THE WONDER YEARS
An Untold Story of the Great War
Dedicated to the memories of the King of Swing, Benny Goodman, and St. Maximillian Kolbe, anti-nazi martyr in Auschwitz.
Previously on 'The Wonder Years"(hee hee)
What was to happen to him? How was he supposed to survive in war? Horror stories of violations within the army suddenly entered his mind, and the minds of all five teenagers gathered there. How could this have happened to their own brother?
Tommy didn't want to wait around to find out.
He was going straight to Michelle about it.
PART TWO: "THIRTY-NINE LASHES"
Jumpin' from six to six,
Jumpin' from six to six,
Jumpin' from six to six; got herself in a heck of a fix.
-Colin James and the Little Big Band II 'Jumpin' From Six to Six'
Tommy sighed for what seemed like the millionth time today. He glanced around at his sister Michelle's new aged bohemian room within the palace, and sighed yet again.
"I'm really sorry, Tommy, there's absolutely nothing I can do." Michelle explained for what seemed like the millionth time today.
"But you work for the government!" Tommy cried, exasperated. "There's gotta be something you can do! Don't you hold ANY power?"
Michelle cocked an eyebrow. "No! I'm Charles' assistant, and he doesn't have anything near that kind of power. He's a scientific advisor."
"Then if you could simply ask him to adVISE the King to take Dryden out of the army, that would be really..."
"He's a scientific officer!" Michelle rejoined. "Not a..." She snapped her fingers, searching for the words. "Army...advisory...guy!"
Tommy and Michelle remained silent for a moment, staring at each other. Tommy eventually perked up his ears to the techno music spouting softly from Michelle's speakers. "What's this?"
"Plastic,"
"Guh?"
"It's techno. Jungle, new school, big beat." Michelle explained.
Tommy made a face. "It's weird."
Michelle let out a frustrated breath. "You are SO narrow minded." She lifted him up off her couch and steered him in the direction of the door.
"But you still haven't said that you'd-"
"FOR THE LAST TIME!" Michelle exploded. "There's absolutely nothing I can do! Look, I was devastated when I heard too, and I would give anything to get Dryden back, but it's not going to happen. Now go home, eat something, get some sleep."
"But I-"
"Tommy! If you want to do something about it, then raise money! Light a candle! Say a prayer! Juh!"
Tommy reluctantly backed out the doorway. "Okay, but if you hear anything about it-" The door slammed in his face. Tommy stood there, silent, staring at it for a moment. He turned and walked back down the corridor. "Well. That'd didn't go quite as well as I had hoped."
SIX MONTHS LATER.
In front of the palace in the city's square, was a fountain that flowed with clear blue water, splashing happily into the ivory and marble pool that it fed. It was on this fountain that Jules Hedgehog leaned, Bernie in his arms. They whispered to each other, giggling, occasionally pecking each other and proclaiming that they'd be 'together forever'.
Tommy stood close by, arms crossed, staring at the couple. He wore only one expression, one that said 'oh, please'. His right eyebrow was raised and his lips were curled in what wasn't a smile, nor a frown, it was somewhere between a sneer and a smirk, but more subtle.
James had officially joined the army. A little early, as the King needed all the able young soldiers he could get. Today his company was leaving for the fight. It was formal, one of these took place every month, and the King stood stories up on a balcony of the palace, speaking words that went in one ear and out the other for Tommy. Hey. If he sort of squinted and tilted his head, the Queen kind of looked like Hayley Jones, one of his favourite actresses.
Tommy sighed, glanced back at the lovers, over at his sister who seemed to be having a better time than he was with his friends, and wondered where Flash was.
He hummed something disinterestedly under his breath, waiting for what seemed like eternity for the formal address to end. When at last it did, Tommy sat up at the foot of the fountain and searched the sea of green-clad soldiers, looking for James. The figure that first stepped up to him, though, was not a hardened southern rabbit but a beauteous red furred young fox.
Ginny.
"Tommy?"
Tommy looked startled for a second. He and Ginny had become friends, to a degree, if you considered making snide remarks behind the teacher's back together friendship. This was the first time Ginny had spoken to him outside school.
