Slight spoilers for the series finale, I guess?
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His breathing was ragged, lungs begging for a reprieve, as he tore his way down a dimly lit school hall. The lights, oddly enough, were either broken or flickering, which was unusual for a well kept building like this, but at the moment he didn't care about any of that.
He just had to run. Run fast, and run far; one slip up and that was it.
Numerous doors lined the hall, and he rushed to one on his left, yanking on the handle. It didn't budge, so he flew to another across the hall, but it too refused to turn. He tried three more next to it, but none of them opened.
Why why whywhywhywhy-?!
A faint laugh was heard, causing him to jerked around and stare down the way he'd come. There was nothing but blackness, and he couldn't make out anything no matter how hard he squinted. He stood motionless and silent for a moment or two, simply staring into the darkness, searching for any flash of white, listening for an angered snarl.
For a moment, there was nothing; then, a pair of glowing blue eyes appeared in the darkness.
The hall became a blur as he turned and ran, flying down the corridor. Behind him, laughter followed, echoing through the dark hall. A sob escaped him as he rounded a corner, being met with another shady hall and doors, and he rushed for the first one he saw.
It opened, mercifully, and he quickly shut the door behind him, fumbling to lock it, but found no hint of a lock. Whimpering, he turned to face the dark classroom, finding himself in one of the science rooms.
He scrambled towards the teacher's desk, ducking under it and crouching against the back. It was the only one in the room that would block him from easy view. A few minutes passed in silence, in which he was able to calm his breathing, and allow his heart rate to gradually come down; then, he heard footsteps, moving at a brisk pace. They echoed in the quiet, getting louder and closer, and despite himself his breath started to pick up again.
The steps continued growing louder, before finally coming to a stop outside the door. After a moment, the knob squeaked as the door opened, and he heard another soft laugh. The door was closed again, followed by more steps, before finally stopping somewhere across the room.
He held his breath, waiting, praying the monster would go away. If he just stayed quiet, the other would leave, find another room. Just stay quiet, don't move, don't breathe –
"I know you're in here, Julian…"
His breath hitched, and he quickly covered his mouth, hoping to muffle any further noise. There was another chuckle, followed by more slower paced steps; they seemed to be staying on the opposite side though, so he didn't have to move just yet.
"Fine, go ahead and hide; it just makes this all the more fun…"
A shudder passed through him at the snide remark, and he pushed himself further against the back of the desk. He could hear the cabinet doors being opened across the room, before more steps sounded, seeming to get closer. They soon stopped though, and the next few seconds ticked by in total silence. He waited with baited breath, listening for the slightest noise.
Were those footsteps? I can't tell...where is he, WHERE IS HE?!
The desk suddenly creaked overhead, as if someone was leaning on it, and he heard a soft hum.
"Hn, where could you be…?"
The sound of drumming fingers followed, before he pushed off the desk and began circling around to the back. Julian stilled as legs came into view, and stopped just in front of the desk's opening. They remained there for a solid minute, and Julian held his breath, not moving the smallest muscle. His heart was pounding against his ribcage and echoing in his head.
Finally, the other began moving away, and he almost sobbed in relief as he let his head fall into his arms. The footsteps continued on, moving back to the front of the desk.
Just got to stay put… he thought, slowly and softly releasing his breath, just stay quiet…
The steps continued roaming the room, occasionally nearing the desk, but never passing by the opening again. Minutes ticked by, before they strode across the room, and the door was pulled open, and quickly slammed shut again. Julian waited several seconds before he dared to move, stretching out his legs and leaning back against the desk with a sigh.
"I can't believe that worked…" He muttered softly, letting his head fall back. Maybe he could just stay here…wait it out until morning. Then he'd be safe for a while….
Something brushed his leg, and he shot a passive glance at it; he barely had time to register the familiar coat tail before it wrapped around his ankles and pulled.
A shriek escaped him as he grabbed at the desk, but his hands slipped off the edge. He was then abruptly released, and dropped to the floor with a thud, yelping upon impact. He heard a soft laugh, and looked up to see an almost exact duplicate of himself, with a sharp toothed grin splitting his face.
"Found you~"
Julian plastered himself to the front of the desk with a sob, unable to do much else; he didn't have the energy to anymore. Ghoulian scoffed as he leaned back against one of the other desks.
"Well this one was fun; almost as much as the one in Whoopee World. Oh, remember when you tried hiding in the house of mirrors? The look on your face, it was fantastic!" Ghoulian exclaimed, practically giddy with the memory.
Julian sniveled, before sputtering out, "Why?!"
Ghoulian cocked his head in puzzlement, while Julian climbed to his feet, using the desk for support.
"Why do you keep doing this?!" He exclaimed.
"Every night you do the same thing! Drop me in some random place, chase me all over it, drive me to one specific area and hunt me down like a sick game of hide and seek! Every, single, night! You're driving me crazy! I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep in two weeks!"
Tears sprung from his eyes, this time out of exhaustion rather than fear. Still, he kept his watery gaze on his evil self, determined to get his answers.
"Why...why are you doing this? I can't take it anymore so just tell me what you want from me!"
Ghoulian chuckled, as if laughing at some small joke, before he responded with one simple word.
"Freedom."
He laughed again as Julian frowned, fully aware of how similar this was to their very first conversation in the school bathroom.
"But honestly though, what do I want? For starters, my own body again,"
He took a step forward, and Julian tensed, bracing himself for another run. Even if he'd had the energy to keep going though, the lightning fast movement of the coat tails wrapping around him prevented it. Ghoulian sneered as he pulled the other closer.
