"What did you just do?" Asked Hope, his eyes frantically turning green to provide a light source for the hyperventilating students and teacher. "I... uh..." All eyes were on Dash as he searched for an excuse. "I leaned against the handle and it opened. Hope didn't directly say Dash was lying, but then again, "You're just lucky Truth isn't your guide right now..." Hope muttered darkly. "But, I'm not lost!" (Ba-dum-tss) He looked up. "We're going to have to take a longer, deeper trek through Danny's brain than planned, unfortunately." Hope looked around at the students. "You might see some smaller but more powerful emotions along the way though. In fact, we'll definitely see them. But they're somewhere, deep in everyone's mind, so there is no need to worry." Hope sounded almost too confident, but it was their last shot. *I would've said last hope, but...*
The students leaned against the wall the next door was on. This door was metal and painted grey-purple. Some people could even hear faint noises coming from the room. "This is scary!" A student sniffed and looked to the floor. "W-what if we don't get out?" Another asked. Sam spoke for one of the only times on this small trip. "Guys- think about it. We're in a 15-year-old's hypothetical mind-scape. Pull. Yourselves. Together! Okay?" She almost bowed, but just refrained. Sam thought she heard a few whimpers of, 'Well, he's your boyfriend, so of course you know...' But she couldn't've cared less at that point. "Who's behind this door, Hope?" Mr Lancer asked, exasperated. Hope squirmed sheepishly. "Paranoia. Just be quiet, guys, okay?" Hope replied. Danny was paranoid? Of what? Maybe this kid's accident caused some serious mental... no. He was always fine in the classroom, not counting the frequent bathroom breaks...
Hope whispered into the keyhole. "Hey, Pari, we're just passing through, okay?" A gasp and a few whimpers could be heard on the other side before the door opened and Danny's classmates saw something kinda terrible.
It was an almost perfect clone of Danny- the only differences were his white hair that put snow to shame, and his all-grey colour scheme. He also wasn't wearing a backpack, but nothing else could be found in the padded room except for a small, ripped note with handwriting on it. The concerned teacher picked it up and gasped, causing Pari to tremble in the corner. Sam, Tucker and Hope rushed over while the others read the cryptic messages.
'They'll find out' 'You can't save everyone' 'He'll return' 'You'll be found' 'They won't accept it' 'They can't know' 'They already know know now nownownonononono' were some of the startling messages found handwritten on the burned, tearing paper. 'What in The Enchanted Forest is this?" He muttered. Even the jocks, the bullies, were starting to feel a little sick. While everyone was occupied, Dash crept up to the cowering figure. He'd be so easy to shove into a lock- no. Dash stopped that thought, kneeling down. "Did I do this?" He asked with an expression of genuine worry, much to the immediate shock of Hope, Tucker and Sam. Pari stopped short and looked up with those dark blue-grey eyes. "N-not all of it." He quietly spoke. Dash could've sworn there was an echo to that voice. "How much?" The emotion shrugged. He stood up and pursed his lips, only trembling a little bit.
A quiet but loud, echoey voice could be heard over the confusion. Paranoia was finally speaking? Even Hope and Faith lost faith and hope that would ever happen. "I-if you need the door," Yes, there was definitely a certain ghostly reverb to his voice, to an extent Sam and Tucker were worried about the secret. He was the only one with white hair... "It's the zipper up there." Huh. Pari sat down, pleased. The tallest kids in the class could just reach the zipper and tugged. It wasn't over; there was also a ladder to climb. After some goodbyes, Hope, Mr Lancer, and the class climbed the ladder. The princessy ones had stopped complaining an hour ago. As the class found themselves nearing the next door which was plastered with 'KEEP OUT' signs, Mr Lancer thought of something. "Hope?" He asked as the child turned his head is Lancer's direction. "Why didn't Paranoia have a backpack?" Hope grew tense.
"We were just inside it." Hope answered glumly.
Instead of letting the next emotion know they were coming, while Lancer realised the truth about the 'small padded room' they were just in, Hope burst through the door. There in the middle of the room, reading, was an exact replica of Danny. In an exact replica of Danny's room. The cupboard in the corner, the bed, the door positions, all perfect. The only slightly off thing was something about his eyes. Danny, or rather, Secrecy, looked up from the book he was reading. He walked closer and simply said, "Hi." After a few confused moments, Secrecy smiled. "Hey, Hope, Sam, Tuck. Nice to see you all again." This was so... normal. Tucker was about to reply, when the room lit up a fiery turquoise. His eyes.
Secrecy's eyes were littered with flaming green streaks, including on the iris and pupil. And they were glowing. Secrecy bit his lip and turned around to face the wall. "Nothing's wrong with my eyes. Why would you say that? I-I'm not being secretive! Just normal, blue eyes. Yup!" The room stopped glowing. With a resigned sigh, Secrecy returned to his comic book, eyes now river blue. "The door's in the closet.." He mumbled, flicking through pages. A few stragglers could've sworn that Secrecy started floating after they'd gone through the closet, but there were more important doors to open ahead. Literally. At the end of the hallway the closet lead into, was a grand, tall door. It was labelled, "Hero Complex" and coloured in sparkling black, white and green.
Even Dash knew that whatever type of freak Fen-turd was, it wasn't a superhero. "How does he even have a hero complex when he barely knows what it means?" Laughed someone in the crowd. "You should all find out soon, unfortunately." Hope looked off into the distance vaguely, then seemed to remember something. "Stay here! Don't open the door until I'm back." He warned, phasing through the door. Sam and Tucker shared looks and most of the class were confused. "What did that Hope dope just do?" Asked Dash to nobody in general.
This Danny was shirtless, not counting the cape on his bare back. He was very fit with visible muscles and even a six-pack, though something seemed off. His stomach, shoulders and upper body, even his lower neck, were covered in the sort of scars you'd see on a war veteran of twenty years. He was looking to the side with turquoise eyes, distracted by seemingly nothing. He turned to the group and beamed. "Hello, classmates. It is I, Danny Pha... enton!" He had a strong, unsurprisingly heroic tone to his voice and he stepped forward. A few smaller students stepped back, somehow intimidated by his presence. They didn't even realise how cold the temperature had dropped to in this room or the fact that green stars were floating throughout the room. "Are you scared of something?" He asked quickly, scanning the area. He started to float but was stopped by... Himself? He shook his head. "Any questions?" He asked while somebody asked a question. "Why do you have so many scars? And why aren't you skinny like Danny?" Someone asked from the back.
"To answer your second question," The version of Danny immediately replied. "Some things go unnoticed under baggy clothing." "Cool, but, like, what about the first one?" The purple aura around this floating hero faded slightly. "Well, um... there are a few things in here that differentiate from the true Danny, like eye colour and hair colour and such..." He stopped and looked towards Tuck and Sam. "But don't worry about that right now. Right now, we have to visit Mischief, am I not correct?" Everyone turned to Hope, who now nodded happily. "Well, I can come along to protect you from a few minor threats until you reach the memory bank." He finished. "Mischief can be... quite a prankster, so just be warned." He added as a doorway melted into green ectoplasmic goop that most people mistook for slime. The atmosphere immediately grew warm and light as the group emerged, no longer subconsciously shivering.
What an interesting room it was.