"Uh...yeah?"
Ginny crossed one arm behind her back, stared at the ground and sort of rocked on her feet. "I was, um, sorta wondering, uh..will you be at Club Megacentral tonight?"
Tommy leaned back on the fountain. "Well, yeah, I guess. If I can, y'know get out of the house an' everything." He shrugged.
Ginny sort of nodded, as if deciding something. "Well, I went down by there a few days ago and it looked sort of...interesting...and I was thinking of going down tonight."
"That's great!" Tommy grinned broadly. "We can dance. Have something to drink. It'll be slammin'!"
Ginny gave a curly, shy smile, showing dimples that nearly made Tommy melt. "I've actually never danced swing before," She said modestly. "I just thought it'd be fun to go down..." She trailed off, shrugging.
"Well...all right then. I guess...I'll see you there?"
Ginny nodded tautly. "Ok then. I'll...see you."
"See you." Tommy and Ginny stood silently for a second. Ginny finally nodded again, and walked off.
Tommy's eyes followed her lovely back as she strode away. His mind was devoid of all thought as he watched her go. Finally Jules managed to get his attention by flicking him in the back of his head.
"Ow! What?"
"Hey, uh..." Jules stood behind him, Bernie's arms around him. "Have you seen Flash around?"
Tommy was caught off guard. "Well...no. He was supposed to have been here by now."
Jules nodded. "Yeah. I was just thinking it would be a shame for him to miss James' farewell."
"Speak of the devil," Bernie was glancing in the direction of the great line of young soldiers. James, looking very warmongering in his military uniform, was approaching them. He seemed warmer than usual as he said his goodbyes.
"Where's Flash?" He asked softly after giving Emma and her friends a farewell hug.
Jules shrugged. "I dunno. I guess wherever he is, it must be pretty important for him to miss this."
James nodded distantly; he, Bernie and Jules said their fare-thee-wells. When James came to Tommy the two stood speechlessly for a second, before Tommy spoke up.
"Um...well, James...I guess I should say I'm really kinda proud of you," Tommy shrugged. "Even though I'm, y'know, against that whole military industrial thing."
James smirked.
"And," Tommy averted his eyes. "Take care. I...get really worried about...stuff like this," His voice trailed off.
James understood. "Thanks, man. That's means a lot." He put a sturdy hand on Tommy's shoulder. "And I promise you, man, I'm bringing your brother back." Tommy's face lit up.
James glanced around at the rest of them. "Well. I better go. I hear they get really peeved when someone's late."
"You'll write us, right?" Bernie called as James headed towards the green-covered army jeeps.
"I'll try!" He called over his shoulder. But for now, James was doing what he had dreamed of for boyhood. Fighting for his land, his king. And Sandy.
| \ | \ | \ | \| \ | \ |
James met Sandy when he was twelve. She was fourteen. His elders, and friends, considered his immense crush on her slightly taboo, but he figured that when they were in their twenties, two years would no longer matter. Hell, when he was fifteen, two years would probably not matter. When he was thirteen he was sent to Megacentral to school- and when he was fourteen she was sent to war. James hadn't seen her since.
Now he stared out the window of the green and black army vehicle, speeding away from the shining city on the horizon, thinking only of her.
| \ | \ | \ | \| \ | \ |
That evening Club Megacentral was just not the same. While Tommy waited nervously (and nervously wasn't a word used often around Tommy) for Ginny to show, Emma brooded about Flash's disappearance from the farewell speech, and Bernie and Jules just...drooled over each other.
Not a one of them was dancing, which was curious for the four.
"Ginny!" Tommy called, out of the blue. She smiled and made her way past the frantic furs before seating with them.
"So!" Tommy drummed the table with his thumbs, showing that he had been storing up just a little bit of the hyper left over from that afternoon. "You gonna dance with me or no?"
Ginny looked surprised. "No!" She laughed. "I can't dance. It's so...I dunno." She looked out at the ballroom floor. "Dangerous and...frenetic."
"Hmm," Emma said thoughtfully. "You don't hear the word 'frenetic' too often, do you?"
