Beauty and the Beast

"Any change?" The doctor ducked into the room, sighing heavily at the peacefully sleeping boy. He had been unconscious for weeks now, ever since he was found behind the school house, beaten, barely breathing.
The nurse shook her head sadly. "Nothing."
The doctor hated cases like this. Hated seeing such a young man lying half dead on the hospital bed. Watching his frail chest rise and fall, see his pale skin contrast wildly with the numerous bruises covering his body.
"T...Ti..."
"He's trying to say something!" The nurse yelled as she bent over the broken body of Alan Kennedy.
"T....T....Ti..Tier.." He struggled to take in air. THe machines beeped wildly for a few seconds before he settled back into oblivion.
Looking at the nurse and seeing her blink back tears, he asked, "What did he say? Tear?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Just write down that he woke up, trying to say something. Maybe he'll wake up again and give us a clearer response." The doctor's beeper went off, checking it, he nodded a goodbye and ran to the surgical floor.
The nurse bustled around the little white room, opening the blinds, wiping off the sweat off the poor boys face. "Who is Tier?" She asked quietly, and then began to pray.

Ryan's POV

"I want to do something for her."
"Why?" Chip asked, as he threw a sticky at me, and laughed evilly when my guy went airborne as the bomb exploded in a bright blue flash of light, and landed, dead, on the ground a few feet away.
"Son of a--"
"Master, you want to do something for whom?" Lenny interrupted. I grimaced, already visualizing Mrs. Angela's reaction to her son repeating that curse. She would probably hang me. Or worse. The woman is a closet sadist, and I'm sure she would relish torturing me. Turning around to give Lenny a grateful smile, I heard the gunshots, felt my controller vibrate, and whirled around to see my guy getting murdered. Again. By a nine year old.
"Why Chip, thats forty nine to five. In your favor." David said cheerfully.
"And thats in your face, Master." Chip said, just as cheerfully. I had challenged the kid, not knowing what I had gotten myself into. I am good. I'm really, really good at Halo, but this kid was mowing me down like I was a girl. "It's too bad Belle didn't want to play."
I love being with Isabelle, I really do. But there isn't an inch of me that isn't beyond relieved that she isn't here to see me getting massacred. Jesus. I re-spawned, and immediately crouching, I made my way to my favorite weapon, the shotgun. Inching my way forward, I felt my neck tense in anticipation, I felt a bead of sweat slowly slide down my face. Wiping my palms on my jeans, I had the shotgun in my sights, but I still kept my eyes wide open for Chip. The air was thick with tension. All eyes in the room were fixated on the screen in front of us. I heard David and Lenny whispering behind us, but I blocked them out, I blocked everything out, as I went on my hunt for a young boy.
I grunted in triumph when I stepped over the shotgun, pressing the right button, I picked it up, switching it out with the stupid Assault Riffle you spawn with. I checked the map in the corner, no red dot. All is secure.
Then out of nowhere, a flash of bright white light filled the room as Chip threw a flare in with me. I couldn't help the scream that burst out of my mouth, nor the furious pounding of my fist on my leg when I felt my controller shake. I whirled around, shooting wildly, hoping to catch him off guard. Watching helplessly as my health depleted more and more, the flare started to die. The game beeped at me, signaling a low health. Frantically I threw a health regenerator. "Come on. Come on. Come-- no!!" I gritted my teeth as I danced away, jumping and weaving, trying to get out of his line of fire. "No. No. SHHHH---CRRAAAPPP!" I shouted when Chip's victory yell mingled with the man's snooty "Game Over."
"How in the hell..." I shook my head. "You cheat."
Chip giggled. "Nuh-uh."
"Uh-huh." I grumbled as I threw my controller to the ground. "Ugh. I have been beaten by a nine year old." Lenny and David gave Chip a high-five, and I covered my face with a pillow. "God. I'm pathetic."
"What's that mean?" Chip asked, peeking under my pillow.
"It means, young Chip, that Master is feeling a bit... Well, let's just say he is... Oh, how would you put this? A loser?"
"What?" I sputtered.
"Haha!" Chip laughed. "You're a loser."
I threw a pillow at him. He caught it and fell off the couch as the momentum of the pillow sent him tumbling. I laughed as his feet flew over his head, when he screamed like a little girl. I didn't see the pillow coming, not until it slammed into my face.
"Umph!" My head flew backwards, and I ate pillow as Chip cheered triumphantly.
I picked up the pillow, fully intending to beat the hell out of him when Lenny cleared his throat. "Master, perhaps we could focus on Isabelle for a moment."
Stopping mid-hurl, the sneer melted off my face and I whirled around. "Why, is she here?"
"Non." Lenny sighed when I shrugged and threw the pillow at Chip.
"Master, why do you need to focus on Isabelle?" He dodged my pillow missile and stuck his tongue out at me. "Do you like her?"
I glared at him, and pointed to the door. "Get out."
"Aww, come on!"
"Now, Chip."
"I don't really think you're a loser. Just in Halo. Don't be an asshole, Master!" His eyes widened as Lenny, David, and I all gaped at him. "What?"
"Chip." I said slowly, "where did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Mrs. Angela asked as she bustled in. "What happened?"
We all just stared at her. Blinking stupidly, I stood up. "Um. David, Lenny, I need to talk to you. Umm.. Not here. Somewhere else. Somewhere, umm... Far away." They got up almost too enthusiastically.
"Yes, I think that is a brilliant idea." David patted Chip on the head, and gave Mrs. Angela a wild smile before he bolted out of the room. Lenny was a bit more subtle, but no less cowardly when just stood up and walked away, leaving me to deal with Mrs. Angela.
"Master," She said sweetly, "what did my son do?"
"Uhhhh..."
"I didn't do anything, Mom." Chip interrupted me. I tried to gesture to him to shut up. To just leave well enough alone. To not repeat what he just said. But he ignored me as he innocently sold himself out. "I just called Master a loser. And then when he told me to get out, I said don't be an asshole--"
I cringed when Mrs. Angela roared. Chip yelped and jumped over the couch when his mother flew at him. I ran out of the room, unable to help it. I ran until my breath was heaving in and out, and then I ran some more.
I found Lenny and David standing on a balcony, arguing.
"Um.. So," I leaned against the railing. "Any ideas?" Isabelle was down below, playing in the snow with Piede and Disney. She was laughing like a loon, throwing snowballs up in the air so the dogs would jump up and try and eat them. I smiled when Disney jumped and landed on Piede, when she gave a delighted laugh, when the dogs tackled her to the ground, when her screaming filled the air.
David cleared his throat. "Well, you can always try the normal things. Flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep."
"No," Lenny shoved David. "This girl is special, she deserves something more.... Wait! I know!"