The Story of Tata Chapter 13
Who He Really Is
By The Man
Blood spurted, teeth rattled, ribs were broken like mere twigs. They went unnoticed by the two combatants that fought each other like a mad fury of storms. Each wanted the other to die so that they could reign. They knew that neither of them would truly be dead, but still, they both thought, it would be fun to try.
Grendel landed a blow to Beowulf's face. A small crunching sound was heard and blood poured out of Beowulf's nose. He shrugged it off and landed a blow to Grendel's gut; his fist destroying any internal organs it ran into. He followed up with an uppercut to the jaw that sent Grendel sprawling.
Beowulf held his blade tightly, preparing to sever his foe's head.
"This life ends for you now." He said menacingly.
"Not yet." Muttered Grendel.
On cue, a large, black, dome-shaped shadow blast spread out around him. Then it was pulled back into his body and shot at an unprepared Beowulf a large, black stream of black energy. It impacted Beowulf and rippled through him like a tremendous energy surge, pumping its dark energy strait into his heart. Beowulf convulsed, shuddered, then fell with a dull thud to the ground. Grendel stood up and smiled.
"You foolish boy." Grendel said mockingly. He walked nonchalantly over to his fallen foe, which had pulled himself up onto his hands and knees. Grendel drove the toe of one of his black boots into Beowulf's stomach. Beowulf fell back to the ground with a loud grunt.
"Pitiful of you, Beowulf, to think you were ever the better of us." He growled.
"Pity this." Sounded a voice behind him.
Grendel never even got to move. A large fireball flew through the air, singing the very air it passed through. It landed right on Grendel's head, emitting a loud banging sound. Grendel fell to the ground, a pillar of smoke rising from the back of his head. He got to his knees and swung his head around, trying to find his assailant.
There, five yards away, stood Lucca in her usual garb her Wondershot poised at Grendel's head.
"Foolish wench!" hissed Grendel. "You just dug your own grave!"
"I'm afraid you'll find that rather difficult." Sounded an electronic voice.
Grendel looked to his left and came face to face with Robo. He stood in his usual fighting stance, the sun gleaming off of his golden armor.
Grendel laughed. "Fools. Do you know who I am?"
"You're going to be a dead man in a minute." Said Beowulf as he stood up, his sword at the ready.
Grendel inspected the situation. Three of them, one of me. The odds seem hardly fair. He thought to himself. For them, that is.
Grendel looked at Beowulf and smiled. "I see I have worn out my welcome." He said. "I guess I'll be going now."
He began to vanish, his features becoming transparent. "Another time, Beowulf."
"Anytime, Grendel. Any place." Beowulf responded coolly.
Then, without further ado, Grendel disappeared altogether.
Beowulf sighed. He looked down at himself. His whit tunic was almost completely red, soaked with both his and Grendel's blood. His baggy, olive-green pants were in the same condition. Many pulpy wounds marked his body, leaking blood all over himself and the ground. He felt his ribs and found several of them to be broken. His wild violet hair was matted down with more blood from a head injury. He was a bloody, broken mess.
Lucca ran up to him as Robo followed at a walking pace.
"Tata! Are you okay?" she asked in a worried tone.
In response, Beowulf reached up and touched his forehead. Instantly, all his wounds were gone, but the mess they had left still remained.
Then, the limp form of Glenn caught her eye.
"Oh god, Glenn!" she screamed and rushed over to his side. She grabbed his wrist.
"He's barely got a pulse." She said in a frightened tone. "Glenn, for the love of god, don't die on us now!"
Beowulf and Robo walked over to them. Robo emitted a few beeping sounds as Beowulf looked on.
"I'm afraid he's beyond help." Robo said simply.
Lucca sobbed and threw her arms around Glenn's head. Lucca had always liked Glenn, but now her true emotions shone through.
Beowulf shook his head in a tiresome manner. He raised a hand and it took on a white glow, which illuminated the party. He pointed at Glenn and the white glow flew from his hand and entered Glenn's body. It illuminated him for only a second before disappearing. His eyes flew open and he sucked in a deep breath.
"Glenn!" exclaimed Lucca. She kissed him multiple times all over his face. He grabbed her arms and pushed her away far enough for him.
"Lucca! Robo!" he said happily. He smiled, but the smile vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. "Where is the dark one?"
"Gone." Said Robo. "Vanished." He looked up at the now-orange sky. "Night is falling. We had best return to Lucca and my dwelling."
The heroes of the day, with the brilliance of the sunset's glare shining across them, began to walk the long path that led back to the magnificent city of Guardia.
.
The house that was home to Robo and Lucca was like nothing Glenn could've imagined in his wildest dreams. Showers, automatic doors, the telephone, and the clothing were brilliant to him. He wandered about the house, observing the many ornaments of the spectacular house. It was all amazing to him.
Beowulf, it seemed, couldn't care less. He found his way to the washing machine and dumped everything but his underwear in. Then he went and fixed himself a bath. He was not in the best of moods. He was indeed the underdog of this match, but he would fight it to the death.
He rubbed some more soap on his arms, trying to get the dried blood off. As he was doing this, a knock came at the door. He looked at the door. He had locked it. He gave a little nod and the lock's password was overridden. The door opened and in walked Glenn.
"Hello, Glenn." He muttered as he dipped his arms under the water.
"Hello, Beowulf." He said emotionlessly.
Beowulf looked back at him. Glenn had an ordinary expression on his face, but his mood was another story.
