Reunion
Mr. Fuck came up to Psychodoughboy about to leave the house. "Where the hell are you going?" he demanded. D-Boy looked up.
"I'm going to find Todd," he replied. "I told you, Eff, I slipped. But...there WAS a bright side to my excursions, to be honest..."
"What could be the bright side to your suicidal shit?" Eff growled. D-Boy was about to reply, but he suddenly went stock still. "...The hell? What's the matter with you?"
"...Johnny..." D-Boy replied. One of his spiraled eyes twitched. "He's come back!"
"WHAT! How the hell do you know!"
"I can FEEL him!" D-Boy said, panicking. "Damn it all! He's here, and I'm willing to bet my new life that he's here to get Todd out of here!"
"FUCK!" Eff shouted, pulling at his hair. "We were so CLOSE! He CANT leave! If he leaves, then we'll NEVER be complete!"
"Just like last time," D-Boy added, though a little sullenly. Mr. Eff growled and hoisted his axe over his shoulder.
"It wont turn out like that," he said as a sort of finality. "Even if I have to kill him myself, Squee will NOT leave. I'll simply convince him that it was for the best."
D-Boy blinked. "...Kill Johnny?" he said. "That would DEVISTATE Todd...mmmm...devistation...angst...total and utter dispair..."
"FOCUS!" Mr. Eff shouted, smacking D-Boy upside the head. "I dont want you boning this up! If we dont play our cards right, we'll never be completely real!" He snatched D-Boy by the ascot and stalked for the basement. "Squee's OURS...and he's NOT leaving with that little shit Johnny!"
Johnny finally came within view of his old house, and repressed a shudder. He remembered what Squee told him what Shmee said, and now he had to agree - this was a bad place to be. He noticed that Todd's house next door was gone. "Where'd your house go?" he asked. Todd scowled.
"Burned it down," he replied.
"Ah." Johnny paused, then swallowed. "...Your parents?"
"Dead."
"How?"
"Axe wounds to the head and spine."
The casualness of Todd's tone made Johnny a bit upset, but at the same time, he felt it was justified. "You been doing okay?" he asked. Todd nodded.
"I used some of the money in your wallet for food and new clothes," he said. "I got more from the people I killed." He paused. "That's how you got YOUR money, right?"
Johnny winced. "Used to," he replied. "I have a job now, and I havent killed anyone in a year...er...tonight excluded." He squeezed Todd's hand. "...It scares me how easilly it came back to me after all this time."
"...How long were you a waste lock?" Todd asked. Johnny thought for a moment.
"...About four years," he finally said. "...It's a miserable life."
"Not really," Todd replied. "I mean, I have D-Boy and Mr. Eff to keep me company, and help me - "
"THE DOUGHBOYS!" Johnny cried, stopping short. "You actually LISTEN to them!"
"Yes!" Todd replied. "They take care of me! They tell me that embracing what I am and being aware of who I am will help me stay myself! 'Nny, they HELP me!"
"No, Todd," Johnny said seriously, "they DESTROY you. That's all they were created to do. They drive you into madness and never let you leave. They USE you, Squee. They use you until they dont need you anymore, and then..." He broke off in a slew of bad memories. "...You want nothing more than silence. Nothingness. Rest."
Todd shook his head. "No..." he said, tearing up. "You're wrong! They take care of me! They wont hurt me like that!"
"Yes they WILL, Todd!" Johnny's grip on Todd's hand tightened. "I cant let you go back there. Come back with ME, Todd. I'LL take care of you!"
"NO!" Squee wrenched his hand away and darted into his house. Johnny swore and ran after him, pausing when he saw the inside of the house.
It was so...clean. Clean, put-together, and homey. "...Squee?" He walked around, seeing paintings he had long forgotten about hanging in the living roomo, kitchen, and the bedroom. "Squee..." He finally saw the basement door, unlocked and wide open. "...Damn it..."
He trekked his way down slowly, memories of every atrocity he committed down there surfacing with each step. AT the bottom of the stairs, the door to the underground levels was ajar. Johnny swallowed and walked into his old world.
You know those stories of cleaned junkies going back to the old neighborhood and wobbling on the wagon with tempation? Johnny felt that way right about now. He could smell blood down here. Fresh blood. Damn whoever runs the flusher system for tapping Todd. Damn them to stupid, conformist Hell with a jackass Senor Diablo.
He couldnt find Todd in the first three levels, but in the fourth, he heard a voice in one of the holding rooms. "Todd?" He crept to the door and unlocked it, then opened it. He yelped and ducked when something heavy was hurled at his head.
"Let me go, you sons of bitches, or so help me...what...the..."
Johnny looked up and saw perhaps the most beautiful memory he had ever missed. "...Devi...?"
Devi stared hard. "Oh my God..."
Johnny stepped into the room. "Shit...Devi...what are you doing in here?"
"What are YOU doing in here?" she shot back. "I'M here because some psycho dressed as Satan's head chef locked me in here!"
"Satan's head...shit, areyou talking about Mr. Fuck?"
"S'he the psychotic one?"
"Yeah."
"Then YES! So what the fuck are you doing here!"
