Demon: Welcome back!
Amy: Hell yeah! New chapter!
Demon: Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
Amy: What the hell, man! You know I don't have parents anymore!
Demon: Oops, sorry.
Falcon: You fucked up man.
Cream: (Looks around) Hey, where's ANBU?
Demon: Well, in a way, he's right here. (Points to a box.)
Cream: I killed him?
Demon: No, Cream. Don't worry. Our favorite pervert is in the hospital.
Bliss: So, what's this hunk of shit?
Demon: It's a TV hooked up to Skype.
(Demon turns on the TV; ANBU is shown in a bed, in a full body cast, except his head)
ANBU: Yo, mothafuckas!
Demon: Why do you sound like the Office Pimp?
ANBU: This hospital's TV is set to Comedy Central. Mind of Mencia marathon, Cracka!
Demon: That's fucked up, man. We have to work, yet the funny injured perv gets to enjoy himself.
ANBU: At least YOU don't have to shit into a pan, Cracka!
Cream: That's your fault, ANBU!
Demon: Anyway, we'll let our pervy friend rest up for now. By the way, I have a new friend visiting today.
Falcon: Why?
Demon: Since ANBU's not here, I have a substitute. Come on in!
(Someone walks in slowly, looking around)
Demon: Everyone, meet Snypo58. Snypo, what's wrong?
Snypo58: Well, Rouge has been stalking me, well, chasing me actually.
ANBU: Dude, Rouge wants you? Why aren't you taking it?
Snypo58: Dude, shut up!
(Rouge flies in, smirking lustfully)
Rouge: There you are, big boy!
Snypo58: Shit! (Snypo runs off, Rouge following him)
Demon: Okay, hopefully Rouge doesn't trash him.
ANBU: Don't ride him too hard, Rouge!
Demon: (face palms) Ugh… anyway, on with the chapter!
Chapter 8: Dusty Discovery
Chris returned to Vanilla's house in a flash of light. Unknown to the two rabbits inside, Chris teleported to the back field near the house. 'I think I'm far enough,' Chris thought to himself. 'I want to get a little more practice in first. But, before I do that…' Chris pulled a small bag from around his waist. "Sorry, Vanilla. My training calls for it." He muttered as he began taking some silver colored strips out of the bag. After a few minutes, Chris managed to add another 5 pounds to each of his weights, increasing their total to 80 pounds. "Heh, I wonder how Vanilla would react if she knew I had another 20 pounds in the bag. Which reminds me, I need to find a way to get more weights for these. Maybe Knuckles has some lying around." Chris replaced his bands, feeling the added weight on his limbs. Facing a tree, the human began a sparring session against the strong Oak.
While Chris was busy training, Cream and Vanilla were going about their own business. Cream, having already showered and changed, decided to sit outside on the front porch. She sat back, calmly petting Cheese and feeling the wind blow gently. Vanilla, on the other hand, was getting some dusting done. Unlike Cream, she wasn't ready yet to go, feeling that since they weren't leaving for a little while, she'd wait and get some work done first.
Gently dusting the shelves in the halls, the older rabbit noticed Cream's room was ajar. "Well, let's see if Cream's room is clean." Vanilla muttered as she entered her daughter's room. Scanning around, Vanilla managed to find a few dusty areas in the room and took care of them easily. Just as she was leaving the room, she happened upon the book case and saw the bottom row was dusty. "Oh, well. That's to be expected. These are her old fairy tales. No wonder they're all dusty." Shrugging, Vanilla began to dust the books. However, she noticed something odd. One of the books had no dust on it whatsoever. Thinking Cream may have been reading the book lately, the older rabbit picked it up.
The book was about an inch thick, the spine relatively strong. On the spine was a roman numeral, VII. The cover was a brown color with a gray outline. The rabbit noticed two letters in a black font embroidered on the book. "C.T." Vanilla said out loud. "What could that be?" Sitting down, Vanilla opened the book. What she read on the front cover made her both confused and curious. "'The Journal of Christopher Thorndyke, Volume VII'. Hmmm." Vanilla knew that reading the journal was probably not right, but her curiosity got to her. She flipped the page to the first entry.
November 11, 2010
A horrible tragedy has happened to me. My father, in a bout of depression, took his life as well as the life of my mother and grandfather. Their lives were taken away through fire. I managed to escape the blaze in time, but it came with a huge price. I don't know what is worse, knowing I could have died last night, or knowing I have to live now with the knowledge of being alone. The blaze took more than my family, as well as most of my physical possessions. The inferno also took away my memories. This journal is the seventh of my journals, but this empty journal was the only one of the group to survive the blaze.
