Crossed Fates (OLD)

Chapter 10: My Crumbling Will

Tyler: "It's nice being here again."

The soft breeze from the wind blows at his hair and his clothes. He sighs and kicks his feet from where he sits on top of a fence, alone.

Tyler: "And it's nice to see you again, Hanako."

He looks up into the sky. He stares at the clouds for a moment, and then back at the floor.

Tyler: "Hm."

He sighs.

Tyler: "Sometimes... I wish I could go back to those days, Hanako. But... Sometimes I wish those days never happened. What happened to you. What that would lead to."

He clenches his fist, and bends the earth around his fist, he then flicks the earth off his fist onto the floor, causing a huge dent.

Tyler: "Will, huh..."

He sighs once more. He starts to remember what the Shadow Prince said to him.

"I-I-I-I! Well, I'll kick your ass if you say some shit about having no will to go on. Learn to fight for yourself, dipshit."

Tyler: "Fight... For myself... Oh, what the hell... I've never done that, Prince.

All my life, I've fought for others. All. My. Life."

13 years ago...

The city of Lusni Khavarum. A beautiful place for tourists to be. In the middle of town, a young boy, and a young girl stood on a pavement, they're incredibly close to each other.

???: "Tylerrrrr! Tylerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Tyler: "Hanakoooooooooooooooooo! What do you waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant?"

Hanako: "Make me go high again! Make the ground underneath me go to the moon!"

Tyler: "You can't breathe on the moon! You silly billy."

Hanako: "Nuh uh!"

Tyler: "Yeah huh!"

Hanako: "Okay."

They stand in silence, simply just staring at each other like stupid kids. Hanako then beams a toothy smile.

Hanako: "Tyler! You're an earth bender... but can you bend like this?"

She effortlessly hits the splits, and she stands back up.

Tyler: "Haha! Of course I can."

He tries the same exact thing, but he falls flat on his face.

Tyler: "Doof..."

Hanako bursts out laughing. She grabs his arm and lifts him back up. She looks at him and pouts.

Hanako: "Come on, Tyler! You can't become the strongest man ever if you don't train your body!"

Tyler: "Sure I can. When I was born, my body was so incredibly tough that I ripped through my mother's body... And uh... killed her... b-but! The doctors did a test on me and they said I have naturally tough skin that rivals even Heloth!"

Hanako: "No excuses, mister! Don't bring Heloth into this. He's the strongest guy evah! You're not strong enough yet, because you don't exercise!"

Tyler: "But... I don't have any money for that."

Hanako: "Come on! My mommy said that you're allowed to use her services there for free!"

Tyler: "I... I already take a lot from her... She-"

Hanako: "So what if you're an orphan, huh? Mommy took you in because she wanted to, not because she needed to."

Tyler: "Please... I don't want to use you guys."

Hanako: "You aren't using us! We want this for you, Tyler."

He looks at the floor, and he seems  like he's on the verge of crying.

Hanako: "Hey... Look at me."

She takes both of his hands, and grabs them. Rubbing his palm.

Hanako: "You have nothing to worry about, okay?"

He still looks at the ground.

Hanako: "Tyler..."

She squeezes his hand. he then looks up at her.

Hanako: "No matter what, you're my best friend. My brother technically! Since mommy adopted you."

She sighs.

Hanako: "I don't wanna see you sad, okay? I love you."

Tyler: "...Okay."

Hanako: "Okay."

She lets go of one of his hands, and she begins to drag him towards the training camp. Once they make it there, they're greeted by a young woman, with black hair and green eyes. She smiles at the both of them.

Hanako's Mother: "Heyy, look who it is. My little cuties~!"

Hanako: "Mom! Mom! Tyler's gonna do it! He's gonna train!"

Hanako's Mother: "Oh, Tyler... Change of heart, huh?"

Tyler: "Yes... Miss."

Hanako's Mother: "Please, you can call me Mom. It's okay."

Tyler: "Sorry... Mom."

His mom smiled. She then clasps her hands together.

Mom: "So... Tyler. You can come into here with me."

Tyler: "Alright."

He lets go of Hanako's hand, and he runs into the next room with his mother.

