'
As the deputy chief of police walked away from the two baffled women to join his co-workers, Judy looked to the construction worker, and comforted her a little as she said, "Don't worry, miss… I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of this…"
"Thank you, ma'am…" the construction worker let out a sigh, happy that someone is taking this seriously.
Judy meanwhile looked at the mess, while she was still positioned as a Meter Maid at the moment, she would hopefully get the chance to help out whatever was going on…
Delta Rune, the Hero's Forge, the next day…
After another day of school, Patrick and his friends went down to Delta Rune and met up with Blinky and the others. Soon, both humans and mystical creatures were once more down in the Hero's Forge.
"So, Patrick, are you ready for your first day of training?" Luz asked.
"I should hope so…" Patrick said, as he had with him some protective leg pads and an American football helmet with him.
"Remind me again, why did you ask us to get you some sports equipment?" Callum asked, "Doesn't the armor already give you some protective wear?"
"To be fair, Callum, the armor seemed to be helping protect the top half of my body," Patrick stated, "that doesn't mean that Ghoular or any other threat could try to attack my bottom half. Same can be said for my head!"
"He makes a good point." Ezran said to his brother.
As Patrick got his armor on and placed the extra protective wear on as well, Blinky spoke up to the group.
"Alright, everyone," he said, "the time has come for our young lad, Master Patrick, to become a Paladin. And what better way to do that, than to train him here in the footsteps of those that came before him."
"And what about us?" Taylor asked.
"I'm sure that we could be of some help as well." Hilda pointed out.
"Very right you are, Miss Hilda," Blinky replied, "if you all and Master Patrick are to help protect this realm you call home, it's time you got into shape."
Blinky soon approached a sphere in a wall, nearby the entrance (which had to be a control gear of sorts), but before he got closer, he looked back to the others and said, "Step back please!"
The group took a few steps back.
"A little further, Master Charles." Blinky said to Chuckie, who then took another few steps back.
"Oh, very well." Blinky shrugged, and then pressed his two hands on the sphere, and the arena suddenly seemed to come alive, as various blades and traps suddenly appeared.
"Whoa! What the-?!" Patrick cried out, as he quickly dodged a blade.
The others quickly followed what he was doing, trying to avoid getting sliced and diced from the sharp traps.
"That's a big blade!" Raph exclaimed.
"We definitely gotta get one!" Hazel smirked.
Dodging all the swinging blades that came his way as the others did, Patrick managed to reach where Blinky was, the six-eyed troll letting out a smirk of interest as he said, "Excellent reflexes, Master Patrick!"
"Great!" Patrick said, huffing and puffing, after running around to avoid getting cut in half, "But maybe we could start off easy? Like you know, with less... grindy things?"
A femine chuckle got their attention, as Toriel and Asriel came into the forge, as the queen then said, "I belief we should hear out the boy on this one, Blinky."
"Oh! Your majesty!" Blinky said in surprise, as he quickly deactivated the room, and the blades returned to their positions, earning sighs of relief from the others.
"What are you doing here, Queen Toriel?" Patrick asked, as the others came over to greet the royal mother and son.
"Please, it's okay to just call me Toriel, Patrick," Toriel smiled, "Asriel insisted on coming to see you train, and I wanted to see how you do as well to see if you can handle it."
"Really?" Hilda stepped in and asked.
"Indeed," Toriel nodded, then looked to Blinky and said with a smile, "though, I believe we should start off easier as Patrick said, Blinky. Like actual beginner's training of learning the basics. As they say, baby steps."
"Very well, your majesty, as you wish." Blinky said with a bow, then turned to walk to the centre as he said "Come, Master Patrick."
Patrick turned to Toriel and smiled, "Thank you for that… uh, Toriel. The second I'd step in that kind of training, I'd be sliced salami."
"No problem, Patrick," Toriel, before she chuckled, "though, why don't you take off most of that gear, it looks like you're set for Grudgby."
"Wait, what's Grudgby?" Patrick asked, as he took off the helmet.
"Oh, we'll tell you later on on that." Papyrus stated.
Soon, Patrick stood in the center of the Hero's Forge. Standing still, he waited as Blinky fixed her stance.
"Wider stance," he said, circling him. "Keep your frame- No. No, that's good." He watched him rub his chin and hum. "Yes… Yes, alright, fine." He tapped the hilt of his sword. "Raise your sword, Master Patrick. Mm-hmm." He nodded and circled him again. "Head up. Chin out. Stomach in."
He obeyed and memorized the posture he held before waiting for further instructions. Blinky only hummed, though, and kept on walking around him, studying his stance for any faults.
As he continued doing so, Patrick glanced to the sidelines where his sisters, his friends, both human and mystical, and Toriel and Asriel were watching.
AAARRRGGHH! was busy eating something… he really didn't want to know what, but Chuckie, who was watching the training with Chris, Papyrus and Sans, said that he got something for the big guy, so that was all he could know. Taylor, Frida and David were doing some of their homework and glancing up every now and then. When he looked at the twins, he might have guessed that they were (possibly) making wages on how long he could stand in the training. Callum and Hilda were busy doing some drawing, with Asriel by Hilda's side and Ezran by Callum's. And Luz busied herself with some homework, social media, and occasionally took a picture or two of him all suited up and ready for training.
