Chapter 10: Sweet Dreams/Painful Reminders

After a while, the group finally managed to get back to the real world. Henrik, now having three soul shards, was planning on starting the serum formula and adjusting the shards for Angus's soul. Chase decided to head out for the night, since it was getting late. Marvin looked at both Angus and Anti, waving to them. "That's that then~! Do get better, you two!"

"We'll do our best, Marvin!" Angus smiled.

Anti waved to the magician. "Thank you again! I'm glad you met Posi and Nega as well!" The magician chuckled, shifting into his cat form and walking off. "I'm glad it all worked out for Marvin."

"Yeah… he may have struggled a lot. But like a cat, he lands on his feet." Angus noted as the magician was gone.

"Well, it has been a long day." Henrik declared as he turned to the others. "You boys better go and get some rest. We'll get some more soul shards in the morning."

"Okay Henrik!" Anti nodded, as he and Angus started to head out of the lab together. While walking out, Angus noticed that Anti was glitching a bit more than usual. Even though it was worrying him, he decided not to ask about it. After everything they saw, he didn't want any more stress. Once they were gone, Henrik turned off the lights in the room and gently closed the door. At least, he thought he did. Turns out, there was still one light on above one of the machines. And the door was cracked ajar, allowing anyone to come in. And this someone, was a very young and naive zombie boy who was walking around the halls of the hospital. He wandered into the soul clinic, hoping to find some food since he was growing hungry. Though really, when wasn't he hungry?

"Liiight?" Robbie blinked, seeing the light above the bench. "Preeety liiiiight!" He jumped up on the bench, looking under the light as he awed. "Hiii liiight! Do yu havv food?" He asked, as the blazing bulb started to put him in a trance, making him drowsy. He started to drift off, closing his eyes while chuckling. "Liiight… hehehehe~"

Robbie sighed, before opening his eyes as he was greeted by a strange scene. "Huh?" He looked up, seeing his caretaker standing in front of another Robbie, as a bag of candy was between them. Come to think of it, they were back in Bing's house… but, how did he get here? And why did everything seem so… strange? "Biiin?" Robbie called out.

"Alright Robbie, here you go!" Bing smiled, talking to the other Robbie rather than the one that was speaking.

Robbie in the memory gasped as he looked at the bag that the android gave to him. "CAAAAAAAND!"

Bing chuckled as he saw the zombie hold the bag close to his chest. "Yes Robbie, I got you a whole bag of candy! Don't eat too much at once, okay?"

The child hardly listened, as he opened the bag and grabbed a handful of the sugary snacks. "Hehehee caaaaaaaaand-" Robbie stuffed a bunch of the goodies in his mouth, eating every last bit.

Bing sighed as he looked at the zombie. "Alright, I'm going to make dinner. You can go play until it's ready. Remember, don't eat all of the candies." Bing warned.

"Kaaaaaay~" Robbie promised, as Bing walked over to the kitchen and began to make dinner for the two of them. The zombie looked at the bag, rolling it up a bit as he played with the wrapper. "Caaaaaand… biiiito?" He giggled more as he rolled the bag up.

Bing heard the commotion, running back to the living room to see what Robbie was up to. When he saw what he did, he sighed in annoyance. "R-Robbie! I-No! Don't do that!"

"Biiiiin! I made a caaand biito!" Robbie sounded proud as he looked at his work, taking it as he began to nibble on the wrapper.

"That's not a burrito! We don't eat plastic, okay?" Bing pointed out as he took the bag from the zombie, who began to whine.

"But it taaaaste yumm…" He whimpered, reaching his hands out as he tried to grab the plastic.

Bing sighed, putting on a smile as he tried to cheer him up. "I'll make you real burritos, okay?"

"Yaay!" That seemed to have done the trick to cheer the zombie up. Bing left the candy burrito there, escorting Robbie to the table as he sat patiently, while Bing was back in the kitchen, finishing up dinner. The other Robbie, who was watching the scene, laid his dull eyes on the candy bruito on the floor.

