"We'll see you tonight", said a voice over the phone. It was Joe, and Steve was telling him he was finally coming home for good. Steve had been away to college for 4 years and got a degree in Journalism. He couldn't wait to see his family again, but at the same time, was sad as he had to say goodbye to his friends at college. He told them to trade phone numbers and keep in contact with one another. Steve looked at the college he called home away from home one last time before he left for good.
Steve had packed up everything and got on the same bus that took him to College in the first place. He was so excited that he was able to get back to his normal life and was ready to become an even better person. He had gotten letters from his family about news going on at the house. But then came to his mind was his grandmother.
After Steve and Joe parents disappeared, Steve's Grandmother was the only one available to take care of them both. She had recently passed away and Steve had to put a hold on College so he could be there to see his grandmother one more time. This thought made him cry because of all the good memories he had of her.
While at college, he found some good for him. He had meet the girl of his dreams, and were now boyfriend/girlfriend. He kept thinking what if they had gotten married, then what would happen. Would they move in to the Blue's Clues house, or would they find their own place? Either way, there was no way he would leave his friends again. And that though stuck with him when they finally pulled up to his old home.
Steve got off the bus with his suitcase in one hand, Boris in his other hand, and his backpack on his back. He walked up the walkway leading to his old house. It was night time by the time he arrived home, and was expecting that everyone was getting ready for bed. He walked in and saw that no one was there. "Hello!", Steve shouted. No one responded to him. He thought it was very strange because at least someone would have said hello back. He then dropped his things and started to run through the house, panicking. "Blue! Joe! Anyone!" he shouted. He was about to cry when he found no one in the house, when suddenly, he heard the front door open. He ran over to see everyone coming in. Blue, Sidetable, Mailbox, and everyone else came in, except for Joe.
"Where is Joe?!", Steve asked everyone. No one could give him an answer. Finally, Mrs. Pepper broke the news. "Joe went to the Market to get groceries, and never came back! We went out looking for him, but he wasn't anywhere to be found!" Steve just dropped to the floor in shock, saying nothing at first. But then, he started brawling and shouting out for Joe. He wasn't about to lose another family member, especially his own brother.
Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper somehow got Steve on his bed. Steve cried himself to sleep, and it was then that Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper had a talk. "Steve is very heartbroken", said Mr. Salt, "you should have told him in a different way." "Are you kidding me?", said Mrs. Pepper , "He was going to keep asking questions, and you know how Steve is, even after his Grandmother died!" "I know, I know, but we have to do something. We'll search for him along with Steve in the morning." "Sounds like a good plan." And with that, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper went off to bed.
The next day, Steve woke up before everyone else. He hadn't sleep well the night before and was worried about his only brother. He went outside to see if there was any mail. He gently opened Mailbox who was still asleep, and found a letter addressed to Steve. He got it out and went inside to read it. He opened it up and it read the following:
To the brother of Joe,
Joe has been taken and has only 1 day to live. You need to complete the tasks that are given to you or else your brother dies of a slow and painful death. Attached you will find a tape recorder already loaded with a tape for you to listen to when done reading this. Every time you complete a task, you will find another tape with instructions on what to do next. If you wish to see your brother alive again, do as your told, and no police involved. I will find out if you got the police and Joe will die regardless of the tasks. Happy Hunting, Mr. X
Steve started to feel sick to the bone. He was flooding his mind with all sorts of questions on who could have done this. But he had no time as he had to listen to the tape to save his brother. He removed the tape recorder from the letter and played it. The voice spoke like it was using a voice changer. The voice told Steve that he had to first go to the store where Joe was last seen and once there, go to the candy section of the store. There, he will find a tape and an instruction on his first task.
Steve left for the store without even thinking. He just wanted to get his brother back. He walked past Mailbox who was now awake and told him, "If anyone wants to know where I'm at, I'm on a hunch about where my brother could be hiding." Mailbox shook his head to signal that he understood what to do. Steve walked down to the grocery store where it had just opened by Cash Register. Cash Register said to Steve, "Kind of early to do shopping, don't you think?" Steve responded, "That's not what I had in mind". Steve went right to the candy section where his brother loved to browse what the latest treats were. There, by a box of Joe's favorite candy, was a tape.
The tape was put in and the same voice was heard again, "Hello Steve, if you have found this tape, then you're in luck. Your first task is to take one of Joe's favorite candies and walk out without paying for it. It should be easy if you're not a law obeying citizen like yourself. Good Luck." Steve had never stolen anything in his life. The closest he has ever done it was when he was 6 years old. That didn't end so well. But now that he was an adult, he had no choice but to take it. He put the box underneath his shirt, and just walked out without having any trouble.
