Hey everybody, I apologize for the chapter absence yesterday, I had a big project for school plus several other homework assignments, so I was not able to get around to posting. But, here I am now! Let's get started, then...

Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as the President of the United States went through all the data files found on the Glitch, but it seemed that the only significant thing they could find was that this virus was traveling faster than any other one before. He concocted a plan, and his plan was to retrieve the creator of the Glitch-Professor Explotar of Florencist University, California- and extract DNA from his body to find out how to reverse the creation of the virus. Now we get back to Norman and the gang as Norman commits a mistake so unforgivable that he is haunted by his nightmares long after.

Chapter 28: The Unforgivable Mistake

The next morning, Norman woke up to a rustling noise from outside. He sat up in bed, and then looked around, but remembered that they were still in their sponge structure. Everyone else was asleep, so Norman stood up as quietly as possible and secretly borrowed Lizzy's diamond sickle. He walked towards the wall behind him and slowly broke open one block. He gasped and fell backwards after finding himself suddenly face-to-face with a pair of empty sockets. He backed away on his hands and knees and then stood up, and realized that it was a skeleton. Norman grinned and taunted the skeleton by blowing a raspberry at it. The skeleton shot an arrow, but Norman just easily dodged it and went back into its view. Suddenly, the arrow turned around in midair behind him and pierced into his skin on his back.

Norman gasped in pain and fell to the ground, wrenched out the arrow in his back and stared at it in his hand. He looked back up and saw the skeleton still looking at him, and then was shot at by another arrow. Norman barely dodged this one, and he turned around to see it also changing direction in midair to hit him. Norman stood up and started sprinting, panting heavily as the arrow tracked him. His feet pounded on the flat grass inside the sponge room and after a few seconds Danny woke up behind him, and he for some reason had all his diamond armor on. Before Danny could yell at Norman, the arrow pursuing Norman ricocheted off his helmet and lodged into the sponge roof. Danny fell forwards with a grunt and got a mouthful of grass. Norman snuck up around the edge of the hole and quickly closed it with the sponge again. He looked around at Danny, who was lying face down still.

Norman walked up to Danny's still body and murmured,

"Danny? Are you ok? Hello?"

With warning, Danny lurched forward and clasped his hands around Norman's neck, forcing him to the ground with one painful jerk.

"NOOBMAN, I AM GONNA KILL YOU! WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING BY SHOOTING THAT ARROW AT MY HEAD, YOU IDIOT?! YOU KNOW THAT COULD'VE LODGED IN MY NECK!"

Norman could barely understand what Danny was saying because he was preoccupied with trying to breath. He was grabbing at Danny's meaty hands around his throat, and he didn't have any way to take a breath to save his life. In the commotion, a bunch of people had woken up and were running towards the scene. Norman caught a blurry glimpse of who he thought was Jeff kicking Danny hard in the face.

"DANNY! STOP CHOKING NORMAN OR I'LL SEND YOU OUT THERE TO BE EATEN ALIVE!" exclaimed Jeff in a very frustrated tone.

Danny let go of Norman, who collapsed onto his back, staring straight up at the ceiling, out of breath completely. He slowly looked over at Danny, who was now having a severe bloody nose for the second time in two days. Jeff threw one of Hilary's sponges at him and then ran over to help Norman up. Once Norman was up and he had his breath back, Jeff brushed off the dirt and grass covering his clothes.

"Norman, explain what exactly happened here." he muttered.

"Ok, I woke up and heard this rustling sound outside, and I broke open a hole in the wall to check and saw a skeleton. I borrowed Lizzy's weapon since my own... Well, you know... I dodged the first arrow, but it just whizzed back at me unexpectedly and I got hit in the back." Norman turned around to show him the pierce in his clothing and the arrow's bloody mark. "Then when that thing shot a second arrow that one tracked me too, and I started running around the room to avoid it, but I woke up Danny in the commotion because the arrow bounced off his diamond helmet. Then he pretended he was hurt, but then tackled me to the ground and tried choking me to death. The Glitch's glitches are just getting worse." explained Norman.

Jeff scowled and looked away.

"Worse? That's impossible. We've already slain three of the Glitch's mutants and clans, so how is it that when it became weaker the glitches became stronger?" he grumbled.

"I don't know."

Suddenly, a squeaking noise was heard from Norman's left. He looked in the direction of the noise and saw the tracking arrow stuck in the sponge ceiling moving. Suddenly, a pop occurred and the arrow came right out of the sponge, and zoomed forward to track Norman. Jeff moved his sword into the path of the arrow and it ricocheted off the blade, doing a loop-de-loop backwards before zooming forward in under a second. The second quick impact knocked Jeff to the ground, who quickly flattened himself to avoid having his nose sliced off.

