A/N: Thanks to Glowblades998, ChasexJinjaForever, monsuno power, monsuno lover, and gear25 for the reviews. (actually very relieved that people are interested considering this will be a change from what else I've written).
Chase's made up house here is based more on london houses, which are usually scrunched up together but are tall with more then one floor. (and my beta described a house she went to and I couldn't help but look up what they looked like). If anyone was curious since describing it was a bit hard.
Enjoy!
Even though their interaction was very brief, there was something that was strange about the man name Droog. He was quiet, but knowing, and had an air to him that could only be described as peculiar. Almost as if he knew more about monsuno then he was letting on, and was only really trying to help out of necessity rather then kindness (like most of their enemies). He seemed trustworthy enough at first, but now...
Chase stared ahead, already knowing that this wasn't like the times he saw Madea or Trey. There was clear recognition in Droog's eyes as he stared blankly back at Chase. He looked the same, clean suit and haircut, lips in a frown with an unreadable, hollow expression. Chase shivered.
Before Chase could blink, he was gone. Vanishing from view as an officer crossed his vision.
"Wha-"
"Chase!"
He gasped, then turned towards the entrance as a pair of arms wrapped around him. He instantly recognized the feeling, and relief wafted through him. Sophia let him go, taking his shoulders and looking him in the eye.
"Just what are you doing out of school young man!" she said sternly. He flinched at the mother tone she had, "You know better then to be out and about right now. And I heard you almost got ran over? And... What are you wearing?"
Chase blinked, trying to sort through her words. He looked down, unsure of what she meant. She let out a sigh at his silence.
"I suppose we can deal with it once your father gets home," she said, then started to head for the entrance. Chase followed along, glancing back where he had seen Droog. He had a feeling the strange man had something to do with the happenings in the city. At least his mother was still the same, even in appearance.
She thanked Trey on the way out (who gave another smile at the compliment), and the two climbed into the car. Chase felt around the interior, now wondering if this was some sort of hologram. He remembered his father had installed a safety switch since Beyal ended up having nightmares after the 'end of the monsuno' incident, which meant that maybe he just needed to find it or get a jolt to wake up. But seeing that he nearly got ran over and had a 'mild' panic attack at the sight of Eklipse-brand-everything, that small jolt probably wasn't going to work. He'd need something bigger...
"... Chase? You've been rather quiet," Sophia said as they crossed into a neighborhood, "Did... Something happen at school?"
"What? Um. No. Nothing at all," Chase said, trying to play into his role the best he could (if this was a simulation, sometimes the best thing to do was just go with it). Now that he thought about it, he never actually got to finish school. He left towards the end of sophomore year of high school, and even then he was too busy worrying about his father to care much about his studies. He was planning on going back, but with Jon asking him to stay in S.T.O.R.M., that was going to be unlikely. (and he wasn't about to try and catch up with a year and a half of school work).
"Well... Anyway," Sophia continued, "I guess you're probably feeling a bit tired, so you can sleep it off until dinner."
They drove through the small neighborhood until they came up to a small three story house. There was barely a yard, seeing that they were in the middle of the city, and enough room in the drive way for their single car. Chase climbed out slowly, gazing up at the place. He never actually stayed within a regular home in years, mostly staying with his aunt who he was convinced he wasn't really related to. Their home, a small apartment on the outskirts of the city that he and Jinja lived in, could hardly be considered a welcoming place, especially considering he was dropped off there by his father before disappearing. But this place. This was a true home.
"... Chase are you alright?"
He looked over, shaking his head. Sophia didn't look convinced, raised a concerned brow.
"I think you ought to go lie down," she said, then went inside. Chase followed after her, taking note of the pristine white paint on the door and outside walls as he was ushered into his home.
….
Chase was surprised that the inside was actually very familiar. But not in the jarring way of meeting Trey or Madea, but a comforting way. The walls had neatly placed photo frames, showing off the events throughout the years, even including family members that Chase never saw before. The living room area was what he could only describe as organized clutter, with the bookshelves brimming with a variety of old and new books. A sofa and a few chairs sat around an electronic fireplace as a large window looked out to the front. He walked past that and the staircase further down the hall.
Sophia was busying herself with a kettle, moving around the island in the middle of the kitchen towards the stovetop. Further was the dining table that had an outlook of the small backyard, which was a small garden, that was viewable through the large screen doors.