"Caaaaand biito…. Heehe… I waaant-" He reached over, trying to get to the treat, only for it to start floating up the stairs to the second floor. "Coooom baaaccc!" Robbie called out, wanting to head up the stairs to follow the snack. His ears twitched as he looked over to the door, seeing it open up as a strange figure walked right outside. The zombie was conflicted. On the one hand, he wanted to get that candy burrito which was on the upper level. However, he was curious as to who had just left the house, since it seemed that no one else was in the room at first. Eventually, the zombie decided on going outside, opening the door to locate the figure he saw. When he stepped outside, he appeared to have been in the forest. It was nighttime, as the stars were out, though they were covered with a thick fog. He was unsure where he was, nothing looked familiar to him. Robbie wanted to go back inside where it seemed safe. When he turned around, he was distraught by the fact the building was nowhere to be seen.

"Where… house?" He questioned, looking around for the home of Bing. "Hooouse?" He called out. He decided to walk around, hopefully if he tried to get his bearings, he might be able to find the house again. He walked through the many trees and pathways, trying to find anything that appeared familiar to him. It was strange, he knew he was in the forest, but he didn't recognize any of this. It seemed like things were out of place, not meant to be here. The zombie was even more confused when he noticed a strange mark that was being held up in the ground. He went over to it, seeing the wooden cross on a pile of dirt. "Hmmm… wha dis?" Robbie took a closer look at the cross, there wasn't anything written on it, so he wasn't sure what it was for.

He continued on, walking down a bridge across a river, looking at more of the greenery and sighing. If it wasn't for the creepy fog and how quiet it was, there would have been those that could consider a walk like this peaceful. Robbie didn't know what to feel, he just wanted to go back home. He began to whine again, starting to become more scared as he went further along the path. His dull eyes ended up catching a glimpse of someone close by. A figure who had their back turned to the zombie. Curiosity led Robbie across the bridge to the small area where the person was staring out into space, sighing as his static like body was unmoving.

Robbie instantly recognized the hoodie and the green hair, even though it was slightly darker than usual. He smiled, glad to see a familiar face. "Jaa!" He called out.

Sean jumped, hearing something from behind. He was on edge for a moment, but when he turned to see who it was, he calmed down. "W-What the… Robbie? H-how did you get here?" He asked, both in confusion and annoyance.

The zombie took a step closer to him, the smile still on his face. "Jaa! Missed yooou!" When Robbie came closer, Sean winced as he took a step backwards, looking away from the zombie. This made the undead one confused. "Jaa? What wrong?"

"Robbie I…" He grunted before looking back up at him. "I'm not Jack."

"Not… Jaa?" He sounded saddened. Sean didn't want to baffle the child, but he doubted even if he tried to explain, he wouldn't understand. This was Robbie after all.

"How did you even get here? I thought the only ones who could go through the different realities are…" He trailed off, shaking his head as he didn't want to further elaborate. "N-Nevermind. Does Bing know you're here? Do they… know you're here?" Sean questioned.

Robbie scratched his cheek as he hummed. "Saww pretty liiight… an um… Don kno where Biiin is…" He admitted, a bit worried.

Sean sighed, he wasn't sure how or why Robbie found himself in this place, but he knew that it wasn't safe for him to stay here. "Look, just take that pathway over there. It should lead you back home." He pointed over to his right, where a few trees shaded an open area. "And please… for your sake, don't come back. Okay?" He begged, looking down once more.

"Jaa?" Robbie approached again. "Why arr u sad?"

"Don't!" Sean grunted, glaring at Robbie, which caused the zombie to shudder. Realizing his mistake, he sighed and rubbed his arms. "Don't call me that. Please. I'm not Jack."

Robbie whimpered. "Sorr…."

Sean shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. Just please… Please leave me alone, okay? You have to go before you… there's something here Robbie. Something that no one should see because… it's bad."

"Baad?"

"Yes, yes very bad." Sean told him. "That's why you should go back home immediately! I don't want you to see it. Understand?"

