Not so long ago…
Simon slowly walked to Amber's room door, before knocking promptly.
"Hey, about what happened with me and the MVP mess… I'm sorry. I… don't exactly have the best mentality right now, and everything's just falling apart. But I've decided that, whatever you want, I'll follow."
He paused and tried to open the door, to which he realized it was locked. No sound emanated from the room.
Instead of going, "I know you're upset with me," like he thought about for a second, Simon squinted, his hands balling to fists.
"She's gone." He growled. "The woman's gone! How did I not hear her leave?!" He stormed to his room. "Seriously! She just up and left without even TELLING me! Not even bothering to leave a note!"
Simon threw open the closet, before taking a long exhale.
"Maybe she had a reason. Maybe I was a bit too… a bit too WHAT? A bit too loud?!" He sighed again, "No, I can't get all worked up. Remember the drills." He reminded himself, before pulling out his MVP gear.
"Okay… she's gone to help find Alph… where would she be…? What do I say? "Hi, I'm here and ready to contribute!" Amber would KILL me! What do I do…" Simon put on the gear anyway.
"Just… get your head in the game. They need YOUR help, Simon!" Simon reassured himself, "So don't screw this up!"
Back with the crew…
Luigi awoke to the heart monitor beeping.
"Uggh… cosa diavolo è successo?" Luigi muttered.
"What?" Amber, who sat beside the bed, tilted her head. "Man, your Japanese is terrible!"
Luigi vacantly glanced at Amber.
"What the heck happened? Last I saw was that red-haired lady from three years ago. She said she was here for Alph… OH, mio Dio, is he okay?!"
"Alph? Yeah, that glasses-wearing girl was in his room. I'm sure she ran off the intruder."
Luigi blanched. "No, no! She can change reality to her will, that's NOT something any regular MVP can just run up and-"
"I had to fix her up too. Looks like you're not the only one to get destroyed like that." Amber chuckled.
"Where is Alph?!" Luigi demanded.
"Oh, he's in his bed, he's FINE." Amber paused, then her eyes went wide. "HE'S GONE! I put the other one in his empty bed, I'm so sorry!"
Luigi leaned up, wincing at his aching body.
"Ugh…. we lost him again!" He complained.
"Well, look on the bright side!" Said Amber, with a smile.
"...and that is?" Luigi sighed, after a long silence.
"No, I was just playing with you, there is no bright side." Said Amber, with a smile.
Luigi swung his legs over to the side of the bed and hopped off.
"Well, then we're gonna have to find Alph. Again. But this time, we'll have to find where the heck the blade went."
"The what?"
"The girl. You haven't been to the Xenoblade universe, have you?"
"Nope."
Luigi sighed. "Okay… Well, we aren't getting anywhere sitting like this. Go and get Brittany, while I set up the trackers."
"Fine, DAD." Amber grumbled.
Luigi walked out into the hall to see Amber, maintaining eye contact with the apparition from earlier.
"How is it still here…?" She whispered.
The ghost took one step. Then another. Then, it pounced.
Luigi, not wasting any time, whipped out the Strobulb and pointed the bright light at the ghost, halting the ghost in mid-air.
"Che diavolo è quello?!"
"Listen, I can understand properly spoken Japanese, but you're so bad at it-"
"Listen, it's ITALIAN, and that's not even the point! There's a ghost right here!" Luigi motioned towards the ghost.
The pair both flinched as the ghost began to speak.
"You… idiots."
"You're the one that died! Stupid!" Amber shot back.
"It was YOU." The ghost hissed, "YOU killed me."
Luigi shoved the Strobulb into Amber's hands and stepped a bit closer.
"I don't even know you! Who even are you?!"
The ghost began to cackle and laugh. "You really don't recognize me? It's me!"
Neither of them moved.
"Yeah!" Said Amber, with a fake smile, "It's you… guy. How's the… how's the wife?"
The ghost laughed some more. "Hah… It's ME! Billy! I'm still alive!"
Amber and Luigi both blanched.
"N-no way." Amber breathed. "You…" She began to shake. "You're the reason Michael is dead right now!"
"Oh, I saw every bit of it. He ran down the halls like a valiant soldier, only for his heart to be pierced like a pincushion! Bodies littered the halls and nobody heard your poor brother's screams! As he shut himself in here, there was nowhere for him to hide. And nobody was coming to save him. Not even his sister. His dear, sweet sister. Oh, how he called your name!" Billy began to laugh. "Amber,'' he shouted, ''I'm sorry. Please come back." I loved every second of it."
Amber slowly approached Billy, who's bright, spectral outline began to fade as he began to regain control again. "N-no. You're just messing with me." Amber denied.
"I wish I were just messing with you." Billy snickered, "But he was suffering already. And I was the only one there. So I killed him. I did it. I yanked the shrapnel from his heart."
"H-...how DARE you?!" Amber growled, enmity seeping into her tone.
Billy smiled, looking Amber dead in the eyes.
"And he's never coming back. And who's fault is that?"
Amber swung the flashlight into Billy's face, only for it to go through his body. In the time that the light no longer froze him, Billy pounced on Amber.
"He called your name. He thought you would rescue him, but you couldn't save him!"
Luigi froze Billy again and kicked him away.
"Why did you try to hit him, you knew that ghosts are incorporeal!"
Amber looked down at Billy.
"I can't." She sighed, "I can't even hurt him, I can't do anything. I have to live, knowing I can't even avenge my brother because his killer is invisible!"
Billy vanished. Luigi sighed.
