//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Say What Now? // Story: Ancient Wings, New Soul // by Kowlickkid //------------------------------// Say What Now? I suppose I'd better show you around. This is my high school. We have charming students, nice teachers, excellent food in our cafeterias and our classes are as easy as pie. We also have kids who are incredibly sarcastic, like me, for instance. Yeah, we got none of the first four. With the students, either you're a predator, you're prey, or you're a bystander that's gonna get turned into prey once the big guys have finished. The teachers aren't good, but I suppose they could be worse. The food... the only thing I can say is 'chaque jour, nous mangeons ordures et nous buvons du jus de chaussettes'. That's french, meaning 'each day, we eat garbage and we drink sock water'. What a beautiful language. The classes, well, it depends on the student, which is one of the reasons that I'm where I am. If you'll turn your gaze over this way, that would be me. If you're looking at the guy standing in front of the bathroom door, surrounded by girls, you're not looking where I am. No, I'm the dude inside the bathroom. The guy who's head is currently inside a toilet, while seven or eight others stand around and laugh their heads off. Not the best time for an introduction, but, there ya go. That's me. Pleased to meet you, or at least I hope so. The name's Tyler, a.k.a., The Sponge. And that's not because I'm yellow, square and am virtually indestructible. I'm none of those. I really wouldn't mind the nickname so much, if only it wasn't used to mock me. Because I sort of am a sponge. I'm a sponge for information. If I want to learn something, my brain sucks in all I can find and holds it. Only, unlike a sponge, not much of the info comes out afterwards. That's the reason that the teachers aren't screaming at me all the time for not studying. That's the reason that I'm passing classes with As and B+s. It's also the reason why I'm holding my breath while submerged in a swirling vortex of latrine water. "Hahahahaha! Let's see if The Sponge can soak up water as good as he soaks up data!" What did I tell you? Charming students. So here I am, Tyler The Sponge. I suppose you'd wonder what my last name is. Well, here's your answer: I don't have one. That's right, I'm an orphan. Parents dropped me off in a basket on the front porch of the place. Cliché, right? The funny thing is, I'm not made fun of because I'm an orphan. Probably has something to do with the fact that the lead predator lives right in the orphanage too, as well as a few others. The orphanage would be called a great deal nicer than some others that there are in the world. We're not hungry, we go to school, we get a little free time instead of chores, if we're done with our homework, or in the case of some kids, if they want to skip homework. Being the natural whiz that I was born as, I didn't have much trouble with it, and had quite a bit of time to have fun. Problem was the bullies. At the park or around town, I might evade one at a time, but they often came in groups, and beat me up enough to hurt, but not enough to leave any physical marks. I never fought back. I never told anyone. I never fought back because I could almost certainly guarantee myself some ripped clothes or a bloody nose. I never told because, heck, nobody would have cared enough about me to do anything. The caretaker at the orphanage lived for few reasons: Waking us up at ungodly hours, food, drink, entertainment for her, delight at our suffering a wound as she bandaged it, the whole kaboodle. How she got the job, I don't know. Probably was the only one willing to do so. I did tell a few kids, and one grown-up about my situation, but even though we were buds, we couldn't have done anything. The reasons were fairly simple: the kids were like me. Nerds. Outcasts. Prey. They went to a different school in the same city, but we were a bit close together when we saw each other. And the guy, he was a pal to all of us. He ran the net café. Yes, that's right, you heard correct. I went to a net café. It was literally the only place in the city where I could actually relax and not have to worry about bullies. And the guy that ran the place was an angel in the form of a big, brown, smiling wall of meat who we all called Max. He had a small black moustache covering the area between his lips and his nose, and the top of his head was almost bald, except for a few strands growing from the sides that he combed over the top. Overall, he was the guy that everybody liked, and he liked pretty much everybody back. The only people he didn't like were the predators. He had made that clear throughout the years. He even made membership cards for people who came in. If you didn't have a membership card, you would have to ask him if you could get one, to which he would examine you with various 'spies', who were actually members, to see if you were decent enough. If you were a bully, you couldn't come in, and if you barged right in and started picking on people, well, worst mistake ever. You see, he had this giant frying pan... okay, not really, but if you didn't leave when he asked you to, he literally threw you out. Max was the big brother to everyone who he considered his friend, but his help was limited to his domain, the café. He also had a fairly interesting net café scheme. If you had a laptop, you could bring it, and lo and behold, free internet. Then there was also the computers for rent that he had there, and the food and drinks that you could buy. I took many a good root beer sitting down in front of my laptop. You're wondering how I had a laptop? I won it. I was at a carnival, looking around with a limited amount of money, avoiding potential threats to my health and cash supply. The familiar face of one of my tormenters showed in the middle distance. I quickly ducked behind a corner to try to avoid him and was immediately met by a tall man in a startling carnival suit. He smiled and addressed me, opening his arms wide in greetings with a black cane held in his right