welcome, everyone, to the second book of Insanity. This book is going to be a lot more focused on our background characters; meaning Soda, Kat, Molly, Two-Bit, Steve and even Darry will get a spotlight. But don't worry: Pony's gonna have some love too.

How It Started

You don't remember how you got here. You don't remember what drove you so insane, so animalistic that you ended up here. Ending up in shackles – in an grotesque orange jumpsuit – was not on your list of things to do before you die.

Perhaps I'll die here, you think to yourself as you settle yourself on the familiar creaking mattress. It bends under your weight, and it groans just about as much as your stomach does tonight. You haven't eaten all day; there was no time for hunger or complaints as you were forced into that damn room with those damn cops and those two damn people –

You stop; pause. Stare up at the ceiling with your hands behind your head and one leg thrown over the other. Those two people, with dark eyes and slicked back hair…

It floods back to you now; seeing their tired and worried eyes settled on yours, their voices just as worrisome. Watching them talk and move in sadness, rage, and even calm never phased you; watching them get angry, scream in your face and plead with you never, ever phased you.

You know them; you can't recall how, but you know them.

You're going insane here. Everything you used to have, everything you used to love...they've taken from you –

no, they've taken you from everything you used to have; everything you used to love. But there's nothing that can be done; nothing left now. Nothing but your steady heartbeat, your powerful emotions, and the insanity that keeps you company.

There's nothing left but darkness now; darkness you call home.

Even now, as you lay here on this old mattress, you can't forget the bitterness that raged through his heart at the sound of your nickname. The nickname that made you seem just the smallest bit strong.

Superman. That kid...

Just like the superhero, you helped others in need before yourself. And just like the superhero, you're completely and utterly alone.

The word echoes in your mind, the voice accompanying it. That voice was familiar; you know it from somewhere. You're not sure where, but somewhere, at the very back of your already deteriorating mind, you know that voice.

That kid… A cold wave passes through your body as the image materializes in your mind. Those soft eyes, frightened and calm in the same moment. The way the kid's body trembled at seeing you, the way the kids voice shook when he was trying to sound tough. Everything and anything the kid happened to do is just here, settling on your chest as you fight to remember who it was.

Tomorrow's a new day… you remind yourself as you slip down, down, down into the unconsciousness that has awaited you all day long.

And for some reason, you wake up remembering nothing at all.