It was odd...plastic was made to be durable, made so that when it dropped, it wouldn't break. Made to be stronger than glass. Sheen had never really thought much about it before, but now as he sat staring at one of his favorite Ultra Lord action figures, the thought had struck him. He had just pushed the mask up, and the plastic, which Sheen assumed had cracked long ago, completely split, leaving the crusader's face and identity revealed.

In Sheen's mind, three things in this world would always be truths, would always stay the same: 1. Ultra Lord would always save the day. 2. His dad would always be there for him and 3. No matter how bad Sheen messed up, no matter what stupid mistake he made, Jimmy would always be his friend and help him.

Before Sheen had met Jimmy, he was even more absorbed in Ultra Lord then he was now. His father and mother had divorced back when he was eight, and his mother had moved away. His father, Emelio Estevez did the best he could, but he had to work all the time, leaving Sheen alone. But he still managed to be there for him.

Many of his Ultra Lord figures, on the other hand, were breaking lately, the less-than-durable paint chipped, no matter how careful he was while he handled it. There were several Ultra Lord arms, masks, and legs all in a box, waiting to be joined to a plastic body once more. Before, if they broke, he would just go to Jimmy. Jimmy could fix anything. Anything. Sheen still held that belief.

He hadn't been to school since the accident, but his father hadn't gotten on to him. He tried one day - to support Cindy on the day she had tried to return - but the air at school was different without Jimmy. Cindy didn't bother to answer questions, and Jimmy wasn't there to, so they went unanswered. Cindy had burst out into tears when their science teacher had started talking about electrons, protons and...neutrons. Seeing Cindy fall apart had made Sheen unravel as well. Neither had been back to school since.

He no longer had the strength to visit Jimmy, to look at his peaceful face...almost like a child sleeping. Yet there was a darker presence there. More than once Sheen had woken in a sweat, dreaming that Jimmy was dead. Now he didn't sleep. The dreams were too realistic, like a prophecy of things to come.

He tried to keep busy - he did the chores around the house, did the grocery shopping, anything that could keep his mind from drifting back to that hospital room. He dreaded moments of silence, for in them he could hear the steady beep..beep...beep noise that insufferable EGK machine they had Jimmy hooked up to.

"Why him!" Sheen demanded aloud of no one inparticular. No one answered. He hadn't expected them to. Sheen continued, "If it was anyone of us...Cindy, Carl, Libby, or me, Jimmy would have saved us by now! He's a helluva lot smarter than those doctors! They're supposed to be helping him...Why aren't they helping him!"

He bit his lip, as the bitter tears started to flow. Why was he sitting here doing nothing? Why couldn't he face Jimmy? Or even his parents? Sheen couldn't even stand to be in the same room as Cindy anymore..

He was gonna tell you that day, Cindy. Sheen thought, as though Cindy were somehow channeling into his mind. He was finally going to tell you he loved you. You love him, too..I know it. You have to...I'm sorry, Cindy. I know this is really hard for you..but damn it, it's hard for the rest of us, too, you know!

The one thing that had kept Sheen from utterly falling apart was Cindy. He felt that as bad as he was hurting, it probably pailed in comparison to Cindy's by tenfold. Cindy had loved Jimmy..

Stop it! Sheen was screaming in his head, arguing with some darker, hidden part of his mind that had just spoken. Jimmy's not dead!

Yet...The other half answered.

Shut up! Jimmy will come through for us! He always comes through for us!

So why's he waiting so long, huh? If he could do anything, why hasn't he done it yet? Stop fooling yourself. You're only going to make it harder on yourself when he dies.

He's not going to die! Sheen thought desperately, praying the other part of his mind would just shut up before any shred of hope he had was ripped away from him, the way Jimmy had been. Fortunately, it made no response this time. Sheen closed his eyes, trying to catch his bearings. Jimmy would wake up, if he stayed positive...then he'd come back, and he..he...he'd..

Sheen slumped down, and closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling. Because now both parts of his mind had the same message.. He's never coming back. Give up.