hand. He was standing next to a stand with a podium, a microphone and a table that had a few items on it. "Welcome, young lad. I presume you are here to try your knowledge to win a prize? Only three dollars, even though the prizes are very valuable." A few voices had hissed at me then. "Don't do it kid, it's impossible." "I wasted thirty bucks on this game. You should get out of here." I noticed my aggressor approaching further, and he would soon notice me. "So, son, what's it gonna be? Are you going to see if you know enough, or are you going to let someone else win the prizes? It's your choice, and I'm not forcing you into any of this." I looked into his face, which seemed honest and genuine, and held out my hand. "I'll play once." Parts of the onlookers groaned, while other kids facepalmed at my stupidity. The man took my hand and shook it. "Very well, young man. This is a multiple-question quiz, and the prizes are, as I said before, quite valuable. Please, step up here." I handed him three dollars and climbed onto the small podium, adjusting the microphone slightly so I could easily speak into it. The man smiled and took a microphone into his own hand. "Okay, here's how this is going to work. I'm going to ask you a question, and you need to answer it as best you can. Mind you, the topics are diverse, so don't be startled at a sudden change. If you get 5 questions right in a row, you get a small prize. 8 questions correct, and you get a medium. If you manage to answer 12 questions correctly, you get the large prize. Are you ready?" I nodded. He then proceeded to ask me a list of questions that no ordinary 12-year-old should know. "How does thermite work?" "It is a pyrotechnic composition of a metal powder and a metal oxide, usually aluminum as the powder and various options for oxides, such as simple rust, that when ignited, creates a thermite reaction, which has a high heat and sometimes explosive tendencies." "Ladies and gentlemen, this young lad has just answered twelve questions correctly in a row! Son, you get the big prize!" I momentarily smiled, and my eyes drifted over the small crowd. I suddenly picked out a small group of my tormenters, sadistic smiles growing on their lips. 'Would they break it?' The man drew back a sheet from the table, revealing a square object previously concealed; A laptop. He picked it up gently and carefully gave it to me. "Young man," he said quietly to me. "This is a prototype of a new laptop that me and a few others have designed. It is meant to be able to emulate any computer software from Mac, Windows and Linux possible. We needed a beta tester, and what better way than a prize for a carnival?" He handed me a card. "Mind sending us an e-mail after a while to tell us how good it is?" I nodded. "Sure thing. Thanks, sir." But my thoughts were elsewhere. This laptop was fragile. Really fragile. If they didn't break it tonight, they would surely come in a while during the night at the orphanage and break it there. Maybe I wouldn't even get that chance. Suddenly, I heard a faint 'pssssssst!' coming from the crowd. To the left of where I stood on the stage, a kid was trying to attract his attention. Seeing that my eyes were fixated on him, he motioned for me to come with him. Without a second thought, I jumped down from the stage and he led me across the carnival grounds, the bullies behind us, trying to keep up. Without that kid there guiding me, they would surely have gotten to me, but he managed to slip into places where they walked right by us, looking around in confusion. Some time later, we had both slowed down, having managed to lose the pursuers somewhere else. I clutched the laptop, my heart threatening to jump out my throat, while he leaned on his knees and panted. "Thanks." I managed to stammer out. He made a little smile. "Anytime. I couldn't let those guys get to that thing. Here, come with me, I have an idea of where you can keep it safe." He led me slowly across the now deserted streets, everyone at the carnival, and stopped in front of the net café. He opened the door and stepped inside, motioning for me to do the same. "Hey, Max. Serve me and my new pal here a couple of root beers, please." The wall of brown cheerfulness I have since come to count as a close friend smiled and set a couple of glass mugs filled to the brim with dark brown liquid in front of us. "Here you go, Cerb. Call me if you need anything." 'Cerb' put a dollar on the counter and took a swig of root beer. After I had done the same, marvelling in the taste, which was unlike anything I had ever tasted before, he stuck out his hand. "I didn't properly introduce myself yet. I'm Caleb. People call me Cerb, stemming from cerebellum." I met his hand and gave it a quick tug. "I'm Tyler. People call me Sponge, 'cause I suck up information on anything." "Well, Sponge, welcome to Max' net café, safe haven for nerds, geeks and just plain internet fans, one of the best places around. I couldn't help but bring you here because of those looks you kept giving those other kids. Nasty-looking lot there. You worried about the laptop?" "Yeah. Aaagh. I don't know what to do with it. I can't take it to the orphanage, because they'll trash it. And there's no other place I can think of." "Max can hold onto it for you." "Say what?" "Max is the most trustworthy guy I've ever met. He'll keep it here and you won't have to worry about a thing. You just ask him, and he'll do it." After a few weeks of this strategy, I saw what everyone saw in Max. The guy that everyone liked, the guy that brewed his own root beer and sold it cheap, the guy who would throw out offenders, the guy who was all good to us. Cerb taught e about the internet from then on. I became attracted to MMORPGs. At first, I played only the ones that were free. Then I made a discovery: I could program like nobody's business. A year after that fateful night, me and Cerb gathered a group and created a game. A good game. A game so good, I'm not going to mention it for fear of you guys stopping reading this story to play it. Eventually, players started to buy extra equipment, to