"That's what you prefer to be called, isn't it?" he said. "Beowulf, defender of Eimla and the human existence."
Beowulf stood up out of the tub and grabbed a towel.
"What do you want, Glenn?" he asked as he hastily wrapped the towel around his waist.
Glenn took a step forward. "I want to know if you still remember, Beowulf."
Beowulf finished with the towel and looked back at Glenn, his violet hair already resuming its usual spiked state. "Considering how long my soul has been around, it's a miracle I have as good a memory as I got."
"Then maybe you can remember who you were a few hours ago." Glenn said, taking another step toward him. "Do you?"
Beowulf snorted. "I was just another hollow life that didn't see his true soul."
"I've got news for you, Beowulf." Glenn responded. "You still can't."
"Don't be ridiculous." Said Beowulf. "I know who I really am, what my responsibilities are."
"Yes, but I don't know who you are." Glenn said and placed an armored finger to his own chest. "To me and everyone else here, you are Tata, a boy with a heart of gold and a true spirit."
Beowulf snorted again, but Glenn put a hand on his right shoulder.
"You are Tata." He said in a serious tone. "And you didn't hate Grendel because he was your opposite. You hated him as Len, and you hated him because he had hurt you. Do you remember how?"
Beowulf threw off Glenn's hand. "I have no time for trivial matters."
"I don't care!" shouted Glenn. "I've seen your bloodlust for this monster. He already killed one of us, and he is still strong."
Beowulf cocked his head a little. "He did?"
"Yes!" Glenn shouted in an exasperated tone. "This is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. I've only been around you for a few hours, Beowulf, and I already don't like you."
Beowulf sneered. "That's your problem."
"Is it?" Glenn said, his tone getting angrier every second. "When you're around me, Beowulf, your problems are my problems, and mine are yours. It's called friendship, Beowulf; you help me bear my load and I'll help you bear yours. But you're not like that. You chase after Grendel on your own, not paying any attention to who dies and who lives. Robo is still broken up over Atropos' destruction. You couldn't care less."
Glenn frowned and looked deep into Beowulf's eyes. "Do you even remember why you started hating him in the first place?"
Beowulf gave a small sigh. "He is my enemy. I was made to fight him."
"No, not Grendel." Glenn said. "Do you remember why you hate Len?"
Beowulf scratched his head once. "He was an asshole. And a bully."
Glenn's face was that of pure hate at this point. "Do you remember what he did to Minka?"
Beowulf thought for a moment. "Ah, yes. She was one of my friends. A pity, she was just another victim of Grendel." He said emotionlessly.
That was all Glenn would take. In a lightning quick move, he hooked Beowulf across the jaw with his right fist. Beowulf fell back into the tub, splashing water all around. He felt his bottom lip. It was bleeding.
"Bastard!" shouted Beowulf. "What in the name of Ji'groo was that for?!"
"It was for your goddamn insolence!" Glenn shouted right back. "I'm tired of you attitude, Beowulf. It makes me sick!"
Beowulf quickly stood up, his towel soaked from the water. "Who are you to question my attitude, damn it?!"
"I'm your comrade!" yelled Glenn. "I will fight this bastard with you to the death, but I will not put up with this complete disregard for life you have!"
"You fool!" Beowulf hollered. "I can't stop every time someone is killed and dig them a grave! I have to keep hunting him and kill him before he causes more death!"
"Yes, that's true." Glenn said in a bit softer tone. "But you don't even mourn! You may fight for life, but you treat it like garbage! You can't even cry for someone's death!"
"Idiot!" raged Beowulf. "If I soften my shell, Grendel will know I'm weak. He would easily overtake me. I have to remain hard, never getting too soft, or else I will lose!"
Glenn nodded a little. "Then you're not human enough to fight with me."
Beowulf snorted. "You'd better get used to it. I'm going to be like this for a while."
"No you're not, Beowulf." Glenn said. He grabbed Beowulf by the sides of his head and held it tight. "I guess it's about time I done this."
Beowulf struggled in Glenn's iron grip, but to no avail. "What are you doing?!" he shouted.
"Bringing Tata back." Glenn said simply.
Then, it happened. A bright blue shine emitted from Glenn's hands, illuminating the entire room. It was as brilliant as the time gate, and more so. It filled every corner, every shadow with its shine. It was beautiful. It turned into a whirlwind, swirling around in a spiral above Beowulf's head. It continued to swirl as it entered Beowulf's head and finally disappeared.
Glenn looked pretty fatigued, yet satisfied. He let go of Beowulf, who turned out to be unconscious, and was forced to grab him again as he began to fall. He held Beowulf in a standing position, waiting for him to regain consciousness. After about a minute or so, Beowulf's eyes fluttered open. He stared at the ceiling for a minute, then looked at Glenn.
"Glenn!" he cried in astonishment. He smiled for only a second before his face went hard. "Where is he?"
Glenn cocked his head slightly. "Who?"
"Len." He growled. "Where is he?"
Glenn cracked a small smile. "Why do you want Len?"
He looked at Glenn with a mixture of anger and question. "Don't you remember?? He killed Marle and Minka. I want to see him pay for their deaths with his goddamn life."
Glenn smiled broadly and hugged him. He had succeeded. His intentions had been to bring Tata back using his magic. It was the first time he had done it, and he really wasn't sure how he had. But he had been successful.
"Welcome back, Tata." He said happily.
.
End of Chapter 13
.