Steve got back to the house and heard the phone ring. Since no one else was awake, he answered it. It was Joe, but sounded more of a pre recorded message than himself. The message said, "Steve, I know what your doing is bad, but now would be the time to throw out anything about being good and focus on saving me. Once we get out of this ordeal, I'll make it up to you by buying you your favorite pizza. Please don't let me die bro!" Joe then sobbed and the messaged ended.
Steve threw the phone out the window and just started to beat the ground. He was now in rage mode, something that he wishes that would never happen. He was now more determined to catch the madman who was doing this, and was going make sure he would never do it again. At that moment, Mr. Salt walked in and told Steve to calm down. He then asked was going on. Steve told him that he had to steal so he could save his brother's life. Mr. Salt was shocked, but told Steve to not tell anyone else about it. Steve then told Mr. Salt he was off to save his brother before he got killed. Steve then went outside and Mailbox gave him another note left by Mr. X. This one read, "Well done. You have completed your first task. Now your next task won't be so easy. You need to go to your grandmother's grave and there you'll find another tape with instructions on your next task. Good Luck, Mr. X.. Steve hesitated at first, but then had to go because of his brother. He went right towards his own grandmothers grave, despite his strong feelings.
He came upon his grandmother's grave where he and Joe had selected for her to lay to rest. On his grandmother's tombstone, he found a tape. He popped it in and listened to the voice that he so dreads now. "Steve, I know that seeing your grandmother's grave again must be very hard on you, but you have a task to complete. If you don't want your brother to suffer the same fate as your grandma, I suggest you do this next task. There is a key that is buried with the casket, and you must dig up the casket to find the key. There will be a note attached to the key telling you where to go next. Happy digging."
Steve wasted no time in finding a shovel and dig up the key. He had all sorts of emotions going through him that would be too long to explain why. But soon, he had hit the casket with his shovel and cleared the dirt off. He soon found what the voice had told him he would find. He found the key and a note attached to it. He read the note and it said, "Steve, if you want to save your brother, you will use this key at the bank. Find locker 690 and use the key to unlock it and retrieve the contents inside." He then had to go to the bank, but not before putting the dirt he had dug up back where he first saw it. He then left the grave sight with the key in hand and shed a tear as he now had yet another task to do.
Steve started to have a flashback to when he and Joe was came back from celebrating Joe's birthday, and were taking a dip to cool of from the summer heat. Steve had told Joe, "What do you will happen if we ever got into a serious situation?" "What do you mean?", Joe asked. "I mean if one of us was in trouble and the other needed to come rescue you from danger, what would you do?" "I would come rescue you as soon as I found out." "I would too, Joe, but let's not think about that for now, ok. I hot just by talking." "Me too. What do you think is for dinner tonight?" "Mrs. Pepper always make your favorite meal on your birthday, Joe. I sure you'll love it." The two started laughing as the flashback faded away, and Steve found himself right in front of the bank.
Steve walked in and found Miranda working the front desk. He had known Miranda for a long time, and considered themselves as good friends. Miranda was also the owner of Magenta, Blue's best friend. They lived right next door and everyday would play together under the watchful eyes of Steve and Miranda. They would always talk about what was going on in their lives and even chat about what they planned on doing that day. But that stopped when Steve headed off to college, and Miranda took a job at the Bank.
Steve approached Miranda with the key in hand and said, "Hey Miranda, I need to know where locker 690 is at. Can you take me there?" Miranda gasped and hugged Steve. She was very excited to see him back again. She then got serious and said, "I do know where locker 690 is at. It's on the second floor past the bathrooms on the left." Steve then thanked her and went on up to find the locker. After some searching, he found the locker. He used his key and found some things inside. He found a gun, a picture of someone, some money, and, of course, another tape. He popped in the taped and listened to what he feared was going to happen.
"Steve", the voice on the tape recorder started, "I know that what I'm making you do is, how should we say this, not right. But what I'm doing is teaching you the other side of being human. Being a bad person. You always been doing good stuff in your life, but you hated to do bad things ever since you were 6 years old. Now it's time to see if you are truly willing to do anything for your brother. As you may have found, the person in the picture is your girlfriend's father, the man you don't like at all. The money you found was the total amount he had took away from you. The gun is your ultimate fear. You don't want to hurt anyone with it. But you must use it to kill in order to save your brother. A life for a life they always used to say in my time. You will find him in an apartment not too far from here. You and him will be alone, giving you an easy target. When you're done, take a picture of the body as proof you did it and sent it to this number. Are you willing to kill in order to save your brother?"
