ISSUE EIGHT
Elevator Fever
Johnny rushes into the mirror room in his house to grab a few weapons before he leaves. Vicky, having made the connection between the three of them and NERVE, was positive that there were answers to be found at the NERVE headquarters. This was all speculation, however, so they didn't really have a definite plan. Luckily, Vicky was able to persuade Devi to join them which was a good thing because she knew the turf better and her presence would prevent Johnny from just barging in and slaughtering people till he got answers, which was his original thought. Not that he cared what she thought; he had tried his hardest on his little trip away from home to eliminate all feelings for her and kept reminding himself of this fact. He couldn't let emotions get in his way on this trip. Devi insisted she drove, though, having been witness to both Johnny and Vicky's driving before.
"Why are you in such as rush?" Reverend Meat inquires from a corner as Nny bustles around the room.
"None of your damn business," Nny simply states, looking for where he had put his trench coat.
"We're awfully testy today. Was that your would-be girlfriend I heard earlier?"
"Shut the FUCK UP BURGER BOY!" Nny growls through clench teeth, quickly getting sick of Meat.
"You don't really want to go on this stupid adventure, do you?" Meat asks calmly.
"What are you talking about?"
"This trip to NERVE. What's in the past is in the past. They can't help you."
"How do you…"
"Nny, you've known me for how long now? I'm a part of you, just like the Doughboys were. Only my job is less destructive as theirs. Now please, give up this garbage. Getting your memory restored won't help anything…"
"How do you know I would get my memory restored? That possibility never crossed my mind," Nny questions.
"…I didn't mean to say that…"
"So they are the root of it all, aren't they? Otherwise they wouldn't…"
"Really Johnny-boy," Meat cuts him off. "Get off it. You've never needed your past before, you've been doing absolutely fine without it."
"You're joking right? Feeding a bloody wall qualifies as 'absolutely fine'?"
"Different folks, different strokes! I mean, there's really nothing to be learned from the past…"
"I have no past to learn from."
"My point exactly!" Meat points out. "So you don't really want to go to NERVE."
"I don't want to go…" Nny pauses to consider this.
"That's it…" Meat starts triumphantly.
"Or YOU don't want me to go?" Nny cuts him off, narrowing his eyes at the little statue.
"Well, of cour…I mean, what utter nonsense…"
"You don't want me to go because if I regain my memory, there will no longer be a need of you, is that it? You would cease to exist, having failed!" Nny tries to piece it all together.
"Johnny, you don't know what's in that building. It's horrific…"
"Nice try, but I'M NOT LISTENING TO YOU!" Nny yells at it.
"Fine, I see I'm not going to persuade you. The answers you seek are in the basement level…"
"Is it now? I'm not a moron. Thanks for the tip off, we'll go to the top," Johnny picks up Meat and dumps his in the circular waste basket on his way out of the room.
"JOHNNY!" Meat yells, but Nny ignores him. As Nny walks out the door, he spots Vicky leaning against the wall, waiting for him to come out. She's been much happier now she has definite proof that the two psychos were related. Nny still isn't sure if this is a good thing, but he's a tad glad to have someone else going with them. Vicky is humming to herself as she spins a small dagger in her hand.
"You're kidding, right?" Nny raises an eyebrow at the pitiful weapon. "You're not going armed with that, are you?" Vicky hugs it protectively.
"It's my favorite!" She pouts. Nny rolls his eyes and steps over to a large closet door. He swings it open, revealing a wall covered with a multitude of different knives, sickles, various pointy objects, etc. Vicky's eyes grow wide like a kid in a candy shop.
~ ~ ~
Devi sits in her car, waiting for the Deranged Duo to get their asses in gear. She has no clue as to why she's agreeing to this. She also doesn't know how she's going to be able to stand being around Johnny but with Vicky there, hopefully he won't try anything. Though chances of that look grim as well, being his twin and all. It seems the more Devi's around Johnny, the more this feeling wells up inside her; she's positive it's the pure venom of hatred. She doesn't have time to ponder this further, however because just then, Johnny and Vicky strut out of the run down house, both of them dressed in black pants, a black shirt, black boots, a black trench coat and sunglasses, Johnny carrying a weapon laden duffle bag and Vicky with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. They start towards is Devi's car, who stares at them in disbelief.
