"Welcome Back, Part 2"
                         by:  Kevin C. Bissessar
                       Release Date:  Sep 09, 1995
                       Revised Date:  Aug 14, 1997


September 12, 2039  [cont'd]


      Kevin's first impulse was to bolt and run.  But Kisasian's angry
glare had fixed the professor to his seat.  Kevin could not move, and the
massive, hulking lion continued to stare bitterly at the human.  Neither
person or creature moved for several minutes.  Kevin was all tensed and
tight in his chair; his hands gripping the sides of the arm bars, and his
eyes betraying fear to the lion.  Kisasian was on all fours, claws
extended, and head peering down at the weak, puny human.  They stayed like
this for a few minutes longer until someone decided it was time to speak.
      "Good," said Kisasian, looking at the nervous, frightened Kevin.  "I
have your attention."  The lion sat on his haunches but remained standing
on his forepaws.  The professor's desk was large and strong enough to hold
Kisasian comfortably, although he would rather feel the nature of stone
than the texture of man-made objects underneath his paws.
      "I have something to say to you, professor--" Kisasian said, as he
spat out the last word venomously.  "A new school year begins.  I want
your students to learn the TRUTH about me.  Not your foolish hopes and
dreams of me learning how to change.  I am UNCHANGEABLE, Kevin.  I will
not have you alter me."
      Kevin was still very tense and scared.  But the lion didn't seem to
be on the verge of killing him.  The professor released his grip of the
arm bars and brought his hands together in a clasp.  "Those are very
authoritative and demanding words, Kisasian.  But you can't just come to
me and ask that I change teachings--"
      "I am the KING!  I can do WHATEVER I want!"  Kisasian growled
angrily.  "I'm in control of this English classroom, Kevin.  Not you.  I
decide what gets taught about my character.  Not you."
       "You are not in control of my English classroom, Kisasian," Kevin
said cautiously.  He didn't like taking threats, but with a massive lion
sitting on top of his desk, he didn't want to take any chances.  "I teach
my students how to think -- critically, analytically, concisely.  What
you're asking me to do is to go against everything the university stands
for."
      "Oh, Kevin, you are SO naive," Kisasian said, almost pitifully.  "I
surround myself with tools to complete set goals.  The whole world is my
tool, and I shape it --MANIPULATE it, to my liking.  Even right now, you
are my tool, and I am manipulating this classroom to my desire."  Kisasian
looked around the room for a bit, spying at various items both familiar
and foreign in nature.  He peered down at the desk and noticed a Simba
glass figurine standing proudly off to one corner.
      "For starters, I don't want to see _this_ in my presence," Kisasian
hissed at Kevin.  With a mighty lift of his right paw, Kisasian swept the
Simba figurine off of the professor's desk, hurtling it to the back of the
classroom.  The glass Simba figurine crashed to the floor, shattering into
a million pieces.  Kevin could only look on in horror, as the sole Lion
King item that survived the house fire two decades ago was destroyed --
forever.
      But the destruction didn't stop there.  Kisasian saw another object
he did not like.  This time, it was a paperback textbook, with the words
"Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller" written on the cover.  The
memories of Kevin's conversation about Willy Loman, and how the professor
was comparing Miller's tragic hero with that of Kisasian infuriated the
lion.  Kisasian stared at the book's black & white picture cover.  There
was a man who was down on a carpeted floor, trying to get up.  Kisasian
assumed this must be Willy Loman.
      "I am not a pitiful HU-MAN," snarled Kisasian.  "I will NOT die this
``death of a salesman''.  I live my goals, and set ones even higher.
Unlike Loman, I ACHIEVE MY GOALS!"  Kisasian sank his claws into the
paperback textbook, and flung it forcibly behind him, scraping the desktop
when he launched the book.
      Kevin could only gasp as he saw _Death of a Salesman_ flutter to the
floor.  Some of the pages became loose from Kisasian's powerful launch.
At least five or six of them were still making their way to the floor,
waving back and forth through the air, until they reached the ground.
      A growl could be heard from Kisasian, and this sent Kevin on alert.
Kisasian stood up on the desk and slowly began pacing.  The growl was now
constant, and Kisasian moved his heavy paws upon the desk, walking left
for a short bit, and then turning around to walk right.  He repeated this
activity for several strides until a third object he had overlooked came
into sight.
      Standing close to the desktop console screen was a small light-blue
porcelain sculpture of the magnificent dragon, Dalvenjah Foxfire.  Kevin
knew Kisasian's attention was focused on the dragon, and the professor
didn't want to see Dalvenjah be treated like the Simba figurine, or the
Arthur Miller textbook.  There had to be a way to save her from the wrath
of Kisasian...
      But the constant low growl of Kisasian told Kevin to NOT to
interfere.
      "Kisasian, you come into my classroom, terrify me completely, tell
me how to conduct my lectures, destroy my Simba figurine and throw away my
Arthur Miller textbook.  Will you stop this senseless path of destruction.
I get the point!" Kevin said as his attempt to save Dalvenjah.
      Kisasian's growl stopped.  He swung his head around to peer into the
professor's eyes.  "Am I the King of this classroom?"
      Kevin paused in thought for a moment.  Then he answered.  "You can