His mother hardly paid any attention to him, which was a bit surprising to him. He didn't let it bother him, and instead went up the staircase. He could feel how soft the carpet was through his socks, and sighed in relief. The second floor held a bathroom and bedroom. He could see more pictures, as well as some suits in the closet. This was probably his parents' bedroom. He continued up the stairs to the third floor.
The last floor was a single room. His room. Chase stood in the doorway, letting his eyes take in the place. It was a bit strange. He had never been here before, but it still felt familiar.
There was a large window that looked out towards the city, letting a soft glow inside. The white walls were covered in posters and photos that ranged from friends to random scenes to bands he had never heard of. A desk was in the corner, with what seemed like a variety of doodads and mechanical tools. He never thought of himself as a mechanic, but maybe it was different here (the scenarios his father came up with were rather strange sometimes). There were two doors towards the far side, one of which he saw was a hidden bathroom. His eyes landed on the inviting bed, and couldn't help but wonder how comfy it really was.
Without another word, Chase plopped down on the plush pillows with a sigh. The navy blue covers smelt like spring flowers, which he found surprisingly pleasant. He was somewhat convinced that this was real, but maybe that would change after a short nap. That could be the easiest way out after all ...
…..
"And remember. This mission is critical. It will be the first one your team goes out on since the incident with the Hand of Destiny."
"I know! I know! Don't worry about that Jon."
"We're being serious Chase. This might be something big- don't roll you're eyes at me."
"Im sorry! It's just that we've been through so much already. I doubt there's anything that could surprise us by now."
"Yeah. Don't sweat it Doc. We got our monsuno with us after all."
"See? We'll be fine!"
"…"
"What is it dad?"
"Chase. Can I talk to you alone for a second?"
"Sure. Hold on guys."
….
What can be discovered in a new path.
What can be missed from the old path.
…..
"Chase! Are you awake up there!"
He woke up, finding drool had now piled onto his pillow. Chase let out a yawn, cracking his back as he stretched out. Considering the amount of times he had to camp out, there was something about an actual bed that was ever so wonderful.
But he still found himself in the room from before.
He let out a sigh. This wasn't a dream. Which meant...
"Chase!"
"Y-yeah! I'm coming!" he shouted, and ran downstairs. Sophia was in the kitchen, and peeked out when she heard him.
"Your friends are at the door," she said. Chase perked up. Did she mean-
He ran to the door, shoving his boots on as fast as he could. He jerked the door open, a smile quickly spread across his face at the familiar pair.
"There you are! Where have you been?" Bren asked. Chase ran out and practically hopped the fence.
"Jin! Bren!" he exclaimed. Chase felt a rush of excitement from seeing two familiar faces. The two he could count on the most. Finally, he could get some real answers and they could get out of here!
"So? Where were you" Jinja said immediately, a hand on her hip.
"You have no idea," he sighed, then stood up straighter. It was only then that he noticed the slight differences in the two that suddenly made him unsure about this.
"Woah. Nice duds," Bren said, "I bet you just left school to go shopping right? I should've guessed by your message earlier."
Chase raised a brow, then looked down at himself. He couldn't understand why people were pointing out his appearance until he saw what the other two were wearing. Bren was wearing a pair of black slacks, a white button up and blue blazer with white trim along the edges. Jinja wore the same, except she was wearing a black skirt (something that was making Chase extremely uncomfortable with seeing). A logo of a school was embellished on the top breast pocket of the jackets. It only took Chase a second to recognize it as the Core Tech logo.
"... Well?" Jinja said.
"Well what?" Chase said faintly.
She rolled her eyes, "Well, what have you been doing all day? You never showed up to class today, and you never skip."
"Um... Except that I do?" Chase said, raising a brow. He and Jinja had gone to the same school, which was why he was able to convince her to come with him so easily to find his father. That and she knew that he wasn't the best student. Wait. Why was even trying to reason this? He shook his head.
"That's not important," he said, "Where are my monsuno? I couldn't find them earlier when I woke up in the park. And Madea and Trey were. Well. Normal. And what's with Eklipse symbols everywhere? Did he give up on the monsuno game? Or that just part of the simulation?"
Both Jinja and Bren gave him extremely confused looks. Bren cleared his throat.
"You woke up in a park?" he said, "Did you hit your head or something?"
Chase's shoulders sagged, "No. I... Just give me my monsuno. Something weird is going on here and we need to get to the bottom of things-"
"Chase slow down! You're not making any sense. What are 'monsuno'?"
He slowly looked at the two, seeing honesty and concern in both of their faces (though at this point it was starting to turn into panic). He threw his hands into his hair, ruffling it in frustration. What the crag was going on! His dad wouldn't have programed these two in. Right?