"YO! NEO! TRINITY! Lose the trench coats and sunglasses; this isn't 'The Matrix'!" Devi mocks them, starting up the car. Nny and Vicky exchange glances. Nny shrugs and complies, wanting to make this trip go as smooth as possible and being sane enough to understand it wouldn't work if he pissed Devi off, though his very presence seems to do that without much help. Vicky pouts however.
"UH-UH! I like my sunglasses and if you don't, too damn bad!" She skips over to the car and sits shot gun. Nny hangs back for a moment; he doesn't really care about Devi, he attempts to tell himself. He tosses the duffle bag in before him, then climbs in the back seat.
"Do you really need that much hardware?" Devi glares at Nny in the rearview mirror. Nny glances quickly back at the mirror but doesn't respond. Devi gives an irritated sigh and pulls away from the curb, starting Towards the NERVE office building. Nny keeps reminding himself about the useless excess of emotions as Vicky bobs up and down in her seat, humming "The Wheels on the Bus".
~ ~ ~
Johnny and Vicky gaze up at the very tall NERVE building after Devi parks the car. Its glass sides very much resemble a giant mirror as the setting sun's rays gleam off it. Devi brushes past them both and heads inside.
The three enter without much incident and flash their ID cards at the guard station. The guard had just gotten on the phone and didn't really pay them any mind. Nny gets the eerie feeling like he's being watched after he goes by but doesn't get a chance to turn around to investigate as he's almost run over by Vicky.
"STARBUCKS! AND A BAKERY! YUMMY!" She shouts. Both Devi and Nny snatch her arms.
"Oh no! You do NOT need any form of caffeine or sugar!" Devi informs her. Vicky sniffs and complies, trudging a few steps behind as they head to the elevators.
"Do we know which floor we're going to?" Devi asks curtly.
"The top floor," Nny pipes up.
"Meat tell you that?" Vicky asks.
"I refuse to acknowledge him by that name."
"But didn't you…"
"Do you two mind?" Devi scolds. They droop their heads like little kids being yelled at by their mother. "Now, we have a choice, stairs or elevator."
"Why do we get a choice? What's wrong with the elevators?" Vicky asks.
"There's only one working," Devi points her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the very large group of people trying to fit into the elevator all at once. Nny makes a face.
"STAIRS!" He declares.
"WHOA! Wait a minute, how many stories are there?" Vicky demands.
"Two hundred," Devi replied matter of factly.
"TWO HUNDRED?!" Vicky exclaims. "No, I am NOT climbing two hundred flights of stairs!"
"I am NOT getting that close to the epitome of ignorance…" Nny starts.
"You two have fun fighting, I'm taking the elevator," Devi turns and starts towards it. Vicky grins, sticks a tongue out at Nny, and rushes after her. Nny growls and follows.
As Nny squeezes in just before the doors close, he accidentally whacks some little deep purple haired girl with a black dress, a skull necklace and squinty eyes in the head with his duffle bag, making her drop the hand held video game she was playing. As it hits the floor, the game starts to beep indignantly. The girl stoops down a picks it up, and starts growling.
"You made me screw up my game!" She gives Nny the evil eye. He, however, completely ignores her and turns around to watch the progress of the elevator.
Vicky stands in between Devi and Nny, looking back and forth between the two of them. Both of them watch to see what floor the elevator is not but make a point of not looking at each other.
"You know," Vicky chirps as the elevator door opens for the next floor and the crowded elevator starts to thin out. "You two would make the cutest couple! I should hook you two up!"
Nny and Devi snap their heads around to look at Vicky, shooting daggers out of their eyes at her.
