Arthur didn't know how it all started. It could have been anything that could have lead up to this but he knew one thing. It was a nightmare, one that he hoped that he could have woken up from. Yet, the pain in his abdomen told him that it was all far too real. He wanted to move, wanted to get away from this realm that he and his friends had been transported to. Yet, he knew that he couldn't, that he, his friends, Vivi, Lewis, and Mystery were stuck here until they could defeat the Ghost that haunted this realm.

"Arthur, stay alive, you must stay alive hermano. We still have much to catch up on since…" his best friend had started to say, only to cut short. Arthur knew what it was that he was talking about. It had only been three years since they had last seen each other, until the time they had found him in that haunted mansion maybe months ago now. It almost felt like a life time ago now. Yet, even now it was still a touchy subject, for all of them because even though, it had been so long ago… and it had been his fault because of it.

Maybe, it was best to start at the beginning, from the time that Lewis, his best friend came to him after he dragged Vivi and Mystery out of the mansion.

Arthur breathed deeply after he dropped Vivi at her apartment. He knew that he had to try to relax, but he couldn't shake this odd feeling. A chill would go up his spin, sweat beading on his forehead. It just seemed like there was someone there, someone other than himself and Mystery. How was it that this could be shaking him more than the ghost? That, odd ghost that seemed so familiar to him. Closing his eyes for a moment, he tried to get himself to relax, he wasn't sure if this was all in his mind, or if it was just the fear grasping its nasty ghostly claw around his heart and giving it a squeeze.

"I need to eat, maybe that will make me feel better." He mumbled to himself before he walked toward the kitchen. Walking past a bunch of photos that lined the walls of his apartment. One though, one simple picture had caught his mind. It was a picture that was taken when the group was formed. Vivi had wanted to give it a cool name that thought about ghosts or the supernatural that seemed to come and go in their world. 'The Mystery Skulls' they had agreed on.

It was the only name that didn't scare him honestly. His best friend though, agreed on it a lot more than Arthur, he was so filled with enthusiasm that he almost glowed with joy. Joy, and love for the woman in their group. He couldn't help but pick up the picture with his robotic arm and gave a sad smile. Standing in front of the orange and black van. In front of it, was Vivi, her short blue hair held back with a blue headband, long flowing blue scarf, blue sweater and matching blue skirt. Hell, she even had blue stockings and blue dress shoes. The only thing on her that wasn't blue, was her glasses.

His heart skipped a beat as he thought about her. Arthur knew, that even though she doesn't remember, her heart belonged to another man. The other member of their group, someone who had been gone for years. Tightly shutting his eyes, Arthur tried to hold back the flood of memories before they could even start. He just… wasn't ready to think about him yet.

Setting the picture back, he made his way to the kitchen and went to reheat some left over pizza. Running a hand through his spikey orange hair, the young man leaned against the counter after he set his pizza on a plate and set it in the microwave. Mind wandering to what he, Vivi and Mystery had just witnessed. The mansion, the weird ghosts with the glowing yellow hearts. The paintings, then that weird ghost with the flaming magenta hair. He knew that he had seen that hair style before but he just couldn't remember where it was that he has seen it!

The ghost, it hated him. Hated him with a fiery passion that Arthur knew shouldn't be possible. Hell, the ghost wanted to kill him and had nearly done so if it wasn't for Vivi. 'Now that I think about it, the ghost just… froze when it saw her. As if it knew her from somewhere…' The ghost had just stood there, staring at Vivi with a sadness within its glowing magenta coloured eyes. That weird glowing yellow heart, just kept beating like a normal heart would before it slowly reached out for Vivi. As if the ghost wanted her to have it, to hold it.

At least, until Arthur had pulled her away. He didn't see much of what happened, only that the heat had increased in the mansion a great amount. The flames, the burning hot magenta coloured flames had caused all three of them to fall out of the mansion, they had rushed to the van before driving off as fast as they could. After that, the mansion had just, up and vanished. It was rather odd, but maybe the mansion had only been an illusion for the three of them to see but he just couldn't be sure.

Ding

Arthur blinked his orange coloured eyes before he turned to the microwave and chuckled a little. At least one thing was right today. Taking out the plate, the young man made his way to his living room before he sat down on the couch. If there was one thing that could cheer him up, it was his favourite pizza. Surfs Up Surprise Pizza! "Awesome." He mumbled with a smile before he happily started to eat, his worries already starting to fade away.

