Mordecai sat there. Alone. He felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Or something close to it.
In his bedroom, he sat up in his bed, back against the wall, facing the side Rigby used to live on. Except Rigby was gone now. In one day he managed to not only kill his brother, but his girlfriend and half the city police force. And the worst part is that Mordecai let him get away.
He was holding the crown in his hands. It felt... warm in his hands. It was his only real friend now. The others in the park tried to cast him out yesterday. The only thing he felt secure with was the crown in his hands.
Suddenly, it started snowing. Not outside, the snow was in his room. It was a simple light snow fall, but it was still snowing. Mordecai held out his arm to feel the snow and see if it was really there or it was some delusion. But when the snow landed on his arm, it was warm to the touch. The white flakes didn't melt on his arm either, they simply stuck to him.
Though he didn't know why, he felt a bit of glee for this. Almost like how you feel waking up Christmas morning, knowing there's something wonderful in store. But to him, this light snow was more wonderful than anything he come across before! He almost started to laugh as he stood up and started to spin. He was in his own winter wonderland. Oh it was absolutely spectacular!
It started to snow heavier now. Until only thick lumps of snow rained down. Mordecai had no idea where the snow came from, nor did he care! He was having the time of his life!
The snow continued to the point where there was a foot of snow on the ground. It showed no signs of stopping! The snow wrapping itself around Mordecai, oh it was fantastic!
Until Mordecai caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. He turned to it. It was him, yet it wasn't him. The reflection was his own, but all Mordecai saw in it was Simon. That deranged bastard was the only thing Mordecai saw there.
He snapped to. The snow was still falling. His ears were ringing and his head felt like it was going to explode. He needed something. And fast!
Mordecai ran over to the dresser and took out his canteen of Gin. He took a quick sip of the alcohol. Nothing. He felt absolutely nothing. He tried again, this time with a large gulp. Still nothing. Mordecai held the canteen upward as he started chugging the canteen. He didn't stop until every ounce of alcohol was gone.
Mordecai turned around. Nothing. There was nothing. No snow, no ice. Just his room the way it was left before.
His headache didn't go away though. The pain was mostly on the back of his head. When he placed his hand there, he felt something he wasn't expecting. Hair. Not feathers, human hair was starting to grow on top and on the back of his head, growing through his feathers. "No no no, no this can't be! I-I can't be growing hair!" But why not? He was already growing a beard, why not some hair to go with it? It would look good on him. Wouldn't it, Simon?
Mordecai sat back on his bed. Alone. With only his own thoughts and the crown in his hands, doing things to Mordecai he could not possibly imagine.
Benson lay alone on the roof of the Park house, his eyes bloodshot and his mind foggy. He lay there cradling Pops's Sniper Rifle in his arms.
He agreed to take watch last night. Benson missed the entire ice cream party, but that was all right. He didn't mind. Pops would later bring him up his own bowl of ice cream, which was alright in Benson's mind. The bowl now lay along side him, the once frozen vanilla ice cream now a liquid soup.
Benson volunteered himself to be on watch. He had to be the one to do it, it was his duty after all. That was his whole being: to put everyone's needs above his own. It was the least he could do to make up for... well... Benson really didn't want to dive back into those thoughts right now.
But they crept in anyway. The memories, the horrors, slowly creeping their way back into Benson's mind. He tried to block them out but they came back much more fiercely now. It blotted out all other thoughts, he could only think of what had happened.
Benson heard their screams, heard their chants, heard the distorted fire of their weapons, heard the powerful roar of the fireball as a symphony of panic and chaos surrounded every turn. He felt the blow of his rifle on his shoulder. Felt the panic and the dumbfounded confusion around him. He saw them. All of them. Swarming every degree, every angle. All he saw, all he felt! Their cries for help burning their unforgettable smolder in Benson's memories forever more.
He couldn't take it anymore! Benson snapped himself out of sleep to full awakeness. There he was. Still laying on the roof. A sniper's arm cradled in the care of a shamed soldier. Benson let out an exhausted sigh. It was one of relief yet one of let-down. Relief for still being away from there, away from his memories, away from his past. Yet frustration that what had happened had indeed been reality at some point. All those years ago...
