Chapter 123: Teach Them To Be Excellent To One Another

[View of Tag and Sig]

The two Ferret men sat on a ridge just away around the side of the mountain, not too far from everyone else but out of sight and earshot. The guilt of what Sig had just done was eating at him, but Tag was with him.

"I can still hear them, now that I know that we could have saved them… what am I supposed to do now?" Sig asked as he looked down at his shaking hands.

"I have been thinking about that, but Sig, you are not a monster or a bad person. If you hadn't done what you did, we might have lost some of our own people, but I know that it doesn't make it right," Tag said, but Sig slammed his fists down on his knees and turned to Tag.

"Who does something like this? The better question is, why are they allowed to do it in the first place?" Sig asked with anger and pain in his voice, but Tag put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him sadly.

"I don't know, but I think our most epic Queen might know. Regardless, Sig, I have been thinking," Tag said, and for the first time since the fight, Sig smiled.

"Bee careful; you might just hurt yourself," Sig said with a grin, and Tag gave him a bright smile and a light shove.

"We work for the Queen to keep her safe, but it is our job to keep everyone safe, right? I think that it's time we stopped messing around and started to help the Queen make some real changes around here!" Tag said with excitement, making Sig perk up.

"You mean, like teaching everyone to be Excellent to one another?" Sig asked, and Tag nodded.

"Yes, my most observant brother! Let's help the Queen Bee the Bee-st she can, and help cleanse this world. I don't want to do this anymore, see people getting hurt and having no say in it. You and I will help find the best way because I don't ever want to have this talk again. Let's go back and take our sides beside our Queen!" Tag said as he put a hand up.

"I can't shake this take easily, but it is helping, and you are right. If we can teach this world to be excellent, then these deaths will have meant something!" Sig said and high-fived Tag, but he caught Sig's hand.

"We will, my most Excellent Brother," Tag said, but Sig rolled his eyes.

"First, you're trying to steal our Queens puns, and no, you are trying to steal my Tag line!" Sig said with a mock scowl, but that just mad, Tag burst out laughing.

"How… am I stealing my own line?" Tag asked after catching his breath.

"What? No, I said Tag… oh, shut the fuck up!" Sig said and almost pushed Tag off the ledge.

The two men got up, and like everyone that had participated in the battle, they were not the same boys from before. They had just walked through the fire and emerged from the other side for a second time, but each path would harden them and their resolve.

The two men leapt into the air and headed back, but when they got back there, the group was already gone. The only ones that were left were the workers from the Clinic that were loading up the golden bodies and transporting them back into the ship. 

Tag and Sig landed and walked over to one of the groups that gently carried one of the bodies back. Both men kept their eyes up from the naked body out of respect, but Tag spoke up first.

"Is there anything that we can help with?" Tag asked the group, but they all smiled and then bowed their heads to the Ferret men.

"We all watch how bravely you defended everyone, and we are all grateful that none of our own had to die. Still, I am sorry that you had to do what you did, Sig, but know that we all thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. Please, go rest. We will take care of the rest here; this is our contribution that we can do," The male Weasel said with a grateful smile.

That lifted Sig and helped what Tag had said sink in even deeper as the two of them started to walk back to the ship. 

"I'm with you, brother. Let's show the world how to be Excellent!" Sig said with some fire starting to light again.

Nothing would remove the pain of what Sig had to do from his mind, but he could strive to do better for everyone else. 

"That is the spirit! Now, let's go see what the Queen has figured out," Tag said, and the two-headed for the ship.

[Ashia's view]

"How long until we can wake the big one up?" I asked, and Beezli shrugged.

We were all in the Clinic, but I had just given it an upgrade to be able to hold more patients. Now, my wives and Beezli were standing with me, and Ryan was with us as well. 

He was a bit sheepish after I had given him and Serria a tongue lashing, and that meant something coming from a Bee with a two-foot tongue! Still, I had relented, but I was mostly mad that there was no one to help her, but then I had gotten an ear full from the Rainbow Brigade.

'That's not very nice; we help out a lot! I was all, pop-pop, and SLAM!' Thanos said in my mind as he stood on his hind legs and made quick jabs, then body slammed my shoulder.

It was about the same as someone dropping a beanbag on my shoulder, but he was adorable. The Cat Dragons had helped out a number of times, and they had all level up two ranks.

"You can wake her up at any time, but I would suggest letting her sleep for at least twenty-four hours if you want to get anything useful out of her. I must go now, I have run out of energy to stay, and I still need to place the HexScape before I go," Beezli said, and then slowly faded as I nodded to her.