Hey, hey! Next chapter everyone! Get ready for some emotions cause the Mental state of mind is the main focus in this chapter and the next! More so the next after this one! Also Mad King C funny how you mentioned Hat Kid in your last review because I was getting to that!
(Chapter Eleven: New and Old Faces)
Lynn looked out with wonder, as much as she was uncomfortable about falling off, ride on the back of a large ghost was pretty awesome! The child took a glance next to her, Julia had somehow fallen asleep during the trip. At first, it seemed like she didn't care if she fell or not, but taking a closer look, Julia had a death grip while she was out cold. How was she doing that? It's rather impressive to sleep and still manage to keep a hold on something.
Lynn couldn't help but worry about the oncoming situation at hand... Will Subcon be okay? Will Mafia Town be okay? Well, she wasn't too worried about the Mafia, a few less of them around wouldn't hurt. Those were her thoughts though.
Snatcher was halfway past the ocean now, the sun was almost setting, It was starting to get irritating to try and look out ahead. Just beyond the horizon, however, something crossed the sky. At first, he thought it might have been some form a gleam from the bright sphere in space. It could have been a comet, but then it would have fallen all the way... whatever it was, it stopped.
There was a moment of silence in his head, as he grew suspicious.
Gabriele had gotten as far away as he could from the part of the forest which was set ablaze for some reason. Fire made him uncomfortable back then, and it still makes him very, very uncomfortable now. "Hah... Keep in eye on the forest.," he mumbled to himself. Out of everyone Snatcher could have told that to, it was him. The same person who that large ghost was trying to get rid of back then.
He wondered if Julia was going to be okay, Gabriele should have gone with.. what was he thinking?!
What was he thinking?
The plague doctor had found himself past the manor's bridge, and near the swamp, where he spotted MoonJumper chatting with Kero. To think, being captive for four years, and finding out your daughter somehow has a child to call her own.
The look on MoonJumper's face was.. Kind, and.. excited. Watching his new grandson talk about how Julia saved him, how she fought with Melody when the world was ending. Kero was happy when he spoke to the Puppeteer.
Gabriele sighed, how could anyone be so friendly to MoonJumper, and be okay with what he's done? The doctor sure wasn't, but he has to hide that fact now. He doesn't want to upset his friend.
Did that make him a good friend, though? Did that make him feel good himself? The doctor kept walking, he didn't want to keep thinking about it.
It was raining, night had fallen, and Julia had quickly gathered her things. Snatcher had told Julia to wait for him while he went to go check on something, so there the tall child was. Everything was still in place, her bag was 'mysteriously' fixed, but she assumed Cc had something to do about it.
"So.. you really don't want me to help you?" Lynn came in with a few sandwiches on a plate. She took a bite out of one currently in her hand. "Because I don't mind! Not like you're having a cool showdown or anything.."
Julia sighed with a smile, "Lynn, this guy gave me nightmares when I was a little girl.." she focused on the bag for a second to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything thing. "He faked his death in my dreams when I lost my dad.."
"So..?" Lynn raised a brow
"What I'm trying to say is," Julia looked at her, face with an unreadable expression "the dude is completely mental. I don't think he cares who he messes with." The thought of Lynn getting killed in a blink, bothered her. "This guy has no remorse. He'll use what he can to get to you."
The taller girl then stood up from her crouched position, looking down at the girl before taking a sandwich from the plate "besides, He could show up any moment now, and I need you here to protect Cooking cat."
Lynn thought for a moment, it was a fair point. She didn't want the only person who mothers her to be killed. She.. she liked Cc. Very much. It would hurt her if anything bad happened to the cat.
Julia scarfed down another sandwich before heading to her bike, She carefully moved it out of the house and onto the streets of Mafia Town. The rain still hadn't let up, but she didn't mind. Sure she wished she still had her umbrella, but seeing it on display made her feel.. special. Happy even that these idiots missed her.
Sticking her hat away, she clapped her biker helmet on and made sure her motorbike was in working order. The rev sounded good to her as she felt the warmth of the engine. Taking this time to strap the bag back onto her vehicle, she was suddenly stomped on.