gain an edge up. Money began to trickle in. We added more opportunities for money, and soon we were getting a steady cash flow, enough to keep us occupied. We all spent it differently. I spent it playing different games. I paid to play, and I was a grinder. Hours I spent in dungeons, levelling up and chatting online, becoming powerful in some games while still maintaining my programming 'job'. It had been 3 years since then. I was 16, and was still a grinder. I was a regular. Each day, I would come to the net café, because I had nothing better to do, and it was my life, right there. After homework, immediate internet. One day, I sat down as usual, this time with wet hair, as happened sometime. Max threw me a towel so I could dry off. "Attack mode Gamma, this time?" "Yup, the old swirly." Max could always refer to something in away that would make teenagers feel comfortable with him. He was Max. I started the regular grinding on one of my MMORPGs, and kept going for hours in the same place, slaying dragons like nobody's business. Suddenly, everything froze. Every computer in the café. The light's went out. I heard murmurs across the room. I could tell that this wasn't ordinary. Then, lightning struck. Not one of those piddling little bolts you see sometimes on a stormy night. A real one. A huge bolt. It tore through the ceiling and started to obliterate everything. My eyes widened, and I fell unconscious. I was sitting down in a room. A room that only had the chair I was sitting on, a desk, and a chair behind that. It slowly swiveled around, revealing a green humanoid figure with an insane smile and yellow teeth, and piercing red eyes. "Hello, Tyler." he, or rather it, said. "You know my name?" "Of course I know your name. I know all about you. And I almost regret to say that that lightning bolt was real. Very real. Unfortunately, all died. All except you." I almost fell back in my chair. "...What? I'm doomed to live on without all that? And who are you? Is this a dream? If so, why am I asking myself if it's a dream? It's a basic principle. If you're in a dream, things make sense, and you don't realize you're asleep." "Well, to answer a few of your questions, you may call me Chaos, for that is what I am. I am an entity, the embodiment of Chaos. There are several others similar to me, but I am Chaos. And yes, this is a dream, but not a very usual one, for I am real. I am merely conversing with you inside your mind." "But why are you here?" "To put it bluntly, you interest me. I feel you are perfect for a little game that is going on with me and a few others. Call it a giant chess game, if you must. A chess game where everyone has one piece, that must stand out in a new world in a new form." "You're using living beings as a game? How cruel and sadistic is that?" "It may seem that way, but even chaos has rules, and we made one. In the end, all pieces of this game were once miserable, as were you. This is to prevent wanting to return." "What makes you think I was miserable?" "I have been watching you. Do you really want to go back to all that? The bullies, the orphanage, but this time, with no Max? With no net café? Or would you rather be in a different world where you can make a real difference?" I pondered this. "There's gotta be some strings attached." "Clever. I like that. It is one of the reasons why you are adequate for this. The strings aren't many, and they are quite long. In this world, you may be any species, except for the main group. Don't worry, you won't have to choose, your form is already chosen for you." "Will it be adequate for me?" "To be sure, it is interesting enough. You will enjoy it." "And why me?" "You are resourceful. I can see that after having watched you for a few years. I watched your past. You will be most adequate for this little game. Now, it is almost time for you to wake up. You have a choice." He clenched his fist and opened it again, revealing a small orb a little bigger than a marble that shone with a green light. "Either you can go back to your ordinary life, but without all that is sunshine and joy in it, or you can take this orb and go to a new world, where you can start fresh and be free." "...I'll take it. There's nothing for me on Earth now." The orb levitated over to my hand and I grasped it. "Perfect. When you are awake and you wish to go, simply crush that orb and you will have instant transportation. And you can not take anything physical with you." "One last thing. Does this other world have a name?" "There is no official name for the planet, though some call it Terra. The central area is called Equestria, and around it are various regions other than it, such as the Dominion, the Badlands, and the Zebra Isles. Now, wake up." He slapped me hard on the cheek and I woke up suddenly in a hospital bed. 'Was it a dream? ...No...' The green orb was nestled into my palm. "Well, goodbye Earth. May you purge yourself of the evil that kills you, planet." I closed me fist around the orb and strained. It shattered easily, releasing a glowing green light that wrapped around me and plucked me away from the bed. I began to feel pain, but could not scream. I felt my bones move around, but I could not move. I quickly faded into oblivion, ending the pain and putting me into a dreamless sleep. I faintly opened my eyes. The pain. Pain was everywhere. I could see blurry images, images with black and white stripes. They moved about and spoke in a language that was completely unfamiliar to me. I felt something rest on my forehead. It gently pulled my head back a little and moved my lower lip down, before a small bit of a fiery liquid was poured down my throat. The pain eased. I started to get up, but the hard thing gently pushed me down onto the bed. "Rest, winged one. You must heal." My eyes opened a bit more, and then I closed them and tried to find sleep. My last thoughts before I fell into dreamland were: 'Zebras? It couldn't have been, could it?' Yup, here's another story in the excellent crossover multiverse thingamabob. I hope to do you all proud. Thanks for reading, and keep your stick on the ice.