"Listen, he's trying to get into your head, okay? We'll deal with that when we can, but we need to find Alph. Like I said, he isn't even able to really do anything. He could be LYING, for all we know. Think you can hold it together?"
Amber slowly nodded, though her face said "No."
"Then that makes two of us. Now, let's go. We can't waste anymore time."
Meanwhile…
Travis woke to an eerie purple glow in his apartment.
Then, the blanket flew off of his bed, definitely waking him all the way up.
"Aw, what the hell?!"
"Wake UP." A voice commanded.
Travis leaned up at nearly lightspeed.
"HOLY SH-" He squinted at the ghost before him. "Who the hell are you?!"
"Hi, Travis! I'm guessing you don't recognize me because of this new form I've achieved… or, new forms, anyway."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Sparks of electricity began to form from his fingertips, "but you'd better explain it fast."
"It's me, Billy! You know, your old squadmate?"
Travis squinted, incredulously.
"Hah. Really? YOU. Are that explosion-loving, practically harmless little toad, inventor-slash-lieutenant that worked for Gamma. That's YOU. I find that hard to believe."
Billy frowned.
"You wouldn't believe what those chumps did to me."
"From the context, I'd imagine they… I dunno… killed you?"
"I had a plan and everything, I was gonna get my revenge. I mean, I still am, just not in the same way as before!"
Travis sighed.
"Listen, even if you ARE, by some chance, Billy, I'm not gonna help you kill them. Gamma's dead. Along with it, my desire to be considered "on the bad side." So go take all that somewhere else."
"You wouldn't turn on them? Not even if they could… change reality?" Billy jeered.
"What do you mean, change reality? They're just trying to find their friend, this isn't some sci-fi novel!"
"Yes. They're looking for what they call, "The Immortality Drive." You wanna take a guess at why?"
"Because your mom."
Billy squinted. "No, dumbass, because they're trying to reverse time and change the outcome! They'll wipe us from existence!"
"They'll wipe YOU from existence!" Travis shot back.
"No, unfortunately, they'll get rid of all things they consider "evil…" and you're still one of them. How do ya like them apples?"
"I've made it VERY clear that I'm on their side now!" Travis reiterated, "They know I wouldn't pull anything evil!"
"All of them? Or just your little girlfriend? I'm just saying, Amber doesn't seem very fond of you. Or anyone else, for that matter." Billy prodded.
Travis jumped off the bed and tackled Billy, who willingly let Travis tackle him.
"I KNOW NONE OF THEM LIKE ME! Guess who has to live with that?! The pressure of them always staring at me, still wondering if I'll ever be the way I say I am, I know!"
"Look at yourself." Said Billy, a smile creeping across his face. "Such a shame, you can't even kill me."
Travis jumped off of Billy, before giving him a stern glare.
"Get out of my house."
"Technically, it's not even a house-"
"I said, get the hell out of my house!"
"Alright, geez! I'm leaving!" Billy vanished.
Travis grasped his aching head.
"I AM on their side… Why would they get rid of me…?"
?
Alph rubbed his eyes and leaned up, before wincing at the throbbing pain in his chest.
"He warned you not to touch the crystal, but you touched it anyway." Marco sighed, from the other side of the room. "Now you know how Arris felt."
Marco turned to face Alph. "Your body isn't capable of holding that much energy inside. If it weren't for me, you'd be six feet under."
"Wh-where am I?" Alph asked.
"My universe. This was technically mine and Arris's house but… you know what happened."
"What did you do to my friends?!" Alph snapped.
"Nothing too bad. So calm down. I wouldn't have killed them anyway. And your heart rate is already pre-elevated, due to the drive's energy. I'd suggest stopping before your heart explodes. It may not seem like it, but you are safe here."
Alph looked around. The place didn't look half-bad for a four-year old underground base built by people with no experience.
"The drive…" Alph remembered, "I have to shut it down… did you shut it down?"
"The MVPs don't even have it anymore, so I wouldn't even bother. Besides, you should probably value your life over the drive. You get anywhere over 90 BPM, and.. Uhh… boom." Marco reiterated, making the extravagant hand motion along with it.
"How do you know this?" Alph asked, not realizing the answer that Marco was about to give.
"Arris wasn't the first to try touching the crystal. She was the strongest, but not the first. I'll say that much."
Alph tried to stand, only to fall to his knees.
"How did your friend live through this for… how long?!"
"About six or seven years."
"With excessive heart pain?!"
"Yup. It's really what you get for touching the crystal."
Alph attempted standing again, finally making it to his feet.
"Man, this hurts…" Alph muttered, before beginning to slowly walk.
"Also, about the drive, I think your friends are looking for it now. But YOU need to take it easy, because I don't want YOU to die again."
"Again?!" Alph gasped.
"Yeah, that was on you. You touched the freaking crystal."
Alph sighed and sat back down.
"Well, since I have a lot more time on my hands… how did it feel to be stuck inside of a crystal like that?"
"I don't think you know anything about that. I AM that crystal. Somebody has to awaken it first, which is what you did. Also, no time passes for me. Basically, I blink and a new life's begun. At first, it was dreary, knowing I'd never see the previous driver again, but…" Marco paused for a second. "Nothing lasts forever, right?"
Ooooh! To be such a short chapter, it really is jam-packed!
So, what happened? Billy's ghost decided to appear, Travis IS good, and Simon finally realized Amber was gone.
On the good side, Alph is completely safe and alive. But nobody else knows that... except for Cleats. BUT THAT'S FOR NEXT CHAPTER! See you then!