The Number of the Moose

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Jhonen owns JtHM and all related characters...as you all know...and the name of this chapter belongs to the Nine Inch Nails song Somewhat Damaged, which was written, composed, and performed by the almighty Trent Reznor.

10. Broken, Bruised, Forgotten, Sore...

Todd shuddered violently, as an after-effect of the sobs that recently wracked his body. He was dead and he was in Hell.

Hell was a most unenjoyable place and Todd couldn't stand being there. It was uncomfortable, the people were mean, everything was depressing...but one thing that made it somewhat tolerable was how nice Señior Diablo had been to him.

Fancy that. The devil, nice.

Everything was blurred. What had happened? The last thing Todd remembered was lying on Johnny's couch half-asleep and half-hearing Johnny mutter something about his scar and looking like an angel. That and the feel of Johnny's ice cold hand on his cheek.

Also, he vaguely remembered a girl. She was dead... but how did she hurt him? Was she the one who hurt him? One thing Todd knew was that the girl was the last thing he saw. Or was it felt? It WAS her that killed him. He remembered feeling her kill him.

Fresh tears welled up in Todd's eyes and spilled down his cheeks.

Why was he in Hell? He was never a bad person! He listened to his good-for-nothing parents, he did his work at Skool, and he did EVERYTHING ELSE HE WAS TOLD! He had always been good. Always! He didn't deserve to be here. Not here, not in Hell.

This was worse than the asylum.

Señior Diablo had removed the wounds that the Elizabeth had caused. Not all of them though, just the ones on his back. He said that one should be removed, but that the rest were minor and would heal with time. How could he heal in Hell, when he was dead? Everything was so....strange. Nothing was what Todd imagined it to be. He imagined an evil, ruthless devil, rivers of blood, people being tortured, and things like that! But there was none of it. It was just like being alive. He felt pain, sadness, hate. Just like when he was alive.

Hate? Todd didn't hate. He never hated anyone in his entire life! But he did... he does. "Elizabeth." The word tore from his throat in a low growl. Something Todd never thought he would hear himself do.

Slowly Todd stood up and looked around. He would find her and he would kill her, if possible, for hurting him as much as she did.

- - - -

Johnny had discovered that he did indeed have head explody, and found it useful whenever he ran into an unpleasant person. Most of which were acquaintances of his. Of course this was because he had killed them. It was no surprise that they were in Hell, that's why he killed them in the first place. They were bad people. It was only natural that these ignorant pests were sent to Hell.

Back to the point. Johnny was searching everywhere for Todd and so far he was unsuccessful. Hell was huge! How was he supposed to find one person among this sea of imbeciles?

Johnny heard a lot of loud yelling. It was Pepito. "HOW DARE YOU GO AGAINST ME AND FATHER?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!?!"

"I didn't mean it okay?! I didn't mean to KILL him!"

That voice made Johnny freeze, for it belonged to Elizabeth.

Ever so slowly Johnny made his way closer to the building the voices were coming from. He wanted to see what the son of Satan was capable of. It could be interesting. On top of that, it would be wondrous to see someone else torture Elizabeth.

Johnny peered into a broken window to see Elizabeth sitting on the floor, her legs curled to one side, her arms wrapped protectively around her body, and tears streaking her face. It took all of his self-control to keep from rushing into the building and killing her again. Not that it would accomplish much in Hell.

"It doesn't matter that you didn't MEAN to kill him! What matters is that you DID kill him! I didn't send you there to kill Todd, you were there to settle business with Johnny, not-" Pepito stopped abruptly and whipped around to see Johnny in the broken window. "You get in here. This involves you as much as it does her." It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Pepito was livid with Elizabeth.

Johnny, not knowing what else to do, entered the building, eyeing Elizabeth with every intention of killing her again.

"Do it and you will pay." Pepito snapped. "Okay, I know why you're here Johnny, so I'll make this quick. She was sent back by me, to make YOU suffer. I'm sorry she didn't listen to me. I never meant for Todd to get hurt." Johnny was surprised to hear pain in Pepito's voice. "You can count on the fact that she will be suffering for a good LONG time."

Elizabeth whimpered.

Johnny's eye twitched. "All these things...I already knew them. What the fuck did you want me in here for?"

"Because...I want to tell you that I hope you find Todd." Pepito said quietly. "I don't like you, nor do I think you deserve to find Todd, but I hope you do because he didn't deserve to die. Not like that. And not because of you. Find him. Take him back. And protect him. Trust me, I will know if you don't."

"Right. I will. Now if you will excuse me, you're wasting my time." Johnny glared at Elizabeth, then turned on his heel and left.

- - - -

Todd stumbled around almost falling down every once and a while. He had to find her and make her suffer. He couldn't let something like that go. Not after all the shit he put up with in his life... killing him was too far. And if she were dead like she said she was, surly she would be in Hell.

He felt so empty... so empty and cold. So lost... What was happening? Everything was going black. Everything was spinning. Who's there? Someone caught him as he was falling, but whom? He couldn't open his eyes. It was as if someone placed weights on his eyelids forcing them closed. It was like they didn't want him to open them.

It sounded like a radio stuck between two stations. Static. Mumbling. Inaudible. Todd couldn't make out what the person was saying. Was it a person? What was happening to him? It was getting hard to breathe again. If he was in Hell why did he need to breathe?

The radio voice grew louder, and with volume it got that much more unclear. That much more blurred. What was it saying? Could anyone save him?

Suddenly Todd's eyes snapped open and he wasn't sure if he was angry, happy, or frightened at the person he saw. How could it be possible? Should he be angry? Scared? What should he feel?

Emotions. So many emotions swirled around his mind. For the person holding him up and talking, was the one person who caused this all to happen. It was all really this person's fault that he suffered and died.

"Nny."

Not Elizabeth's fault at all...