Fanon:The Alpha: Birth to Present

The Colourful Existence of Anton Vargheim IV is the biography of Anton Vargheim IV from birth to present. It is written in third person, from the point of view of Anton.

Chapter 1 - Squeals and Screams
Sacred Spleen Hospital - Howlgard Branch

A loud wail rang out through the halls of the hospital. As one became used to the sound, one could recognise that this particular scream came not from an unfortunate patient in terrible pain, but the joy-inducing cry of a newborn.

And so it was that day that a very special child had been born.

This was the first child of Anton Vargheim III and Elizabeth Mannheim. Tears trickled down the faces of both parents as the crying of the baby subsided and as he was quietly wrapped in a cloth, before being handed to his mother.

"He's so... beautiful," Elizabeth said. She turned to Anton. "What should we call him, Anton?"

The father smiled. "Anton Vargheim IV."

Chapter 2 - Gurgles and Cries
Three years later, Vargheim Manor.

The baby Anton had grown into a toddler. He gurgled enthusiastically as he played with his little blocks and toys. He had already learned to walk, much to the amazement of his parents. He still, though, was far from obtaining the ability to communicate his needs and desires through words. He still used cries and wails for that.

Anton III and Elizabeth didn't mind. They sat on the couch in their living room. Elizabeth lay her head on her husband's shoulder. They both smiled as they lovingly watched their first child play with blocks. Elizabeth was already pregnant with their second child. This time, it was a girl. They named her Ursula.

The boy got bored of his blocks and moved on to search for something else to play with. What he found was this very curious object. It could flip open and there were bits of it connected to the back. There were lots of little symbols and pictures. He found them very interesting and squealed in delight as he flipped the pieces of this newfound thing back and forth. His parents laughed. He had suddenly taken a great interest in books, just like his father.

The next morning...

Little Anton Vargheim IV was now seated in his chair. Elizabeth then put a plate of baby food in front of him. He believed it was gourmet. As he gratefully and quite messily wolfed down the contents of his meal, his mother and father sat at the table and the butler, Nestor McCray, walked out carrying two plates before setting them before the younger Anton's parents. The two then began eating. When he had finished, he sat quietly in his chair, waiting to be let out. While he was waiting, he observed his parents.

Their food looked very different to his. While his was semi-liquified, brownish-red stuff, their plate of food consisted of a piece of what looked like crusty bread, a few tube-like pieces of meat, along with a pile of little red, bead-like things finished with a white circular object that had a smaller yellow circle in the middle. And instead of eating with their hands as he did, they ate with shiny objects with sharp points on the ends. His parents looked up while they ate and smiled at him. He found himself smiling in return.

A few hours later, he felt the urge to let it all go again. He knew that the smell produced was undesirable to his parents so he attempted to resist, but it happened anyway. The discomfort of squishy, disgusting sludge in his pants made him scream and cry. His father, with a peg on his nose (quite literally), immediately rushed his son to the bathroom, whereupon he disposed of his dirty diaper, bathed him, and put a new one on.

The next time he felt his bladder was about to let loose, he rushed to his mother and gave her a tug. He then pointed to his diaper. She then smiled, admiring his intelligence, and picked him up before moving to the bathroom. She removed his diaper and sat him down on the potty. He let go in relief.

Chapter 3 - Homework and Playgrounds
Seven years later...

Seven years had come and gone. Ten-year-old Anton Vargheim IV hopped off the bus with joy as he sprinted to the front door of Vargheim Manor. His lifelong friend, Deanna Troyson, stepped off the bus after him. The two entered the house, chatting enthusiastically.

"That was an awesome science lesson!" Deanna said.

"You don't say! I love it when we get to blow things up," Anton replied.

As the two opened the door and walked through it, his little sister Ursula waddled to him and hugged his leg.

"An-chon!" she blubbered. She was teething, but strangely she didn't seem to cry about it. She did have difficulty talking, though. Anton was still amazed at how quickly she had learned to walk and talk. Faster than him, according to his parents, who were at work. Ursula had been left at home with Nestor. He ran up to Anton as he entered the kitchen in search for something he and Deanna could eat.

"Welcome home, Master Anton," he said. He called his father Mister Anton, to avoid confusion. Apparently the elderly butler referred to Anton's dad as Master as well when he was a kid. "I trust you had a good day at school?"

"Fantastic, thanks," Anton replied, rummaging through the fridge. "Nestor, is there anything for us to eat?"

"Well, there is some ratatouille that I made earlier," said Nestor, "but I'm not sure if your friend would--"

"I LOVE ratatouille!" Deanna cried.