With Hilda, she was busy doing her drawing in her sketchbook, as Asriel watched her work, until she said, "Done."
She showed the pages she drew in the book to the prince, and revealed she had drawn her brother, suited up in his armor, Vorpal sword held up high, while another had a picture of Asriel, a cheerful smile on his face as he was waving.
"Those are very good drawings, Hilda." Asriel complimented.
"Thanks, Asriel," Hilda replied with a smile, "Patrick and I have a bit of a knack for drawing."
"Same with Callum," Ezran said, as he joined in the conversation, "after a few years of practice, he's drawings have become quite good, my dad even gave him a sketchbook to document them as well."
"Yep, and if you think that Hilda's drawings were great, check this out!" Callum said with a smirk, as he revealed to them and Ezran a very good picture of a dragon, breathing down fire on what looked like a creature made of marshmallows as he playfully exclaimed, "Take that, Marshmallow Monster!"
This earned some giggles from the three, as they loved that comical little drawing.
Toriel looked at what was happening with her son, and smiled seeing Asriel having a nice time with these new human friends, before turbing to Papyrus and said, "Papyrus, would you come with me please?" Papyrus bowed his head, though surprised to be needed, before joining her as they walked up to Patrick and Blinky.
The two looked as they saw the queen and Papyrus approach them, until Toriel whispered something to Blinky and the skeleton, which they then nodded in response, then she looked to Patrick, "Alright, Patrick, it's time to officially begin your training on learning the arts and skills of being a Paladin. Ready?"
Patrick nodded as he replied, "Alright, I'm ready."
Blinky then he slammed a fist into his palm as he said, "The Paladin of Xadador lives and dies by three rules. Rule number one: always be brave when afraid, and be afraid when being brave."
Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Wait… Afraid? When being brave?"
"Is that some sort of riddle or something?" Chris asked.
"Be afraid." AAARRRGGHH! rumbled behind Patrick from the sidelines.
"As well as be brave, Patrick!" Asriel added.
He glanced back at the big troll and the prince, and then back at Blinky. While he was complexed by that saying, memories of the other night flashed through his head and he took a breath. "Uh, I don't think the 'be afraid' part would be a problem- Woah!" He barely dodged the stone Blinky threw at him. "Hey!"
"See!" Blinky declared, ignoring his outraged tone. "Fear is good! Keeps us alert. Keeps us on guard. Makes us vigilant."
Suddenly, Patrick heard Papyrus as the skeleton cried out, "Head's up!"
Patrick turned and, in a bit of panic, quickly dodged a skeleton bone that seemed to come from nowhere.
"What the-?!" Patrick could muster, as he was then dodging and avoiding attacks from Blinky and Papyrus, as they both continued throwing rocks and bones at him respectfully, with the former laughing like a mad man (one of the rocks thrown by Blinky got caught by AAARRRGGHH!, who then ate it), as the boy then tried to hit them with his sword.
Toriel looked to Patrick intrigue, as she saw the boy getting the hang of fighting back the attacks the troll and skeleton were throwing at him.
"Good work, Patrick," Toriel said, as she nodded her head for the two to cease fire, which they both did, "the point about that rule you should know, is that while it's important to overcome fear, fear can also be used as means of strategy, as Blinky said, to help keep you on your toes."
"That's right," Blinky stated, as he once again lectured while walking around Patrick, "A hero is not only he who is fearless, but he who is also not stopped by it."
Patrick furrowed his brow. "Got it."
"Rule number two: always finish the fight," Toriel declared. "When facing down an opponent, the Paladin is given the option to kill or spare the opponent's life. But heed warning that most people in the world could be far worse as Ghoular, and might be beyond redemption, thus must be given no mercy."
'Kill or spare one's life?' Patrick thought, 'I suppose that's a bit of a goo-'
He didn't quite get to finish his thought, as upon saying that, Toriel suddenly conjured up several balls of flames, before sending them flying to Patrick, who then tried to dodge them, block several of them with his sword and shield.
'Oh man, not again!' he thought at this repeat of attacks.
Toriel tossed more and more balls of flames at him, never ceasing or slowing down. Patrick was starting to have second thoughts about training.
"Can we slow down, please?" he asked desperately, backing up further and further from Toriel.
He was breathing heavily by the time Toriel stopped attacking.
"So, the two ways of finishing the fight is show mercy or-?" Patrick asked, the last part suddenly caught off, as a stone struck him from behind.
"Kill." AAARRRGGHH!'s voice finished the sentence.
"Bull's eye, buddy." Sans gave a thumbs up to the big troll.
Glancing back, Patrick saw the troll acting innocent as most of his friends stifled their giggles, while he saw Raph grumbly giving (possibly) two bucks to Hazel, who had a smirk on her face.
"Ow," he mumbled, as his sisters came up and helped him back up, and quietly spoke aloud to AAARRRGGHH! "What the heck?"
"Yes," Blinky said. "The Paladin is always given the choice to spare or vanquish his opponent, even through death."