"Mmmmmmm kay…" Robbie seemed disappointed, but at the same time at least Sean wasn't yelling at him anymore. He started to walk away, going to the pathway that he was told to go to. He turned back now and again, seeing Sean looking back out into space. Eventually, the zombie was out of sight, heading back to the house that he and Bing shared.

When he was gone, Sean looked over at where the young ego was. "Hmm… I wonder… Did you bring him here?" He looked up to the sky, keeping his hands in the front pockets of his hoodie. He wasn't sure why he was speaking, he wouldn't get an answer. In the two years he's been here, he hardly got any answers.

Soon enough, as Robbie was encased in the darkness of the shade, he was soon brought back to his home. He looked around, being in the familiar living room where everything was back to normal. He was relieved to have been back in the house he and Bing shared. Even though he was still upset about what happened with… not Jack, he figured he didn't want to talk to the zombie. His stomach once again growled, as he could smell the food that was being cooked in the kitchen. He walked over to it, seeing Bing slave over a hot stove. "Biin?" Robbie called out, looking up at the android. There was no response, which made Robbie tilt his head. Could he not hear or see him? Maybe Bing was too focused on cooking?

Robbie headed out of the small area and walked up the stairs, where he shared a room with Bing. The upstairs had two beds, a pride flag to represent who slept where. The one with the asexual flag was Robbie's bed, and Bing had the bed below the bisexual flag. Two dressers were present, one near either bed. There were stuffed animals scattered across the floor, with a toy chest against one of the walls and some picture books.

His eyes however fell upon a certain candy wrapper which was jumping up and down. "Waaant-" Robbie tried to grab the candy burrito.

To the zombie's surprise, the wrapper had a face on it, crying out as it jumped back from Robbie's grasps. "Noooooo… I'm baad!" It warned.

"Biiiito talks?"

"Biiiin said doon't eat…" It warned.

"But… tasste yumm?"

The dessert hissed at Robbie in response. "Mean Robbie, don't eat!" It wacked itself onto Robbie's face.

"Owww…" Robbie whimpered as he rubbed his face. "That no nice…" He reached over, grabbing the candy burrito and started wrestling the dessert. It put up a fight, slipping out of his fingers now and again, even going as far as to attack the zombie. But, somehow, Robbie managed to emerge victorious, grabbing the wrapper and stuffing it into his mouth. "Yuuummm… byyyye bittto." Robbie patted his stomach, satisfied with how it tasted. When he looked down, he could see a glowing white shard with a pink aura surrounding it. "Oooh… I missed a caaaand… hehe…" He reached down, attempting to grab it.

"Robbie… don't eat that!" The zombie jumped back, being blinded by a flash of white as he saw a shadowy figure appear in front of him. He wasn't sure who it was, since they had no distinguishable features on them aside from white pupils.

"Whoo?" Robbie tilted his head as he stared at the figure.

"It's okay Robbie, I'm a friend." They assured him.

"Fren?"

They nodded. "Yes. You could say I'm everyone's friend."

"What freen name?" Robbie asked.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, it's a secret." They winked. "Anyways, we best get you back before Bing starts to worry. But I'm going to need to take this candy here, okay?"

Robbie jumped, as much as he wanted the candy, he also wanted to see Bing again and actually get to talk with him rather than be ignored. "Seecet fren's caaand!"

The figure seemed happy, grabbing the soul shard. "Thank you Robbie. Now, let's get you back home, okay?"

"Kaaaaaaay!" Robbie agreed.

"Now, close your eyes and take deep breaths." The secret friend instructed. Robbie did as he was told, closing his eyes and taking in breaths as deep as he could. He felt a tingling sensation over his body, which made him giggle.

By the time Robbie opened his eyes, he was back inside the Soul Clinic, all alone. "Hmm? Where seecet? Seecet fren?" Robbie hopped off the bench, looking around as he tried to find the secret friend. He was alone though, which left him baffled. Not for too much longer as he turned to see the desk in the small alcove of the hallway. There, a plate of cookies was left behind. "Cooooookies!" The zombie went over to the plate, starting to scarf his face down with the sweets. He wasn't sure what happened when he laid on that bench, but at least he managed to get some treats out of it.