"The Lunatic Fringe"
written by Jenova12


Chapter One: Take the Long Road and Walk It


(A/N: Ok. I've decided to repost this fic. I did some editing and other things to this, so it might be a little different from the first time that you read it. Also I've changed the title! Hurray! Oh, and this chapter's name is from the artist, The Music.)


"Come on! Where is it! Where did they put it?!"

Cube exclaimed in rage as she was probing through a chest.

"AHHH! I'm fucking pissed off! What the fuck is going on?! Damn! Fuck this damn shit!". She got up from the floor and kicked the chest. Some of the contents spilled out onto the poorly carpeted floor.

"Damn it!" She looked over to the door of the room. Something caught her attention. A wooden bat rolled out from underneath the bed. Cube looked at it, and without thinking twice about it, she seized the bat and swung it, full force, at the chest.

DAMN IT!

Crack!

Shards of splintered wood and steel went everywhere. The sides of the chest caved in like a decaying wall as the baseball bat penetrated deeper and deeper.

Cube dropped the bat. She started to tremble as she looked down at the remains of the once whole treasure chest. Then rage unexpectingly came over her like a mighty and powerful wave of fiery lava spewing out from a volcano.

"Ahhh!"

Cube punched the wall in front of her with all her strength. A hole the size of her head was left in the wall. Cracks ran up and down the wall upon impact. It seemed as though if even the slightest breeze or movement could completely knock down the crumbling structure. She removed her fist from the wall. And then she looked at it. Cube's hand wasn't even scratched. Or that's what it seemed at first. As she continued to examine her hand, blood slowly started appearing in a thin line all over her hand. Her hand then started to shake.

Her strength left her body, rendering her useless. Cube collapsed against the unstable ruin of a wall.

"If I don't...get any... Cube's voice stuck in her throat. "...I'll...I'll...I don't know what to do!" She managed to scream that out. She then started crying. Her vision started to get blurry and her hearing started to deteriorate. Gathering all of her remaining strength, Cube slowly got up from the ground. But she couldn't lift herself. So she sat there, with her back to the wall. Paint chips and plaster started to stain her shirt.

"Where is it...

Cube started to cry. She then placed her head between her knees. Her hands-- no, her entire body was trembling violently.



"...I don't...know what...to do..."

She lifted her head from in-between her knees. Her knees were stained with tears. Cube touched her face with her hand and wiped the tears gathering at her eyes. Then without warning, she pulled out a switchblade from her pocket. She pressed the button that released the blade weakly. "I can't...do...this..."

The blade gleamed with an eerie glow as the light from the outside hit it in different angles. Cube looked at the blade, without emotion and she then put out her arm. Her forearm was scarred from past battles with herself. And now, the same thing was about to happen again. She readied her forearm for the duty that it was about to endure.

A silver tear came down her face and the silver blade met white flesh.

***

Cube sat there, bleeding and tired. Blood flowed from her wounds profusely. Wounds? She had two wounds, on both wrists. One fine slash on each one. The cuts looked small and painless, but the amount of blood lost through these wounds was huge, and the feeling of blood flowing from ones wrists is a painful one at that. Blood was all over-- on her shirt, her capris, her skates... It already started to dry up.

She looked at her wrists, crying. Her vision was majorly blurred. All she saw were shapes and colors, reds and blacks, circles and rectangles. She tried to stand up, but she couldn't. She was still too weak to even sit up. But she had to get out of the room, out of the garage. The GGs were out, tagging. No one else was with her. She was alone. And they surely would come back late...it was still early in the day. But if she stayed in the garage and in the room, she would die.

Cube looked at the clock on the wall. It read "12:00pm". The GGs would probably come back in 7 hours.

...seven...hours...

Her eyes started to close on her. She fought to stay awake. But the dreadful feeling of wonderful sleep was slowly winning. She definitely had to get out.

Cube looked at the ground and at the door. "If...I...crawl.... I'll be...able to-". She cut herself off. She didn't' want to think about it anymore. There was a high chance that she wouldn't make it, and thinking like that would shrink her chances even more, and even worse, the pain and misery that she was feeling was clouding up her brain.

She looked at the door. The door seemed to float around off the ground. She squinted her eyes and tried to readjust the image. Put two and two together.

The image just wouldn't settle. Cube put her hand out, trying to touch the door. It seemed that close to her. Suddenly, a loud screeching noise interrupted everything.

"...What's...that noise..."

She dropped her arm to her lap. "Ouch... Pain came from the wound on her wrist.

Blood started to slowly flow from her wrist.

She ignored the noise. She knew that it was the watch. She didn't want to answer it.


The pain didn't matter to her. She was just trying to correct her vision. She looked away for a moment. Her vision started to slowly come together. The door and the room came together, to form one picture.

...my vision...

The time has come. If she didn't get out now, she would definitely perish. She started to get up. Pain shot out throughout her pale body as she lifted herself off the ground. She didn't care about the pain anymore. Yes, the pain lingered in the back of her mind and it still existed, but she didn't want to pay attention to it. But even with the effort that Cube was putting forth, it didn't work. She collapsed on the ground. The pain intensified as she dropped to the ground. Bones cracked and blood stained the floor.

She looked at the door again and her face started to disfigure. Tears started to well up behind her eyes, and her lips trembled. The door...the door was so close, but she couldn't get up and walk out. She had to crawl out. It was the only way.

She started to claw away at the poorly carpeted floor. Inch by inch, she started to move. She was already halfway outside the door when the watch started up again.

She didn't even look at it.

Blood from her wrists stained the wood floor, making a one-foot wide mark of scarlet on the hallway floor.

Time nearly standed still as she made her way down the hallway and stairs. Through the entire way, the blood trail became longer and darker. It penetrated the wood and stained it permanently. Cube neared the garage door. She longed for everything to end. But not while she was still in the garage. No. She didn't want to disgrace the others. If everything was going to end, it should end outside of the garage.

Cube silently grabbed the door handle and lifted herself up. She put every ounce of strength into it. She opened the door. A gush of wind blew the door open, nearly knocking her on. But she still clung on. She exited the garage.

...I'm almost...there...

She was outside. The streets of downtown Shibuya-cho were alive with activity and energy. As she walked weakly across the street, passerbyers just glanced at her. They ignored her. Still, she went on. Seeing a crowd across the tightly crowded street, she decided to go to them to get help. Suddenly, the wristwatch started up again. But this time, a voice came from the receiver.

"Cube, what's wrong? Cube, answer me!"

It sounded like Combo's voice.

"...I'm sorry...but...Ican't...", she murmured as she kept walking towards the group.

"Cube! Answer me! What's wrong? Cube!"

As she walked, her body stopped moving. Shocked, Cube fell to the ground. And this time, darkness greeted her.