Taylor blinked at this. "Wh-Whoa, okay. That's… That's pretty harsh."
"Ours is an unforgiving world, Miss Taylor."
"It's sadly true…" Toriel nodded, with a sad look on her face.
"Thus, reaching the 3rd rule." Blinky then said, Patrick's sisters stepped back after seeing he was okay, as he got ready for whatever the last rule would be, but took him by surprise as Blinky then said, "When in doubt, always kick them in the Gronk-nuks."
He tilted his head. "The Gronk-nuks?"
Blinky stomped the floor twice then, and a massive blade sprung from the ground. He yelped and backpedaled, ending up sprawled on the ground with the blade aimed precariously where his pelvis had been before. "Holy crud!"
"¡Dios mío!*" Luz cried as that happened.
AAARRRGGHH! cringed and shivered. "The horror."
Patrick shared the same expression as his friends: eyes wide, mouths dropped, and faces baffled.
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Frida cried out then, jumping to her feet with hands in the air. "You're telling us that you have a whole rule that's, literally, just about kicking people in the gnards?"
They all turned their eyes to Blinky who simply and shortly answered, "Yes."
They stared at Blinky in disbelief, and then Patrick sighed as he got back up.
This just gets crazier and crazier.
The sound of the Forge's gate lifting caught everyone's attention, and they turned to watch as a familiar Dragonborn came sauntering in.
"Ah, so the Paladin's training begins." Kriv said, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.
Patrick and the others looked a little nervous as he approached him, his sisters, Blinky and Toriel, though he could see that Hilda had a small stern look on her face, same with Luz watching the Dragonborn stepping forward.
"What brings you here, Kriv?" Toriel asked, as Kriv soon reached them.
"I thought the great Paladin might accept my services as a sparring partner," Kriv said, giving a bow before punching an open palm then looking at Patrick and Blinky. "Part of your training regiment, isn't it?"
In all honesty, Patrick wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face. However, all that anger and resentment was buried under fear and fright and the need to politely decline his request. Fortunately, Blinky answered before he could blurt out some incoherent sentence.
"In due time perhaps," his teacher said.
As he turned to take him away, though, another voice rang out from somewhere high up. "Why wait?"
They looked for the voice's owner and found none other than Vendel watching them from a referee booth-looking room.
"I am eager to see your charge demonstrate his mettle," he said.
"To be fair, we're not sure of what type of metal the Vorpal sword is made of," Hilda spoke up, "perhaps, titanium or…"
"He means 'mettle'," Blinky said to the younger sibling, as he explained to Patrick and his sisters, "as in Master Patrick's ability to cope in the means of oppresity."
"Oh…" the siblings simultaneously said.
"I'm still kinda working on the mettle part," Patrick sheepishly said, "that and S.A.T. words…"
"Let them spar!" Vendel declared with a small chuckle, a wide, sadistic smile on his face.
Patrick paled as Kriv walked to the opposite side of the Forge, chuckling under his breath.
"No harm in it," he said with clear sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Patrick and his sisters looked to each other with worry, and then looked to Blinky, who was following Toriel to where the others were, before following after the six-eyed troll.
"Hey! Wait, Blinky!" he called, as they ran after him. "What do I do?"
He clenched a fist, not even turning to them. "Hit him as hard as you can."
"No, no. I mean, what do I do?" Patrick asked, before saying. "I've never hit anyone."
This halted Blinky in his tracks, as he turned to the siblings and raised an eyebrow. "Ever?"
"Yeah, I never got into a fight!" he practically shouted.
"In your entire life?!"
"Well, all 16 years of it, yeah…" Patrick stated.
"Sort of counting the times he almost got into one as well…" Taylor stated.
"Including with our school bully, Biff." Hilda also added.
"Not even with your siblings? Given how I've seen Papyrus and his brother get into fights."
"Bicker we do, sometimes, but we never fight, even if Taylor is a little hard and sometimes stressful to be with." Patrick pointed out, before quickly looking to his sister and added, "No offence."
"None taken… I guess," Taylor replied, "and I'm kinda with you on this as well."
"You fought Ghoular…" Blinky pointed out, before muttering aloud, "however briefly," before adding, "and you were glorious, your blade work was very impressive."
"That was just skills I learned from watching Lord of the Rings, most notably the defences," Patrick stated, "along with a few Jedi and chief skills too."
"Exactly!" Blinky said with a smile, "Be creative, that is one of the key skills a Paladin can use in battle!"
He then grabbed him by the shoulders. "The fight is within you, Master Patrick."
The siblings just stared at him, unsure, but he continued nonetheless.
"Trust yourself! One hit!" he said proudly, bringing up all four fists, though they both stared awkwardly at all four fists, until Blinky left a single fist held up and repeated with a smile, "One hit, and you will be changed forever!"
He turned Patrick around before he could argue and made him face his opponent. Kriv, standing on the other side of the arena, popped his neck and his knuckles.
'Okay. You got this, Patrick.' the Paladin thought to himself, 'Just… remember your stance. Feet shoulder-width apart. Head up. Chin out. Stomach in.'