"You guys go," Ginny gestured at brother and sister. "I'll watch,"
Emma and Tommy eyed each other for a moment, but not unkindly. They had grown up together, told each other everything, always stuck together at family reunions. For all intents and purposes they were best friends.
It's just that they hadn't danced with each other in YEARS.
"Well..." Tommy trailed off.
"I don't see why not," A comical grin crossed Emma's face. "That is, of course, unless you don't want to be outshone by a girl." She crossed her ankles and put her hands in her lap humbly.
That got Tommy going. He stood up and wordlessly grabbed Emma by the wrist, literally pulling her out onto the ballroom floor.
"Root beer and licorice," Their brother Brian sang out over the crowd's noise. "Fifty cents to spare. I'm going to the candy store gonna get my candy there." As Ginny watched, Tommy and Emma spun with all the grace of twirling, falling snowflakes. He spun her daringly, and she perfected each move with a shake of the hand or a twitch of her tail. Tommy tossed Emma high into the air, where she executed a dazzling horizontal spin before coming back down into his arms. A few more turns, a few more steps, and he was jumping over her head with the aide of her one hand.
But all Ginny could see was Tommy.
After the song, Tommy returned to the table as Emma went off to find another guy to dance with, preferably NOT one of her brothers.
A suggestive smirk on his lips, his twin tails swinging back and forth with the slow, calculated music, he held out an arm to Ginny.
"No," She said firmly, but that didn't stop a delighted smile creeping onto her face. But despite her vocal protests, she lifted herself out of the seat and she and Tommy went into the near center of the ballroom floor.
"Just follow my lead," he whispered to her. He cupped her hands in his and drew her closer until they were very near each other. She followed perfectly, swinging her hips gently, drawing her feet out and back in sliding motions, even her tail swung with his. Tommy smiled, as did she, and he was about to tell her how great a dancer she was, when something behind her caught his eye. There was Emma, dancing with a cat much bigger than she, must older.
Tommy knew that guy. Almost sixteen, two and a half years older than Emma herself, Jacel was a big ol' football player in Daemeon A. Tommy stared, no, gaped at Emma dancing with the guy, letting him run his hands over her belly and legs, and let himself feel a little horrified. Seconds later he caught himself, and realized that Emma could run her own life. It was really none of his business, and Jacel was a pretty nice guy, he guessed. Besides. Emma told him everything. If something was wrong, he'd know. Tommy didn't need to be protective of a girl like Emma. He had six other brothers to do that.
The music brought him back down to Mobius.
"Oh, when it comes to kissing I just gotta keep insisting, oh baby. You sure do swing! And when it comes to kissing I just gotta keep insisting, oh daddy. You are the king!"
Tommy and Ginny were really getting into this. Swinging in unison, holding each other appropriately, the occasional dip or spin, pull or kick. His entire image of her was blown. Ginny was so much more, now. She was so much closer, that much more within his reach. If he had ever felt real love, he thought, it was nothing like this.
"Oh, baby you're a genius when it comes to cooking up some chili sauce!" His brother Brian sang on the illuminated stage. A pretty young wolf, one of the trombonists, sang in response to him.
"But in the middle of the night, when the moon is shining bright, oh, you're the boss!"
Tommy wrapped his arms around Ginny's waist, and they stared into each other's faces, needless of words. Everything around them no longer seemed to exist. All there was was each other. Tommy licked his lips, slowly, and bent his head in slightly, leaning forward. Ginny closed her eyes, and for a fleeting instant their lips brushed...
"My God, Flash!" Jules' voice ripped them both out of the dreamworld they were just recently in. Tommy and Ginny stepped away from each other, minutely embarrassed, and Tommy's eyes searched the ballroom for Flash.
There he stood, with Jules and Bernie, his face bleeding and covered with tears.
Tommy shot a sidelong glance at Ginny, and the two quickly weaved passed startled furs to their friends.
"Flash! Oh my god, what happened to you?"
"Vic...Vickie..." Was all he managed to sputter through his panting.
"Your SISTER?" Jules cried. "She did this to you?"
