A Difference in Opinon
(Friz's Point of View)
We made it up to
the hotel room without another word being said. I wasn't willing to start a
conversation if any of them spoke, anyway. I was a little upset that Gary and
Timler actually overextended our
goal. I only wanted there to be a couple thousand, not ten. I knew there was
suspicion for us now, and it was only a matter of time. And speaking of time, I
was suddenly missing my own. I then growled inwardly as I remember that such a
thing no longer existed. Also, we can't undo our own actions according to
Timler. Not anymore, anyway. What he's done has been etched in history and it
would not erode. Some people still stared as we passed on the streets, but I
ignored them. Quite frankly, I wasn't in the mood to care. I stomped into the hotel
lobby with the other three in tow. There was a palpable tension in the air
between the bear, who tried his best to show indifference, and me. I was more
upset at Gary than anyone else. He was chronologically the oldest, so he
should've been the most mature. It infuriated me to know that I had to step up
as the level-headed one.
On the way up the
stairs, I started lecturing Gary and Timler. "I can't believe what you did,
seriously." I said. "I thought more of you, Timler. You know the risks of abusing
time travel, why did you magically forget them then? And don't answer that. I
hope you're happy with yourself. Let's just hope this all dies down enough to
not be that much of a problem.
"And I'm even more
disappointed in you, Gary. You're actually
twenty-two. I expected you to be level-headed enough to know when you have
enough. Now we have the casino security on our tails. I really hope we can find
a way to remove any suspicion we have of what we've done..."
"Friz, you need to
calm down." Ghast insisted. "You're becoming paranoid. I assure you, the
bartender said he'd help us so long as we explained ourselves."
"For all of our
sakes, I hope so." I said. I opened the door to our room and went in. I nearly
had a heart attack when I saw a bunch of toddler cubs running around. Feir was
about four years old currently, and was having fun with his fire ability,
working it into a sort of dance that looked practiced. He was also wearing
nothing but a diaper, as were everyone else, but he and Fluhr hadn't actually
lost control of their bladders, so I was confused at this point. Fluhr and
Julio were playing chase, both having been regressed to about three years old,
and were dissolving into wind and reforming constantly. I had walked in at the
exact time that Fluhr tackled Julio to the ground, declaring that he won that
one. Regir was playing with Nick, both at three years old as well, and were
play fighting, or so I hoped. Nick was throwing light at Regir that would burst
before hitting anything, but Regir was dodging expertly. Maybe they were
practicing. The Fallenoak twins were messing with the house plants each also at
age three.
"Timler! You're
home!" Regir called when he saw us. He ran into Timler's arms. "You were gone
for forever!"
"I'm sure it wasn't
all that long." Timler said with a chuckle, picking up the bear cub. I still
wasn't happy, but Ghast refused to be in a bad mood and Nick and Gary were
happy to see each other again. Such is the mentality of toddlers. I addressed
Feir first.
"Feir," I said,
"what the hell are you doing?" Feir started by telling me that hell was a bad
word, and I realized then how much I'd actually been swearing since the casino.
At least I didn't drop the "F" bomb. Regardless, seeing that Feir was in the
mindset of a four-year-old fox cub, I apologized so he would explain himself.
"Regir was bored,
as was everyone else, so he suggested we all regress to have some fun. While I
was reluctant, he kind of tempted me into trying it. I was curious, anyhow."
Feir explained. "It's actually really fun! You should try it!"
"I would rather you
and I returned to sixteen years old so I would feel less bad about yelling at
you." I growled. "I thought I told you took keep things in order! It's chaos in
here!" The other five cubs had stopped what they were doing to stare at us.
"It's not chaos,
trust me. At least I didn't set the rug on fire...more than once." Feir said.
"You what?" I asked with furiousness in my
voice. I then saw the singed piece of carpet Feir had been hiding with his paw.
I was so angry at this point that I stopped seething and just put a paw to my
face and started crying. "Am I the only one with any sense?" I asked.
"You're definitely
the only one that's tightly wound, that's for sure." Timler said. "Regir? I
think Friz could use some regression therapy. I think that Gary and Ghast do
too. Hell, I could." Timler snickered, and, before I could protest, Regir waved
a paw in my direction and I felt my body getting younger. Regression felt weird
enough the first time when Regir regressed me to eleven years old so that his
diapers would fit me. He didn't stop at eleven this time, however, and I felt
my body shrinking and I felt panic as I approached four years old. I prayed
Regir would regress me further, and he didn't. Thankfully. Gary threatened
Regir, so he wasn't regressed. Timler and Ghast happily joined me, but they
were regressed to three years old. When I stopped regressing, I realized that
it would be a fair fight between me and Feir, and I tackled him. He pushed me
off and threw fire in my direction. I blocked it with an ice shield, thinking
it better than letting it singe another part of the hotel.
"What are you
doing?" Feir asked.
I replied, "I'm
upset, and you're the first person I decided to take my anger out on! I
expected you to stay in charge, but you fell victim to peer pressure!" I
summoned a short sword of ice that was an appropriate size for my four-year-old
size. Feir did the same, retorting at my reply.
"I didn't fall
victim to peer pressure, I willingly decided to try to have a little fun for
once! Do you have any idea how much of my life has been filled with anger?
That's the last emotion I want to feel right now!" He explained. He punctuated
the last word he said with a forward slash in my direction. I parried and
counterattacked, but he copied my moves. We were evenly matched, and the fight
was effectively reduced to a verbal argument that was punctuated with the
steamy sound of fire on ice.
"I let you be in
charge for the purpose that I'd thought you'd use your anger to keep the others
in check!" I yelled.
Feir retorted,
"Then you made a bad choice! I'm not mean just because I command the flames
that claimed the lives of thousands of politicians!"
"But I definitely
can be as cold as the ice I hold!" I spat. Another few minutes passed with no
other words said. I noticed that no one tried to stop us. Really, it was
because they could feel that Feir and I had such righteous anger that any
attempt to intervene would just have us turn on them. We were also incapable of
listening to reason at the time, so Gary's charm speak was useless. The battle
intensified for a brief moment as Feir entered berserker mode and overcame my
attacks. Having bested me, Feir knocked my sword out of my hand, which
dissipated the moment I let go, and then put a knee on my chest as I was
knocked to the ground and pointed the sword at my throat.
"Now," Feir said
with a crackling accent in his voice, almost like that of fire, "Let's try this
again with less violence, shall we?" I nodded reluctantly so that he would get
off of me. As soon as I sat up, I was immediately grumpy, and was determined to
not get into the childish spirit of things. I crossed my arms with a "humph"
and sat there, not particularly enjoying the wet diaper between my legs at this
point.
"Well, if you must
know, Timler and Gary got a little overzealous, and we were suspected of...something.
There's also someone coming soon, so there is that." I explained. Just as I
finished talking, the door decided to make noise. Or rather, it was someone on
the other side knocking furiously. Gary checked the peephole, and panicked,
pressing his back to the door.
"It's the bartender." He said...