"How could you guys have forgotten? Don't you remember the work that my father had done? Or even what we had gone through in the past year? Bren. Don't you remember Quickforce?"
Bren gave him a look, "If you're talking about the program I made in class. Yes I do remember it," he said, then folded his arms with a huff, "It took a while to debug it after Oliver decided to mess with it."
"Chase are you feeling okay? You wanna go lie down?" Jinja asked, trying to feel his forehead. He batted her hand away. Okay. So his two childhood friends had no recollection of the monsuno. So he'd just have to find someone else.
He took a looong breath. If these two didn't know about monsuno, then there had to be someone here that knew about it. That was the whole point of the simulations his father made. It wasn't even possible to wipe them from the programs. Whatever. He just needed to find someone else who would have a better idea.
"How about we just go find Beyal and Dax. I'm sure that they have my monsuno," he said, then started to head for the sidewalk. He quickly realized they weren't following, and turned around. The two of them looked at each other.
"Chase... Who are you talking about?"
Chase stood there, looking between the two. Now their expressions seemed to be completely concerned. But that wasn't what bothered him.
How could they forget?
"… Well? Who's Beyal and Dax?" Jinja asked.
"Don't tell me you found new friends," Bren joked.
Chase stood there, shell shocked. He felt himself holding his breath, and had to steady himself to try not to worry the other two. But how could he? How could they...?
"... Chase? Are you okay?" Jinja asked, "Seriously though. Who are you talking about?"
"I already said that it was his new friends he made," Bren sighed sarcastically, "I swear it was like you were leading a secret life without us or something."
He looked back and forth between the two, trying to gauge if they were pulling a fast one on him. But they weren't. Why would they? If this was a joke, then obviously someone would've said something before he nearly turned into a pancake earlier by a car. He quickly blinked a few times, trying to calm down.
"Y-yeah! Ha ha! a good joke right?" Chase said, scratching the back of his head with a laugh, "Anyway. I guess you guys ought to catch me up on the homework right?"
"That's true," Jinja said, putting a finger to her lip in thought, "I think this is the first time someone else has to give you help."
"First time for everything I suppose," Bren said, "Speaking of which! I say we go down to the new burger stand down the road! All this excitement got me hungry!"
"Except you're always hungry Bren," Jinja sighed, then followed him down the street. Chase tailed behind them, his smile slowly fading as his thoughts traveled elsewhere.
Okay. So apparently he had come into some sort of hologram where no one had any idea what monsuno were, even Bren and Jinja. It was almost as if monsuno hadn't even existed-
He stopped. Letting Bren and Jinja walk ahead.
Of course. That was the answer! That explained why he had a normal life, and why everything else was so different. Everyone he ever knew had been affected by monsuno, and of course would lead different lives if they never were. Wait. Did that mean monsuno essence was never a thing? Then what about the huge tremors that had gone through a few hours ago? And why would anyone want him to go through something like this?...
"... Chase?"
He shook his head, "Coming!"
He followed along behind, knowing that if he acted too weird, then that might send off the wrong type of messages. And he didn't want those two to worry, even if they technically weren't Bren and Jinja. Still, he needed to find out where the way out of this hologram was. Only then could he get to the bottom of things of why he was even there.
But... Where to start?
He stopped, biting his thumb in thought. If Droog was here, then it had to probably do with him. And if Jinja and Bren couldn't remember anything about monsuno, then they were probably part of the program. In which case, there was a good chance he was there on his own...
He shuddered. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck somewhere without monsuno and his friends (with Droog of all people). He shook his head. That didn't matter. If he needed to track down that creep, he would, if only to find the way out of this weird hologram-dream.
…..
The afternoon was beyond normal. It was extra normal, and that was something that was making Chase on edge even more then the thought of being tracked down by S.T.O.R.M. for the past few years.
After they left his 'house', Jinja and Bren brought him down to the small hole in the wall burger place. It was small, with the faint sound of pop music playing in the background. With all the excitement, Chase failed to realize just how hungry he was. Without hesitating he went ahead and order almost one of everything, failing to remember that he didn't have any money. But if there was one thing that hadn't changed, was Jinja's ability to cover for him.
"Is this the new single that just came out?" Bren said, helping himself to another burger.
"Probably. I heard this band is coming to the city soon. We ought to get tickets," Jinja said, grimacing as she got to the end of the receipt in her hands. She looked back up at them with sigh, "You really ought to pace yourselves. The last thing you need is to throw up again Bren."