"Jeeze…I was just saying…"
The doors to the elevator start to close, but just before they do, a small hand shoots in and stops them. The purple haired girl from before sticks her head in and grins evilly at Nny. Nny raises an eye brow at her as the doors start to close again. The girl slaps her hand on the elevator panel, making sure to hit every single button and waves as the doors shut.
"NO!" All three yell and try to get out of the door but end up slamming into it cartoon style.
"BITCH!" Nny whirls on Vicky, giving her the squinty eye. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
"My fault?! You're the one that whacked the girl upside the head!"
"Oh, but YOU'RE the one who just HAD to ride the elevator!" Nny snarls. "Prissy FOOK!"
"SORRY! I'm not stupid enough to want to climb TWO HUNDRED flights of stairs! I mean, look at these boots! They are SO not stair material!" They glare at each other, angrily. Devi just stares at them, not wanting to get into the middle of it.
"YOU KNOW WHAT! You just stay on THAT side of the elevator, and I'll stay on MINE!"
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
The two go to the separate corners pouting.
*Dear God, what have I gotten myself into?* Devi thinks.
~ ~ ~
By the 50th floor, people have stopped getting on, mostly because Vicky and Nny's fighting has gotten so bad they've drawn their weapons and are threatening each other from opposite sides of the elevator. At the 75th floor, Devi takes their toys away.
"THAT'S IT! I'M SICK OF YOU TWO BABIES!" She snatches away both their knives. "I MAY BE STUCK IN THIS FUCKING ELEVATOR, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU BRATS WHINE ABOUT WHOSE FAULT IT IS!"
"But she…"
"But he…"
"SHUSH!" She yells, pointing the knives at them. The two instantly clam up. "NOW BOTH OF YOU GO SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET BEFORE I RIP OFF YOUR ARM…" She points at Nny. "…AND BEAT YOU WITH IT!" She points at Vicky. "NOW PLAY NICE!" They instantly obey.
By the time they hit the 100th floor, Vicky has fallen asleep, curled up in a ball under the elevator panel which three had torn apart trying to get the door to stop opening. They succeeded, but also succeeded in making the elevator go twice as slow.
Devi sits at Vicky's feet, watching the progress of the elevator. It seems like its mocking Devi as the numbers slowly change, pausing a good two or three minutes between floors. Devi shifts her gaze to Johnny, who sits on the other side of the elevator, staring at his ID card in his hand.
Johnny slowly turns the card over and over, staring hard at it, almost through it, willing it to show some bit of information he had missed, some secret it knew that he did not. The card holds its tongue, however, and says nothing to Nny as he turns it. Nny pours over what Meat had said in his head. The whole 'memory restored' thing bugged him. Was Meat trying to trick him? He seemed awfully uncomfortable with the fact that Nny was coming here, which was quite uncharacteristic for him. But the question remains, would he get his memory back? Something more substantial than the vague flashes he had been getting? Nny isn't really sure if he wants to know his past, if it's any reflection of his present. Nny sighs, not paying attention to anything else, not even Devi, who is still staring at him.
Devi still doesn't totally know what's going on. From what Johnny had inferred, all three of them had lost their memory and from Vicky's point of view, it was due to NERVE. But Devi isn't sure if she buys into that explanation. She still thinks it might be Johnny. He was already insane so he didn't remember his past. Vicky was related to him so it didn't really surprise Devi that she didn't remember hers either, having some severe mental issues of her own; insanity appears to be a family trait. And ever since Devi had met Nny, her life had most certainly taken a turn down a strange road. So it has to be Johnny sucking something from them and the whole NERVE things is just a coincidence.
But then something that Vicky had said in Nny's drawing room comes to Devi's mind.
"Styrofoam figures that talked to him…"
Figures with voices, like Sickness? No, it can't be like Sickness, that's impossible. Sickness is Devi's own voice; she controlled it, much like an imaginary friend…right? Besides, Johnny is insane so there's no way Devi's voice could be like his.
"What are you trying to prove, Johnny?" Devi asks, her cold voice slicing through the silence.