Benson was sitting upright now. He was on the back edge of the roof, facing away from the front of the house. It was day out. It had to be. He could see clearly, but the sun was absent in the sky. When he looked up, all he could see were gray clouds filling the sky above.
*knock knock knock* "Benson!"
The loud knocking took Benson by surprise. The voice was very, very familiar. He couldn't tell who exactly said it but the voice itself seemed to already put knots in his stomach.
Benson lay the sniper on the roof as he ran to the other edge of the roof. In front of the house were three cars. One of the cars was a van, the other two were jeeps. The worst part of them was the logo on the side of all three vehicles. It was a green tree in a yellow circle against a black background. It was the dreaded logo of the rival park, East Pines. Which meant the knocking could only be one person...
*knock knock knock* "Benson!"
Benson jumped down onto the porch roof and climbed through Mordecai's bedroom window. When he came downstairs, everyone was alert and worried. They were all standing around in the living room, waiting for Benson's next actions. Benson kept his face calm and collective. On the inside he was worried, but he couldn't show it on the outside. He couldn't scare the others.
Muscle Man came out of the kitchen, shotgun in hand. Benson gave him a nod of disapproval. He then motioned his head for him to put it back. Muscle Man, though he didn't like it, put his gun back in the kitchen.
When Benson opened the door, he wasn't surprised by who was there. Before him stood Gene, the snack machine who was the manager of their rival park. Alongside him stood four of his employees, all sporting their olive drab uniforms and Mac-10 machine guns at their hips. Their was a sixth person on the porch. He was standing behind the others, but Benson could only make out the red hoodie he was wearing.
"Benson! Nice to see an old friend isn't it?" Gene said in a friendly, welcoming manner. He spoke as though they'd been friends for years, even they tried to kill each other several times over.
Benson was a little confused now, but he still kept his guard up. "Gene? What are you-?"
Before he could finish, the man behind Gene stepped forward. He was a white ostrich wearing a red hoodie and a pair of glasses. There were bloodstains covering his hoodie. Benson remembered who this was, he once tried to replace Mordecai at the park. It was Jeremy.
Jeremy looked past Benson directly at Thomas. Thomas immediately backed away in fear. It couldn't be him! "That's him!" Jeremy exclaimed as he pointed at the terrified goat.
"Well boys, what are you waiting for? ...Grab him." Gene said calmly to his other employees. At once they stepped past Gene. They knocked Benson out of the way and made their way towards Thomas. Pops backed away terrified unsure what to do. Muscle Man managed to land a punch on one of them but was halted when the same man raised his machine gun to Muscle Man. The others managed to put up the same resistance before guns were drawn on them as well. Mordecai only stepped to the side. The armed men grabbed Thomas as they made their way outside. The entire ordeal lasted only seconds.
Benson picked himself off of the ground and ran after them. The others slowly followed suit.
"WAIT!" Benson screamed to the group. They were halfway between the house and their vehicles. Gene stopped in his tracks and turned to Benson. His henchmen did the same. Jeremy motioned to keep walking but Gene left him ignored.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Benson stammered as he walked towards them. Thomas was being held by his arms by two of the men. He tried to struggle out of their grips but it was pointless.
Gene said with a grin, "Well since you ask, I'm arresting him for a start. What happens next depends on the verdict."
"You can't arrest him!" Benson said.
"Oh, but of course I can," Gene said laughing, "Didn't you hear? The mayor shot himself in his office yesterday. Not only that, but the sheriff along with half of the police force were killed by, hehe, someone I think you're quite familiar with..."
"So what does tha-"
Gene cut him off, "It means that following martial law, since I am in the Army Reserves and also on the city council, I am now the stand-in mayor!"
Benson shook his head before saying, "Son of a-"
Gene stopped him, "Ah-ah-ah. If I were you Benson, I'd watch your tone. You don't want things to get out of hand do you?" Gene's grin only grew larger. He had Benson by the balls at this point. He was in charge. The very thought of that filling even more with a power-hungry glee.