Steve was shocked. Beyond Shock. Of course he didn't really like his girlfriend's dad, but kill him? That thought never crossed his mind. He left the bank and went over to the apartments to find his target. He had found him in no time, the guy was huge, 6 foot 6, 300 pounds, he was large enough to crush Steve to death. Steve walked up to him and without thinking, hit him in the head with the gun, somehow knocking the dude out. He then proceeded to shoot one round into the ground, and soon afterwards, took the picture of his victim. He had spared his girlfriend's dad so that Steve wouldn't spend the rest of his life in jail. He got a text back saying that his final task will be at a warehouse, but in order to get to it, he had to skidoo to it. Steve was trying to find out what "Mr. X" meant when he had to skidoo. He had to find the one picture that would take him to his final task, and hopefully, his brother.
He then had another flashback to when Steve and Joe were kids. This time it was when Joe was leaving for a professional soccer contract that would last him 7 years. Steve was 20 and Joe was 18. It was after school ended for Joe, and a secret agent was at his final soccer game. He liked his skills, and hired Joe to be apart of one of the best soccer teams in the world. Just before Joe left, him and Steve had a chat. "Look", said Joe, "I know I'll be gone for a long time, but I will come back as soon as possible so you can attend college." "I know," said Steve, "but I was planning on going this year, but I know what you are going to do is very important, and I have to respect it. You remember the deal when you come back?" " I do. You take care of everyone while I'm gone, and then you go to college and I take care of everyone." Then at that moment, the airport shuttle pulled up and was waiting for Joe to get on. Steve and Joe had one last big hug, and Joe set off on a journey of a lifetime. It would soon be a week later that Steve hosted Blue's Clues for the neighborhood children, but got famous and spread across the globe.
The flashback faded away as he looked at a poster that had a picture of a warehouse on it. He knew he had found his final destination. So he got into his pose, and dance to the tune of "Blue Skidoo". He then jumped through the picture and found himself at the gate of this abandoned warehouse. He noticed another tape on the gate, and just like before, he put the tape in the recorder and listened to it contents. "Steve, you have come so far, the end is near. Now, you are here. The final place of completing all the tasks. If you successfully finish this one, it will mean the freedom of your brother. Once this tape is done, the gate will open and you will finally see the end of the road on this painful journey as you learned what it's like to play as the bad guy. Now it's the time to put what you have learned to the test. Gate, Open!" And just like that the gate opened and Steve walked through. "Welcome Steve." said a voice. Steve looked towards the direction of the voice and was shocked at who it was.
"Timely?!" Steve asked in horror. "Yes, that's right!" said Timely "I kidnapped your brother!" "But why Timely, you are such a nice clock." "I did it because I never appeared in Blue's Clues, although I was shown for 5 minutes on that stupid tape feature those stupid brats helping you do a stupid dance!" "Timely, I completed the tasks you told me to do, now where's Joe!?" "Somewhere where you will never find him, unless you destroy me. Your final task, Steve, is to try to destroy me. Inside of me is a key and a note telling you where Joe is, do you think you can do it?" "Me, a human being, versus you, a clock, Ha, bring it on."
Steve then became afraid as Timely grew into a monster twice the size of Steve. Steve wondered how he would bring him down. he then all of the sudden remembered the gun. He pulled it out and shot at Timely. The bullet bounced off of him, and Steve started to panic. Timely then moved towards Steve very closely and Steve got down on his knees and begged for mercy. Timely just laughed and was about to crush Steve when all of the sudden, Timely face went still. Steve wondered what had just happened, but moved quickly out of the way as Timely crashed into the warehouse, destroying him and the building. Steve started to brawl again as he though Joe was dead, dead after all that work. But then he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and Steve looked up to find Joe right there beside him.
Joe gave a hug to Steve as the two brothers started to cry. "I'm sorry Joe." Steve said as he was crying. "You're alright," Joe said as he started to cry, "You did what you had to do." The two brothers just hugged for the longest time before Steve said, "How did you stop Timely?" "Timely may have been evil, but he was careless. When he put me in the cell before you came, he forgot to lock it. So as soon as he directed the attention on you, I snuck up behind him as he was about to step on you, and pulled out the battery." "How in the world did you pull out the battery?" "Easy, as he grew, I pulled out the battery, and that gave him 1 minute time to continue to work before he died." "Joe, you're one smart son of a gun."
The two brothers got up and found the picture where Steve came from, and skidooed together. After they got back to their world, Joe turned to Steve and said, "I think I owe you a Pizza." Steve laughed hard as he agreed with what he said. Steve and Joe walked down the street together to their house where they were going to celebrate Steve's Coming Home Party. The two were never so happy in their lives as they were at that moment.
THE END