"Arthur, you in here?" came a voice, causing him to stop mid bite of his pizza and turn to see his best friend. Well, one of the few he has. Mystery had walked into the room, his white coat was pure as the snow. His paws, tail and ears were black but unlike other dogs, he had spikey black and red hair that others would swear belonged to a human. His yellow glasses perched over his muzzle and his red eyes just stared at him with concern. It seemed that he was worried about his friend.

Looking away, Arthur wasn't sure if he could talk about the mansion. The way it all seemed, the feelings that he did feel the further he got into the mansion. He just couldn't really be sure as to what it was. "I'm fine Mystery." Mumbled Arthur before he took another bite of his food. The soft sound of the gold and red dog tag echoed in the empty room. The tag that they thought matched Mystery's name when he found him. Plus, it also matched the red collar that he wore.

"Arthur, I know that you felt something in that place. I felt it as well, you need to talk about it. You have been a bit sensitive to haunted locations since-"

"Don't bring up that place again please. I can't, I don't want to relive that memory." Arthur whispered, maybe a little too harshly but that place. It haunts him to this very day, no matter if he is awake or asleep it still haunts him. The young man didn't know if the weight of that memory would ever be lifted from his heart, from his soul but he had learned to live with it for the most part, though every now and again it would overwhelm him to his breaking point and he would cry out like he had when his arm was…

Turning to his left arm, he couldn't help but wince at the memory of what had to be done in that place. Even now, he suffers from what doctors call 'phantom pain' which if he remembers right is just the body remembering the pain, the trauma that it had gone through. He sometimes still suffered that pain when he thought about 'that place' though he tried his hardest to never think about it.

"Arthur, you need to forgive yourself." Mystery said with a frown. He tilted his head before sitting next to his friend on the couch, placing a paw on the orange haired man's lap as he said "You can't keep going on with your life like this. To live in fear, guilt and regret, you didn't mean for it to happen, you had no control over-"

"Enough Mystery, please." Arthur whispered before he started to wipe his face, his hand sliding down his face, fingers gently grazing his sideburns, then his goatee as he stared at the dog with tear filled eyes. He couldn't deal with this, couldn't deal with the pain as it was brought up. In the three years since it happened, in the three years since that day, that one simple investigation, it had changed everyone's lives.

Vivi's memory was gone, or at least bits of it was gone. Then of course the one person whom she loved more in this world than any other thought to be possible. Then, Arthur didn't just lose his arm, but he had lost his best friend, someone whom he had known since he was a kid. "He wouldn't have wanted this Arthur. Wouldn't have wanted you to blame yourself for what happened."

"But…"

"No buts, he would have wanted you to move on with your life. To try to be happy and do what makes you happy. Which, sometimes is investigating and building and improving machines. After all, you built a new arm for yourself." Mystery encouraged, trying to help the depressed man get over at least a portion of his pain. Arthur turned to the white dog for a moment before he gave a soft but still sad smile before he looked away.

Arthur set aside his pizza, feeling like he had lost the desire to eat. Turning back to his friend, the young man wasn't sure if he was ready to talk about everything, but he knew that there was something to at least, discuss about the mansion. "I did sense something in there. I'm just not fully sure as to what it was."

"It was the emotions of the ghost that chased us." Mystery said, turning to Arthur before turning toward the window. "The ghost's emotions is what created the mansion so to speak. It created the mansion, I sensed the ghosts powers messing with the van but I wasn't sure until we went inside." Mystery explained before letting out a soft sigh. So, the van stopping wasn't his fault, it was the ghosts powers doing it. That at least meant that his skills weren't at stake or lacking. Rubbing his chin, the young man did wonder if the ghost could have had such strong powers to even do that but, it was possible.

"But, what were the emotions Mystery? I couldn't figure that out. I just know that, I felt a chill like someone was breathing down my neck." Said the confused orange haired man.

"Hate, anger, revenge, confusion, and betrayal." Mystery deducted.

Arthur sighed softly as he shook his head, there had to be more to it than those emotions. Though, those were pretty bad emotions, negative and powerful ones at that. If he remembered enough, some ghosts did have those emotions in them when they died but, it depends on the circumstances. He just couldn't be a hundred percent sure yet he knew that he had to tell Vivi about this tomorrow. Right now, he was mentally exhausted. "Mystery, do you think that everything happens for a reason?"

"I do, after all… you found me and kept me even though I'm not a dog." He chuckled a little before nudging Arthur's hand. "Now, you should get to bed, you'll be able to think better by tomorrow. Vivi should have some more information about the ghost, maybe there was other sittings of the mansion."