7 months later...

Mom: "You're not flexible enough! Further! Further!"

Tyler: "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

He does it. He stretches himself as far as he possibly can. It doesn't hurt. He looks up at his mother.

Mom: "You're doing good. We can end it off for today, hun."

She lifts him up, and dusts him off.

Tyler: "Uh, hey... Where's Hanako?"

She taps her chin.

Mom: "Probably hanging out with Spur."

Tyler: "Spur? He sucks, though."

Mom: "I know, but Hanako wants to look cool. Since her mother whips people into shape. She thinks she's tough... I know one day, she'll do something that will make her tough. To the both of us."

Tyler: "Oh well, I'm gonna go find her."

Mom: "Oh, are you now? Take care of yourself, Tyler."

Tyler: "Yeah yeah. See you later, Mom."

Mom: "Hehe. I love you."

Tyler: "Nnnnloveyoutoo."

He runs out, embarrassed. He then looks around for a bit. Before walking on the pavement. On the way to find Hanako. He stumbles upon a house. He sighs and just waltzes on in.

Tyler: "Hanako! Come on. Spur is lame. You can't just hang out with bullies to make yourself look cooler! It makes you lame-"

He gets punched in the back of the head. It does nothing to him, though. He turns around, and then he's ambushed. He's restrained by 4 boys. 

Tyler: "What the hell?"

He's then dragged into a basement, and tied up using rope.

Spur: "Hyahahaha! Guess what I did, you stupid orphan?"

Tyler: "Hmm... I wonder? Did you finally get a girlfriend?."

Spur: "Nah. Look around, asshat. I set up the basement with gasoline, and I'm gonna burn it while you're trapped down here! You can't use your powers while you're restrained. Because you're inexperienced and you suck."

Tyler tries, but to no success.

Tyler: "What the fuck did I ever do to you, assholes?!"

Spur: "I hate orphans! There's a reason your REAL family died! They killed themselves because they saw your ugly mug as soon as you were born! C'mon, guys! Let's blow this stupid place."

They leave the basement, and they throw a lit match down there. Unfortunately, the fire spreads very quickly, and it reaches Tyler quickly.

Tyler: "W-Wait! Someone! Get me outta here! I ain't immune to fire!"

???: "Tyler..? TYLER!!!"

His consciousness is fading. He hears footsteps. He hears the sound of fire cracking around him. He hears rubble fall. His mind goes foggy. He opens his eyes to see fire. He closes his eyes, and opens them up again. He's outside on the ground. He blinks, then stands up, and wipes his eyes. He looks down to see Hanako curled up on the ground. The entire right side of her body is covered in red, recent burn marks.

Tyler: "Hanako..?"

He kneels down next to her. She's unconscious. She's not breathing.

Tyler: "Hanako..."

He clenches his fists. A tear forms in his eye.

Tyler: "Spur... I'll... I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

He reaches out his hand, and the ground beneath him extends and crashes through buildings. It then drags his mother along from the other side of the city over to him as well. 

Mom: "Tyler?! H-Hanako?!?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Tyler: "YOU KNOW CPR! SAVE HER! I'LL GONNA KILL THE BASTARDS THAT DID THIS!"

His mother looks at him with shock. She does what she is told though. Not because he asked her, but because she wanted to save her daughter.

He rises himself up into the air using the earth. He spots Spur, laughing alongside with the other people he saw earlier.

Tyler: "I'LL... I'LL WIPE YOU OUT FROM THE FACE OF THE PLANET!"

He spreads index and middle finger, and then 2 vertical walls of rock appear around Spur. He clasps the fingers together, and in an instant. He and his goonies are crushed. Tyler closes his eyes... and the earth beneath him disappears, and he falls to the ground.

2 days later...

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Tyler: "Urgh... my head..."

He opens up his eyes... He sees Hanako sitting in front of him. She smiles as soon as she notices him waking up.

Hanako: "Hey, Tyler."

Tyler: "I'm... I'm sorry."

Hanako: "Hey, don't be. You saved my life."

Tyler: "I... I did?"

Hanako: "If you didn't get mommy to help me, I think I would've been with my dad."