"Dah-!" Her head was pushed down as she looked up to gigging, then a taunt.
A child with darker skin, a blue bow, and a green coat, with the same blue ruffled skirt, blew a raspberry at the taller girl. A rather rude attitude towards someone who she doesn't know.
Suddenly a Mafia man came running up, huffing and out of breath "little... girl stop!" He breathed out "Mafia is not... getting any younger.."
"What happened?" Julia looked to the man, not after watching the child run away "you okay?"
The man took a moment to regain himself, then looked to the Julia who was still masked in a helmet. "Little girl had fallen into mud, Mafia wanted to help clean, Mafia received punch to gut." He held his stomach, he wasn't looking too good "Mafia wanted to say how rude child was acting, but she kept running.."
Looking off in the direction the child ran. Some new kid just shows up out of the blue, and starts punching people... strange, normally it the Mafia that does the punching. She wanted to say they deserved it, but the guy wasn't looking well. He was also just trying to be nice...
"Don't worry, I'll get her," Julia said, muffled by her helmet. She revved up the bike and started moving, using her barriers to get into the sky. She quickly looked around to see if she could spot the blue bow child, and low and behold, there she was. Just about to cross the fountain area, Julia speeds up and headed down.
The child stopped to hear what the odd humming was, turning around she saw the masked stranger speeding up ever so often at her. The small child held an expression of fear as she started running again, but as she thought she could lose the biker after jumping a gap, she was caught by the scruff of her collar.
"Hey! Let me go!" Her voice sounded like Melody's, but slightly deeper.
"You sure about that kid?" Julia asked, making the child look down. They were currently over the edge floating on a single square barrier over the island cliff. "Because I couldn't care less about a rude little brat like you." She stated.
She hated how she started sounding more like Snatcher. Where was the Noodle anyways? He said he was going to come back...
"No, no, no! Never mind! I'm good!" The child panicked.
"Look, kid.." Julia sighed, looking at her through the visor, The child could only see herself looking back "you can't go around punching, and stepping on people here." The child kept looking at her, thinking of a way to escape "not sure if anyone told you, but the Mafia here are 'trying' to be 'nice' now." Keywords being trying and nice.
The child then suddenly lifted her free arm skyward, an action the was about to become familiar to Julia in a second. Everyone was suddenly shooting upwards, bike and all. Julia had a tighter grip on the child and the bike as she held the bow child close with her protests.
Originally, the child thought she could teleport away from the taller person but accidentally brought the stranger aboard. The captain was going to be so mad!
When they landed, Julia had lost her grip on the child and just... spaced out. Taking off her helmet slowly, thinking this was just another dream, Julia looked through clear eyes. The kid was back, this was Melody's ship!
After another quick round about the forest, and taking a detour around the part that was on fire, Gabriele has concluded that everything was going to be fine for the most part. MoonJumper was not around him, he had taken the liberty of keeping Kero company while the child kept the swamp entrance cleared.
Taking a look at his chest, the same area where he had been struck by that halberd, he could still remember what it felt like. The quick work of Julia's strings, however, did a good job of keeping it neatly sealed. Who would have thought the very ability he was scared of, would help him in the future?
Sure, the strings still bother him, but he's glad he didn't lose too much stuffing. Finding more would have been a serious pain in the neck.
"How fun, how fun!" Gabriele snapped his head up, his hat would have nearly fallen off if he hadn't caught it "The leader of hearts, broken and alone! Been while, doctor."
"And I would have rather kept it that way!" Gabriele shouted, taking a head start to run. What was Zephyr doing here!? It could only mean one thing, and the thought wasn't pleasant. He hid behind a tree for cover as he quickly looked for his sharp equipment. "So you've finally found us, hmm?"
"Oh! Oh! Yes, we wish to play! Zephyr will oblige, we will take care of you, one last problem keeping the master down!" Zephyr threw his signature attack, the glowing triangles were hurled at the tree, making Gabriele duck away from the recoil. "Where are you hiding him! Tell Zephyr, and we will make your suffering fast!"