"Alright, thanks Mystery." Arthur said with a small smile before saying "You can eat the rest of the pizza, I'm not hungry anymore." With that, he made his way to his bedroom, he removed his orange vest and white t-shirt. Next to be removed was his orange pants. He had noticed that it had gotten warmer in his apartment, though he couldn't be sure as to what it was that was causing all of this. Maybe his heater was busted again, he'd have to talk to the landlord about it again.

Shaking his head, he turned to his arm and sighed softly. If it was going to get hot, he didn't want his sweat to short circuit his robotic arm, again. Hitting a switch over his arm, he heard the soft hiss of the arm detaching itself from the metallic click that kept the arm in place before he was able to pull it free. It didn't hurt or anything when he reattached or detached his arm but it was a pain to have to keep doing this for heat. He was still working on making it water/sweat proof but still a work in progress.

Setting his robotic arm on his dresser, Arthur moved over to his bed before laying down, his arm behind his head as he tried to think. Think about what he was to discuss with Vivi about the mansion, she had seemed shocked and confused about the ghost, but after they got in the van, she had just seemed so excited about the whole 'ghost' concept.

Shaking his head, Arthur smiled a bit as he said "The things I do for those I love." Then, he frowned once more. Those he loved, he had another person he loved like a brother and… and he… Tightly shutting his eyes, Arthur forced that memory back once more, no, he couldn't think about that again. There was no way that he could bring himself to do that again, he just couldn't think about it. In fact, he had hoped that the memory was buried deep in his mind where it wouldn't hurt anyone, or himself, ever again.

Shuddering, Arthur stared at his ceiling, thinking and thinking… he wondered if he should ever tell Vivi about what happened. Hell, he wondered how she even forgot in the first place. There just had to be a reason behind it, a reason as to why she didn't remember in the first place. Was he meant to remember, as another way to be tormented? Maybe. Another sign that he was just crawling with sins as it slowly crawled its ways up his back, up his spine.

"No, no more. I shouldn't be thinking about it anymore… tonight." Yawning softly, Arthur slowly started to drift off to sleep. He had hoped though that his dreams would be nothing but peaceful, but sadly he didn't think that it would be possible, for his nightmares had finally begun.

Arthur found himself back at the cave… the same one that he never wanted to see. The eerie green glow of the cave caused Arthur's skin to crawl, through his chest and down his arms- wait. Looking at his hands, he saw that both of his arms, were made of flesh and blood. "No." He whispered softly before he felt his body moving into the cave. Looking around, he found himself moving, he could hear his two companions talking among themselves. Ahead of him, was a tall man wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a purple vest and matching purple hair. He wore an ascot that, like his vest was also purple and matching purple pants and shoes. Arthur, as usual was at the back of the group while Vivi and the purple clad man walked ahead.

Arthur tried to speak, but no words came out. It was as if he was stuck in the memory itself with no way to change it! Oh god he wanted this to stop, wanted this to stop and maybe even save… "We should split up." Said the man, his voice having a hint of a Spanish accent. No, splitting up is the worst idea ever! He couldn't allow this to happen! Not again! Arthur once more tried to speak but no matter what he just couldn't get the words to come to him!

"Alright Lewis, I'll go with Mystery." Vivi said, her voice cheerful as always.

Mystery turned to stare at Arthur, a bit of concern in his soft red eyes but walked off with Vivi. Arthur, left with Lewis, the leader of their group and… his best friend.

Lewis held the torch a bit high so he could see, but Arthur wasn't paying much mind to that. He was trying to think if there was even a hint of changing the fate of this dream. Yet, no matter what he just couldn't get himself to move, just couldn't get himself to speak up. At least, not the words that he wanted to say. "Lewis, you sure we can't just turn back? It's creepy here!"

"Ah Arthur, you worry too much. We'll be fine, after all there shouldn't really be much here other than a spirit of a man that died here hundreds of years ago." Oh yeah, THAT was reassuring as much as it had all those years ago.

Lewis chuckled a little before they made their way further into the cave. Or at least, deeper into the tunnel that they had taken. How was it that Lewis and Vivi weren't scared of this kind of thing, yet he was scared shitless? He didn't know, and it made him always think if he was even worthy of being a part of the group other than to just be with his friends.

Soon, they reached the end of the cave, causing him to panic. No, they had reached the end far too quickly! Taking a gander around like last time, Arthur wasn't sure if he could do anything in this area, there wasn't much to it much like last time. The only thing in the area, was the pit that had the stalagmites. "Long way down." Lewis mumbled as he moved to the edge. Arthur couldn't help but remember the thoughts that had gone through his mind back then. Thoughts that had been part of his guilt over everything that happened.

