By animeninjaNIPPON

The person in question looked up suddenly, shaking her purple pigtails. She apparently didn't see Johnny, but he saw her...

"Devi."

He started walking toward her, then stopped in the middle of the mall. Would she remember him after all those years? Had she found someone else?

Did he really want to know?

It was too late to think about that now - he was walking again...

She looked in his direction at last, and her demeanor turned cold. "Oh God..."

"Devi...?" he repeated.

All her memories came flooding back to her - even after all that therapy, she still harbored much resentment. "Johnny."

"Hi..." he said shyly.

"Likewise." She seemed to be biting back the impulse to projectile vomit. "So...what's new?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." He glanced around nervously. "...You?"

"What?"

"What about you?"

"I just sold some of my paintings at an art gallery...and, that's pretty much it." She glanced at her wrist, though Johnny couldn't see a watch on it. "I should go."

"Wait...where are you going?"

"Home," she replied bluntly, walking away. Johnny followed suit. "I was going to clean out my fridge. I haven't in almost a month."

"Really..." Johnny followed her out of the mall. "That's interesting."

"No, it's not." She kept on walking, wondering if there was some way she could lose him without creating a scene in front of the passers-by, which was becoming increasingly tempting.

"I don't know..." He shrugged casually. "Sometimes really spooky things can grow in there."

"I don't want to find spooky things in my fridge." Devi was gradually losing patience. She looked at her wrist again, and that time Johnny caught a glimpse of her purple plastic wristwatch.

That was odd...he was getting nothing out of being near Devi. Perhaps he had finally won his battle against feelings. Had he truly obliterated all of his affections for the purple-haired woman in front of him?

"I have to go." Without so much as simple goodbye, he took off in the opposite direction, epiphany reflecting in his eyes.

"I did it... I'm no longer a slave."

-----

That night, as Squee got ready for bed, Shmee spoke to him:

Don't wait up for the homicidal maniac.

"I don't know what you mean..." Squee stated in confusion.

Trust me, Todd, you'll never see him again.

"Isn't that a good thing? I thought you said he was a bad man."

He is...but he won't come back, so don't worry.

"How do you know for sure?"

Because, he doesn't need you anymore. You're not that little kid that used to live next door to him and give him Band-Aids anymore; you're -

"Who are you talking to?" Squee's dad yelled. "Shut up - I'm trying to work in here!"

Squee immediately dove under the covers. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten in trouble for talking too loudly to Shmee, and he needed to be careful or else his parents might take Shmee away.

As he eased into a comfortable position, he wondered if perhaps Shmee was wrong about Johnny, just this once.

-----

"MEAT was wrong...I can become cold...like the moonlight that illuminates my broken window..."

Nny was lying apathetically in the middle of the floor.

"Human nature's so predictable."

"MEAT?" Nny sat up abruptly. "I thought I killed you..."

"What's real can't die. I'm part of you."

"NailBunny told me about you..." He glanced up at a photograph of the deceased rabbit's head. "You ARE trying to steal my existence, aren't you?"

"What are you going to do about it?"

Johnny leaned over, reached under his couch, and pulled out a handgun. "I'm going to kill myself, and eliminate the whole universe by doing so, thus proving that I care for nothing."

Rev. MEAT's voice grew weary. "You wouldn't do that - you know I'm right."

Johnny pressed the gun to his temple.

"You wouldn't do it...you can't..."

CLICK. The release was down.

"This scenario seems familiar..."

The doorbell rang. With a groan of frustration, Johnny dropped his gun and went to answer it.

"Do you mind?" he yelled as he opened the door. "I'm trying to commit suicide in here. Shit, now I can't remember why I wanted to kill myself... What do you want?"

The pompous businessman in the pinstriped suit on the other side of the door replied arrogantly, "I'm selling health insurance at a discount price - "

"Fuck," Johnny interrupted, "you ruined what I was going to do! The point that I was trying to prove!" He grabbed the businessman by the shirt and hauled him into the house. "You'll have to substitute!"

End of part ten