Flash shook his head slightly, shrugged, and burst into tears again.
"Hey, give him some air," Chad, one of Tommy's brothers, a nineteen year old med. student, gently pushed the well-dressed dance-crazed hepcats away. He pressed a hand against the gash on Flash's forehead, and sopped up the blood with some napkins.
"Chad?" Tommy said bewilderedly. "What are you doing here?"
Chad shrugged as he gave Flash a bit of soda water. "Aced last semester. Came to party." He gently helped Flash to his feet. "It looks worse than it is. I'm gonna take you home, okay, Flash?"
"No!" Flash seemed pretty forceful about that. "I can't...please, just...no!"
"All right, shh," Chad tried to comfort Flash.
"Is...is he gonna be okay?" Emma asked nervously. Jacel was behind her, holding her hand consolingly.
"Yeah, he's gonna be fine." Chad assured her. "Just a bit shaken up about something."
"A bit shaken up?" Flash was quaking, his eyes wild. "Vickie...she-" He couldn't finish the sentence, but broke into tears again.
"We-we can take her home, right Chad?" Tommy said. "Please don't send him back to Vickie. I think she did this,"
Flash had by now buried his head in Chad's chest, quivering and bleeding, sobbing uncontrollably. Chad sighed. Their father, Winston, had been shot to death on the job by a criminal not three days before the triplets' eighth birthday. Tommy and Emma had been five and six, too young to understand the notion of death, but had a vague comprehension that their father would never come home again. Their mother, Maria was now aged and tired, and still raising five teenagers while putting another five children through University. The eldest children, Merlin, Brian, and the twins Michelle and Geoffrey, had long since moved out and gotten jobs. Caren and Liz, now 25 and 24, sort of ran the household now, taking care of their mother and looking after the kids. They both gave up their education so that Chad, Majik, Dryden and the others could go to school. Chad wasn't so sure that another, obviously emotionally distraught young boy added to the clan would be a very good thing for them, nor for their poor, worn out mother. But he saw the look on Emma and Tommy's faces, for their friend. They were probably all Flash had left in his life, after his father died.
"Fine," Chad sighed.
The ride home was silent. Chad felt weird driving all these people he didn't know around. Emma and some guy named Jacel, who looked much too old to be Chad's sister's boyfriend, rode up front with him. Emma sat on Jacel's lap, much to Chad's chagrin. He would have shot Jacel dirty looks and asked inappropriate questions, but the fact that Flash was unconscious and bloody in his backseat kept his mouth shut. Tommy was next to Flash, looking worried, being condoled by some fox girl Chad had never seen before. Had to admit, she was pretty cute. With a flash of disgust, Chad pushed the thought out of his mind, chastising himself. Next to the girl beside Tommy sat another girl, Bernadette, whom he remembered vaguely from the last party Emma and Tommy had thrown, when the latter had turned fifteen. She was leaning her head on Jules' shoulder, and he was stroking her hair.
Chad wondered how his little siblings and their friends came across love lives better than his. After all, he WAS a med. student, was he not?
Well. Maybe it was because he was still just a student.
After what seemed like ages they arrived at the old Prower residence. Chad silently carried the sleeping Flash in, Tommy and Emma walking beside him tremulously, Jules and their various new interests behind them.
The big house was silent. The triplets were out, Majik was spending the night at her sorority house, and their mother was most likely long asleep. Chad brought Flash and the kids down into the basement, where Caren and Liz were most likely watching a rented movie or late night TV.
And they were.
Chad gently laid Flash down on pull-out bed the Prowers always had open for one reason or another.
"Chad!" Liz was surprised, worried. "What happened to Flash? What are all these kids doing here?"
"It's all right," Emma said. "They're friends of ours."
"Flash was too upset to tell us what happened," Chad began dressing Flash's wounds. "He fell asleep in the car. All we know is that he truly doesn't want to go back home. Something really bad must've happened."
Tommy sat right by Flash, an extremely perplexed look on his face. Ginny sat beside him, and they put their arms around each other. The same with Jacel and Emma. Their older siblings shot each other a look, but that was all.
