"You know..." began Tyrone, shyly. "I always get...kinda bullied during lunch..."
Ty turned to look at him, concerned. "Yeh? Well, we better go sort those punks out then..."
"No!" Tyrone added hastily. "I...I need to do this on my own..."
"What?" said Ty, confused.
"Don't you understand, Ty?" said Jack. "You can't fight his battles forever." Tyrone glared at the floor.
"Okay..." muttered Ty, beginning to see the problem. "How about I lend you some of my power then? Just for back-up?"
Tyrone glared at his shoes a moment more, then his face lit up. "You'd do that for me?" he said, excited.
"Sure!" grinned Ty. "Why not?" Ty closed his eyes and willed the power into Tyrone. "There ya go!"
Tyrone clenched his fists a couple of times, trying to feel the power. "I don't feel different..."
"Trust me, you'll see," said Ty, smiling slightly. "Anyways, I have to go pick something up for art class. Have fun!"
"I...dunno..." interjected Jack as he and Ty walked away. "D'you think it was wise to do that?"
"Oh, what harm could there be?" replied Ty. Tyrone walked into the cafeteria, grinning to himself.
Inside the cafeteria, Tom was sitting in a corner, huddling away from the crowds. It took a moment for Tyrone to spot him, but when he did his grin grew wider.
"Hey, Tom!" he yelled, waving at the poor guy. Tom jerked his head toward the sound, seemingly nervous of the whole world around him now. He stumbled up, his eyes darting at all exits, but Tyrone had already started to stroll toward him.
"Go...go away," mumbled Tom quietly but forcefully, not wanting company.
"But I only just got here!" exclaimed Tyrone. "Don't be silly."
"What...what do you want?" Tom murmured, trembling slightly and fidgeting.
"I don't think we quite finished earlier, did we?" smirked Tyrone. At this Tom looked at him straight in the eye, defiantly. "Look...I'm sorry for what I did, okay?" He was trembling all over now. Tyrone just stared in shock, the apology completely unexpected.
"Well...that's good, then..." Tyrone said, temporarily at a lose for words.
"And anyway," continued Tom, a sliver of confidence returning to him and a mocking tone in his voice, "I don't see Ty this time. He's the one with the power."
"Really?" countered Tyrone, finding once again an outlet for his revenge. "You really are just a little first grader, aren't you?" Tom's eye twitched. "In fact, I don't believe you're even old enough to have been to school."
That was all it took. First his words, his belief, and the reality raced to catch up. Tom's shoulder's collapsed in upon themselves as his age rapidly sped backward, his height diminishing and his feet lifting off the floor. Tom's face took on a rounder, smoother quality as he slipped back below puberty and his shirt slipped off one thinning shoulder. His boots fell with a thud to the floor, revealing socks dangling off of his tiny feet that were soon obscured by the cuffs of his pants. Tom sank into a small heap of his clothes, his shirt slipping completely off him in the end.
Tyrone stared down at the feeble sight of a small child floundering in his too big clothes. "You think you're a big man, huh?"
"No..." moaned Tom, just wanting to get away from Tyrone and the humiliation he had suffered.
"That's right, you're just a scared little boy, ain't ya?" Tom heard the words, and deep inside he new it was true. His emotional stability degenerated into that of a child's as a tear rolled down his smooth, innocent cheek.
"Aw, don't cry!" mocked Tyrone, hoisting Tom clean up and out of his pants, boxers, socks and boots, cradling his naked form in his arms. "Let's go see what everyone thinks of the big man, eh?" Tom whimpered pitifully as he clutched at Tyrone's shirt, staring wildly around in fear at his suddenly bigger world.
Nearby tables erupted in laughter at the sight of little naked Tom, people reaching out to ruffle his soft blond hair and tweak his cute button nose. The fact that this only caused Tom to break into a tantrum only mad them laugh harder.
"Isn't he cute!" they said, "Such a big boy!" Tom bawled loudly, waving one tiny fist in the air. Why were the big people being so mean to him?
At that moment, someone tapped Tyrone on the shoulder. Tyrone turned swiftly, supporting Tom with a hand beneath his chubby little bottom and using the other hand to stroke Tom's whispy hair.
"Isn't he cute?" grinned Tyrone at the stranger, shaking Tom gently as he wailed. The stranger stared at him, with a disturbing lack of emotion, from beneath hooded eyes.
"I don't think you should be doing that," he said simply. "Turn him back and leave him alone." Tyrone's forced his grin to stay on his face; everyone was happy.
"Why do you care?" he inquired. The raven haired stranger, a new kid in the school, continued to stare at Tyrone, unnerving him slightly.
He continued in his soft voice: "I saw what happened today on the sports field. The power is not yours, and using it could bring about an...imbalance..."
"What would you know?" sneered Tyrone, shifting the helpless Tom in his arms. "You're nothing but a first-grader!" Tyrone's mouth dropped open as the kid's face contorted in fear and confusion as he shot down in age and size to a seven year old, clutching feebly at his pants.
"You made me little!" he yelled up at Tyrone, his boxers drooping down to just above his knees within his pants. Tyrone mouth was hanging open in equal confusion. Why had made him say that?
"I...I..." Tyrone stuttered, looking down at the cute, fluffy black-haired little boy. Then his grin returned as a cruel thought crossed his mind: "Looks like you're going to have a new playmate, Tommy! Look at the little goth boy!" laughed Tyrone as the regressed boy stared up at everyone, confused. Everyone laughed nervously. Tom gazed down at the boy, feeling his pain.
"Hey man," came another voice, that of David, the soccer captain. "What had Jake ever done to you? I can understand what you did to Tom," he said, jerking a thumb at the squirming child, "but that's enough, man."
"Back off, baby!" roared Tyrone, and David cried out in terror as the cafeteria seemed to grow around him. His clothes fell off him in heavy bundles as everyone watched the proud captain regress into infancy before their shocked eyes. A second later the pitiful, piercing cry of a scared infant echoed around the silent room. The screaming began, as Tyrone went wild.
Ty ran as he heard the commotion and saw the surge of people vacating the cafeteria. As if to concrete his fears, several of the fleeing kids were barely out of lower-school, and clothing was draped across the floor. Ty barged into the cafeteria and was greeted to the sound of a wailing baby.
"I told you this was a bad idea!" yelled Jack. There, in the middle of the cafeteria, was Tyrone, cradling a naked child. He had a firm hold on a little boy that Ty vaguely recognised as that new goth kid, although he looked very different as a kid. On the floor was a very small baby, struggling in grown-up clothes; Ty wondered who that poor guy - or girl - was. Around him, students of various ages were clambering to escape, some merely half-naked little kids; clothing, being of only secondary importance, was left discarded around the room.
Tyrone caught Ty's eyes, but Ty wasted no time. He glared sternly at Tyrone, willing the gangly young man to regress into a chubby little boy; Tyrone lurched suddenly through puberty in reverse, feeling baby-fat appearing as his body-hair disappeared. Little Tom suddenly felt a lot heavy in his chubby hands, and Tyrone had lost about a foot in height, along with loosing his pants as they plopped down around his ankles.
"Ty, you little prick!" yelled Tyrone in a squeaky voice, glaring back with equal rage and concentrating on regressing Ty.
The battle of wills had begun.