"Like hell, I'll tell you!" Gabriele shouted, throwing a scalpel into the air at Zephyr, but his blade was deflected.
The Jester flew higher, he knew the doctor could only throw so far. "Well, well, the doctor thinks he so smart. How funny, how hilarious!" He twirled around in the air, "But sadly, you've chosen the painful route!"
The jester suddenly disappeared, like he was never there at all. Gabriele shot up, "A trick!" He yelled turning around but only to receive a punch to the face and a knee to his gut area. The doctor was caught off guard once again as he slid back.
"Now, now, just because Zephyr is a Wizard, doesn't mean we don't know how to brawl" he growls, hunched over and twisting his head to the side "Surprise, surprise! Was the doctor shocked? He better be!" Pulling an odd-looking blade from his pocket, it had an odd coating of color that was purple and blue.
Gabriele eyed the strange knife, then looked to Zephyr's ever taunting smile.
Julia smiled, it had been so long since she was on this spaceship! Putting her helmet down on her motorbike, Julia took in a deep breath and yelled.
"MELODY!" The bow child held her ears as the strange adult shouted out.
The stranger was announcing that she was on board, and she knew her captain's name!? The child was confused, but she then kicked the back of Julia's knee in making the taller girl buckle down with a yelp.
"Quiet!" She said, looking at the stranger with a very upset face "you're too loud!"
Julia got back up, She wasn't bothered when the girl she just called came bouncing out of her bedroom hallway. A loud squeal escaped Melody when she knocked over Julia once again in a hug. The same as every time, the wind was swept from her lungs as she hit the carpet.
"Julia! Holy stars! What are you doing here?" Melody kept talking a mile a minute "I thought you were dead! But you're not dead! You're still here!" The child hugged one last time "I've missed you!"
Julia could only laugh in this situation, she had never seen anyone so happy to see her. Even Kero wasn't this excited! Which now seems a little disappointing when Julia thinks about it.
"Hey, kiddo!" Julia smiled, patting her on the head "What the heavens are you doing back here?"
"Were on a classified mission!" The child with the blue bow spoke up "it doesn't concern you!"
Melody got up and smiled at her, the hatted child helped Julia up "its okay Bonnie! She knows what Timepieces are!" She held out a hand and pointed at the taller girl "this is Julia! You know, the one who helped me!" The child then turned to the taller girl, a smile on her face "apparently, there were more timepieces hidden here, this was way before I even arrived for the first time!"
It took a moment for the bow child to think about just who this was until the words finally sink in. The child, who was called Bonnie, then gasped with surprise, she just charley horsed Melody's figurative sister. "Ohmygosh-" The child held her face "I'm so sorry! You look nothing like how Melody explained you tp be!"
"I'm... guessing you're bow kid then?" Julia announced, holding out her hand, the taller girl had only heard about her once, But Melody was happy when she said her name "I was under the impression you'd be preppier.. but your just a little fire." Bonnie shook her hand rather fast.
"You can just call me Bonnie! No point now since my captain gave away my name-" the bow child gave Melody a brow raise, as if saying 'really?'. Melody just smiled at her.
"But yeah! Speaking of which, what happened to you?" Melody looked at Julia, "you look so different!" She then gasped, noticing her face was bruised "what did that!?"
"Hey, kid! What's taking you so.." Snatcher appeared from the wall that leads to Melody's room "Oh hey, pumpkin brat."
"You mother.." Julia looked at him "This is where you went!?" The girl yelled at the ghost "I was waiting in the freaking rain for you!"
Snatcher held up his hands "Hey! I wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing things!" He told her, looking at her irked face.
"Maybe you could have at least said 'hey!'" Julia held her arms up "'I think the kid is back!' Maybe I wanted to see her too!" She slapped her arms down, she was done. Julia has her things, she could ride her bike back down herself "Melody I'm going to go, do you have a parachute big enough for a bike?"
"Aw, what!?" Melody was saddened by Julia's want to leave "I mean, yeah.. for supply drops.." she pointed the way, Julia probably had something to do. Not like she couldn't come and visit later.
"Oh, Come on, kiddo!" Snatcher called after Julia, but he didn't attempt to move after her "Don't be like that!"