Flash slowly stirred and opened his eyes, confused. His shirt was off, his head bandaged, his various cuts and wounds treated. "Ung...Tommy?" He asked blearily.
"Hey man," Tommy said softly, smiling gently.
Flash shut his eyes tightly against the light. "Wha...happened?"
"We were hoping you could tell us," Jules knelt by his friend.
Flash studied Jules' face, his eyes ran across Tommy and Emma's expressions. Suddenly his eyes widened, and he sat right up. "Oh my God! Vickie!"
The others fell silent, gently awaiting an explanation.
"This...this morning," Flash gathered his thoughts together. "She was all mad about something. Her...best friend was sent to war. Her boyfriend had died in a bread riot or...one of the student protests or...something," He rubbed his bandaged forehead, cloudy thoughts fogging his mind. "She...couldn't find a job and couldn't find food and...we were going to be evicted..." Flash shook his head. "I think somehow she thought it was all my fault..."
Tommy was silent, taking it all in. Flash had had to quit school three months ago, there was no money left. The poor guy. Tommy wondered why everything bad had to happen to Flash.
"Then..." Flash's voice was shaky. "She just...just started yelling at me and throwing stuff and...hitting me." He stared down at himself. "I didn't know what to do,"
"Flash," Liz spoke gently, feeling for her siblings' friend. "It was good you got out of there. We'll call it in, you don't have to stay with her if you don't feel safe."
Flash laughed ironically, melancholy tainting his boyish face. "I couldn't if I wanted to. Vickie's dead."
There was a shocked silence. "Wh-" Tommy broke the silence, cringing as he spoke. "What?"
"She killed herself with a piece of glass," Flash was crying again. "We had been fighting all day, and all night. Eventually... she just took up this piece of br-broken glass and...finished it."
No one spoke, the only sound was Flash's fearful sobbing. It's not like any of them had particularly liked Vickie, the only remorse they actually felt was for Flash. Even he was only crying for the fact that he had no idea of what lie ahead for him. What was to become of him.
"I didn't know what to do," Flash went on, through the tears. "I- I guess I should have called the cops or something. But I-I just couldn't." He looked up at Jules, Tommy and Emma. "I had to find you guys. So I..." Flash sort of shrugged. "Walked to the club."
Nobody knew what to do. Eventually Emma just broke down and hugged Flash close to her, while he sobbed freely, as his friends looked on. It was in times like this that the Prowers missed their father the most. Tommy couldn't help but to wonder about Dryden. If the Prowers could barely handle when one of their friends was beaten like this, what would happen in war?
Tommy had yet to find out.
| \ | \ | \ | \| \ | \ |
Jules arrived home in the wee hours of the morning. He was fatigued, and worried for Flash. Liz had let him stay there until the whole mess had blown over, and Tommy had been very vocal on letting Flash live in the Prower household. The whole thing was too confusing for Jules.
He was hungry, too. He had that four in the morning peckish feeling. In the kitchen he found his older brother, Charles, hard at work with something.
"What are you doing up?" He asked. Charles spun, startled.
"Oh! Jules! Home so soon?"
"It's four in the morning, man." Jules said. He came over and peered at Charles' work. The calculations in front of him would have made no sense to any of his friends, but Jules had made it his business to know such things. "Roboticization?" He asked. "I thought this was only a theory."
"It was," Charles crouched over his work again. "I'm making it a reality."
Jules stared at him, thoughts of Flash forgotten for the time being. "Really? R-roboticization? But...why?"
Charles shrugged. "Lots of people are getting injured. I want to help them."
Jules furrowed a brow. "But...what if it backfires? What if you can't change them back? People get injured all the time, Chuck," Jules banged his elbow against the table, sending pain all up his arm. "Ow! See? I was just injured. No big deal."
Charles smiled faintly. "It's not like that. It's not JUST that."
"But, Chuck," Jules stared at the calculations again. "They've tried this before. Somebody could easily steal your work and use it for evil, man. Why would you want to risk this?"
