Tex, the Other Jetsam: Part Three by dragonshark173 |  |
"Coming in the left," The announcer called, "Tex, the famous Rufus' squire!"
Tex beamed, lifting his fins in the air and nodding, receiving a great amount
of applause. Just like Rufus, Tex said to himself, finally, I'm the
hero.
At the other end, a purple Flotsam stomped into the arena. She was well-equipped
with a grand lightning beam, a dai-scimitar, a shadow shield, dual expert bow,
Flotsam plasma helmet and a few Flotsam star blades. She looked like a tough
opponent!
"In the other end entering is the infamous undefeatable ocean hunter, Maggie
the Chaotic!" The Flotsam flexed her arm muscles, baring her ferocious fangs.
The crowd cheered, but not as much as they had for Tex. They were waiting to
see what Rufus was up to, only coming into the Battledome on weekends.
The horn sounded for the fight to commence. The two charged at each other,
Tex with his Jetsam sword held out and Maggie with her dai-scimitar held out.
The two weapons clashed in the center of the arena, both putting a great amount
of strength into their weaponry. The two forces cancelled out one another, and
the only movement between the two forces was the sweat dribbling down their
faces and their swords lightly quivering. Tex suddenly improvised, and stopped
putting any strength on his sword, sending the Flotsam to the ground. Tex slammed
his sword onto the Flotsam's body, causing an immense dip in hit points. The
Flotsam recovered and leapt onto her tail, then sent two Flotsam star blades
at the unsuspecting Jetsam. Tex dodged one of them, but was hit the second time
in the stomach. The Flotsam leaped back onto her "feet" again, her
sword still raised.
Tex snatched a dark nova and threw it up in the air. The entire stadium was
enshrouded in darkness, then faded away, revealing the Flotsam utterly frozen,
unable to move for a given amount of time. Tex did a crowd-pleasing back flip
towards his opponent and slashed the Jetsam sword at her stomach twice, once
again terminating several hit points. The Flotsam shook out of it and shot two
flaming arrows at the same time from her dual expert bow straight at the Jetsam.
He held up his shield of lightning and blocked the incoming arrows, sending
them bouncing straight back at the fish. The blow knocked her over with immense
force, leaving her very temporarily unconscious. There was the familiar "ding-ding"
that ended the fight. The crowd erupted.
However, instead of turning around with a great, big smile on his face, waving
his fins in the air triumphantly, he turned to look at his opponent, with something
in the back of his mind really getting to bug him. The Flotsam looked so beat
up, though! She had a black ring around her eye and several scars. Nurses began
to come out from one end to heal the wounded opponent. The Flotsam looked at
Tex, glaring, awaking from her sleep. She glared harder, fire in her eyes. She
put one fin curled into a fist into the other, signaling that the next time
she was matched up with him in the Battledome, she'd cream him.
Then, the thought struck him. Tex sagged his shoulders and lowered his head.
Was this the life he wanted to lead? Earning his keep by triumphantly beating
up other Neopets, and still get admired worldwide by it? It didn't seem right.
It just seemed... so out of place. The job seemed so similar to an assassin's,
a gangster's or some other sort of criminal. He looked at the audience, a slight
dismay in his expression, and looked at the ground again. He ripped off his
chains and spiked collars, slowly exiting to the locker rooms, where he met
Rufus.
"You were great out there, Tex!" Rufus said, patting his back. "You were just
like me, only almost better!"
Just like Rufus, eh? He learned so much over the past few months. "I don't
want to do it, Rufus," Tex said, lowering his head again. "I just don't want
to do it."
"Do what?" Rufus said, still smiling ear to ear.
"Everything. Everything you've taught me. Being a warrior, a Battledome champion."
Tex murmured.
"HA! Good one, Tex. C'mon, I'll take you out to dinner to celebrate." Tex
blinked, releasing a tear and sending it splashing onto the ground. Rufus's
merry expression vanished. "You're not joking, are you, kid?"
"I'm not a kid anymore," Tex said with slight arrogance. "And I'm not just
like you. I want to be different. I don't want to have to follow the path of
fate that every Jetsam has to take, and become a Battledome king or queen."