Melody leads Julia to a room she had not seen yet. It looked like a supply dock that had different types of mechanical contraptions she couldn't even think of what they could be. With all this excitement, she had forgotten that Zephyr was hunting her down. The taller girl gasped, he would have found her by now!
"Kid, I need that chute now!" Julia panicked.
There Julia was, falling into orbit. Helmet in place as she watched the world get closer and closer. Her aim will lead her directly in front of Snatcher's tree, and the parachute that was tightly secured will make a sudden pull when the right time comes to open it. Long story short, it's going to hurt her. Very much.
She'll just have to endure the pain like she always has though, Gabriele, MoonJumper, and everyone else in Subcon is in danger! Why did he not come after her? She was Zephyr's target! Unless...
"He used me as a waypoint!" Julia slapped her bike handle, he wasn't hunting her down, He used her as a marker to find Moon! Julia fumed, getting ready to pull the cord. "Damn it!"
Aggressively, Julia pulled the cord when she was in the range of her destination. The sudden jerk of the bike stopping made her hiss in pain, but she floated down enough to a point where she could cut the parachute off with her strings and aim for a barrier to ramp down. Once she hit the ground she sped up, then immediately tried to find either MoonJumper or Gabriele.
She wasn't happy with what she saw when she got past a certain point.
The girl skid to a stop, just beyond her was a body. Cut in half, and stuffing sticking out.
"Gabriele!" Julia shriek out, throwing her helmet to the side and running to her downed friend. He laid motionless, nonresponsive, "G..Gabriele..?" She whispered, "Come on.. say something!" She shook him, but it only resulted in more fluff to slide out. She quickly tried to keep him together but decided to leave him down.
Attempting to do anything more would make the situation worse. "What did he do to you." She whispered again.
"Why so blue? That's the doctor's color!" Julia bolted out of the way, Zephyr had launched an attack at her, and she looked back up in.. anger. "Oh my, oh my! Such a temper! Where has this fight been all this time?" Zephyr wasn't too far into the air, he leaned back like he was resting on a lawn chair, His leg folded over the other.
"Zephyr, you conniving little shit!" She shouted, getting into a stance "come down here so I can kick your ass!" What did he do to Gabriele? Those thoughts kept running through her mind, she was angry, but she was also crying.
"Comply with where the master is, and we'll tell you what happened to your dear little doctor!" Zephyr ignored Julia's cries for a fight for just a moment, "if not, then my dear little diamond, Zephyr will give you what you desire."
"Piss off!" Julia yelled, she threw a barrier at him, but the Jester just moved out of the way.
"Boring, boringly, boring!" Zephyr taunted, taking his head off and laughed at her. "Zephyr has already seen that trick! Show us a different one! Show us!"
Julia growled out, the pain in her eye grew for just a moment. Though even as it stung her, she created a rather large barrier in front of her. Zephyr floated upright and tilted his head in his hands. What was this? It was just another barrier! The crazy doll just laughed at her, too busy to see that the entire things were cracking while she held her arms out.
The loudest clap Julia had ever given off triggered a massive shattering of shrapnel, all furling towards him. Zephyr panicked for a second, a most ridiculous scream came from him. He had dodged half of it, but some of the green shards pierced and ripped his skin. He looked like a pincushion.
"My, my.. that was new.." Zephyr mused, taking a few pieces of shrapnel off of him, only to watch them disappear. "That was familiar, yes, yes! Reminds Zephyr of himself." If he could smile any wider he would.
So here cuts the chapter, originally this chapter was supposed to be one but I thought splitting it up was for the best.
Mad king C: Thank you for your review! The sense of urgency in the last chapter gave the two no time to catch up but I promise in later chapters these two will talk and spending more time alongside Kero. Dams will be broken. another thing, I had forgotten to say deathwish will not be a thing in this story, at least not actively written. There will be impressions that it's happening when Melody and or Bonnie disappear for a while. However, Julia will not be taking part in this certain DLC (I haven't gotten around to beating it, and I don't plan on having an anxiety attack from it. Thank you for the suggestions though!)