He took to his side of the arena, planting himself on the stone as Blinky and his sisters joined the others at the sidelines.
He watched Kriv anxiously, but forced himself to not tremble beneath his armor.
"Begin!" Vendel declared.
Kriv roared then. He beat his chest and roared before charging like a gorilla on two feet. Patrick stood his ground and raised his sword up.
"One hit…" he murmured as he grew closer.
Just as Kriv was halfway towards him, the Dragonborn soon jumped in the air, and brought up both his clawed hands, forming them like a hammer as he fell towards Patrick.
In an instant, Patrick quickly dodged as Kriv slammed the ground with his fists, before running up one of the pillars of the Forge and jumped halfway toward the young boy, then, in an instant, he shot out a ball of fire, as it hit not far from where Patrick stood, exploding and causing a smoke screen around Patrick, making him unable to see what was happening… or where Kriv would strike.
Suddenly, the Dragonborn's foot came flying at Patrick, and sky kicked him the chest, flashing wisps of colour ignited upon contact, much like what happened with Ghoular. The kick sent Patrick tumbling to the floor, much to the worry of his friends, both old and new.
Patrick struggled to get back up, even using the sword to help him up like a crutch, as he looked to Kriv, a little beaten and sore, as he looked up to the Dragonborn and groaned, "O-okay. Time out for just a sec?"
In a split-second, despite the request, Kriv responded with several punches, the wisps erupting from each punch Kriv gave, before picking up Patrick like a ragdoll, and sent one more punch, sending the boy flying and landed skidding to the edge.
The Vorpal sword landed on the arena floor, planted to the ground, before vanishing in a colourful puff of magical dust.
Patrick struggled to get back up, but he soon looked up, seeing Kriv towering over him, a cold glare on his scaly face.
He then grabbed hold of Patrick by the front collar of his armor, and held him not far from the edge, the young Paladin terrified of what may be down in the bottom, it would no doubt be a straight plummet to certain death.
He barely heard his friends calling out and screaming at the others, who were looking scared and nervous, to do something. Neither of them moved, though.
"PATRICK!" Taylor and Hilda screamed with fear.
"Don't you dare hurt him!" Chuckie yelled.
"¡Déjalo en paz, idiota!*" Luz added in spanish.
"Let him go you brute!" Raph yelled.
"Are you crazy?! He's dangling on the edge there!" Callum yelled back at Raph.
"Put him down!" Frida demanded, as David nodded in agreement, though still scared at what was happening.
"I've waited my entire life to inherit the Amulet," Kriv sneered as he looked at the squirming Paladin, "I can wait until you fall in battle!"
Patrick grew more and more scared that this could be it, until Kriv let him go… and dropped him back on the ground. "I suspect I won't have to wait very long."
Patrick tried getting up, but every heavy, laboring breath he took made his ribs burst into flames. The only thing he could even manage to do was look up, a little beaten and nervous, at Kriv and meet his sneering gaze.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay down and live, worm." Kriv said, as he turned and left, letting out a small, dark chuckle to himself.
Blinky, Toriel and AAARRRGGHH! looked to Vendel, who watched the spar, and slowly shook his head in disappointment as he started to leave, while the others looked to Patrick with concern, as most of his friends went over to check on him.
"He might be right." Patrick said, the events of what happened playing back in his head, as the others looked to him with worry as they started to leave Delta Rune, "What in the world was I thinking?"
Patrick's friends shared looks as they followed him. None of them said anything, however, and he let them stay quiet. He really didn't want to hear what anyone wanted to say, right now. All he cared about was getting home and lying down.
"Patrick?" AAARRRGGHH! rumbled behind them, but he didn't spare the gentle giant of a troll a look.
And he didn't spare Blinky a look either when he spoke up, "I understand you're upset, Master Patrick, but you've had not a moment's training."
He kept ignoring him as they neared the entrance to Delta Rune, which looked like an old gate, with the Delta Rune emblem engraved at the top of the gate, and as mentioned by Blinky, while it looked like a normal ruote to the human kids' homes, it was indeed protected by the invisible protective bubble.
Toriel looked at Patrick as he continued to feel bad, before trying to comfort him as she said, "It's alright, Patrick, there's no shame in what transpired."
"Really?" he snapped at her, before turning to the group as he said, "Forgive me for speaking this way, but you were not paying attention at what happened back there."
"Shame was the only thing that transpired," he glared at her and Blinky, but the looks of hurt and guilt on the fantaspecies' faces soon softened his expression. However, the resentment in him still burned and he pulled the Amulet out of his pocket as he sadly added, "Shame… and realization…"
"I don't know if Kriv should be the Paladin of Xadador or not," he said and gave it one final look, "but I don't care… all I know is I'm not."
He tossed the Amulet to them. It bounced off the ground and rolled for a few inches before it toppled over. Turning, he gestured for his friends to come along with him back home.
"Master Patrick," Blinky said, as he picked up the Amulet, as he got Patrick and his friends' attention, "despite whatever doubts you may have about the Amulet's choice, it is now bonded to you."
The kids' eyes widened when the Amulet flew back into Patrick's hands on its own, like a yo-yo he'd flung and reeled back.