'What would happen if I pushed him? Would Vivi finally love me with Lewis out of the way?'

The thoughts, haunted him just as badly as what happened next. Even now, Lewis could feel it. Could feel the spirit swirling around him but couldn't gain full control over himself. The spirit that had possessed him all those years ago slowly made its way into his body, into his soul as it tried to take total control over him. Arthur wanted to scream, scream for help as he tried to warn Lewis before it was too late.

Yet, damn it all, his body wouldn't listen to him.

Slowly, his left arm started to turn green, it flowed through him like an infection as it slowly traveled up his arm. Breathing heavily, the scared man once more tried to scream for Lewis to help him. Scream for him to stop this from happening yet no matter what he did, or how hard he tried nothing happened. 'Please make this stop, I don't want to relive this again!' He thought to himself.

He stared at Lewis, he was unaware of what was happening to him. Did something down there fascinate him or something? "Arthur I think I see a body down there." Lewis said with confusion. "Though I think we have to take the other route to see if that's the case." He added with a small shrug. Slowly, Lewis turned around, but by then, half of Arthur's body had turned green. His left eye glowing a bright shade of green as he smirked. "Arthur?" Lewis said with shock before what happened next, caused the man to cry out in his mind.

He had shoved Lewis into the pit. Lewis screamed, staring at his best friend with horror, shock, and betrayal was written in his purple eyes. Lewis, his expression will forever haunt him to this day. Lewis remembered he held out his non-possessed arm to reach out for his friend, trying to catch him. Wanting to grab him before it had fully been too late. Yet, he had been too late for Lewis's body had been impaled by the stalagmites.

A scream was heard below him, Vivi's voice had screamed out Lewi's name. As for the orange clad man, he screamed for two reasons. One, was the pain of loss for killing his best friend, his brother. The other, was when Mystery had rushed up to them, rushed up and charged at Arthur and ripped his possessed arm off. The ghost, at the time had only been able to fully control his arm and once Mystery had ripped his arm off, the ghost had left with it.

But, he heard something else this time. Something that hadn't been in the past… this, was not part of the memory.

"Oh poor Arthur. You got him out of the way yet you still won't get the girl? Is it because of you killing him or was it because you don't think you're good enough for her?" Said a voice, one that he should know but he just couldn't remember where. It was a voice that was around him, yet in his mind at the same time. No this couldn't be real! "Or, is it because even though her memories of him are gone, you think her heart still belongs to him?"

Laughter echoed in the cave, Arthur though didn't pay it much mind. All he could do was stare into the pit. Lewis's body was still there, blood seeping out of the holes created by the sharp stone. That, that was his best friend but damn it, he did this. "You should be thanking me. Thanking me for doing you this favour but the gift, the gift of her being free of him, you just won't take it!"

Tightly shutting his eyes, the tormented young man just couldn't do this. He couldn't keep watching this, he felt like he was going to be sick. Felt like his entire body was going to go into shock just because of everything that was happening. The loss, the pain, everything that was happening was just far too much and far too soon all in one nightmare. "Leave me alone, you've done enough!" shouted Arthur, not wanting to see this horrendous sight anymore.

"Oh but Arthur, I haven't nearly done enough yet. No matter what you do, or where you go I will find you and you will need me. You have much to offer yet it is still far too soon." The voice laughed, making Arthur shake in fear and terror, not sure if he should be afraid of this voice or if it was just the nightmare taking its toll on him. He tried to relax, tried to calm down, but no matter what he did his body wouldn't stop shaking.

"Soon Arthur, very soon you shall do as I need."

Before he knew it, Arthur felt something wrapping around him, a giant green hand as it went to crush him. Causing the scared man to scream.

Shooting up in bed, the young man screamed as he felt his body shaking and dripping in cold sweat. "Oh god that damn nightmare!" He curled up into a ball, or at least he attempted to. His knees raised to his chest, his elbow resting on his knee as he held his head. Breathing in and out a few times, Arthur hoped that he would be able to get back to sleep, though then again with the risk of that nightmare, he wasn't sure if he could do that… not yet.

Looking at the time, he saw that it was the middle of the night, maybe he could get Mystery to do a spell or something to help him sleep, but with no dreams or nightmares. Shaking his head, he was about to get out of bed, until a voice stopped him.

"Arthur…"

Note-this story I got from a comic I saw online, I take no credit in the characters or the comic idea that I got this from. Now, if you want to see the video that I first saw, look for 'We Stand Together' that was how I got the name, and the creator of the comic is charliemcarthy. Anywho, later.