Norman started running again, scattering people who had woken up, causing chaos. Norman suddenly ran right at the arrow coming towards him and then slid down. Everything turned to slow-mo like in the movies, and Norman watched at the pointed projectile slowly flew over his head, so close that it sliced off a few of the hairs on his head.

Everything went back to normal speed and Norman jumped up from the ground, hurling himself forward as fast as his legs could carry him, Shine swinging in his arms. Norman looked behind him for a split second to see the arrow just starting to turn around, but it that time he ran straight into Lizzy. They both fell to the ground on top of each other. Lizzy screamed, and Norman looked back to see the arrow coming towards him at high speed. He quickly summoned a box of cobwebs around him while on the ground and the arrow suddenly slowed down in midair, struggling to go through the cobwebs. Kelly Fern took the opportunity and caught the slow-mo arrow in an empty bottle. She took the bottle and screwed the cap on tight to make sure the arrow wouldn't free itself.

Norman destroyed the cobwebs around him and pushed himself up off of Lizzy. He was about to grab her hand to help he to her feet when he heard her screaming and crying, wailing at the top of her lungs. Norman's mind numbed up when he saw the blood-soaked gash stretched from Lizzy's forehead, through her right eye—which was gouged and gory—and all the way down her cheek and to her chin. Norman must have slashed her by accident with Shine when they collided. Jeff ran forward and said,

"Oh my Notch! Someone get this girl some medical attention! She is hurt severely! Somebody grab some porkchops!"

Many people rushed forward with meat and Hilary with many sponges. All the while, Lizzy was just bawling and screaming in pain, and every tear from both eyes were hot drops of blood. Norman was the only one to not rush forward and help. In fact, he just walked backwards absentmindedly, his mind numb and cold from the incident. He slowly looked down at Shine in his hands, which was now bloody all the way down the blade, and his hand covered in the liquid. Norman gripped the handle so hard that it hurt, and in his anger he yelled out and threw Shine to the side, which landed with a soft thud near the wall. Norman ran towards the wall and punched away two blocks of sponge, and then ran out quickly. He hurtled through the jungle, away from his companions, his anger and despair boiling up together inside. His eyes were full of tears that he did not bother wiping away. Norman ran through the jungle for a long time until his hunger had gone down enough where he couldn't sprint anymore.

Norman burst through some vines and landed on the soft sands of a beach. He just lay there, catching his breath, crying, feeling angry and frustrated and hopeless, constantly replaying the horrific image of Lizzy's wounded face in his mind. Norman lay there, wishing he would drown in his own tears to end his misery. He eventually sat up and wiped away the crust forming in his eyes from all the drying tears. He looked off into the sea that stretched before him, watching squids float lazily through the water. But every time he would see the red gaping mouths of the squids he would think of the blood that soaked Lizzy's face, and he remembered that HE was the one who had caused it. It was HIS fault he was out there alone. HE was to blame for probably killing Lizzy, his best friend who had stuck with him since he was in preschool.

He started having painful flashbacks of times with him and Lizzy. He saw the day that he and Lizzy had won $100 in the lottery in 3rd grade and then spent it all on Snickers bars, eating half of them that one night and totally going nuts. He saw their 6th grade play where he had played the mayor of Whoville and her as Gertrude the one-feather-tail bird in the Seussical and how she had gotten so hyped up on sugar they both fell off stage due to her tackling him and fell into all the pizzas for the party, splattering everyone with sauce. Then he saw the time just recently when Lizzy had brought him to Cocoa Beach to see her secret hideout, but he had grown tired of her fun at that point. All of a sudden Norman started wishing he had been a better friend, that he hadn't been such a stiff guy. He wished that he could've done more now that Lizzy was probably already dead and he'd never get the chance.

Norman suddenly found his hand reaching to his neck and he caressed the silver chain of Lizzy's good luck charm. He found more tears in his eyes very soon.

Norman would've been sitting there thinking and regretting for a while if he hadn't heard the sound of a boat hitting the sand. Norman looked up and was very surprised to see a boat looking three times as long as a normal boat. To his greater surprise he saw Professor Pigson step out and walk towards him.

"Why so sad, young chap?" he declared, balancing on his gold-topped cane.

Norman stood up and brushed the sand off his clothing.

"Uh, Professor Pigson. This is a surprise. What are you doing here?" he murmured.

"Well, I was just taking a daily ride in my canoe. I know you might be busy with your cognitively stirring ponderings, but could you help this old chap back to his village? My arms are dreadfully tired, you see." he said.