"I'm looking for Todd!" Johnny replied. "I have to get him out of here before they drive him criminally insane!"
"Like you?"
"...Let's not get into that right now, alright? I stopped all of that, and I havent killed anyone in a year...okay, that's a lie, I killed a guy earlier that was going to shoot Squee, but that was actually justified, so I guess my real record still stands and - "
"Just shut up, Johnny!" Devi shouted. "I want to get the hell out of here, and if you try to stop me, I'll kick your ass! Again!"
"...I would rather you not. And who said I'd try to stop you? I'm just here to help Squee. If you want to go, then go." He stepped aside. "I wont stop you."
Devi stared warily at Johnny, who made no move to block her way. She kept her guard up and her eye on him as she edged out of the room.
"Take the next left and go straight up," Johnny said. Devi nodded curtly and sprinted int he direction Johnny pointed out. He stood in the doorway for a moment, noticing that his heart was pounding in his ribcage. "Fuck," he swore. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her to be, if not more so. There went his hope of abandoning all feelings for her. He clenched his fist tightly and turned to go back to finding Todd when he heard a scream.
"DEVI!" He darted in the direction of the screem and almost made it back to the first floor of the basement when something smashed into the back of his skill, sending him into darkness.
When Johnny came to, his head was throbbing in sharp pain. He groaned and reached up to touch it, but then noticed that both of his wrists had shackles on them. "What the...oh, shit..." He tried to jerk them loose, but they were firmly attached to chains that were bolted to the floor. "FUCK!"
"You called, Johnny?"
Johnny turned and stared in shock at the tall figure leaning against the wall adjacent to him. Mr. Fuck grinned manically at Johnny, his red eyes flashing. "Well, well," he drawled, standing up from the wall. "The artist awakens. Hi, Johnny. It's been far too long, hasnt it?"
"...Mr. Fuck..." Johnny murmured increduously. "Holy shit...!"
"Far cry from being a styrofoam pastry stand, eh?" Mr. Eff snickered. "You look shocked, 'Nny. You shouldnt be. You should've known that Squee had powers of imagination incomprehensable; add that to his waste lock status, and he was even able to give me and Psychodoughboy reality. And in just a few short months!"
"You leave Squee alone!" Johnny spat. "How DARE you use him! Leave him alone!"
"Oh, I cant do that," Mr. Eff replied airily. "You see, 'Nny, Squee's just a few short kills away from making us real. And unlike last time, I wont stop when the finish line is just in front of me. I REFUSE."
He uncrossed his arms to reveal a butcher knife. "If I put the blood of a lock on the Wall...how long do you think Moose will be satisfied?"
Johnny's eyes widened as he realized just which room he was chained in. Mr. Fuck walked toward Johnny, the tip of the knife scraping the Wall, where Johnny could feel a growing malice from. "Yesssss..." Eff hissed. "I truly did wish to kill you once I was real...that chance was taken from me last time when you shot your dumb-fuck self."
He walked up behind Johnny and tapped the blade on Johnny's shoulder. "I can sense it in you..." he muttered. "...You still have the killer inside of you. You've repressed it, but I can still smell it." Johnny heard Eff inhale nostalgically. "I can smell homicide like a bloodhound can smell a body. And you still reek of it." He made a small nick on Johnny's shoulder.
"...Where's Squee?" Johnny asked, fighting to not let Mr. Fuck into his head again. "Where's Devi?"
Eff scowled at Johnny's resistance. "One-track mind," he muttered. He snapped his fingers and Psychodoughboy came into the room, dragging Devi with him, then threw her on the floor in front of Johnny.
"Devi!" he cried, struggling to get free. Devi sat up and backed away from the Doughboys. Mr. Eff walked up to her and snatched her up. "LET HER GO! DONT YOU DARE HURT HER!"
Eff ignored him and leered at Devi, eyeing her over. "I personally always thought you were lovely, Devi," he purred. "Unfortunately, I think a dead woman is more attractive than a live one...but I digress." He turned to Johnny. "I'm going to give you a choice, Johnny. You can either let Devi die here..." He pressed the blade up to her neck, making her whimper. "...Or you can die instead. Your call."
Johnny's jaw went slack. He hadnt had a suicidal thought in three years, since he got his life back on track. THe thought of dying now was no longer very appealing. But the thought of Devi dead...
"Dont kill her," he said after just a few short moments. "Just let her go. I'd never be able to forgive myself if she died." He looked up at Devi, tears shining in his eyes. "I still havent forgen myself for trying to hurt her."
Mr. Fuck rolled his eyes and dropped Devi. "You're pathetic, Johnny," he said, tapping the butcher knife against the Wall again. "Crying over a woman who cant stand the sight of you, let alone DYING for her." He sighed dramatically. "Say your goodbyes, Johnny, I doubt you'll be coming back this time."
Johnny looked at Devi, who had gone dead pale. "...I love you, Devi," he said. "I've always loved you. Please...take care of Todd. Dont let him turn out like me."
"You done yet?" Mr. Fuck asked impatiently. Johnny gave him an irritated look, but nodded. "Good." He raised the butcher knife over Johnny's neck.
