DEATH WISH - Twisters

Triple Threat

PHOENIX WAS part of the team. Tyler, Lily, Boone, Dani, Dexter and her. At least, that's how it was for three years. In 2018, the team were helping in a town that had just been hit by a tornado. Houses were torn down, cars were flipped upside down, there was debris everywhere. It had been a bad one.

As usual, Phoenix was walking down the main street, handing out food, water and clothes to anyone who needed it. She ran into a young man, no older than twenty, who actually didn't seem frightened or scared. He was one of the only people in that entire town that wasn't anxiously looking up at the clouds, waiting for another devastating blow to come back and finish them off.

No, he was smiling. Dakota Starling was smiling. He recognised Phoenix from the YouTube videos and immediately accompanied her in handing things out. The two got to talking and before Phoenix knew it, she had basically recruited a new member for their team.

Her, Tyler and Dakota were all inseparable together, where one of them went, the other two followed. The fans nicknamed them 'The Triple Threat' for whatever reason, and shockingly, Dakota was just as insane as the other two.

Until the accident.

Until that fateful day in June 2023, that would change that team forever.

~~~~

2023:

For the first time in eight years, Phoenix and Tyler were arguing. No one was really sure what about, and they were fairly certain that even the two arguers didn't know either. But either way, it was a bad argument.

"God dammit Phoenix, do you have a death wish?!" Tyler yelled. "Our entire life is one big death wish!" Phoenix threw her hands up, and the others shared a look. "Why don't you ever listen?" Tyler seethed. "You know what, listening is a two-way street, Owens!" Phoenix retorted. "God, you are such a bitch! No wonder your momma left you" Tyler snapped.

The change in body language was instant. Phoenix immediately went from defensive and angry to hurt and shocked. She let out a soft scoff as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "Phoenix, I-" Tyler tried but he stopped the second Phoenix's eyes rose to meet his.

She looked like her heart had just been shattered in the most painful way possible. And that's exactly what had happened. "Phoenix..." Tyler breathed and Phoenix just bit her tongue and shook her head slightly before turning around and storming outside, slamming the door behind her.

Tyler proceeded to punch a wall, which hurt a lot, which caused him to then yell in both pain and anger. Dakota quickly followed Phoenix out to where she was stalking away from the motel and down the dimly lit dirt road. He ran after her and grabbed hold of her arm, causing her to whirl around, ready to punch him.

"I know somewhere we can go. Just the two of us. You can get some anger out, have some fun" Dakota smiled, bouncing back and forth on his feet like a little kid. "Fine" Phoenix huffed and the two took off running down the dirt road.

The motel became a small speck of light in the distance as Dakota grabbed her hand and dragged her off the road and into the fields, running up the hill. The two were laughing together before they both laid down on the grass, breathing heavily as they gazed up at the stars.

Back at the motel, Boone was doing his best to stop Tyler from having a mental breakdown while also trying to tend to his bleeding hand. "They just ran down the road together. Probably going to the field" Lily spoke up, letting the curtain fall back down and Tyler hung his head.

"Why'd I say that to her? What's wrong with me?" he muttered, his voice wavering as Boone cleaned his hand. "Listen, it was heat of the moment. She knows you didn't mean it. She just needs a minute and Dakota is the best person to calm her down right now" Boone explained softly and Tyler nodded along with him.