Once Upon a Time - Written by Cosmo and Doodler

To sum it up in one sentence: A group of misfits have to save the world.

(This will be edited to have the original intro by Angel. But that's in Doodler's sketchbook I think so I can't edit now)

A teenaged boy ran down the street. He wasn't sure where he was going, just away. He had to keep running, or else he was dead.

He wasn't a weak runner, but he wasn't the fastest or greatest one. But it didn't matter to him. As long as he didn't get caught.

He ran around the corner into an ally, only to find that he was at a dead end. Oh smart, Theo... Running into an ally was never the smartest thing when running away from someone incase something like this happened. And it happened to him.

He heard their voices, and as soon as he turned around they were there, standing infront of him.

"Oh man..."

---

Theo had dragged himself home, where his mother freaked out about his wounds. They weren't serious. Just a bit of bleeding here and there. It was more oozing than just plain bleeding.

As she bandaged him up, his mother, Natalie, sighed. "Theo, how did this happen?"

Theo stared at his arm being wrapped in bandage. "I just ran into them at a wrong time. They were already ticked about something, and me bumping into them just made them explode," He winced, then continued. "I guess they just took out their anger on me. I mean, who cares about what happens to me?"

Natalie slid her hand under his chin and lifted up his face to meet her eyes. "Theo, I do,and so would other people, if you would let them in. You're not a depressing guy. You're not a true loner. You just don't open up, that's all."

Theo shrugged. She was right, he wasn't one of those guys who lives a sad life. His dad had died when Theo was younger, but Theo didn't know him all that well, so it wasn't so hard on him. He was never really bullied nor made fun off. He wasn't completely different from other people. Sur he enjoyed watching cars pass by, or liked sleeping on the floor sometimes, but he was like a regular teenager.

When he thought about his life, there was nothing really terrible. And he didn't hate people. Usually he just wasn't interested in what they do, like going to movies or just talking. With no explaination, he just felt a bit different from them. Plus there were people who knew him and said hi and such, but he just wasn't interested in usual hangouts people did. He knew that it didn't make a difference whether or not he was there.

When Natalie was done bandaging him, ashe said she was going out for a while. When she left he went upstairs and just lied on the floor. Sometimes it was more relaxing than the bed. He would curl up and sometimes sleep. He liked naps. Since he didn't do much during the day anyway, he had lots of time. But it sometimes caused him to stay up late a night. He would draw, though he wasn't the best at it, read his books, check his email or read fanfictions on the computer.

He actually felt like going for a walk. He wrote a note and stuck it on the fridge.

Hey mom,

Going to visit dad.

Don't freak.

He left the house and walked to the cemetery, where his father's tombstone would be.

A boy wearing a black ball cap ran pass Theo, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along. Theo protested, but that soon ended when he saw the two guys from earlier.

"Where are we going?! Who are you?!" Theo asked as he was roughly pulled by the boy, who answered with a simple grunt. Theo noticed they were headed for the graveyard and thought Why here? Was he headed here too?

Theo looked at the cemetery, but then was thrown behind a gravestone. He tried to get up when the boy lightly placed his hand over Theo's mouth, then raised a finger to his own. Then the stranger stood up and walked passed Theo.

The two guys were at the entrance, huffing for air. "Hey!" the short stout one called. "Where's the other punk?!"

"Forget it," the other one said, taller than his partner. "This one was the one who annoyed us. Let's get him!"

The taller guy ran in for a punch, but the boy with the black baseball cap dodge it with no problem. The bully turned and threw another punch, but the stranger caught the fist then punched the bully out, or at least gave him a nose bleed.

The guy fell to the ground, clutching his nose in pain. His partner stepped forward silently, reaching for a knife. Oh man, I can`t let that happen! Theo thought with panic.

When the stout guy passed by the gravestone Theo was hiding behind, Theo stretched his legs out his legs and tripped him.

The fat guy pushed himself off the ground and looked at Theo with a pissed off look. "Oh you`re dead now!"

The boy grabbed the fat one by his neck and shoved his face against a blank tombstone. He grabbed the knife and started to carve a name into the stone -


The fat bully stuttered, his eyes wide with fear "h-how did you--?!" The ball cap wearing boy threw the bully away and watched as the two bullies ran away.

He walked deeper into the graveyard and stopped at a grave marked 'Eric Jade'

Theo watched them running away. He sort of wanted to shout [i] Ha ha! Suckers! [i] But then he was afraid they would come back for him.

He noticed the boy standing directly in front of his father's grave. [i]Huh? Did he know my father?[i]

The boy muttered a few words and suddenly...

WHOOSH!

a purple vortex opened and the boy jumped in!

Theo stared at the vortex. He couldn't even get a train of thought through his head. But for some reason, he ran to it and also jumped in. He wasn't sure what he had just done, or why he risked it, but something just 'pulled' him to it. Like he had to.

The vortex was shaky, and his thoughts were all over the place. He closed his eyes, worried about any terrors this thing might make.

Then, suddenly, everything just stopped. He didn't have the feeling of falling or flying. Just lying down on something. Maybe he had been dreaming, just fell asleep on the floor and didn't realize it.

He opened his eyes as of he was just getting up in the morning. He blinked slowly at first, his vision clearing. But instead of seeing his plain ceiling, he was looking at... himself?

At first he just stared, and his 'reflection' stared back. But then he noticed something weird about it. There was a scar on his right cheek, the way he was looking, and...

It blinked! But he didn't blink. Then what...

The reflection screamed and moved away. That was when Theo realized that it wasn't his mirrored reflection. It was a person who looked like him!

Theo sat up and watched the look alike run away. He then got up and started chasing him himself. He needed to know what this thing really way.

As he ran Theo noticed he was in a forest. Did this weirdo drag him to a forest? He probably got knocked out when he tried to go through that 'vortex'. Maybe this guy was the boy who helped him out, but that boy was wearing different clothes: baggy black sweatshirt, beige pants, and the black baseball cap. This one wore a sleeveless fitted orange shirt with brown pants.

A man dressed in all black sighed heavily as he heard the familiar call of his son. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! My 'topple-banger' is here!" The man replied as his son entered the living room of their tree-house "Tyler, it's 'Doppelganger' and what are you talking about?" Tyler pointed to his pursuer and the man muttered

Theo had followed the look-alike up a tree into a tree house. When he found the stranger in the living room he froze.

There was another person, dressed in all black. He, like the other guy, had the same strange features.

Ears and tails. They both had ears and tails.

Theo just blankly stared, then fainted.

Tyler walked over to Theo, knelt down beside him and poked at him. "Yea, he's out cold." He stood up and looked at his father with concern. "Dad... you ok?"

The father buried his face in his hands and replied "if she doesn't kill me, yeah. Sure. Wonderful" He let his hands drop and picked Theo up. He laid him on a bed in Tyler's room and lamented "I guess this is why you didn't want to get rid of the other bed" Tyler smiled and replied cheerily "I'm a psychotic!" The man laughed and said "I think you mean psychic"

He left the room with Tyler and said "I better tell..." he swallowed hard "Nat" Tyler patted his father's back as they headed down the stairs and said "Don't worry. I'll help!" They entered the kitchen and the man sheepishly said "Natie? Hon? He's here"

Natalie turned around to her husband. She knew who he was talking about. There would be no other reason why he said it like that. "But... how? How die he... ANGEL!" She then felt angry. "Did he see you? Does he know who you are?" She then looked at Tyler. "How could you have led him in here? I know it was you because your father was in here the entire time!"

"Uh, well..." Tyler said. "I uh, didn't think about that. I didn't realize he would chase after me... hehe..." Tyler knew he made a mistake.

Natalie sighed. "So, now he's here. Do we tell him, or try to take him back unconscious?"

Angel went to Natalie's side and said "It's too late. He's seen me, and I don't think he would believe 'it was just a dream'. He's seen too much for that"

Natalie sighed. "I was hoping we would tell him slowly, so then he would get comfortable with it. I guess that's not gonna happen."

"Well, he's on my bed right now, so he'll be very comfortable when he wakes up!" Tyler laughed at his own sentence, then looked around. "Hey, where's Hibiki anyway?"

The woke up in a strange room. He got out of the bed he was in and wandered the halls until he saw the black cap from earlier hanging on a doorknob. He entered the room and found the boy that saved him, sleeping on a bed. He stuttered "y-you're... him!"

The boy shot up, tackled Theo and screamed "WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' A BOY! HUH?! I'M A GIRL DIP-SHIT!"

Theo fell back, landing on his bottom. "WHAT?!"

Tyler ran in and saw Theo and the other person and laughed. "What a way to introduce yourself than to yell, Hibiki!"

Theo looked at Tyler, then Hibiki. "Um... s-sorry. You just... really did look like a boy."

"Yea, can you blame him, wearing baggy clothes all the time." Tyler laughed, then stopped, seeing Hibiki's ticked off face and realizing he just said the wrong thing. "Oh crap. Wasn't thinking."

Angel came in to the room and went to Hibiki. He scratched behind her ear and said "relax. He's a noob" Hibiki purred and managed to say "does Nat know about him?" Angel sighed and turned to Theo, saying "Someone's waiting for you downstairs"

"Woah, woah, WOAH! Hold on a sec! Who are you? Any of you?!"

Tyler replies "Just go downstairs. She'll explain."

Not knowing what else to do, Theo complied and went downstairs. He was shocked to see his mother there. "Mom... what... what are you doing here?"

Natalie sighed. "This is where I go sometimes... to see your father."

"F-f-father??? But, I thought he died!"

"Well, it's complicated. But basically... This is the demon world. Your father is half demon, and so are you."

"Uh, no! That's so not true!" He placed his hands on his head, only to feel something... weird. They were pointed, and didn't feel like his hair. Felt familiar, like petting a dog's ears. Wait, what???

He backed up a little and something hit him from behind. he turned to realize that something didn't hit him. He hit the wall... with his tail.

Thoe literally dropped to the floor then.

Angel walked down stairs and found Natalie. He smiled and asked "He takin' it well?"

((idk what to post T_T))

Natalie turned to give Angel a small smile. "A lot better thank I expected. I thought he would've jumped out of the window."

Tyler walked over to Theo and bent over to poke him. "Well, he's out cold." He lifted his head to his father and mother and gave a childish smile. "I'll take him to my room!" He lifted Theo with no problem and carried him off.

Natalie watch Tyler walk off then turned to her husband. "I felt the best way to tell him now that he was here was, well, bluntly."

Angel looked around and when he saw Theo his eyes went wide. His mouth silently opened and closed silently before he finally said "Better than... Screw it, this is bad"

"Sigh... I know..." Natalie's head shot up and she looked at Hibiki. "...and how did he find the portal anyway?"

Hibiki took a step back with her hands in front and said "Hey, don't pin this on me. I saved him from street rats"

"Wait, what?! Chased by who??? Grrrr it must've been the same people from earlier! Why don't they leave him alone!"

((This is the face I imagine from her:

o>.<o

the "o" her fists XD))

((I dunno what else to say? If you have any other ideas for Natalie at this point, message me and I'll add another post))

Angel placed a hand on Natalie's shoulder and said "stop now, Theo's safe. That's all that matters, right?"


((I don't know how to continue T_T))