Benson was going speak but stopped himself. What he would've said next would probably end up killing Thomas. He calmed himself before saying, "What are the charges?"
"Yesterday, your boy killed one of my employees in the street. He outright shot him point blank, no reason whatsoever."
"That's not what happened!" Thomas screamed from behind as he struggled to free himself. In response, Jeremy punched him in the gut to shut him up. Thomas hunched forward as he stopped struggling.
Gene let what happened go unnoticed, "It's a real shame though, he was one of my favorites. Well now we're going to put this boy on trial as part of my first act as mayor. I can't imagine things turning out well." Gene made sure those last words stuck with Benson. He was enjoying every second of this.
Benson walked towards him, pleading in a calm, yet worried whispered tone, "It was a rough day yesterday, heat of the moment, things happened. Everyone was in panic, you can't blame him. Come on Gene, what are you going to gain from this? Killing a boy on the first day? He's still a kid Gene. Just rethink this, please."
Jeremy shook his head, "You can't let this guy go."
All eyes fell on Gene. In the end the decision was his. He had his rival in a situational chokehold. He had his employee unable to do anything without his approval. He was in charge, everything was his. He was exactly where he wanted to be. The idea of this was too great for him. Gene had short fit of laughter. It confused everyone there, including Gene's own henchmen.
Finally Gene made up his mind as he calmed himself and said, "I don't like to make enemies the first day. And you're right, things happened, most without control. So... Alright, fine, let him go!"
The park crew let out a short cheer of relief. The guards let go as Thomas ran back to the group. Jeremy only gave a frustrated and angry expression at what had just occurred. Jeremy turned to his boss before quietly pleading, "Gene, this guy killed Chad! You can't just-"
Gene cut him off, "Remember what I taught you Jeremy: patience is a virtue. All good things come to those who wait."
The park was still having a relieved celebration for their newly released co-worker. "BUT..." Gene said, cutting the celebration short, "You must surrender any guns you own. That is the price of his freedom."
The mood of everyone in the park sank. Benson agreed as he walked inside the house. He was alone. "I can't give them everything, this place will be completely defenseless! ...I don't think they saw the shotgun in the kitchen or the rifle on the roof. Maybe I can get away with this..."
Benson returned holding only the Glock pistol Mordecai had used yesterday. "Here," he said handing it over, "It's out of ammo though, but that's it."
Gene objected, "That can't be everything. what about the gun that was used to shoot my boy?
Benson sighed as he ran back into the house. He returned with the .38 revolver, the same one Thomas used the day before. The same one that killed Chad.
Benson held it out. Jeremy was the one who took it this time. It was, after all, the gun that killed his best friend, he should be the one to keep it.
"There, that's everything." Benson said.
"Is it really?" Gene questioned.
"Do you wanna search us?!" Benson challenged as he stepped to the side.
Gene measured Benson's poker face. Again, he didn't feel like making any enemies today. "Alright, fine."
Benson let out a short sigh that went unnoticed by Gene. Gene took a step towards Benson. He then said with a lighter tone so only Benson could hear, "I hope we can leave this all behind us, Benson. This is a brave new world, and its better to have some friends at the top then it is to have enemies of the same caliber. After all, we wouldn't want things to get worse for your group, especially since one of them is a mass murderer," those words alerted Benson as Gene continued with a sinister tone, "Of course, none of you are still associated with him. But it would be unfortunate if someone were to, oh, I don't know, accuse you of still being with him. Think of how the town would react! Oh they'd rip you apart."
Gene began to walk away at this. He turned back saying aloud, "But you've got nothing to worry about, right? After all, there's no reason why we can't get along!"
Before the East Pines crew pulled out, Jeremy walked over to Thomas. He pulled out the revolver and held it at eye level. The muzzle was pointed straight up, but Jeremy just wanted Thomas to look at it. Jeremy said ominously to him, "Before this is all over, I will kill you for what you did."
