Tales of the Youth League/A Long Goodbye
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Contents |
A Long Goodbye
Part 1
By Kid Ferrett
Kid Ferret had been super speeding around the city for hours, trying to figure out what to do. He knew that the Youth League was great, but he couldn't get the thought of Ameri-Kid and Volt Boy leaving them. All the work they had just left for the Co-Leaders to do. He had been trying to contact the two for weeks, but with no luck. He finally stopped and jumped to the top of one of the tall buildings in Steel Canyon. He sat and relaxed on the roof of the building. He had so much to think about. He only knew a handful of Youth Leaguers that he saw daily. Veronica, Omega, Fyre, Lin. He tried to think of more, but that was all he knew. He then left Steel Canyon and entered Youth League Headquarters. It was completely empty, just more proof of what he thought. He looked around, remembering when Ameri-Kid was always working to make the base great. He loved being a part of the Youth League, but he needed more. He walked in front of the Base Telepad, and then looked at the rest of the base for the last time. With a heavy heart, he left the base, hoping that he would still remain friends with The Youth League...
Part 2
By Veronica Volt
Veronica sat on her bed, her laptop open before her. She re-read the message from Kid Ferret for the third time, hoping that she'd missed something, that maybe it was a joke. Ferret was one of the earliest members of the team, he'd been with the Youth League for as long as she had and she couldn't believe he'd leave. The Youth League had been through so much in the past few months. The Battle with Doctor Vahzilok, the fight with Babbage on the Skyway City monorail, even the rescue of those students the Circle of Thorn had captured for some freaky ritual. They'd even survived the loss of the teams founders, after they both decided to take an extended leave of absence.
So many gone now, she thought. So many of our founders have left...what can I do? she asked herself. For weeks new, the young cheerleader had tried to think of ways to improve the group, to promote more group activities and try to recapture that spirit of teamwork which had so permeated the Youth League in its early days. Now with Kid Ferret's resignation, she felt like it was falling apart around her.
Again, she read the message before her, again her heart sank. Slowly she reached up and closed the laptop. She sat starring out the window, watching the rain fall outside. Her head dropped and her shoulders shook as the tears began to fall.
Part 3
By Neutrino’
Was that my mission? All this time, to watch the fall of the Youth League? Was it that easy to take down such a strong team? Was it a strong team? The Founders….has Lord Recluse had his way with them? All these thoughts crossing Ray’s (Neutrino) head. He doesn’t understand the situation he’s in, months have passed since this horrible deal was made, but it all seems one sided.
Should I have trusted the biggest evil out there? He thinks to himself. Now with Kid Ferret gone, a powerful piece of the puzzle, what else is next? The Youth League is vulnerable; it’s at its weakest moment. The hardships of Veronica Volt and Fyre Prism have kept it together, but how long can it last before it crumbles. The most powerful kingdom, Rome, crumbled the same way, from the inside. Neutrino felt like the “Brutus” of this situation.
Part 4
By Lin Yao Wei
Be like the eagle... swift and deadly.. be like the crane... graceful and agile... Lin Yao Wei's small frame moved rhythmically with the motions of the exercises she performed daily in the garden room of the base. You're thinking too much... clear your mind.. don’t think ..feel.. Her father's words of instruction rung in her ears as though he was in the room with her at that very moment, like he was when she was a smaller child.
In her meditative state, her heightened senses were able to make out a faint sound coming from the other side of the quiet base complex. Strange.. is that someone crying? Her concentration now broken, Lin crept off down the hallway in the direction the sound was coming from.
Veronica Volt was suddenly aware that her moment of sorrow was no longer hers alone. She spun her head towards the doorway of her room, to see half of young Lin's head, peeking around the entrance from the hallway, her small hand gripping the door frame. Abruptly dampening her sobbing, she looked at Lin and smiled in a futile attempt to look happy. The tears still running down her cheeks betrayed her.
"What’s wrong V? Don't cry..." enquired Lin as she came into full view, not without some trepidation. She could feel her own eyes starting to well up out of empathy for the pretty older girl, her leader.
"It's Ferret." Veronica answered. Looking helplessly at whatever was on her laptop. "He's left us. I can't believe it".
"Oh," muttered Lin, not fully comprehending the situation. "Has he gone on a holiday? I know he works hard and he's probably tired and..."
"No, Lin." Veronica cut the young girl short in her misunderstanding. "He's retired from the League; one of us no more. Do you understand what I'm saying?" This time Lin got it, and a wave of sadness rushed over her.
