Caffrin awoke to find that she and her friends had fallen into a dark chasm. A few unidentified figures and shapes were flying around here and there; some of them looked like people.
Harry, Robin, and Manny were lying on the floor, possibly unconscious.
Caffrin gasped. "...Guys?!"
She ran over to the three and shook Harry. He wasn't moving.
"C'mon, guys," A single tear rolled Caffrin's cheek. "Don't you die on me now! I made a Striped-Sweater Swear for you guys...Please...," she sobbed once...twice...three times. "Please wake up."
Harry's eyes slowly opened up; he had regained consciousness. "Wha...huh? Where are we...?"
Caffrin silently gasped, then started crying tears of joy and relief that her neighbors-friends-were still alive.
"I...I'm so sorry, guys," she sniffled as the others started to wake up, "I feel like this was all my fault for getting involved with all...this..."
Harry sighed and gave her a soft hug. "It's OK, Caffrin...If anything, I shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place."
Robin sat up and looked around. "Um, guys...where are we, exactly?"
A yellow confetti-like shape flew past Manny. "It kinda looks like a funhouse..."
"I suppose you could say that...," a dark voice bellowed. A dim light flickered on; yet there was nothing else but the four and the mysterious floating shapes. "Or should we say...a fearhouse?"
Caffrin clenched her fist angrily. "Alright, where are you?! We've had enough of you guys and your so-called 'lessons'! Leave us alone!"
"Silly outsider...we're not through with you all just yet..."
A spotlight turned on to reveal Tony the Talking Clock, carrying Notepad in his arm. "We have some unfinished business to take care of."
The three boys gasped. "Y-You?!"
"Well, well, well...we meet again, friends. And I see you've brought an outsider with you!"
Notepad pulled out some sort of pen from her spiral-bind. It was glowing a bright white color, making it look especially lethal. "We don't appreciate outsiders too well," she grinned widely, eyes glowing bright-red. "Especially those with uncreative shirts like that!"
Caffrin gasped. Nobody had ever insulted her prized green-striped sweater like that in all her life; it was enough to set her over the edge. "HEY. You can hurt my friends, you can insult me; but when you diss the sweater...," she stepped closer to Tony and Notepad; the ground almost shook with each step she took. "...YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED."
Tony chuckled. "We'll see about that..."
Notepad aimed the glowing pen at Caffrin. "Now, let's see what this pen can do!"
In an instant, a beam of light shot directly at Caffrin. Her hair darkened, her skin became pale, the green stripes on her sweater faded; slowly turning a dark shade of grey...
Notepad cackled as the beam slowly died down. "You see now, 'friend'? Without your precious sweater, you're weak and powerless. Nothing could stop us!"
Caffrin's vision turned monotone-almost colorblind-and she fell over in defeat.
Harry stepped closer to the fallen Caffrin. "C-Caffrin...no..."
-0-0-
It was as if her personality was drained out of her. All her energy had left her body, leaving almost nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Empty.
Almost like an open window had been shut. An empty, dark void.
Dark.
Grey.
She felt lifeless, like a broken promise that had been long forgotten.
Promise...Swear...Striped-Sweater Swear!
The stripes on Caffrin's sweater that were once dark and grey had suddenly jolted back to its true, bright-green color. She had been revived-her spirit had come back to life.
Caffrin stood up, and the sweater started to glow. A bright neon-green suddenly lit up the surrounding darkness.
"I made a Striped-Sweater Swear, mind you. That's a promise that must never be broken."
Tony stumbled back in surprise. "Th-that's not possible! You were-"
"I never wanted any of this to happen; you two caused nothing but trouble ever since you arrived, scaring these poor, innocent boys to death! But not anymore. This ends now."
The clock suddenly grinned. "I suppose you're right. Everyone's time must end soon enough..."
Suddenly, Harry, Robin, and Manny started rotting away; much like their first encounter with Tony. Their flesh began to melt off as maggots crawled all over them. They were bleeding. Screaming. Dying.
Caffrin watched in horror as they slowly rotted alive. She couldn't believe it...she couldn't allow this.
"Stop it! STOP IT!"
Tony chuckled. "I'm afraid that's not possible. Time never stops; it cannot be reversed."
Caffrin's eyes suddenly gave off a light-blue glow; her true power was to be unleashed. "Well then...
...Looks like it's TIME for ME to GET CREATIVE!"
She stuck out her hands and released a green light; a beam of energy aimed directly at Tony and Notepad.
The ground started to shake. The darkness around them had lit up. Tony screamed in pain as he had been torn to pieces. Notepad fell over, ripped up and motionless.
Harry, Robin, and Manny had stopped melting and reverted back to normal, and watched in awe as the green light faded out. It was nothing like they had seen before; and that was saying a lot.
Notepad and Tony had done their worst to them, and they were finally getting what they deserved.
After the energy beam died down, all that was left of Tony and Notepad's remains were gears, little shreds of paper and yarn...and Tony's yellow and red bowtie.
"What's done has been done," Caffrin panted, "But it's not completely done..."
"Well done, outsider...but there's one last thing you should all know of..."
A louder, deeper voice called out, and one more spotlight lit up.
There stood Manny's father, Roy, breathing heavily and motionless.