"This is a mantle you cannot refuse." he claimed, solemnly.
Patrick looked back at him and the other fantaspecies, and then closed his eyes before dropping the Amulet. The sound of it landing on the ground with a small little tink rang in his ears as he left. "I'm sorry, Blinky."
Later...
Blinky's words rang in his head. They were powerful, hitting him hard in the gut. All he'd really known about mantles and burdens were the kind that his mom would probably give him to bear. That just made him want to drop it even more.
However, Blinky's words weren't just powerful. They were also true, because when Patrick and his sisters had arrived back home (the others returning to theirs), the Amulet of Xadador had been sitting on the hallway table. He'd promptly thrown it away with a glare and a scowl.
Then, though, when he'd gone into his room, it was on his desk. He then dropped it in the trashcan and stacked some books on top of it. They'd heard it humming and found it on his pillow a second later.
"Oh shut up…" he grumbled as it hummed.
Where he went, the amulet always seemed to end up where he least expected, he'd found it in the bathroom. Then, he found it in his bowl of crisps when watching TV. And then under the TV. And in his drawers. As well as in his backpack, notebook, D&D box set, toy box and even in Hip and Hop's rabbit house too.
He'd tried getting rid of it in so many ways, his sisters tried helping him out, too. First, it was just throwing it away like he'd already tried. Didn't work. Next, Taylor tried locking it in a safe in the garage, but when they went back into the house, it was back on the table. Finally, Patrick tried throwing it far from the house with a bat, and it seemed like it worked.
"Home run." Patrick chuckled to himself, only for it flew back and hit him from the back of his head.
"Really?!" Patrick groaned, as he seemed to finally give up getting rid of it.
It was stuck with him for life.
Brady Oaks High School, next day…
Patrick relentedly took it with him once more to school the next day.
He was currently at rehearsals with Victoria standing by his side, and Ms. Lamb was with them too, helping and instructing them on what to do and say for the upcoming play.
While he was still in thoughts of what had happened last night, it was his thoughts on Victoria that helped soothe his wounds a little.
"Deny and refuse; but he can't deny it," Mrs. Lamb said, wagging a pencil around as she directed them. "But Romeo can't be a Montague, which means that Juliet…."
The drama teacher gestured at Victoria and she finished, "And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
"Exactly." Mrs. Lamb laughed and then looked at the other lead. "Patrick?"
Patrick was paying a little bit of attention - as far as the teacher could tell. While he was focusing on the script, his eyes were currently on the site of Victoria.
At Mrs. Lamb's call, though, he looked straight forward to her. "Hmm?"
"Or, if thou wilt not, be sworn my love…."
"Oh, sorry… right. I-I got it," he said. "Love, deny, refuse. I'm on it."
Mrs. Lamb eyed at Patrick for a moment, before saying. "Okay, then. Quick break and then we take it from 'Wherefore art….'"
As he was scanned his script, making sure to find the specific line Mrs. Lamb wanted him to read for the next part, Victoria approached him.
"You okay?" she asked and he perked up again.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Totally fine…"
"A head's up that you're gonna be a bit more convincing if you're playing the part of Romeo." Victoria said as she came up to him a little.
The memories of getting beaten up by Kriv and trying to get rid of the amulet were still nagging his head.
Patrick rubbed his arm and sighed. "Sorry, I've got a lot on my plate, at the moment."
"I understand," Victoria said, a small bit of sympathy in her eyes, "we are gonna be spending a lot of time together, so you know that I can keep you company on what's happening."
"Thanks, Vicky." Patrick smiled, but then looked down a little with a small look of concern, thinking of what to tell her.
He thought that she'll think I'm crazy talking about the bizarre creatures that he meant a few days ago, but when he remembered about his fight with Kriv, he even began thinking about what happened between him and Biff, as well as the chat with Blinky about never been involved in a fight and one hit would change everything.
"Hey, Vicky?" he spoke, as Victoria looked at him.
"Yeah, Patrick?"
"Can I talk to you about something?" he asked, "I know it might be something you might not feel comfortable with, and you might not approve and all…"
"It's okay," she said, "you can tell me."
Patrick let out a small sigh, before looking at her and nervously asked, "I know you won't like it, but have you ever been in a terrible situation with a pretty tough obstacle, and the only option you can only have is to fight…"
Patrick looked to Victoria, and saw that her smile wasn't showing, and had a concerned look on her face.
"I figured you might not approve…" he sighed.
"No, no. It's okay," Victoria replied, "I can answer that. Especially if it's the situation you're in."
Patrick was a little surprised that she might have guessed it was him he was talking about but went with it.
"Okay, you got me there," Patrick sighed, "it's just that, I've never been in a fight before, and even after coming across someone, I have tough and pretty hard choices whenever to fight or not, even if it's to defend those I care about…"
"I know," Vicky replied, "I'm a little bit not quite a fan of violence, and sometimes I think there's a better way to finish a fight than punching someone in the face."
Patrick let out a light chuckle when hearing that, thinking of the same sort of words Toriel said to him, "You know, the mother of a new friend I just met kind of said something similar to that. I think you might like her."