be the king of whatever you want.  _I_ am still the teacher in _this_
classroom."
      Kisasian growled now.  This time, louder.  "You did NOT answer my
question!  AM I THE KING OF THIS CLASSROOM?"
      "NO!" Kevin yelled out defiantly.  The fear that the professor first
had for the lion had shifted towards anger.  Kisasian was trying to impose
his authority inside the English classroom, and Kevin wasn't going to let
him.
      "So be it," Kisasian said coldly.
      The lion forgot about the Dalvenjah Foxfire sculpture and launched
himself upon Kevin.  The professor and his chair was thrown back against
the wall as the lion's full weight came upon him.  Kevin banged his head
painfully on the wall, causing his sights to blur for a moment.  Kisasian
had his claws retracted, but his forepaws pressed hard against the
professor's shoulders and his hindlegs stood up from the floor.
Kisasian's muzzle was only inches away from Kevin's eyes, and the
professor felt the lion's hot-air breath steam into his face.  No one
discovers the true meaning of fear until you have a lion staring straight
into your eyes, and your body trapped right underneath it.  The fear is
even more intensified when that lion happens to be Kisasian.
      "I've just almost run out of PATIENCE with YOU," Kisasian rumbled.
"If you were anyone other than Kevin Bissessar, I wouldn't be having this
conversation right now.  But you're pushing me to the point of eliminating
you.  Don't do it.  You still have some use left in you, but I tolerate NO
insubordination.  Is that _clear_?"
      "_Yes_," Kevin said angrily.  He was afraid of the lion, and he did
his best not to show it.  But since he valued his life, he was willing to
succumb to the order of Kisasian.
      "Good," said Kisasian.  "If you were anyone other than Kevin
Bissessar, _this_ is what would've happened to you..."  Kisasian extended
his right paw claws and pierced into Kevin's fine suit, ripping into the
left shoulder lapel.  The lion tore quickly in a downwards diagonal,
turning the suit jacket into shreds.  The lion peered deeply into Kevin's
eyes.  "The claws would've dug deeper into your flesh, HU-MAN.  You're
shredded suit is only a reminder of what my claws can do to you."
      Kisasian retreated from the professor and jumped back onto the desk.
Kevin's heart was beating rapidly, but he began taking breaths of air to
try and calm his breathing back to normal.
      "Relax, Kevin.  You got a class to teach.  I can't have my `tool'
break down during the course of the school year.  These students must
learn the truth about me.  Not what you wish to think about me."  Kisasian
spoke calmly for the first time he came.  "The university seeks the truth,
and provides answers with proofs.  I am only asking that.  Surely you
don't see yourself as one who opposes the university."
      Kevin calmed his breathing down, but he was still terribly shaken by
the recent "attack".  He blinked in surprisement at the lion, not
expecting Kisasian to be so knowledgeable about the human world.  Maybe he
wasn't as dumb as his painting looked, thought Kevin.  Speaking out loud,
the professor said, "It seems like you've been paying attention in class."
      "Hah!" Kisasian bellowed out in near-laughter.  "You haven't seen
NOTHING yet!"
      The console screen was still active, and Kisasian glanced down at
it.  He found an image that looked like a cold icicle and guessed that to
be the object to turn on the air conditioner.  The lion tapped a claw on
the image and in a few short seconds, the sound of the air conditioner
could've been heard.  Again, Kevin blinked at the lion's knowledge.
      "That's better," said Kisasian, already feeling the coldness.  "Keep
this room cold, Kevin.  The Valley of the Damned is NOT supposed to feel
like a warm, friendly place."
      Kevin just gave an imperceptible nod.  He didn't want to speak to
Kisasian anymore.  In fact, he just wanted the dark lion to go away so
that he could stop frightening and terrifying him.  The professor had
wished he could speak to Kisasian.  He didn't realize how dangerous that
wish could be.
      "I leave in peace, professor.  But before I go, do something about
that Professor Richard Malinson of yours.  He's starting to ANNOY me,"
said Kisasian..  He paused for a moment in thought, then continued.
"Whenever someone reads about me, I am using that person.  Whenever
someone looks at my picture, I am using that person.  Whenever someone
wants to study me, write essays, or give lectures about me, I am using
that person.  The time that could be spent doing something else is spent
on me.  These HU-MANS helps further my goals, and I benefit all the time,
EVERY time.  When you leave this Earth, Kevin, you will be forgotten
within a generation or two.  _I_, will last until the sun stops shining
and the moon stops glowing.  All the world's a tool, Kevin.  Only a select
few knows how to use it.  And of those few, only _I_ know how to truly
manipulate it."  Kisasian began to turn around.  "Goodbye, professor..."
      The large cat turned around completely and began running towards the
back of the classroom on top of the student desks.  Once the lion reached
the final desk, he took a leap at the Kisasian picture and merged with the
painting, his head being absorbed into the artwork, then his body and legs
and eventually his tail, until all of the lion had left the room.
      Kevin was flabbergasted at the entire experience, and pretty much
shaken by the whole ordeal.  One thing's for sure, Kevin would not be
flying his hovercar anytime soon...

      An alarm clock sounded, and Kevin woke up.


                  [Conclusion to the trilogy, coming soon]