Charles sighed. "Because I want this to end." He looked up at his brother. "Because I want to just run away but, oops, I have a meeting at four thirty. Because you have an entire future in front of you and I want to see that happen." He sighed again. "Because the only thing in the fridge is tuna casserole surprise and surprise, it's two weeks old." Jules sighed, defeated. He had never agreed with the theory of roboticization, that by turning organic material into machinery we could help one's physical problems. The whole thing sounded too easy. But if Chuck was that set on it...
"Go to bed," Charles said gently. Jules remained silent for a moment before he started on his way.
| \ | \ | \ | \| \ | \ |
FIVE WEEKS LATER.
Tommy would have leaned forward on his cycle to pick up speed, but Emma was using up the room. His fourteen-year old sister sat on the handlebars of his beat-up old bicycle, her feet crossed daintily at the ankles, gracefully moved to the side of the front wheel.
"Well if you really didn't want to give me a ride you shouldn't have offered."
Tommy panted. "I OFFERED before I found out that Caren had the car today."
Emma giggled. "Like Caren or Liz would ever let YOU out with the car."
Tommy felt like he was going to cry. "You KNOW I'm not nearly fit enough to bike you the entire way there. Do you like to see me suffer?"
"Well...not if you put it like that. Can't you just use those tails of yours and, like," Emma gestured meaninglessly, trying to find the word. "Propel us there or whatever?"
"I don't even know if that would work. Besides, I haven't done anything near that in a few years and when I haven't done it in a while it hurts." Tommy continued to peddle his bicycle, his sister on the handlebars, out towards the small cottage they were headed to.
"Oh. Y'know, if you didn't go so fast all the time, Liz wouldn't have taken the car away."
"She didn't take it away," Tommy breathed. "Caren needed it."
"Oh, for what? There is a little something called public transportation in the city, y'know. Obviously, making you bike all the way out here was some sort of punishment for all those tickets. You DO only have a learner's, you know."
Tommy sighed. "I can't help it if I have a need to go faster than the recommended miles per hour." He cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, wait. Miles per hour. Miles...y'know, that woulda been a boss name to have?"
"What?" Emma was gnawing at a nail, while keeping one hand firm on the handlebar.
"Miles Prower." Emma laughed.
"I hope you aren't seriously planning on naming a son that. That's totally lame."
"No it isn't."
"Oh please," Emma gave a comical smirk. "If I knew a kid named Miles Prower my day wouldn't be complete until I made him cry!"
"Even if he was your nephew?"
Emma paused. She turned her head to face her brother. "Are you telling me...you and Ginny?" Emma looked horrified.
"God! No!" Tommy cried. "How could you think of me like that? I'm saying for future reference!"
Emma sighed. "Thank you. Scare ten years off my life, why don'cha?"
Tommy looked thoughtful. "Besides. Even it there was...it's only been a month-"
"Ugh!" Emma cried, loudly. "I know we tell each other everything, man, but we don't need to tell each other EVERYthing!"
"Children, children, why the bickering?" A voice from ahead of them asked. The two looked up.
There was their eldest brother Merlin, in his usual cloaks and hoods. His cottage sat behind him, about fifteen meters away.
"Merlin!" Emma jumped off the bicycle's handlebars. She ran up and hugged her eldest brother, who had been a father to her and Tommy since Winston's death. Tommy sighed with relief when she got off, and walked his bike up to his brother.
"And how have my two favourite siblings been doing?" The enchanter asked with an arm around each of them.
Emma shrugged. "Eh,"
"We've been better," Tommy muttered.
"Oh. That's a shame. Don't tell me the triplets were in a protest again." Merlin said, almost reading their thoughts. Emma grinned.
"Uh huh. Mike got sprayed." She smirked. "Nothing serious though. Just enough to make him swear off Binaca for a while."
Merlin smiled as he opened his cottage door. Tommy left his bicycle standing outside as he and Emma entered. "And the others?"
"They're all right." Tommy shrugged. "James still hasn't found Dryden though." He and Emma glanced at each other, sadly. "This...guy came by a few days ago and told Mom that...Dryden was missing in action. James promised me he'd bring Dryden back but..." Tommy shrugged.