"Really?" Victoria smiled, raising an eyebrow of interest, "I like to meet her one day."
"Someday…" Patrick nodded with a small smile, as he then thought, 'If only you knew… though maybe… one day…'
Their chat was soon cut off when Mrs. Lamb suddenly called out, "Alright, Alright! Act two, scene two, line thirty-three!"
They glanced at each other and then down at their scripts. Though, Patrick stole a smiling glance at Victoria as she recited her line. "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?"
After rehearsals…
"So, how did the rehearsals go?" Luz asked, as she, Patrick's sisters, Chris, Frida, David, Callum and Ezran were walking around with Patrick outside the campus of high school, by the outside lockers, as they asked how things went on his first bit of practise for the play.
"Oh, it went… quite well, to be fair." Patrick replied, with a small smile on his face, "I've been getting the hang of remembering the lines a bit more, though Victoria is a natural."
"Well, duh," Taylor smiled, "she must have been born to act!"
"Imagine how it will go when it gets to the best part," Hilda said, a small smirk on her face as she added, "you know…"
She puckered her lips and made kissing sounds, earning some giggles from the others, and a small blush from his older brother.
"I'll definitely look forward to seeing that." Taylor smirked as well.
"Oh, knock it off, you two!" Patrick playfully replied to his sisters.
Their walk and talk was suddenly stopped, as when Patrick looked back up, his smile vanished, as did the others as they came across a young man, putting up what looked like missing posters.
The young man, Cacausian, had platinum black hair styled into a point, ice-blue eyes, and a long, angular face. He wore a grayish-blue hoodie over a light gray undershirt, orange phat pants, and bright sea-foam green tennis shoes.
Looking at him, the group knew that it was Sydney Myers, Harry's older brother, being 6 years older than him. Sydney had been known for being soft-spoken, and was also a little "chill" in most interactions, while being kind, smart, introverted and asocial. He had a keen fondness for photography and music, the latter in which he learned many types of music genres, especially of hoping to become a DJ.
But now, though, he had to put the dream job on hold, as his brother had been missing, and was currently putting up missing posters for his brother on some of school boards around the campus, as well as handing some out to most students and staff to see if they can help find him.
"Hey, Sydney." Taylor spoke up, getting Sydney's attention.
Sydney let out a small smile as he then approached them, the missing posters in his arms.
"S'up guys," Sydney greeted them with a small smile, "how's it going?"
"Good, thanks." Taylor smiled, but her smile faded as she looked to the posters Sydney was carrying, as she then asked, "I see they still haven't found Harry yet?"
"Not yet, no," Sydney replied, as he gave a few to Patrick, Taylor and Callum, the four of them each looking at their own poster, "He's been missing for a few days now. My mom's starting to get worried. You guys haven't seen him around lately, have you?"
Luz, having looked at Patrick's poster over his shoulder, shook her head as she replied, "No. Have you checked around Buckner and Garcia's?"
"Sure did."
"Gadget Gabe's?" David suggested.
"No luck."
"Any of the parks?" Frida added.
"Nada."
"What about that Fort that you and Harry usually hang around at?" Callum asked, referring to Fort Myers, which Harry, Sydney and their mum, Amy, made a long while back, which was a nice little place not far from one of the parks, where Harry and Sydney (though most times, just Harry) would hang out to escape everyday life.
"Of course, but no sign of him there, either."
Patrick, meanwhile, was still in thought as he looked at his poster of the missing boy.
Seeing the smiling face on that poster made him more and more worried for what may have happened to him, had he gone with him back home the night he vanished, he would still be here. But a small, nagging feeling in the back of his mind was secretly getting to him: Harry vanished on the night before Patrick discovered the Amulet of Xadador. Could there be a connection to it?
'Where are you, Harry?' he thought to himself, 'What could have happened to you?'
His thoughts were suddenly cut off as Callum spoke up to him.
"Patrick," he said, Patrick instantly looking up in a small bit of surprise, "I was just asking you where you think Harry could be?"
Patrick looked to the group a little, until he finally spoke, "I'm not sure… but I'm sure he could be alright. One way or another…"
"Perhaps…" Sydney replied, "If he's anything like me when I was a kid, he might be probably... I dunno.. raving in a friend's backyard."
"Not so sure about that…" Patrick raised an eyebrow.
"I know." Sydney admitted as he looked down.
Suddenly, Chuckie and the twins soon arrived around the corner, the former looking like he was trying to catch his breath.
"Chuckie? Raph? Hazel? What's up?" Callum asked.
"Dude, Patrick needs to get out of here!" Chuckie said, looking very worried.
"What? Why?" Patrick asked.
Before Chuckie or the twins could answer, someone else spoke up.
Someone that Patrick and the others feared they wouldn't bump into again, as his question instantly froze Patrick on the spot.
"Where have you been?" Biff asked, as Patrick turned to face him and his cronies.
'Crud!' Patrick thought to himself.
"I scheduled your butt-whooping for today, jerk-face." He jabbed Patrick with a finger, forcing to back up against the lockers.