"Oh," was all she could gather from her spinning emotions. Ferret was one of the first members of the league she had met, since being found on the streets of Paragon by Kid Omega. He was a great fighter and a nice guy. Lin was also at that age where she was noticing the opposite sex, and had a small crush on the older Kid Ferret as well. "But V, why is he going? Did we do something wrong? Doesn't Ferret like us anymore?" She bombarded Veronica with question after question, searching for some kind of explanation.
"It's not that, Lin… He's been in the League a long time. It's nothing we have done. It's just that he misses his friends I think. Ameri-Kid, Volt Boy, and others that have left or been taken from us in the past. I think he feels out of place and abandoned with responsibility... I don't know." Lin looked expectantly at Veronica, hoping there was more to make the confusion become clear, and realizing that there wasn't, resigned to the fact that she just wasn't going to fully understand. "I don't know what this means for the Youth League, Lin." Veronica continued on, almost talking to herself now. "So many of our founders have left, I feel like it's falling apart around me. I really am trying to improve the League and recapture that... spirit... we used to have.. But now I just don't know."
Lin looked at the blonde girl in front of her. Veronica Volt, beautiful, strong, kind, grown up. In Lin's eyes Veronica always knew the answers, always knew the right thing to do. She had never seen V like this.
Plopping herself on the bed next to Veronica, Lin leant over and gave the older girl a big hug. "Don't cry VV, It's going to be alright. I never knew Ameri-Kid, or Volt Boy either... and it didn't matter, the League has been fun for me. It's sad that Ferret has left, but we can still be friends, and I know we can do it, with you leading us... and I can help too! I'm not little anymore I'm nearly growned up!"
Veronica looked down at the small innocent girl clinging to her waist and smiled. Lin looked up at her leader and personal hero and smiled back, barely containing the concern behind her eyes.
Part 5
By Fyre Prism
Fyre walked into the base, looking forward to the relative peace and quiet it offered him. He was weary from the long flight from Japan, not that it hadn’t been serene and meditative, but more so from the fact that just the day before he had been through a grueling trial. He hadn’t known what to expect when his friend Eclipse had summoned him to the far off country. He was still trying to get his mind over all the events that had occurred in the 4 days he had been in majestic Fuji Mountains.
Sensing that something was amidst in the base, he mentally prepared himself for any surprises. He didn’t really know what to expect to find, but seeing Veronica hunched over and silently crying sure wasn’t it.
"Veronica, what is it, what’s happened?!"
Veronica looked up, mascara smeared down her perfect features, "They are all abandoning me, no they are abandoning us..."
"VV, who?"
"...Ferret..."
WHAT! Fyre hadn’t been gone for more then 4 days, and it seemed that yet another senior member of the League had left. He hadn’t really been all that concerned when Ameri-Kid and Volt Boy had seemed to just abandon the still young team, as it was he barely knew the AWOL so-called leaders of the team. He had always considered Veronica more of a leader then anything, with the help of a few senior members, Ferret among them. Now he had left too...
Anger welled up into Fyre’s heart, anger at seeing such a capable Team being wrought apart by the apparent lack of the REAL leaders, anger at the thought of Ferret leaving without any real reason given, anger at seeing the strong and beautiful woman brought down to being a crying girl.
"It's going to be alright VV, you'll see. As long as we have you and Neutrino' and all the rest we will be alright. I would never have joined the League if it wasn’t for you and your leadership abilities."
"We have many new members that need your help to make it past the first few weeks, we cant let them down, we have to be there for them, especially now. Besides, if we can get a few more like Neutrino' and Lin, we'll be in great shape."
Veronica looked up at him, stifling a sob, "How?".
"We make sure they know they are wanted. We help them in every mission we can, we don’t turn our noses at them just because they are less experienced then us. I can’t help but think that is what is crippling the team the most, too many have their own agenda, we must bring the team together."
"Ferret said in his note he barely knew any of the other members, why is that? Did he log into the mission computers to see who was out on the streets, did he offer his help to the newer members he didn’t know?! WE must turn a new leaf; we must make an effort to team with everyone regardless of their level. This isn’t about fame, its about being a team."
Fyre stalked out to the mission computer seeing that Kid Physics was being called out to Kings Row to fight Skulls; that was work he had done in his early days, but he went out to join Physics in his work anyways.
Veronica watched Fyre leave, knowing that they would either bring the team together or hasten its fall into ruin.
A Long Goodbye was started near the end of February 2006 and completed in two days. It marked one of the first attempts by the various members of the Youth League to collaborate on a story, a method that proved very successful and was repeated frequently afterwards.