What makes the loss of the previous journals worse is what was lost with them. I began writing journals since I met Sonic. I knew I had wanted to remember these experiences I had with my new friend, soon friends, even when they would be gone. That's what upsets me the most, though. The fire took away all of my entries from my adventures. From Sonic and the others appearing on Earth, to my travels with them on Mobius, to meeting Cosmo and fighting the Meterex. All of my wonderful experiences were written down for the purpose of remembering forever. Now, they are nothing more than a pile of ashes.
Vanilla noticed that the pages of the otherwise mint-condition book were stained, most likely by Chris's tears. Fighting back her own, she continued on.
I feel that I have no purpose anymore. I just feel extremely empty now with my family gone. I just hope that my friends will support me through this. Without Sonic, Cream, and the others, I need all the support I can get from Earth.
The older rabbit was transfixed on the pages. She skimmed through the pages of the book, noting that Chris wrote an entry nearly every day for about six months. As she flipped through the pages, she froze when she noticed something odd about one of the pages, about halfway through the book.
Meanwhile…
Chris had finished up his sparring and was currently walking back to the house. He decided not to teleport, and instead walk back for a little more exercise. Not that he needed it, as proven by the Oak tree, which was now riddled with scratch marks and deep cuts to the bark. Chris brandished a few scrapes and a fairly deep cut on his cheek as well. "Well, next time I try to tackle into the tree, I'll remember not to hit the branches." The human said to himself, wiping his cut when he noticed the blood begin dripping to the ground. Chris continued his path to the house, unaware of the older rabbit currently in his history.
Vanilla was shocked to see the page. The page was stained like the previous one, but this was different. Instead of clear but darkened stains, this page had some red stains on the page. Surprisingly, none of the stains had damaged the written message. Vanilla read the page, utterly shocked by its contents.
May 1, 2011
I have been struggling through life for about six months now. The pain of losing my family and adventures still sits fresh with me, as well as the pain of knowing my friends deserted me. All of my former friends abandoned me after learning I lost the family wealth. I couldn't believe that my friends only cared about my family's riches. I feel disgusted with that. I don't want to live on, so I tried to end it. The razor blade I found went through my wrist easily enough, and the blood has fallen freely. I tried, I really tried to end it all, but even now I can see it will only fail. Despite my blood escaping and some of it landing on this page, I still breathe, bleed, and live.
Damn it! Why must I continue suffering like this? I feel the blood stopping. I'm still not weakened; the blood has clotted now, thus saving the life I did not want spared. I feel like I have no control over my life now. I can't even kill myself right! Why? As I threw the razor away in shame and disgust, I saw a flash of green. Could it be, it was, the shard of the Master Emerald! I can't believe it still survived the fire. Of course, it survived a lot worse. I looked at the shard, deeply. I considered piercing my chest, and hopefully my heart, with it, but changed my mind. I don't want to stain the Master Emerald with the blood of a failure.
Still, I do have one idea from this. I hope to find a way back to Mobius. Hopefully, I can make my way back and see the friends I lost. This is my last chance. I know it is. My house has been scheduled for demolition on November 27, 2011. I have only 6 months to accomplish my goal. If I fail, or my friends back on Mobius resent me, I'll make sure I end it completely then. I refuse to live in any world where my friends have left me and I have nothing. Six months, starting now.
Vanilla was sitting there, absorbing the suffering Chris. Her tears falling, she avoided ruining his book any more than it was. Vanilla took a moment to collect herself before continuing through the journal.
Chris managed to make it to the front of the house, where Cream was still sitting and relaxing. Cream took a look at her "brother" and gasped. "What happened, Chris?" Cream got up and ran over to the human, worried about his health. "Don't worry, Cream," the human started, "I'm just a little scratched up from the training. That's all." Cream looked at him and smiled, but she was still a little worried. "You should probably take a shower and get ready now. I think you should hurry, too. Mom will probably have a fit if she sees you in that condition." She mentioned, seeing Chris's cheek still bleeding. Wiping his cheek off again, Chris agreed. He quickly gathered some clothes and a towel before walking into the nearby bathroom. Unknown to him, his secrets were being read only a few yards away.