"And more importantly...I want to reclaim what's rightfully mine! Everything the Ninja took away from me! Power, respect, the world under my control; I deserve every last one of those, and I will do whatever it takes to get them back, and eviscerate the Ninja once and for all!"
Julian couldn't do much else but stare in wide eyed terror, vaguely wondering how he could possibly be connected to this monster.
"B...but...what's that got to do with any of this?" He finally managed to ask. The question brought a rather unpleasant smirk to Ghoulian's face, and Julian squirmed anxiously in the tight grip of the coat tails.
"Do you recall when this whole cycle started? I offered you a deal: allow me to take full control of our body, and I'll let you be, tucked away in a pleasant little corner of our mind until I have my own body again. Of course, you so rudely rejected my generosity, and decided to run away, thus, I moved on to plan B."
The coat tails released their hold, setting him on his feet, and Julian watched him curiously as he rubbed the feeling back into his numb arms.
"As you said, all of these little games have been slowly wearing you down. All my chasing and terrifying you for these past few nights, preventing any pleasant dreams, keeping you on edge 24/7, making you dread for the moment you fall asleep and tumble into my grasp...it's all part of my plan."
"Your plan to...what?" Julian asked, though he was certain he wouldn't like the answer.
"To break you of course,"
A chill came over him as took a few shaky steps back, but Ghoulian followed, backing him into the desk once more.
"It's all a simple game of cat and mouse; eventually, you'll tire out and collapse, granting me full control. Much like a cat, I have the patience to wait, and you...you have the same fragile will of a mouse, easy to break, and destined to be consumed by those who are stronger."
Julian's breathing had become shallow, and his body leaned back awkwardly against the desk. Ghoulian had planted both hands on either side of him, effectively trapping him with his arms and body.
"Of course, you could spare us both the trouble, and give up now. Though I rather enjoy these sessions, I can assure you submitting would be much easier on us both."
Julian didn't respond, only meeting the humored eyes of his darker half with his own terrified gaze. Finally, he managed to force his stiff arms to move, and shoved Ghoulian away from him. He raced for the door, intent on finding another spot to hide, but he was taken aback to see the door completely vanish before his eyes, leaving a bare wall and no hope for escaping the room.
"Wh-what...?" He squeaked, hands brushing over the plaster.
Blindingly hoping for some miracle.
A soft laugh came from behind, and he quickly turned back to face the other. Ghoulian stood there, a smirk on his face, and his next words came out as a low hiss.
"I was actually kind of hoping you'd say that..."
His eyes were taken over by a chilling blue glow, and his body shifted into a cyborg like form, with a green power ball implanted in his chest. Not one of the real ones of course, but it completed the look, one could say.
Julian scrambled back until he hit one of the corners of the room, while Ghoulian slowly closed in on him, sharp teeth bared in a frightening grin and purple claws twitching with glee.
"NO NO NO, GET AWAY, GET AWAY FROM ME! NO NO PLEASE-!"
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Julian jerked awake with a yelp, sheets flying off as he sat up. A shrill squeaking noise was repeatedly going off on his right, but he couldn't find it in him to investigate. He sat there, frozen, his mind racing to catch up to reality; he was in his room, in bed, with no evil clones snarling in his face.
He was safe.
He turned his head towards the noise, spotting his bat shaped alarm clock, and after a long moment, reached for it and hit the off button. He sat there for a good few minutes, allowing his heart to calm down from the adrenaline rush the nightmare had caused.
He was slow to move, but he did finally manage to slide out of bed, and trudge towards the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face, before risking a glance at the mirror; he'd avoided those for a week after leaving the Land of Shadows.
Dark circles underlined his eyes, which were still dull from exhaustion despite the water. His hair was a mess and damp from sweat, sticking up in odd places, and looking like he'd just stuck his head in a wind storm. All minor problems he could fix with mascara and a good brushing.
Sighing, he set about his morning routines. Another hour later, he was downstairs in the kitchen, rummaging through the pantry for breakfast. The smell of coffee filled the room, stemming from the almost empty pot his parents had left earlier. They were already at work, fortunately; he couldn't face anyone just yet, and hope to hold a normal conversation.
The first nightmare had caused him to wake up screaming bloody murder, and his father had just about broken his bedroom door trying to get in. After a few repeats of this, they'd all become used to it, and returned to sleep.
Sighing, he grabbed a box of cereal and a bowl, pulled the milk from he fridge, and dropped into one of the chairs at the table.
Another day, another struggle to get through school…
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In a dark space, a lone figure stood, watching a glowing orb that held an image of Julian.
He gave a laugh at the miserable pout Julian held whilst shoveling cereal into his mouth.
"Poor little mouse, barely making it through breakfast…"
Another laugh, before he turned away and slowly faded into the surrounding darkness.
"See you tonight, Julian."
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*cough* Oh, oh wow, this account is DUSTY *cough cough* How long have I been gone?
Anyway...I LIVE! I'm back from my long hiatus to bring you a short story (possibly to become a longer one) centered around my two favorite characters of Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja. It was seriously an awesome show, and I'm sad it ended, but at least it left a great fandom to spread it's name.
I've noticed it's pretty hard to find a good Julian centered fic, and next to nothing involving him AND Ghoulian. They're typically really short or shipping fics, which is fine, of course, but variety IS the spice of life, even here in fanfic land. So leave your thoughts, folks, and keep an eye for out for part two!