"Well, then," Maurice said. "I'll bring out the ratatouille."

As Deanna walked away to seat herself at the table, Anton whispered in Nestor's ear, "Her name's Deanna."

"Oh," Nestor replied.

A half-hour later, Anton and Deanna were seated at the table, doing their homework.

"What's five to the power of three?" Deanna asked.

"Five times five times five," Anton replied. "That's twenty-five times five, so... one hundred and twenty-five!"

"By the PlumbBob," cried Deanna. "You're a genius!"

Anton laughed. "No, not really. I think Ursula's smarter. She learned to walk and talk much faster than I did. That's what Mum and Dad told me, anyway."

Deanna looked back at her homework and frowned. "C'mon, Anton. We have a lot of work to do."

Anton and Deanna had finally finished their work and were now hanging out on the swings in Central Park.

"How long has it been since we met?" Anton asked.

"Five years, about," Deanna answered.

"Wow...that's a long time, isn't it, Deanna?"

"Yes it is."

The two sat on the swings as they watched the sun slowly descend below the horizon. They watched as the lights were switched on across the town. Streetlights were turned on.

"We should be heading home now," Anton said.

"Yeah, we probably should," Deanna replied.

They hopped off the swings and gave each other a friendly hug.

"See you tomorrow," Anton said.

"You too," Deanna replied.

The two parted, heading for home.

Chapter 4 - Life and Death
Two weeks later...

Anton and his family were now at the small airfield in Sunset Valley. They were mourning for the loss of his grandfather, Anton Vargheim II. The last of the old generation. As the Vargheims and Troysons, along with Anton II's friends in Sunset Valley, cried and moaned in sadness, the coffin was solemnly brought onto a plane that would take both Anton and company, and the coffin, home to Howlgard. Anton weeped silently as the coffin was loaded onto the plane. Deanna stood beside Anton, gripping his hand tightly. Tears formed small streams on his young face.

He had been a fantastic grandfather to Anton. When he was little, his grandfather would pick him up from his crib and play with him for hours on end. But after his wife became sick and died, Anton Vargheim II, in his sadness, moved away to Sunset Valley, where he would remain for the rest of his life.

On the way back to Howlgard, Deanna attempted to comfort Anton.

"It's alright, Anton," she said. "Death is a natural part of life."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Yoda," he replied sarcastically. He immediately realised that he could've offended her, put his hands over his mouth and began to cry.

"There, there, shhhhhhh." Deanna said soothingly. "It's okay."

Anton was glad that someone cared about him in this dark time.

Chapter 5 - Tombs and Treasures
Two years later, Champs Les Sims, France

Twelve-year-old Anton Vargheim IV was relaxing on a chair with a good book in hand. It was about a boy who had discovered a new element, and was on the run from criminals who wanted it. As he flipped through the novel, he heard his friend's voice calling him.

"Anton!" shouted Deanna Troyson. "Come down here!"

"I'll be coming in a sec!" Anton called back. He just had to finish this chapter.

"Anton! You can't sit there reading that book forever!"

Anton began to speed-read. C'mon, just a few more--

He didn't have time to finish his thought. "Come down here or I'll come up and give you a noogie!"

Anton shivered at the thought of Deanna's hard knuckles rubbing on his scalp (it was the only thing about her that he didn't like), so he sighed, closed the book and ran down the stairs.

"There we go," Deanna said. "The ol' noogie never ceases to amaze me." She looked at her knuckles. Anton rolled his eyes.

"Alright, Deanna. What do you have to tell me?"

"We're going on an adventure!" Deanna squealed. "Mama and Papa are going to explore the Forgotten Burial Mound tomorrow! They said we can come along!"

"Why would it be called forgotten if everyone knew about it and was adventuring into it?"

"Dunno."

"Is Tom coming?" Anton asked, referring to Deanna's older brother.

"Nah. He's at home, remember? He needs to prepare for the University Aptitude Test."

"Oh yeah, that's right."

Anton curiously looked around the chamber. It looked like it was the only room in the tomb.

So much for an adventure, he sighed. He had hoped for huge labyrinths and passageways as was typical of the tombs he had read about. Then he noticed that Deanna's parents, Maria and Reginald, were peeling away rocks from the huge pile at the end of the room. Anton wished he could help, but apparently he wasn't old enough yet.

About half an hour later, rocks lay strewn across the floor. Maria gave the wall a knock, as if unconvinced that it was a wall. It gave a hollow sound.

"Hmm..." Maria said, as she patted on the wall awkwardly. Her hand landed on a brick which, when pressure was applied, slid into the wall. Maria stood back with satisfaction before the wall flipped open, revealing another room.

