The Whammy Chronicles
10 Days of Hell
[Mello, Near, Matt, Linda, Watari, Roger and L are all characters created by Tsugumi Ohba, as are the places involved.
Day 2: Part 1
Mello crawled out of his bed the next morning with horrible bags under his eyes, looking extremely pale, and yawning every five seconds.
If he was a little taller, with black hair, people would have a lot of trouble distinguishing him from his idol, L, and whilst normally this would be a good thing, today Mello wasn't in the mood for any kind of worship…
Today was the day; he was going to a chocolate factory.
And he wasn't allowed to eat anything.
With his sugar level the lowest it'd been since birth, he dragged himself into the kitchen, noting how various kids his age were chattering happily, apparently not being able to contain themselves from the two days of fieldtrips that were about to occur.
Truth be told, the only comfort Mello had was the thought of Near, the next day, struggling just as much as he was.
Currently, it seemed as if Near was unusually calm as he sat at the breakfast table, holding the spoon lightly and acknowledged Mello with a brief "Hello" without even looking at him.
Matt appeared a few moments later, carrying a large bag and promising to collect as much free samples as he could (the word "free" hadn't crossed Mello's mind), and now caused Mello to struggle to keep back his tears.
Breakfast today was, once again, cereal and milk, and despite how tired he was the chocolate loving freak vowed to keep it all down, but unfortunately only got through half before he was coughing and spluttering, swearing madly at the plain meal and then at Near for patting him on the back, and then at Matt for just standing there.
It was clear Mello was in a foul mood, and that's why when L came downstairs (wearing his typical white shirt and blue trousers) and ordered everyone onto the coach, you could just make out behind the happy children a dark aura of blonde hair, and a sugar deprived rage forming into, in Near and L's mind, a storm.
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On the coach, Near sat by himself (as he was used to), but Matt and Mello once again sat side by side, the former shifting nervously and fumbling with a small box before pulling out his DS and playing a quick game.
Mello, however, was still in his foul mood and made a comment to shout at the bus driver every time he went over a bump he found unnecessarily hard.
"HEY! This is a bus, not a monster truck!"
"Mello. Sit down." Said Roger, but a growl and a blast of fire (so commented several kids) soon silenced him, and the bus continued to its destination.
Near, however, was passing the time by (as always) playing some sort of mind game with himself. At this exact moment, he counted the cars around him, the speed the coach was travelling, and then tried to estimate exactly how long till he arrived at the Chocolate Factory, and then did the same for the surrounding cars, based on the peoples physical descriptions inside.
Then he instead twisted his hair and sighed, apparently loud enough for L's attention to focus on him, as soon the great detective was crouched down beside him, and asked;
"How goes… everything?"
"I have deduced that my focus is decreasing due to my minds obsessive nature with the toys and games I used to play with, and such I find it will be a matter of days before I crack and attempt to take them back. In fact, it's at least 67 percent likely. The other 33 percent is me and Mello putting aside our differences and assisting each other and, dare I say it, apologising."
L, biting his thumb, thought on this for a second and then pointed out; "What about at the toy store tomorrow?"
Near didn't look at his mentor, and continued; "I feel a strong sense that I will be able to restrain myself, Mello may take the day in his stride and try and trick me into playing with something, which will distract him for the day at least."
"Even if it means that you both don't get to become my successors?" L asked, surprised- but Near added;
"Yes. Mello wants to win, and more importantly he wants to beat me. He will try and tempt me."
L nodded, realising at that point how little he knew about the two boys, but carried on as normal and instead glanced around at the other potentials.
One boy, he knew as Sam, had the odd habit of wearing headphones all the time (whether or not he was listening to music was unknown), and another, known as Julian, never seemed to blink and absolutely adored television.
Then there were the girls, Rebecca was a smart one, always reading something and then repeating it back to the others later (although it sometimes got mixed up with fiction, especially during exams) and then there was Kelly, but she was more into boys than anything else…
Linda and Matt were two he had considered alongside Mello and Near to be his successors, but Linda seemed to want the more quiet life and Matt was easily distracted…
He heard the sound of something dying, and then a shout of; "GOD DAMN!" before a smash, and two batteries rolled under the seats towards the front of the bus.