"What? What's wrong with trying to pack in a few pounds?" he said, holding his hands up. Jinja immediately smirked.
"Oh I don't know. I'm sure your little pen pal Jun would say otherwise," she said. Bren started choking on his drink.
"Y-you keep her out of this!" he stuttered. Chase couldn't help but laugh. Even as a simulation, he had to admit they were still the same. Jinja noticed his laugh, and he expression got serious again.
"… Seriously though. You never eat this much," she said, side-eyeing both him and Bren.
"I dunno, Jinja. I would say that's not a bad thing at all," Bren said, eagerly shoving a handful of fries into his mouth. Chase watched the pair, nibbling on a burger as he watched them. He had to admit, there was just something off about the two of them. And as much as Chase kept telling himself this was a hologram, there was something unsettling about how similar they were (his father never could program any of them into the computer right).
For one thing, they were exactly the same as he remembered, down to how he and Jinja interacted in school before leaving. That was something his father could never know.
Chase caught Jinja's eye for the fifth time, who immediately looked to the side.
"... What is it Jin?" he asked, balling up a wrapper and throwing it on the ever growing pile.
"It's. It's nothing," she said, then shifted in her seat, "... Actually. What's up with you? Since when do you eat everything on a menu? The last time I checked you were on a diet."
Chase raised a brow before letting out a snort, "The last time I heard 'diet' was when my dad tried going on protein shakes for his job. This is pretty normal."
Jinja frowned. She was looking at him with a suspicious look, and he couldn't help but shift in his seat. Bren looked back and forth between them. He cleared his throat.
"H-hey! Um. Why don't we go to my house!" he squeaked, "I bet my program is finally up and running. Plus I can show you my new chess set for the tournament this week-"
Chase got up, unable to deal with that stare.
"No thanks. I think I'll head home," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He gave them a wave and walked right out the door. He turned the corner, and immediately hid behind the corner. A few minutes later, Jinja and Bren walked outside.
"-Seriously though. There's something wrong with him," Jinja said.
"I'll admit he's never done something like this," Bren said with a sigh, "But I'm sure he's just having a rough day. You know that his dad's finally coming home today from that business trip. He gets weird when that happens."
Chase inhaled sharply. His dad! Of course! Why didn't he think about it sooner! Of all the people who's still remember monsuno it'd have to be him! He had to know how to get out of here.
"-he better show up to school tomorrow. The last thing we need is to bring up another excuse."
Chase waited for the two of them to leave, trying to calm his nerves as he did. Best case scenario, he would go home, find out where his dad was, and then find out why he was there. And more importantly, find out what Droog is up to-
Suddenly, the wall he was leaning against started to shake. At first he thought he slipped and was falling, but he found that the whole ground was shaking. It was another earthquake.
It was over within a few seconds, and left him looking around. This was obviously a side effect of some sort (maybe it was a bug?). He shook his head, walking back up the street to his 'house.'
Along the way, he couldn't help but try and remember what he was doing prior to waking up in the park. There were voices, and... They were going after someone... He must've gotten separated, since Bren and Jinja weren't the real ones (unless something happened to them). But... Who were they going after?
He shook his head. He really needed to get to the bottom of this. If he got separated from the others, then there was a good chance they were still running around trying to find whoever they were going after. Or they were running around somewhere in the city looking for him.
...
"Chase? Is that you?"
He shut the door behind him. Slipping his boots off with a sigh. Immediately he noticed the extra pair of shoes. That could only mean-
"Chase? Are you there?"
"Y-yeah! I'm coming," he said, running into the kitchen. He stopped as soon as he got through the doorway.
One of the things he often carried with him was an old photograph that depicted him and his family when he was a baby. Before everything monsuno started problems. It was also the only time that he had seen his father in a suit before now.
To say the least, it at least looked good. Just... Not what he was expecting.
For one thing, Jeredy's ruffled locks were now clean cut, obviously needing to be for whatever job he needed a suit for. He was sitting there at the table hardly paying any attention to the other two, a paper in between his hands. This sure was a sight that Chase never thought he'd get to see.
Jeredy noticed him staring from the doorway and raised a brow.
"Is there something you wanted Chase?"
Numbly, he shook his head. He tried to tell himself that this was his father, and that he needed to say something. But it seemed like he lost his voice. Both his parents looked at him as if he were the odd one out, until Jeredy finally let out a sigh, ruffling the paper in his hands.
"Well then stop standing there and come to the table. Your mother prepared dinner, and you have school in the morning."
A/N: Review Review Review!