Jeremy then walked back with the others. They climbed into their cars and immediately drove off.
Everyone in the park was on edge as they stood in front of the house. Benson was stuck with a feeling between fear and relief. He had done it. He had saved Thomas and managed to at least still keep Muscle Man's shotgun and Pop's Sniper Rifle. But he was also afraid of this new "mayor," this new tyrant. He felt like things were going to go in a worse direction and fast. If that was the case, he needed to make sure everyone was okay. And that included Audrey.
"So what now?" Thomas asked concerningly, "Th-they're not coming back, are they?"
"I don't think so," Benson slowly replied, even he was unsure, "At least for now though. Skips, can I talk to you for a second?"
He and Skips headed away from the others as Benson said, "I have to head out today. I have to make sure Audrey's okay."
"But what about Muscle Man? He has a girlfriend. Or Pops with his dad? You're not the only one here who has someone out there." Skips replied.
"Skips... this is something I need to do. After that we'll let anyone who wants to do the same."
Skips took a minute to respond, "Alright. Do what you need to. I guess that means I'm in charge until you get back?"
Benson nodded. After that he went into the house, grabbed the medicine, got into his car, and headed for Audrey's.
"Hey. Hey wake up bro. Come on, you over slept."
Rigby awoke in his pile of leaves. This had to be another dream, another nightmare. But everything he felt was real. He laid there in the woods, half awake. His arms were still scared from yesterday. Burns lined almost every inch of his forearms. But it seemed as though they were healing. They weren't nearly as bad as yesterday. Stains of dried blood still sat soaked into Rigby's fur. It was disgusting to think about.
Rigby finally opened his eyes. Only now he wasn't alone as he saw a pair of brown feet next to him.
He looked up to see who it was and standing there... at his side... was his brother Don.
No it couldn't be. It couldn't possibly be. But there he was. Don held out his hand to Rigby. Too full of relieved emotion to think, Rigby full-heartedly took his hand. Rather than pulling Rigby into seem dream or distorted nightmare, he simply helped him to his feet.
"Is-Is this real?" Rigby asked.
Don shrugged, "Sure, don't see why not." He held his arms out-stretched as he said, "Now how about some sugar?"
Rigby couldn't argue. He couldn't deny. It was his own brother. His own living brother. Rigby ran to him as he hugged his brother. "Don, I-I'm so sorry! I never meant for any of this to happen!"
"Shh, shh, hey little man. It's okay. It's alright."
"But-but how? That thing killed you!"
Don laughed a little before answering, "Oh that thing didn't kill me... You did... You killed me Rigby."
Rigby let go of his brother as he backed away. Don's smile was faded as it was replaced with an angry look of disgust. "You're the one who killed me Rigby! You are the reason I'm dead! The reason Eileen's dead, the reason everyone is dead!"
Rigby backed away but Don began to walk towards him as well. "You killed me Rigby! You killed everyone!"
Rigby drew out his gun from the holster on his chest, "Just stay back!"
"You killed me!" Don screamed. A purge of green fire erupted, engulfing Don. Don still kept walking, "You killed me!"
"NOOO!" Rigby screamed as he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The gunshot was loud and he could hear the birds around him flee in terror.
Rigby opened his eyes, tears streaming down his face. Don was gone. There was no trace of him ever being there. It was just Rigby. Alone.
But not alone! The bushes began to rustle nearby. Rigby quickly dried his face as he turned to face who ever was coming. His gun pointed straight towards the rustling bushes. The sounds came closer. Until out of the underbrush came Doug.
Doug held his arms up as he panicked, "Woah there! Don't shoot! I just want to talk! I'm not armed, I don't have any guns on me! I just want to talk, okay?!" Doug was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit.
Rigby finally let down his guard as he put the gun back in his holster. Doug spoke next, "My my, The great Rigby. Here in the flesh. It's been a while huh? I guess the last time we met wasn't as... well, friendly."
"You guys were the ones that shot all the cops on the road," Rigby accused.
Don was silent for a moment before replying, "That wasn't our fault. Those cops shot first."