Norman sighed and said,

"Sure, why not..."

Norman walked forward and hopped into the boat, followed by Professor Pigson. Once they were both seated, Norman gripped the two oars and began to row off into the ocean.

"Turn left and then just go straight, thank you." said the professor.

"So, um," said Norman awkwardly. "Is Professor Sheepson doing ok right now? He seemed very sick and drained when we last visited."

The professor shook his head and said,

"I do not know what is wrong, but some kind of sickness has spread over him. I think that now that our world is being threatened by that dreadful virus everyone calls the Glitch that he is always worried for his life. Doctor Squids gave him some medicine mods to help, but he remains sick at the moment. Thank you for asking, though."

After a few more seconds of silent rowing, Professor Pigson looked thoughtfully at Norman and finally said,

"So, what is on your mind, young chap?"

Norman shrugged and grumbled,

"Nothing."

The professor smiled (wait, can pigs smile, even if they're anthropomorphic?) and said,

"Well, there must be SOMETHING on your mind. 'Tis impossible to think of nothing, and even by thinking of nothing you are thinking of something. Tell me, why do you appear so distressed?"

Norman didn't answer for a while, but after a silent twenty seconds he finally snapped.

"I ran away from my friends, that's all..."

"Why would you perform such an imprudent motion? That could impinge on your comrades in an unconstructive manner if you are not vigilant." said the professor.

Norman didn't really want to reply, but he couldn't get himself to stop talking.

"Well, something happened with one of my best friends, and now I don't think I can repair the damage I've done." he murmured.

"Oh, you can ALWAYS seal the painful gap created in a relationship. The right thing to do is tell your friend just how sorry you are for whatever you did and to make sure that they can feel your sincerity." suggested Professor Pigson.

"Well, I don't think that I can repair what I've done for this situation. I've already hurt my best friend enough where I don't think I'll ever be able to talk to her again..."

Professor Pigson's eyes widened and he said,

"Her? So this is a girl we are speaking of? Alright, I am not going to have you tell me all the details, but I do have a question for you. Do you love this girl?"

Norman paused for a moment. He thought about it for a little while. Lizzy was definitely his best friend, his only friend for a while, but he never thought about it that way. But as his hand went to her Poptart good luck charm he realized that the answer was yes. He looked up at the professor, who was waiting patiently for the answer.

"Yes, I believe I do." said Norman.

The Professor leaned forward with his cane in both hands and his face turned serious.

"Would you sacrifice your life for this girl?"

"Yes, I would."

"Then what you need to do is go to her and express your love. You must show her how much you care for her to get her to see your true self. Do not run away from her, because that will only impact her life negatively. If this girl really does love you back, then right now she is missing you. She is longing for you to come back so she can see you."

Norman stayed silent, running over this knowledge through his head. He realized that he did want more than anything to tell Lizzy he loved her, but the injury he had given her kept coming back to poison his mind. As if the professor could read his thoughts, he said,

"I know you may be feeling doubt due to the previously occurring incident, whatever it may have been, but no matter what happened you must forget the past and look to the future. Keep moving forward."

All of a sudden they bumped into the shores of another beach. Norman looked up and saw the mini village they had visited previously sitting about forty blocks away. Professor Pigson sighed and stood up, and Norman helped him out of the canoe. Once the professor was standing on solid ground again he waved to Norman.

"Thank you for the help, young chap. I never caught your name, though, what was it?"

Norman shook hand-to-hoof with the professor.

"Norman Cobweb."

"Well, Norman, I hope to see you in the future. Now, remember my words of wisdom whenever you feel despair on the subject. You may keep the canoe; I believe that these rides by myself are taking a toll on my back, as I am getting older. Now then, farewell, boy. I will see you some time in the future." he declared.

Norman waved goodbye and watched as Professor Pigson walked gracefully down the sands towards his village. Once he was out of sight, Norman began to row back into the ocean with his new canoe. With the help of Professor Pigson's knowledge he kept himself going forward; he had to find his friends.

Thank Poptart for Professor Pigson has such knowledge! Will Lizzy ever be able to forgive Norman for his mistake? Will Norman ever be forgiven by his teammates? Will Norman even ever forgive HIMSELF?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!

*Pastrinator64 stands up from the table and says,*

"Alright everyone, now we really do need to leave, I have to be back home for... Certain purposes..."

*Pastrinator64 walks towards the door but LuvrO'Pokemon stops him by grabbing his shoulder*

"What kind of purposes? Care to share with us?"

*Pastrinator64 looks nervous all of a sudden*