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Soon enough, in fact Mello spotted it before anyone else, there was a distinct smell in the air, and then as they rounded a corner they came across the chocolate factory, with large walls and massive funnels pumping into the air (Near commented how it was bad for the environment, but Mello had woken up and was now seemingly revitalised by the air), and as the bus pulled to a stop L got to his feat and assigned each two people into a pair, finally stopping at the final four…
"Lessee… Matt and Linda as one pair and Mello and Near as the other. Ok! Everyone off the bus and Roger will lead you in."
Cursing, Mello stood at Near's side and the two walked off the bus together, and whilst Mello was anxious, frustrated, and hungry, he didn't let that stop him asking Near; "How goes it with all the toys? Cracked yet?"
"Fortunately not. But I'm more concerned about you and this factory, you are incredibly pale… You know, chocolate isn't the only thing with sugar and caffeine, you could get something else with sugar, and maybe drink coffee-."
Mello was offended, clearly because he had prodded Near in the chest and snapped; "And cheat on my beloved? Never! I'd rather die."
Near sighed, curled his hair once more, and felt the shade pass over him as they finally entered the large factory, and sure enough Mello nearly collapsed, the smell overpowering him so much…
It took him a moment to realise he was chewing, and then realised it was his tongue and the air was his nourishment, but he paid it no mind and, grabbing Near's arm, dragged them after Roger and L who were following a tour guide.
Mello was pleased to see that L looked extremely bored.
"All right kids!" Cried the tour guide suddenly; "How many of you… LOVE chocolate?"
Mello shot his hand into the air without even thinking, having grown accustomed to the habit, and was shocked when the man offered him a free sample of the latest, chewiest, experimental bar, and as his eyes widened at the black substance before him he was about to take it when Near shot out his own hand and shoved the chewy bar down his throat, his eyes widening for the second time in three days as the sugary sensation hit him.
As the man shrugged and walked away, continuing the tour, Mello grabbed Near and, when L and Roger were around the corner, snapped; "WHAT THE HELL!?"
"If I have to, I will eat every bar you lay your eyes on." Snapped Near, apparently still feeling the sugar make its way through his fragile body, and his arm jerked suddenly and he continued; "Please understand, I don't want either of us to lose."
"…This is a game for you, isn't it?"
Near smiled.
"It was this, or try one of Matt's cigarettes."
The two boys stared at each other, and then Mello grinned, apparently life flowing back into his cheeks as his other favourite past time suddenly came to life.
"I'm not gonna fail again, Near, you're gonna lose this time!"
And as the two boys ran back after the tour group, Near smiled in his head, realising his plan was now a success and, hopefully, Mello would keep his hands to himself, and away from the poor innocent candy.
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"Hey kids! Do you know what time it is?"
"Home time?" Muttered Matt, playing his PSP and cursing as Linda nudged him sharply.
"It's time for two of you to read the Chocolate Rollercoaster!" And with a dramatic shout, he indicated at the large twirling rollercoaster tracks and two-seater cart that extended around most of the factory, and with a grin he started pretending to look through the kids to find the perfect riders.
L glanced at Roger, and then at the tour guide, and asked;
"Say what? This is a chocolate factory!"
The tour guide continued to smile his goofy grin, and then added; "Yes. In order to make it more fun, we made a chocolate rollercoaster for two special kids to ride on in the tour group; apparently it adds replay value and gives us more business. Anyway, I choose… THOSE two at the back."
He pointed at the end where the two boys had just re-attached themselves to the group, and as he asked L for there names Mello put his hands in his face and wept for a second, muttering how it wasn't fair.
"Mello and Near! You get the first ride on the chocolate rollercoaster!"
"Off… course we do." Cursed the blonde haired orphan, putting his hands in his pockets and leading the way up to the top once again with Near, listening to the man explain; "There is a loop the loop, a corkscrew, and even a chocolate waterfall you must pass under! Have fun kids!"
Near glanced at his white clothes, then twirled his hair, and glanced at L and then at Mello, who instead dragged the pale kid into the cart and snapped as the large metal restraints went around there bodies;
"Hey Mello?" Near suddenly asked, glancing at the boy beside him, his expression un-readable.
"Yeah, what is it?" Came the reply, his face white with fear as he noticed how high they had to go.
"Are you seriously not a girl?"
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Authors Note: A rollercoaster in a chocolate factory? Dont ask me, I just write this thing.