Merlin looked startled for a moment, but he put a sturdy hand on Tommy's shoulder, the way James had. "Your friend will keep his promise. Don't worry." Tommy smiled slightly.
Merlin turned his attention to his youngest sister. "And Emma." He smiled. "I believe if you look in the kitchen you will find...a surprise."
Emma's face lit up. She glanced at Tommy with a comical grin before disappearing into the kitchen. Tommy looked up at Merlin.
"Wha'ja get her?"
Emma's voice drifted in from the kitchen, answering Tommy's query. "Murderistic! Frogger!" She poked her head in. "It's the arcade version, too! Thank you SO much, Merlin, it's killer! You are the most boss thirty year old I know!"
"He's the ONLY boss thirty year old you know." Tommy grinned.
Merlin put a hand on Tommy's back and led him to the couch, while sounds of happy game-play flowed in from the kitchen. "And what of our mother?"
Tommy sighed. "She's not doing too good. Ever since she found out about Dryden, she hasn't gotten out of bed."
The enchanter nodded thoughtfully, resolving to visit his mother. "Have you any word from your friend James?"
Tommy shrugged. "Jules got a letter about a week ago. Just said stuff like what was happening and everything."
"Where is he?"
"In the south somewhere. He said that that's where they saw Dryden last, so he's hoping to find him, but..." Tommy trailed off again. "Well, he is with Sandy. But war's not anything like he thought it would be. Before he couldn't wait to go and now he hates it." Merlin nodded sympathetically.
"And Flash?"
"Well..." Tommy paused. "He's doing better. He's back at school, Mom said she couldn't bear to see him not go. It's really nice of her to take him in, I think they need each other." Tommy glanced at his watch. "Aw, dammit. I thought I'd have longer here. I should go."
"Where you going?"
Tommy smiled. "Well, Ginny and Angie sorta became friends after they met each other. They and Majik decided to go to this corn thing, or whatever. It's like a sale, or a festival, or something?" Tommy shrugged. "Anyway, they made me go, and I decided if I'm going down, I'm taking Flash with me. It's in some small town out...somewhere."
Merlin smiled, but something about his eyes was distant. He looked almost worried. "Take care there, Tommy."
Tommy smirked. "Don't worry about me. You'll be lucky if you can tear Emma away from that game."
"I heard that!" Emma called.
"Well I said it loud!"
Merlin smiled again, looking a little less distant. He bid Tommy farewell and kissed him on the forehead. He watched as his youngest brother made his way to the door, wondering where the time went and how Tommy and Emma had managed to grow up so fast.
"Hey Emma, I'm leaving." Tommy called.
"That's nice."
"I'm taking the bike with me."
"I'll walk."
Tommy rolled his eyes as he left.
The ride back to the city was considerably easier, without another person dragging him down. Tommy went as fast as he could, he lived for speed.
The train ride out of town was less interesting.
Tommy wondered how he had picked a girlfriend so compatible with his sisters. Ginny was showing them parlor tricks, dancing flames on the tips of her fingers. It was a thing she had always been able to do, a little bit of magic.
Tommy glanced sidelong at Flash, who had his head back on the top of the seat. "Remind me again why I agreed to do this?" Flash just smirked.
Tommy sat silently for a moment, gazing idly around the train's cabin. "Hey." He said suddenly. Flash lifted his head.
"What?"
"There's Mrs. Walrus. Y'know, the language teacher? She went away on maternity leave after you left school." Tommy got up and went towards his teacher, Flash behind him.
She was talking to her husband, who looked oddly like a tourist, and holding a small baby in her arms.
"Hey," Tommy said softly.
Amanda Walrus looked up. She smiled. "Tommy!" She said. "How have you been?"
Tommy shrugged. "I've been okay. Flash is living with us now." He nodded towards his friend.
Amanda smiled at Flash. "It's good to see you again, Flash. Have you been okay?" Flash nodded silently, still not much of a talker.
"Oh, this is my husband Bruce." She identified the tourist-like walrus next to her. "Bruce, these are Tommy and Flash, two of my students."
"Hi," Bruce politely shook hands with the boys.
"And who's this?" Tommy knelt down to face the baby.
Amanda grinned. "This is Rotor," The baby looked up at Tommy, wide-eyed.
"Hey Rotor," He said softly, holding out a finger. Rotor took it in a gray fist and held tightly, laughing. "Aw," Tommy smiled. "I want kids."
Flash smirked. "Did you figure that out just right now?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
Flash smiled. "It's been nice seeing you again, Mrs. Walrus." He nodded politely. "Mr. Walrus. I'm going back to my seat, kay, Tommy?"
Tommy nodded, still making faces at Rotor just to see him laugh. "So, are you gonna stay in Mobotropolis with him or what?"
Amanda glanced at Bruce, smiling. "Well, after the war we were thinking of moving back up north. We're definitely going to have more kids, though."
Tommy grinned. "Yeah, I can see that. You have that glow, y'know, that motherly glow."
"You think so?"
"Oh, yeah." Tommy smiled. "Well. I guess I should--"
The train stopped. The lights went out.
"Or, uh..." Tommy paused. "Or I could stay here for a while, that could work too."
The people on the train car glanced around, shrugging, unknowing of what was going on. Suddenly shouts and screams were heard from the other train cars as the unwitting furs here could only speculate.
Bruce looked up, hearkening. "Soldiers," He whispered.
Amanda looked fearful. "Wh-what?"
"It sounds like Overlanders," Bruce whispered back.
As if on cue, shots rang through the air and shattered the glass above them. There were screams and shouts, the smell of blood, and people dove to the floor.
Instinctively, Tommy reached for Bruce and Amanda, and lead them back to where his family and friends were located.
"Amanda, under here," He heard Bruce whispering, and Amanda slipped under a dark seat, Rotor screaming in her arms. She tried fervently to make him quiet, as Tommy's breathing quickened in pace.
One of the doors slid open and the soldiers boarded the car.
Nobody moved, there was the occasional whimper or sob cutting through the silence as tall, young soldiers with wildly coloured hair eyed the passengers, looking each one over. One looked at Angie and Majik and grinned maliciously. He grabbed them each by the scruff of the neck and began to simply carry them off.
"No!" Tommy instinctively stood, to protect his sisters.
"Tommy!" Flash hissed, as Ginny reached for her boyfriend.
"What do you think you're doing?" The Overlander asked.
"I...don't...take me instead." Tommy's voice was flat.
"Tommy!" Ginny's small voice whispered to him.
"Tommy, no!" Majik almost spat.
The soldier sneered at the girls and looked back at Tommy. "All right then. An eye for an eye, eh, Tommy, is it? Which one would you have go free?" He shook Tommy's sisters, causing Angie to whimper.
"I..." Tommy trailed off. He was panting, and sweating profusely.
"Tommy!" Someone called out softly, Ginny, or Flash, or someone. He was confused. He couldn't take it.
The soldier sneered again. "I thought so. I guess I'll have to make the decision for you then, Tommy." He looked at the girls and matter-of-factly shot Majik in the stomach.
"No!" Tommy shrieked as his older sister crashed, bleeding, to the floor. Finally understanding what his social sciences teacher had been trying to get across to him, Tommy outright attacked the soldier. The Overlander simply delivered a blow from the butt of his gun in between Tommy's eyes.
The next thing he remembered was the floor of the train car hitting the back of his head hard.
And darkness.
To be continued in 'The Wonder Years Part Three: Nothing To Do But Wait'.
Feedback? Comments? Utter confusion? Write tarynw42@hotmail.com!
The Legal Jive- Mobotropolis, King Acorn, Merlin Prower etc by Sega/Archie/Dic? All other characters by me. 'The Wonder Years' Copyright 1998 Taryn Wander'r. Feel free to distribute this blah blah blah. You know the rules. Thanks to Kylie and all those who spammed me for the idea. Thanks to The Brian Setzer Orchestra for 'You're The Boss'. Thanks to the Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra for 'Root Beer and Licorice' and thanks to that McDonald's commercial for the 'because' bit. Also, thanks to Netwerks Music for the use of Plastic- Volume 1. =)
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