Rigby was silent for a moment after this answer before getting back on track. "What do you want?" Rigby questioned.
Doug responded, "I came to talk to you about some things. Yesterday, you killed one of our own."
Rigby coldly replied, "Your guys were mugging those people."
"I'm not going to argue that. The Daniel brothers always were loose cannons. I'm not mad about that. Frankly I don't give a rat's ass you killed him. I came to talk to you about an agreement..."
Rigby was a little surprised, "What kind of agreement?"
Doug began pacing back and forth, almost like he was rehearsing for a school play. It was a little odd to watch, but it was just one of Doug's old habits whenever he gives a long talk. "Modern prisons are a lot nicer then they were before. New exercise equipment, longer visiting hours, and, well, there is limited TV access. And I was watching TV right before this all went down, the news to be exact. And it surprised me when I saw the person who got me in jail slaughtering a whole SWAT team without a problem-"
Rigby felt guilty as Doug was talking. He interrupted him, "Get to the point."
Doug was surprised. He didn't expect to be interrupted so rudely. "Alright fine. My point, Rigby, Is that I know what you're capable of. I know you're a pretty dangerous person. That's why I want an understanding. I really don't want to mess with you. And it would be inconvenient for you to want to fight us. So I say we take sides of the forest. My side will take the South half of the woods, you can have to other half. And we'll never even need to know each other's there. You can do what you want, we'll do what we want."
Rigby took a moment to think about this. He hated Doug. Not just dislike, he hated Doug. It was almost unknown where that hate came from. But Rigby had to admit, it was a nice sounding deal.
"So... Do have a deal?" Doug said with his hand out-stretched.
"One thing," Rigby said, changing the deal, "No one gets hurt. Not like those people yesterday."
"Of course! We wouldn't want it any other way." Doug slyly replied. Rigby didn't know whether he was lying or not. But now he felt as though he didn't have a choice. He took Doug's hand and shook it.
It was done, the deal was in effect.
"Well Rigby, I hope things can work now. By the way, just curious, what was it like?"
Rigby was confused by this. Doug continued, "What was it like killing all those cops?"
Doug could see in Rigby's face that this was frustrating him, but Doug continued, "I just want to hear it from the legend himself. You really scared everyone back at the prison. Especially when you shoot one of the Daniel boys."
Rigby looked down and softly answered, "You can't even imagine." He was too full of guilt to even express it.
"But killing your own brother too? And who was she...? The whore...?"
Rigby was enraged at this. He threw his arms down, creating fireballs in both hands. This shocked Doug as he took several steps back. Doug's eyes were fixed on those glowing balls of death.
Rigby spoke next, "What's stopping me from killing you right now?"
Doug spoke next, "Well if you did, maybe the boys back home wouldn't be as merciful as the Daniel brothers were yesterday. I mean, they at least were going to let those people live."
Rigby calmed down as his flames dissipated. He still felt only anger towards Doug.
Doug finally spoke before leaving, "You know Rigby, You and I are a lot alike..."
Rigby coldly replied, "We're nothing alike."
Doug took another look at Rigby. He noted the dried blood still coating his fur. "Hmm, we'll see," Doug said before walking away.
Rigby was alone again. Alone by himself. No one but himself, and that dreaded book.
He took another look at the dried blood on his chest and the burn marks on his arms. "I'm nothing like that monster... Nothing..."
*knock knock knock*
The sounds of someone at the door awoke Audrey from her sleep. It had been quite a day yesterday. Nothing like she'd ever experienced before. It was... terrifying.
But even more terrifying was the abrupt knocking on her door. She grabbed a vase as she headed for the door. Based on what she saw yesterday, whoever this is couldn't be up to any good.
She opened the door ready to smash the guy's head in and-
"Benson?" Audrey said as she put the vase down. He was the one person she wasn't expecting to see. She instinctively hugged him, like he was someone she'd known for a while. Benson wasn't expecting the hug but he gently returned it.
"What are you doing here?" Audrey finally asked breaking the hug.