Vanilla scanned through the remainder of the entries. After that heartbreaking entry, he seemed to only write twice a week. 'The rest of his time probably went into making that teleporter.' She thought to herself, leafing through the journal. Soon, she saw the final journal entry, written the night before.
January 15, 2012
I have to admit, I'm doing better now than I expected. Not only have I successfully made it back to Mobius, but my friends have not abandoned me like I thought they would have. Not only did they remember me, but my "sister" Cream and her mother Vanilla offered to let me stay with them. I am truly blessed to have such kind friends, that's for sure. Of course, the nightmare I had tonight didn't help settle me in, though. I really felt scared and worried at that point. I decided to try to relieve my tension by sitting outside.
Unfortunately, I woke Vanilla up as a result. At first, I felt horribly ashamed for that. But, in retrospect, I'm glad I did. She helped me feel much better last night. It's amazing how kind she can be, and her motherly skills are clear. She's able to help people with any problems. I'm sure even Sonic wouldn't have been able to help me out like she did. I have a special place in my heart for her.
Vanilla smiled, knowing she really did help him the night before. She continued reading, and saw something she didn't expect.
I'm glad that I can stay with Vanilla and Cream. Of course, Cream is a sister to me, and I'm glad that I can be around her again. Vanilla is another reason I'm glad I'm here. Not only does she support me and make me feel at ease, but I've noticed something. Tonight, when we were sitting on that branch, then on her bed, I felt this strange feeling. It was a strong feeling towards the older rabbit. While I have this sneaking suspicion about it, I don't know yet what it is for sure. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure it out soon. Still, I'm glad to be able to live with two very kind and loving people.
Vanilla closed the book, sighing. "I wonder if he feels what I think he feels. Only time will tell." The rabbit quickly put the book back where she found it and finished dusting. As soon as that was finished, she went to the bathroom attached to her room, hoping to get ready quickly.
At the same time, Chris walked out of the bathroom, dressed in a blue polo shirt and Levis jeans. His face sported a small blue band-aid, courtesy of Cream's medicine cabinet. "Cream's way too worried about some things." The human muttered, walking back to the living room. Chris picked his phone up from where he placed it earlier, the counter, and began scanning through one of the lists. 'Might as well get it taken care of now.' He thought to himself, looking through his list of ring tones.
'Who Let the Dogs Out'… no. 'Hypnotized'… god no. 'Touch my body'… hell no! Finally, Chris decided upon, fittingly, "Dirty Little Secret" by the All-American Rejects. Satisfied that he won't be causing more blushing and angry threats, Chris walked into the living room and sat on the couch, next to a smiling Cream.
"Good to see you found the band-aids, Chris." Cream said to the human, getting a smirk as a reply. "Well, you wouldn't leave me alone until I did, right?" He accused, which Cream instantly confessed. "I'm just worried about you, 'brother'. I don't want you to be hurt. It worries me." She replied, looking sad. Chris gave Cream a reassuring hug, telling her it would be alright. After an hour of watching the news, and joking about Chris's band-aid, Vanilla finally walked into the living room in a yellow and tan sun dress. "Ready to go, guys?" Vanilla asked sweetly, getting two "yep"s as a response. The trio left the house, walking towards the movie theatre. While Chris and Cream discussed what to see, Vanilla was taking a good look at the boy she worried about. 'Hopefully, he's alright. I still wonder if I'm right.'
Demon: Chapter 8 is finished!
Bliss: What a chapter.
Chris: Why do you make me seem so depressed?
Demon: After what happened, wouldn't you be?
Chris: I guess so.
Falcon: I hope nobody gets mad at you for the Office Pimp thing earlier.
Demon: Look, I'm not racist, okay? I'm just referencing one of my favorite bits from Mind of Mencia. Trust me, it's funny.
Falcon: Whatever you say.
ANBU: Good news, guys! The doc said I should be back there by the next chapter!
Cream: Great. Just fucking great.
(Snypo58 runs past everyone, Rouge following behind)
Rouge: Come on, sexy! You know you can't resist me!
Snypo58: Can't this wait? Ahh!
Demon: Okay. Snypo58, I might bring you back again. I'll let you know later.
Snypo58: Okay! Help me now, please!
Demon: Alright. (sighs) Read and Review! (runs off)
ANBU: No flaming! So, Cream…
(Cream turns off the television and follows Demon)
(Back at the hospital…)
ANBU: What the fuck!
~DemonFiccer~
