A.N. Just to be clear, italics are the flashback, "This is Normal Speak", :This is Sign Language translation:, and *This is Thought.*
I opened my eyes to see an inclosed space. From the stalls, I could determine that I was in the middle of the men's restroom. I put my hand on the ground, and saw a green, armored gauntlet. My mind, now filled with curiosity, told me to stand up. When I did, I heard a metallic clatter on the porcelain on the ground. I looked down to see both a large suit of armor, also green, and a large sword, looking like it was crafted from gears and chains. At the handle and the tip of the blade, there was a blue eye, with a cat-like slit pupil. I recognized this sword as a Keyblade from a popular video game, Kingdom Hearts. I bent down to pick it up, and felt how it was perfectly balanced. I turned around, and saw my reflection in the mirror. I instantly recognized that I was in a full set of MJOLNIR armor, designed for a SPARTAN-II from the video game Halo. I put my Keyblade to my back, where it stuck magnetically. I got to the sink, and was about to start removing the helmet, when I remembered what had happened.
I was floating in the space, which I was told was a place where Nothing gathered. I looked up at the only other being in this place, and asked, "Arceus, are you really here?" He nodded, then said, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, my son." I nodded, then heard someone else cough. I looked to my left, to see a large bodied skeleton in a black robe, red on the inside, with a large scythe in hand. "I would say dat it is time, but I looked at ya hourglass. You still got many years in ya." He said in a heavy Jamaican accent. "Thank you, Grim. I will need you to take Will with you on the task I've entitled you to do." Arceus said to him. "Are you..." I started to ask, when the bag of bones responded, "Yes. I am da Grim Reaper." He responded. I heard the sound of a portal opening, and Arceus said, "Good, our other important person is here. We can finally begin this meeting." I turned to see a ghost, with a large staff with a clock-like device at the tip. His cloak covered up the top of his head, which had a simple face on, with a scar over his left eye. He looked exactly like a character from a child's cartoon we had, so I said what I thought was his name. "Clockwork?" I questioned. He nodded, and then Arceus cleared his throat, gaining all of our attentions.
"As you know, Will here was recently removed from his life, many years ahead of schedule." Arceus said. "What do you want us to do?" Clockwork asked. "I would like you to place this man back in the world, enabling him to protect his family, which have two unborn with them." Arceus said, using his powers to project a visualization of what the children will look like. "Those are some cute kids ya got dere." Grim said. "Yes, this may be true, Arceus," Clockwork started off, "However, you can't forget what happened to him, after the bite." Clockwork raised his staff, and a large picture appeared, showing my body, alone, in the middle of the street. I then saw it being ripped apart, from a massive zombie horde that appeared. "Needless to say, in a world like this, he would easily get shot again. So, the real question would be, how do we make it so that he can return safely." Clockwork said after sending the video feed away. "I have an idea." Grim said.
"What is it, Grim?" Arceus asked the Reaper. "What if we send him back in his body, but witin some suit of armor or someting. Dat way, he can exist dere, until da time comes dat he must come wit me." The bag of bones said. "I have a better idea." Clockwork said, "How about we put him in a suit, like Grim said, but instead put his soul in there, and let it try to re-create his body." "I do think that would be quite helpful to him. I'll give him an enchanted sword to help him against these foul creatures." Arceus said. They all looked down at me, and in one sentence they all said at the exact same time, "Is this the form you choose?" I gulped, not sure about anything now, but decided for. I nodded, and then felt a large medallion fall around my neck. "Time OUT!" I heard Clockwork say. Immediately, I saw Arceus and Grim stop in their place. I turned my body to see Clockwork, who approached me, now a small child.
"I just want you to know something first. I'm the Ghost of Time, not the Ghost of Miracle Cures. This deal we're making, it requires some self control on your part." He told me. "What do you mean?" I asked him. "If you take off this armor for something as meaningless as sex, then your spirit will leave the armor, and you'll be going to Purgatory." He explained. He was about to say something else, but I stopped him, believing that it was more about how I had to stay in the armor. "Alright, I get it. The armor doesn't come off, or I'll come out of it." Clockwork gave me a frown, then returned to where he was, now in the form of an old man. As soon as he got there, he yelled, "Time IN!" and hit the top of his staff. As soon as he said this, Arceus and Grim started moving again. "You know, I really hate it when ya do dat." Grim said. "I know. Now, are we going to send this guy or what?" Clockwork asked. Arceus nodded, then stared at me. I felt something clamp around my feet, then a light surrounded my face, blocking my vision from everything.