Tyler: "..."

Their mother rushes into the room.

Mom: "Tyler! Tyler!"

Tyler: "Hey, Mom."

She embraces him. Hanako then joins the hug, since she likes hugs.

Mom: "Are you okay?"

Tyler: "Maybe..."

Mom: "I told your friends about this. They'll be around pretty soon."

Hanako: "Boo. They stink."

Mom: "Haha, hear that, Tyler? You said Spur stinked, and he did... Now she's saying your friends stink. Keep that account for the future, haha!"

Hanako pouts, and she stands back up. He notices that from her head, to her toes, she is burnt... bad. She leaves the room holding their mom's hand. And as soon as they leave, 3 people walk in. A Fuzzy haired boy, A bratty girl, and a plump dude.

Tyler: "My slimes... What's good?"

Plump Dude: "We heard Spur died, and he couldn't even put up a fight."

Fuzzy Haired Boy: "Dude! There was a pile of rocks over his crushed body! I only know one Earth element around these parts, and that's you!"

Bratty Girl: "Yep. We think you're strong. So we went ahead and thought."

Fuzzy Haired Boy: "Thought real good."

Plump Dude: "We're gonna make a team when we're older. You wanna join?"

Tyler: "Hmm... I'll pass."

Fuzzy Haired Boy: "Pleaseee? We can't do it without you."

Tyler: "You know how I feel about teams nowadays... I'll think about it, though. We're still kids."

The 3 jump up in excitement. They beam smiles at each other...

Back to the present.

Tyler: "Why? Why the fuck did I ever join? I should've known they were gonna use me from the start. Mom literally told me-"

A girl jumps up onto the fence next to him. It's Hanako.

Hanako: "Hey dude."

Tyler: "Hey, What do you think you're doing out here? Shouldn't you be training Luke and all of those guys?"

Hanako: "Break time. We give out breaks, you know."

Tyler: "I know. You and Mom just never gave me breaks back then.

She pouts.

Hanako: "We did! You're just being dramatic."

He chuckles.

Tyler: "Say, how come you never formed a team?"

She looks down.

Hanako: "Well... Mom retired, and I didn't want the people in this town to start slacking... so I took over. I kinda expected to do that, though. Ever since we were kids. I was never too interested in fighting."

Tyler: "Aw. You would've made an awesome addition to The Peeps, Hanako."

Hanako: "I'll be a good addition in training their physique. That's all. And just for you, I'll make it free."

He smiles.

Tyler: "Thanks, sis."

She gasps.

Hanako: "Oh my god! After all these years... You accept that you're my brother! Ooh... I could kiss you! Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut that would be incest."

Tyler: "Ew... Don't even fucking mention that."

They both share a laugh, then Tyler sighs.

Tyler: "You know... I lost a lot of will to fight recently. That got me thinking."

Hanako tilts her head. She looks at Tyler.

Tyler: "You were petrified of fires, yet... You ran into that house with no fear, and saved me."

Hanako: "Are you seriously thinking about that again? I did that because I love you, silly. You're my brother, and as long as I still have you, I can have the will to do anything."

His eyes widen.

Tyler: "Yes... Will... You... I-"

Hanako: "Listen, take a deep breath, and think about who you're doing all this for. Even if they're dead. You fight for them."

Tyler: "You're right. I still have you to fight for. I have The Peeps! I even have... The Shadow Prince, solely so I can beat his ass the next time I see him!"

Hanako: "That, you shall."

She pats his back.

Tyler: "You're a supportive sister, thanks."

Hanako: "I'm going back in now. The offer's still there if you need a refresher~"

Tyler: "Nah, I'm good."

He grins and pushes her off the fence. She pouts at him and crosses her arms.

Hanako: "Oh, and one more thing!"

Tyler: "Yeah?"

Hanako: "I love you, forever!"

She runs back off inside.

Tyler: "...IloveyoutooHanako.

...forever."

He then looks down at the ground. But something red catches his eye. Someone from the other side of the street is standing. Their features are... interesting. Red hair, brown eyes, red clothing... No arms? He stops staring at them. He hops off the fence, and goes back inside with Hanako.