"And you didn't show. Tick-tock, remember?" Biff eyed him coldly, as Patrick realized that today was Friday.
"He was busy getting his butt whooped by someone else." Raph stated, not helping the situation.
"Yeah, so why don't you take a number?" Hazel added, also not helping.
"Back off, Tweedle-Dweeb and Tweedle-Dumb!" Biff snarled at them.
"You know, Biff," 3-D spoke up with a smirk, getting Biff's attention, "I've been hearing that Kirby here has been doing play practicing. With Victoria."
"Whoa-wait," Biff said, with a dark chuckle and snarky grin, though Patrick knew that he was in trouble with the big brute, "you're telling me that this Butt-Snack is playing with my gal?"
This wasn't fully true what Biff said, he had been known for flirting with most of the high school girls, especially Victoria, much to some of the girl's (especially Victoria's) annoyance and disgust.
Patrick just groaned as he said, "first off, she's not 'your gal', and second, I'm really not in the mood to do this, right now."
"Duh!" Biff rudely said, as he rolled his eyes, "Nobody's ever in the mood to get their face bashed in," he said, matter-of-factly.
The conversation began getting most of the other students' attention, most of their faces with worry and concern, while a few (mostly supporters of Biff) smirked seeing what was going to happen.
Soon, from around the corner, Victoria was having a small chat with Harley and Annie, before they both saw what was going on and came up front to the two boys, while Biff's goons stood in the way Patrick's sisters and friends.
"But that's what's going to happen," Biff said, before letting out a sinister grin, "unless, if you like, you can back down."
Patrick looked a little nervous, but asked, "I… I can do that?"
"Sure, Kirby," Biff replied with intimidation, his dark grin not fading, "you wanna crawl away from me? On your knees, bowing in front of everybody, or just cut the good guy routine and actually throw a punch? Your choice."
As he once said to Blinky, Patrick never got into a fight, and he was once more scared a little, and was more feared of his choice, either get pummeled by Biff, or throw in the towel.
He put down his bag… and went on his knees like he was bowing to him, much to the shock of the others, and the surprised interest of Biff and his thugs.
"Wow, I can't believe that worked." Biff chuckled at Patrick, who was filled with fear and shame, "To be fair, I almost thought you'd wouldn't choose wussing over whooping."
Patrick looked to Biff as his friends scowled at the bully, but then he saw from the corner of his eyes, Victoria was there, shocked with concern and fear at what he was doing.
She shook her head at him, a way of saying this isn't right and wasn't fair.
And in his mind, she was right, Patrick saw that it wasn't how to act, soon, he stood up, and looked Biff in the eye.
"You're not worth it, Biff," he said, holding his ground, "I won't fight you."
"Excuse me?"
"I said, I won't fight you!" Patrick repeated, "Just leave me and my friends alone!"
Patrick's sisters and friends, Victoria and her friends, Biff and even his goons were a little stunned at this, though Biff's stunned face vanished as it turned solem.
"Suit yourself, Kirby." he said, as Patrick started to walk back to his friends, and Biff started to turn around… only to quickly grab Patrick by the arm, and started to twist it, much to everyone's shock!
"Though I don't take 'no' for an answer." Biff grinned, as continued to give Patrick pain in his arm.
"Biff, stop it!" Vicky cried, "You're hurting him!"
"Let him go!" Hilda shouted.
Biff sarcastically shrugged, "Suit yourself."
Biff then threw Patrick into the lockers, and cracked his knuckles, ready to clobber him. Victoria sucked in a breath when Biff swung a right hook, and she held onto it when Patrick dodged it, and then next punch, as well as the third.
"Keep still so I can punch your face, Kirby!" Biff growled.
If the events playing out before everyone were a movie, then they were on the edge of their seats. Biff chased Patrick around the locker area, yelling and swinging while the young, autistic man jumped over benches and zipped around poles.
Patrick managed to dodge two more punches before Biff got him with a third one, right in the stomach.
Then two more punches, one in the stomach and the other in the chest.
Until the last one brought him down, as Biff hit him in the side of the face.
Patrick was once more on his hands and knees, but then saw, in his bag, the amulet letting out a small glow as it quietly rang.
"Stay down and live," Biff said. "Worm."
Patrick instantly remembered those words, as Kriv said those exact words, his face turned a little serious, as he looked up to Biff, and while it looked like his imagination, he saw Kriv now standing in Biff's place, both of them having the same nasty grin.
Patrick started to get up, using one of the building poles for support, as he looked to the school bully, "Is that all you got?"
Biff sneered as he approached him, until Victoria appeared. She stepped in front of him, arms out to shield Patrick.
"Leave him alone, Biff."
He ignored her, though, "I'll leave him alone when I feel like it. And I don't feel like it."
Victoria then placed her hands on her shoulders, "That's enough Biff, cut it out!"
Instead of listening to her, Biff soon grabbed her arm, surprisingly roughly, as Victoria winced. Biff then tightened his grip, as Victoria struggled to get free.
"Biff… Stop it!" she cried, as the grip grew more tighter and painful by the second, "You're hurting me!"
"I could for a kiss." Biff smirked, as he flirted with her terribly.