"What's this?" Reginald said to himself as he inspected a hole in the wall. He shouted out as little critters crawled out of the hole and up his arm. He started shaking his arm madly.

"Get 'em off! Get 'em off!" he shouted as he bounced around the room.

Anton put his hand to his forehead and shook his head. This is going to be a very long day.

"Hey! I found something!" hollered an excited Anton. He'd found a strange looking mat with two footprints on them. He stood on it, and a chain locking one of the doors disappeared. He opened the door, stepped inside, and there it was.

A treasure chest.

"My, my. What have we here?" Maria Troyson gasped as he walked to the treasure chest. "Well done, Anton." Maria began looking through the chest and found gold, amongst, ironically, generally worthless objects. Like bowls.

"I suppose we could do with a few ancient French bowls around the place," Reginald said. Anton and Deanna giggled.

TBW

Chapter 6 - Girlfriends and Mermaids
Five years later...

"You're meant to catch the frisbee, Ursula, not miss it!" Anton cried jokingly.

Ursula, giggling, ran to retrieve the frisbee.

"You throw it too hard, Anton!" she shouted after getting the frisbee.

Anton was now a teenager. His little sister had grown into a beautiful young girl. He had heard terrible stories from his friends about having little sisters, but he couldn't see a single truth in any of them. She was the best sibling one could have. Far from being on of those brats in his friends' stories.

He also had a baby brother, Leonard. Just like Anton before him, he was bubbly and excitable. Anton's parents had told him that Leonard was almost exactly like him. He smiled.

On the way home, Anton and Ursula stopped by the ice cream truck and bought an ice cream. It was Leisure Day, and everyone was either inside with the air conditioning on or at the beach, with the children playing in the water.

Anton and Ursula entered the house. Ursula ran off to play with her toys, while Anton walked upstairs to take a shower.

No sooner had he dried himself off and put fresh clothing on than he heard the doorbell ring. He heard Nestor open the door, but he couldn't make out who was on the other side of the door through all the walls.

"Master Anton! It's your friend, Miss Troyson!" Anton's eyes lit up and he joyously ran downstairs to meet Deanna.

"Hi Deanna!" said Anton. "Come in! You must be boiling in this weather...especially with the clothes you're wearing!" Deanna was wearing a long-sleeved purple shirt and jeans.

"Thanks," she replied as she stepped into the manor.

"Mister McCray," she said. "Could I have a glass of water please?"

"Of course," the butler replied as he came into the living room with a glass of water.

Seated on the couch, Anton and Deanna chatted for hours. And Deanna kept asking for water. Anton eventually worked up the courage to ask her why.

She paused, then lifted one of the legs or her jeans to expose her legs. They had become...scaly.

"Oh, my..." Anton said. "You're... A mermaid?"

"Yeah," she replied. "One day I found this piece of kelp on the ground. It looked so...tempting. I took it inside, cleaned it...and...um..."

"You ate it?" Anton chimed in.

"...Yeah," she replied.

An awkward silence followed.

"Why would you eat kelp?!" Anton then asked.

"I..." Deanna stuttered. "I...don't know."

Anton sighed, then smiled. "Well, I still think you're the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Oh! Uh...thanks," she replied with a sheepish laugh.

"You know, I've been wanting to ask you this for a long time..." Anton asked.

"Yes?" Deanna replied.

"Do you want to...um...you know..."

"Yes?"

"Go steady?" he suddenly blurted out.

They stared into each other's eyes, and their faces leaned slowly towards each other.

Nestor and Ursula turned and left the room.

Chapter 7 - University and Parties
Two years later...

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, YES!" Anton whooped as he rushed through the house in complete happiness, the paper cutting through the air behind him.

"What is it, dear?" asked Anton's mother, Elizabeth. Anton put the brakes and stopped just several centimetres in front of her.

"Look!" He excitedly shoved the piece of paper into his mother's face.

"Oh! Wow!" Elizabeth gasped. As she read what was in front of her, it dawned on her why Anton was so happy.

"You got into the University!" she cried as she hugged her son. Tears of joy poured out of her.

"Yup!" he cried. "I'm leaving for the Sims University in three days!"

"The University in SimCity? Gosh! Your father met me at that very campus. How long will you be gone?"

"I'll be back after a term, Mum. Don't worry."

"Is Deanna coming with you?"

"Yeah," Anton replied. "That makes me even happier!"

"Well, you'd better go pack your things."

Elizabeth released her son from her grasp. As he marched away to his bedroom, humming to Pharrell Williams' "Happy", she smiled, wondering how Anton grew up so quickly.

more to come...