After remembering what I had been told, I knew that I had to keep the helmet on. I pushed down on the top, keeping it firmly on my head, then turned away from the mirror. I walked out of the restroom, taking no time to bask in the scenery, when I saw a massive zombie horde shamble to a run down apartment building. I started walking towards it, knowing that there would be people there if these beasts were walking toward it. However, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw one of them fall dead after hearing a whistle of air. Knowing only one person with that deadly of an accuracy, I looked at the top of the building, and on the twelfth floor, I saw the familiar green of her hair. "Arlene." I said to myself. I pulled my Keyblade from my back, and started banging on a nearby car hood.
"HEY!" I yelled as I banged the hood, gaining some of their attention. "COME OVER HERE! FREE MEAT!" I taunted them, raising my sword in front of me, ready to strike. The entire horde shambled over to me, so I intercepted them, slicing off some of their heads in the first strike. After a few swings, I felt as if the sword was sending off more power than I intended, so when I looked, I saw the white shock waves it was sending off. "So this is what Arceus meant by 'enchanted'." I said to myself. I then ducked, and started swinging my sword in a circle above my head. Sure enough, a large shock wave was sent out, in a full circle, quickly making short work of their heads. I stood up, looked at my Keyblade, and saw that it had no blood on it whatsoever. "Sweet." I said to myself.
I walked over to the inside of the ground floor of the apartment complex, with my Keyblade in my hand. I walked over to the exact middle of the room, turned around to face the outside, and stuck the tip of my Keyblade into the concrete floor, getting it to stick completely. I then put my right hand on the end of the guard, and used it to keep me upright, as I kneeled on the ground, and kept my feet just below my butt. I placed my other hand over my first, letting them stay on the butt of the guard. They were only attached to the sword, causing them to hang from it. I finally lowered my head, closing my eyes, in anticipation for the next time I need to move.
My eyes snapped open when I heard the shotgun cock from behind me. "Who are you?" I heard from behind me. I recognized the voice as my darling, Arlene, demanding to know who I was. I stood up, my hands just finished resting on my sword. I felt a slight push, as the shotgun moved from Arlene's hands to my back. I turned around, looking at her, and I said, "Someone who missed you." "I asked you who you were!" She said, stamping her foot. I was about to say my sentence again, when I realized that in my spectral form, I couldn't speak. Thinking quickly, I remembered that I taught both Arlene and Connor sign language. I made the symbol for my name, which caused Arlene to say, "Will? That's impossible. My husband's dead." I then moved my hands in a swift motion, which seemed impossible to anyone viewing me in this bulky armor. What I signed was, :Yes, I was dead, however, through Arceus's will, I've been reincarnated.: "If this is true, then what is the first thing that Will did for me when I became human?" She asked me. :I ran over top of you, and pleaded to them to not dissect you. I gave you the gift of life.: I signed to her. She put her hands on mine, and said, "Will... is it, really you?" She then tried to remove my helmet, but I pulled away from her, immediately signing, :No, you mustn't. If you do, I will be gone forever. I have to stay in this suit of armor.: She looked at me, amazed, so then she said, "What? That doesn't make any sense." I then cracked my fingers, and started signing out the tale that was what happened.
"Oh my. So that's why you have to stay in the suit." Arlene said. I nodded, hanging my tired hands down at my sides. "Well, come upstairs. We need to explain to the kids what happened during the three weeks you were gone." She said, starting to turn to the staircase, when I pulled lightly on her shoulder, quickly signing, :Three weeks? What the fuck?: "Yeah. Time has apparently occurred differently here than in that place." She said, holding her stomach in a shelf-like way. I then thought, *Oh crap...* I then pulled my Keyblade from the ground, pulled the shotgun from my back, and replaced it with my Keyblade. I then handed the shotgun back to Arlene, who put the gun's strap over her shoulder. We then started walking up the stairs, when Arlene said, "The Kids are on the twelfth floor. Be ready to walk for a while." I then signed, :Fine with me, I don't feel strain on my body.: