wing_attack | IC; Pokegear Contact Post

"Uh. It's Tobias. Leave a message."

Not... really. I was the kind of kid who got shoved in lockers, not asked to dances.

Really? You got bullied, Tobias-san? That's terrible! They obviously didn't know what a cool guy you were! Let me at 'em! No one messes with my friend!

Well, I mean... I was always the quiet kid in the corner, who didn't have parents and who moved across the country every other year. They'd take my sketchbook and rip it, or throw the book I was reading across the room... I met Jake because he ended up wandering into the bathroom when someone was giving me a swirly. He helped me out but we didn't really become friends until everything started.

[ Mimi doesn't know what a swirly is, but given all the other stuff Tobias is talking about, it doesn't sound good. None of this sounds good. ]

So your life was really hard even before the aliens attacked, huh...

[ Mimi knows bullying is a thing that happens in school, but she's never actually known someone who's been bullied. Even Koushirou gets away reasonably well with being quiet and nerdy, as far as she can tell. To hear that one of her friends has had to deal with this is... Well. It's heartbreaking.

So have Mimi's arms suddenly around you, Tobias. ] I'm so sorry! All that stuff sounds really awful to go through! [ Cliiiing. ]

[Oh god suddenly hugs - he pats her on the back.]

It's okay. I mean... things are still hard. It's just a different kind of hard. But I'm free. Even if I'm not human at home... or I'm not most of the time... it's okay.

[ Most Japanese people aren't big on hugging. Congratulations, Tobias, you've found the exception. ]

I'm glad you got away from that stuff! Even if you did have to turn into a bird to do it! I bet once you finish saving the world no one will be picking on you anymore! They'll all be like, "Oh, Tobias-san, we didn't know you were such a cool superhero! And also a bird!"

It... depends how things turn out. I don't know how public we'll ever be. If we make it out, I bet Marco will be a pretty big celebrity, but I can't see Jake or Cassie or Ax in the limelight. Rachel... I don't know. She could go either way.

... We're still pretty much kids. I don't know Ax's exact age in his years but he's the equivalent of our age I think. None of us are older than sixteen.

Are those all your friends? I guess that makes sense! I'm not sure some of my friends would be very good at being famous either! Poor Jou-senpai, he wouldn't know what to do with himself! Taichi-san would love it, of course! You will tell me about your friends sometime, won't you, Tobias-san? I'd love to know what kind of people they are!

Wow! Sixteen? That's super old! [ You're talking to a ten-year-old here, bro. ] It's okay, Tobias-san! I bet you guys are doing great! I mean, you're older than my friends and I, and we're doing okay for ourselves!

It's not all that old, really. I guess it might seem like that, but... we're not. Though red tailed hawks in the wild usually only live until they're fifteen and my usual morph is probably... nine years old now? It's hard to tell.

But sure. I'll tell you about them, if you want to hear. - Ax isn't human, though. He's an Andalite. The younger brother of the one who gave us the morphing power... and my uncle.

Wow! Wait, so an alien is your uncle? Does that mean you're an alien too? But you guys are good aliens, right? Not like the ones who are trying to take over the world!

[ ...And the hawk thing sinks in. ] Wait, you mean... since you're a hawk, you're only going to live for a few more years? Oh, Tobias-san! That's awful! You can't die! Tobias-san!

... 'Good' and 'bad' are kind of... it's easy to try to divide things into that but there have been Yeerks who have helped us and Andalites that have hurt us. And it's complicated. His brother - my father - trapped himself as a human. Like I was stuck as a hawk, except he did it on purpose so he could be with my mother. So genetically no, I'm not an alien.

But this being called the Ellimist put him back where he 'belonged' - in his Andalite body, fighting Yeerks. He let him write a letter to me that I got a few years ago on my birthday. I don't know if another man was my father. I only faintly remember my mother. The Ellimist is the being that gave me back the power to morph after I'd lost it, too - and he let me take on my old human form as a morph. Only for two hours at a time, though.

[He's quiet for a few long moments at the end while he tries to think of how to respond.]

If... I might go back to being a human once all of this is over. I don't know that I want to, though. The only reason I would is because of Rachel. I couldn't... I don't think I could just die on her.

[ Mimi just listens for a bit. That's a lot to take in. Finally, she hits on something she can understand. ]

Oh, wow! That's really romantic about your parents! I wonder if my papa would turn into something else for my mama! [ Let's be real, of course he would. The Tachikawas are disgustingly in love. They would do anything for each other. ]

You've had some of those brain guys help you? [ Weird. A species is either all good or all bad, right? That's been her experience in the Digital World so far, anyway. ]

And you need to turn back into a human! You need to, Tobias-san! I don't want you to die, and I know Rachel-san doesn't want you to die either! [ She clings to his arm. NO DYING ]

... I don't know. I have a lot more freedom as a hawk. And it's still... hard. Nature can be a lot more simple than humanity. You live or you die. You survive or you don't. There aren't complicated rules for most species. There's just living and breeding and dying. It's... it's easier.

Maybe it's easier for you, but what about us? What about your friends? Oh, I don't understand! I don't understand any of this!

[ And there they go. There go the tears. Sorry, Tobias. There's now a crying child on your hands. ]