"No. No, no, no, no, no..." Rufus said, shaking his head and moving slightly
away from Tex. "I took almost a year out of my life to help you, and this is
what I get in return? I took care of you. I took you in like a son. I taught
you everything I know, and now this?"
"I'm sorry..." Tex muttered.
"Sorry? It's not enough, punk!" Rufus said, glaring at Tex.
"So now I'm not a kid anymore, but a punk, huh?" Tex said, looking back up
at him. He was surprised by the image he saw glaring back. He took one long
last look, pure hatred in their eyes. A battle would have begun right then and
there if Tex hadn't taken off like a bullet.
He kept on running. Farther, farther...away from it all. Away from the Battledome,
from Rufus, from his former life. Away from the life he should have never experienced,
should have never had. He slowed to a walk after several miles, and stopped
at the juice bar where he met Rufus. He sat shakily at the pine table, noticing
the friendly environment around him. It was too good for him.
The waitress didn't come by for a while, making sure she took orders from
everybody else first, even the Neopets that came in after Tex. Suddenly, he
noticed his Battledome gear, his massive body, his jetsam form. Why were Jetsams
segregated like this? Suddenly, he remembered that not every Jetsam was like
him. In fact, he began to notice that he was probably the only one of his kind.
"I'd like a strawberry-orange-banana, please, ma'am." Tex said, smiling at
the spotted Kacheek, and at her beauty.
"Got it..." she said, taken aback by his friendliness.
After the Kacheek left to prepare his juice, a strange figure—a human—entered
the bar. She had a wide smile on, oval glasses, long, blonde-brown hair and
a brown fedora. Three Neopets were already by her side: a purple Chia, a desert-dragon
Lupe and a fire Lupe. They sat at the same table as Tex, and he looked up at
them in slight confusion.
"G'day, mate!" The girl said with a strange accent.
"Uh... hi?" Tex said, taken aback by the friendliness. Months before, he would
be all over them like white on rice, telling them his life story.
"You a Battledomer?" The Chia said, smiling almost evilly, wearing the same
attire Tex had on earlier.
"Used to be," Tex said, looking down, fiddling with his fins.
The Lupe, who was resting his paws on the table, grinned. "Same here! I quit
a little while ago. Sold all my weapons and made a heap! Donated it all, though.
We have enough at the home. Sharky here is a great writer." The Lupe nodded
towards his owner, the human.
"Am not!" Sharky said, blushing. "I just get a few things published once in
a while. It keeps us going."
The Lupe rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I'm Griffin. This is Frightful," he said,
nodding his head towards the Chia, "this is Draco," he pointed towards the desert-dragon
Lupe, "and this is Sharky. She's technically our 'owner'. I still say she's
more like a sister."
"Yeah, like an older sister who goes to the Tyrannian Military Base every
weekend and spends her days writing all the time." Draco said, rolling his eyes
and spreading his wings. "So, where ya from?"
"Nowhere," Tex said, struggling with the word.
"How can you be from nowhere? Everybody is from somewhere." Frightful said,
confused.
"I just am. I switch from place to place now and then, finding myself unwelcome
or uncomfortable every time." Tex said, still a closed book.
"You can stay with us if you like," Sharky suggested kindly. "I've been wanting
to find another companion lately. I think you're perfect."
"Why's that? I'm just a Jetsam. Your everyday, ugly, fierce, terrible, evil
Jetsam, I suppose." Tex said.
"Don't say things like that. You're different. I can see it in your heart,"
Sharky said.
Tex looked up, his amber eyes meeting her blue-green eyes. Tex smiled. For
the first time since his presence with Rufus, he smiled widely, not a smirk,
but a wide, happy smile. He got up and shouted with joy, "Yay!"
The End
Epilogue : Tex became a part of Sharky's family that day. He never returned
to the Battledome, but instead became a poet and guitarist. He didn't make much
money, but he was happy, Battledome or not. He replaced his passion for weaponry
with a passion for reading sci-fi novels. Rufus did eventually track him down
and ended up sending him a postcard once in a while, never really forgiving
Tex about his small outburst and keeping his letters short and sweet. Tex only
wrote back simple, small things, just to let him know he was alive. He never
did tell Sharky's Crew about what happened in his early years, but he would
never forget it. |