"I came to make sure everything's alright on your end." Benson replied.
Audrey stepped back inside her apartment as Benson followed behind. She paced towards the window. "You should have been here yesterday, the entire street was getting ransacked. It was horrible!" she described as she nervously looked out her window.
Benson followed up, "The North side wasn't much better. Are you okay?"
Audrey turned back to him, "I'm okay. I-I've just been packing last night, and I-I didn't know where to go..." she paced over to a hastily made suitcase on the coffee table. She began to laugh as she said, "Here we are at the end of the world, and here I am packing photo albums! I don't even know where to go or what to do and- Oh dear!" Her laughter half turned into crying. "I didn't even stock up!" she exclaimed. An ironic laugh coupling her worried cry.
Benson walked up to her. "I got something for you actually," Benson said as he held out the small bag of insulin. "I thought of you when I was looking for supplies. It's not much, but I got what I could."
Audrey gasped as she opened the bag. "Oh what would I do without you, Benson?" She said drying her tears.
Benson finally asked, "You know you could come with me. Live at the park. It's not the best place on earth, but I doubt you'll find anywhere better."
Audrey thought about it for a moment. "Are you sure? I-I don't want to be a burden or anything."
Benson replied, "I'm sure. We'd love to have you."
Audrey paused a moment. She finally made up her mind, "Alright. Okay. Thank you Benson. For everything."
"Don't thank me yet..." Benson silently muttered as they left Audrey's apartment.
As they stepped out of the apartment building, Audrey and Benson were stopped by a loud uproar further in town.
"Should we check it out?" Audrey nervously asked as she placed her bags in the trunk of Benson's car.
Benson didn't really give a clear answer as he followed the commotion. Audrey didn't have much of a choice but to follow. The noise led them up 35th Street up to Mallory Lane and finally onto Main Street. As they grew closer, they heard a large shouting.
A large crowd was gathered at the Main Street intersection. It was the largest intersection in town. At the center was a make-shift wooden stage about five feet off of the ground. And standing on top of the stage was Gene. He was pacing up and down the stage. What ever he was saying had everyone there captivated. Benson and Audrey only joined the middle of it.
"AND here we stand today! While the world tears itself apart, Here we stand! While nothing remains but fire and ash, Here we stand! Against all odds, We survived! Most of you would call that luck, but I would call this something else. I would call this Fate!"
"Fate is why we're here today! Fate has given us a chance to start over! A chance to right what others have wronged! A chance to wipe the slate clean! A chance-..."
It was at that moment that Gene saw Benson standing in the back of the crowd. It caused him to pause for a moment. "A chance to remove hatred and petty rivalry! A chance to rebuild! I TELL YOU THIS! ... Things... will get harder, but we must bear through it, together! This is a brave new world, and we must meet it head-on! There are no enemies anymore! No friends, no family! We are all people! And the only way we will make it through this is by working together!"
"I stand before you as your new mayor to promise you that we will make it through these dark times!" Gene had the crowd with every word. But every speech needs a dramatic conclusion, "...And when they write about this war in the history books, THEY WILL write about us! Not just how we survived, but how we persevered! How we lived! How we rebuilt! HOW WE PREVAILED!" On this final phrase Gene threw his fist triumphantly into the air.
A loud cheer erupted from the crowd, all in full support of Gene. Many of them raised their fists along with Gene. The roar of the citizens now confirmed that Gene was now the new mayor. Gene turned and faced Benson. He picked him out from the crowd. Benson showed no signs of celebration, no signs of cheer or agreement. Only his blank stare challenging Gene. Benson knew Gene too well. He knew there had to be more tricks up his sleeve than this. No one else could see it, but he could... he could...
"Quite the speaker, isn't he?" Audrey chimed among the roars.
"Let's just head back to the car..." Benson said nonchalantly.
Thanks for reading!
Please leave a review on what you think so far and any predictions, comments, or criticisms.
ALSO, I am writing a prequel story about Chad and Jeremy before the events of this story. Check it out if you can.
New chapter up in a few days!