"Huh?!" Nny looks up, startled by her voice.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure…" Nny starts, looking down again. He's not quite sure how to speak to her anymore, as it's still quite obvious that she hates him. But he doesn't care, he reminds himself.
"I DON'T forgive you," Devi reiterates, narrowing her eyes.
"I don't expect you to," Nny says, not looking up at her.
"What?"
"I've told you before, I don't expect you to forgive me; all I want is silence. I do not seem to be permitted to feel happiness and without happiness what good is…"
"SHUT UP!" Devi snaps, NOT wanting him to finish that sentence. Nny grimaces and continues staring at the card. "Ever since you walked into that bookstore, my life has been screwed to hell. I just recently got over my fear of leaving the house to try and pursue a normal fucking life and guess what happened, Johnny? YOU AGAIN!"
"I'm…sorry Devi…"
"SORRY?! Sorry isn't good enough!" Devi snaps, her pent up emotions giving her fuel. Johnny closes his eyes and sighs. He had hoped, if he had any trace of luck at all, that if they ever met again it wouldn't be like this. Unfortunately, Nny isn't very lucky. He thought his attempt to rid himself of these feelings had succeeded somewhat. But the longer the argument goes on, the more he realizes he hadn't. Nny stays silent.
"What, Johnny-boy? No witty come backs? The great philoseph…"
"YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T QUITE GRASP THE WHOLE SITUATION!" Nny says, saying it a little louder than he originally intended. He sighs. "I've tried moving past this stage of life to the next, greater motivation. It WAS working till SHE came along…" Nny shoots a contemptuous glance at the slumbering Vicky.
"Try harder!" Devi growls. Nny closes his eyes, stung by the comment.
"I'm glad it was so easy for you…"
"EASY! Living in hear for a good half a year at least, YEAH! THAT'S EASY! Devi stands up.
" 'Fear we do not know much about-terror of death, yes; but that is a different matter, that is physical…'" Nny quotes, not sure where it came from.
"Excuse me?!"
Nny doesn't answer.
"Don't start your fucking head games, Johnny!"
"Devi…"
"NO! MY TURN TO TALK!" Devi pulls him up roughly, an animalistic anger starting to take hold of her. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT FEAR? YOU SEEM PRETTY KNOWLEDGABLE ABOUT DEATH!"
Just then, Johnny gets another flash, but this one is only an intense, searing pain, pounding all over his body. He squeezes his eyes shut and holds his head to make it go away and sees a very dark, tall, menacing figure inside his eyelids. It all comes and goes in a matter of seconds.
"YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT!" Johnny yells at her, having no idea where the tears he's fighting back came from. He immediately regrets his outburst as Devi snarls dog-like, grabs Nny's collar, and rams him against the elevator wall.
"I DON'T, DO I?! WELL LET ME TELL YOU…" Devi screams at him, but stops as she looks in his eyes. They say the eyes are a window into the soul. Devi sees something there that she never would have expected; a shadow of blind terror. Not from her, but from something else…
Johnny grips the bar that runs around the metallic elevator to stop himself from doing something that he might regret; were Devi anyone else, she would have been dead by now. Johnny squeezes his eyes shut so he didn't have to look into her angry, analytic eyes.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Nny…" Devi rumbles softly, not having the same power in her voice as before as the anger starts fizzling out, using his nickname for the first time since the last phone call. She pauses and then, on impulse, kisses him.
Johnny's eyes pop open, in total shock. He stays completely still, not exactly sure as to how to respond to Devi's lips pressed against his. She lingers for a few moments, and then straightens up, staring at Nny with conflicting emotions in her dazzling jade eyes. A giggle sounds from the other side of the elevator. The two turn to see Vicky propped up by one arm with a sly grin.
"I TOLD you that you two would make the cutest couple!" She chirps, satisfied. Devi lets go of Johnny's shirt, the two look evilly at Vicky, but still blush slightly. A loud bell ends the moment. All three look up to the meter above the elevator door.
"We're there…"