"Never!" she whimpered through the pain, as she then hit Biff on the shoulder, but he didn't flinch.
"Then stay out of my way, toots!" Biff then said, as he shoved her to the side, and the girl fell onto the floor.
The others had mixed emotions of shock, horror and anger at seeing this (with the exception of Biff's goons), as Biff stood there chuckling at what happened.
Patrick, however, was not happy at all.
No one, not even Biff, messes with those he cares about. Be it hurting his sisters, his friends or even Victoria.
Something inside him told him to make a stand and it was his chance.
As Biff and his thugs continued to laugh, Patrick started to get back up, and his right hand crunched into a fist, as he said quietly under his breath, "One hit."
"Time to fly with the fishes." Biff chuckled as he turned back to Patrick with a grin, only for the grin to fade in a second as he did not expect Patrick so serious… nor did he see the upper fist that Patrick sent straight at him in that second either!
It felt like time stood still or even went in slo-mo, as Patrick swung his fist straight at Biff's face, hitting him at contact. The punch instantly sent Biff flying backwards, a tooth shot out of his mouth as it did following the hit, before the bully then hit another building pole behind him with a clang, knocking him out as he fell with a thud.
Everyone, including Patrick's sisters and friends, Victoria's friends and even Biff's goons stood in shock at what had happened…
Patrick Lee Kirby made a stand and took down Biff Tennant! With one hit!
"It's 'swim with the fishes', Buford." Patrick corrected at the knocked out bully, making his stand.
The crowd looked in shock… and exploded in cheers as they applauded for Patrick.
Of course, no one was more excited about what happened than Patrick's sisters and friends, as they all came up to him, excitement and joy for him.
"YOU DID IT!" Hilda cheered for her older brother.
"You actually took down Biff!" Chuckie celebrated.
"With one hit, too!" Taylor clapped.
"And without having to kick him in the Gronk-nuks!" Luz added.
Chris, Callum, Ezran and the twins whooped for joy, and David and Frida clapped in excitement too.
Patrick smiled at all this, even looked at his hand, he finally made a hit.
In his first fight.
But he then stopped as he quickly hurried to Victoria, who was starting to get back up.
"Vicky…" he said, as he knelt down beside her.
Victoria had a look of stuness, though Patrick felt worried that she would be upset of what happened, even after their talk.
"Victoria, I-I am so sorry you had to see that," he started to apologize, "I know you don't like violence, but what Biff did and… and…"
Patrick then took a deep breath, as he looked to her with concern and comfort as he held his hand and asked, "Are you okay?"
Victoria just looked to him… and a small smile came on her face as she slowly nodded, and took his hand.
Patrick then returned the smile as he helped her up to her feet, and the two seemed like it was eternity as they stared into each others' eyes.
Suddenly, Hilda tugged him by the arm as she happily said, "Patrick, c'mon! Everyone's waiting for you."
Patrick smiled a little as his little sister brought him back to the crowd, as Victoria stood there, watching Patrick going back to his friends, then said under her breath with a smile, "Thank you, Patrick…"
Patrick, meanwhile, was still amazed at what had happened, and, as he felt proud of that moment, he knew there was one thing left to do…
The Guzzling Griffon, later on…
"It was an incredible pummeling! I was going to kill, but I just couldn't make up my mind on how!" Kriv chuckled to his bar mates, as he was having a swell time telling about his 'spar fighting' with Patrick, mostly of how he beat the crud out of him.
"Paladin? More like Pala-done!" he joked cruelly, as his friends chuckled at that.
Meanwhile, at another table, Blinky, AAARRRGGHH! and the skeleton brothers were watching and listening at the conversation while having their drinks, annoyed and hurt at what Kriv was saying.
"If only Master Patrick made that one hit…" Blinky said, solemnly.
"Single hit." AAARRRGGHH! added.
"Yeah," Papyrus nodded, "he would have then changed forever…"
"Perhaps so…" Sans shrugged.
Kriv, meanwhile, was really enjoying himself as he took another sip from his drink, "It was hilarious. All I want is the chance to wail on that fleshbag again."
Kriv laughed and lifted up his mug to take another gulp, but before he could bring the mug to his lips, though, someone grabbed the rim of it and slammed it down on the table. Whatever beverage he'd been drinking splashed all over the table and his arm, causing gasps to erupt all around the bar.
"Wish granted, scales." Patrick said, proudly, as he and his sisters and friends stood by his side, serious smirks on their faces (David being a little nervous, but still serious).
"Rematch. You and me. Name the time and place, I'll be there." Patrick stated.
"We all will." Taylor happily said.
Of all the crowd in the bar being shocked, none were more shocked than Blinky and the others, as they had their jaws dropped.
"Welp, that's changed forever." Sans said with his usual grin, as the others nodded in agreement.
Patrick was fully ready, and when the time comes, he would be ready for what comes next, especially with his rematch with Kriv.
Author's Notes:
Spanish translation:
*OMG!
*Leave him alone, you idiot!
Next time, as Patrick continues his lessons to be a Paladin, someone's gonna soon become a Witch!
Until next, True Believers!
Excelsior!