Heeeeere's Chapter 9!
Hope I didn't make you wait too long because I haven't worked on this chapter for a while. I wanted to finish "Regular Drabbles" first before I got this up.
This may not be my best chapter but I hope you like it anyway. Thanks for this goes to AwesomeAuthor13 and SailorMarble14 for their help. :) Thanks guys! :D
BTW, on the scene where the guys run to the others, it's similar to how Shaggy or Scooby would hold each other whenever one of them was scared.
One more note: I noticed that I'm not always specific on everyones ages in this story, especially in the flashbacks. I'm going to try and detail a bit more in the future but I wanna give you their supposed current ages right now.
Mike - 17
Chester - 70
Svetlana - 16
Vito - 19
Manitoba Smith - 20
Mal - 17 (same as Mike since they're like twins)
Like I said, these are their current ages and I'll continue to let you know of their younger ages in the flashbacks like before. Hope this helps. :)
References:
The pool scene is based off the scene from Aladdin 2: Return Of Jafar. XD
Next chapter: Mike allows Svetlana to have control for a day to hang out with Zoey and the girls. :)
I don't own Mike or any of the personalities here. They belong to Total Drama.
Note: There is NO yaoi in this okay. I just want to remind everyone that this is a family story and nothing more okay? Just a reminder.
Chapter 9: Scaredy Cats
Manitoba and Mal were watching TV one afternoon when Vito came in.
"Hey guys!" he greeted as he sat down with his brothers.
"Wow." Manitoba said in slight surprise, "You're sitting down again. Feeling better?"
"Just about." Vito said as he shifted in his seat, "It still kinda stings but not as much. It's like someone stickin' you with a small pin but it only hurts just a little bit."
About a week ago, Vito pulled a mean and scary prank on Svetlana and got a very painful spanking from Chester as a result. And although they apologized and forgave each other, it took quite some time before Vito could sit properly again.
"Well, at least you know now not to pull anymore horror pranks in the future." Mal smirked, "On the one hand it was kinda impressive, but a little too far if you ask me."
"Hey, I was already criticized for the stupid prank!" Vito pointed out, "No need to remind me."
"I'm kidding Vito, I'm kidding." Mal chuckled a little.
The three brothers continued to watch TV when suddenly...
THUD!
"What the heck was that?!" Vito nearly shot up.
"It's probably just the fridge, mate." Manitoba shrugged, "Don't wig out."
"I am not!" he said slightly offended.
The treasure hunter snickered and turned his attention back to the show as Vito glared and Mal rolled his eyes. A couple minutes later-
CRASH!
This time all three boys jumped, "Does that sound like the fridge to you?!" Vito said nearly freaked out.
"Ok ok, you're right." Manitoba admitted, "Where the heck is that coming from?!"
"Not sure." Mal said, "We better check it out."
"What?!" Vito exclaimed, "Are you nuts?! No way!" he shook his head.
"Aren't you coming or are you a chicken?" Mal asked dully.
"Hey!" Vito said in anger, "You're talking to the Vito here! And the Vito ain't no chicken!"
"Then let's go, mates!" Manitoba said and led the way.
They searched the rooms, the kitchen, and the living room again but found no trace of where the sound is or even what it is. When they got to the last rooms at the end of the hallway, they stopped right next to the door of the storage room and looked at each other briefly.
"Okay mates." Manitoba said, "I'm sure whatever that noise is, it's probably nothing and we can all go about our business. Agreed?"
"Agreed." his brothers said.
Then suddenly, the noise happened which freaked them all out and caused Mal to jump into Manitobas arms. They all ran back to the living room, with Manitoba holding Mal, to where Mike was sitting on the couch who turned his head and looked at them funny.
"Manitoba, Mal, what are you doing?" Mike asked while raising his eyebrow.
The two looked at each other and realized that one was holding the other like a girl.
"Oh, just ummm..." Mal trailed off.
"Proving that Manny was strong enough to carry Mal." Vito said quickly.
"Why?" Mike asked.
"Because, well you see...Manny couldn't lift a crate earlier, so Mal made fun of him for it just now." Vito said awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck.
They felt like sitting ducks that they were terrified, but they were the manliest personalities in the subconscious and they couldn't admit that they were scared to Mike.
"Okay..." Mike narrowed his eyes as he left for his room.
Manitoba lets go of Mal and all three boys sighed in relief.
"That was close!" Vito sighed heavily as he plopped onto the couch.
"Tell me about it." Manitoba joined him, "Can you imagine what Mike and the others would think if they saw us acting like scared little chickens?"
"And what about that noise?" Mal asked his brothers, "It's not like we can just ignore it forever."
"Maybe it was just a box that fell over or something." the Australian boy shrugged, "It's probably nothing."
"You already said that." Mal pointed out.
"The point is," he rolled his eyes, "we're getting worked up over nothing and we just need to calm down. Alright?"
"Yeah okay." his brothers agreed and went back to relaxing.
By the time it was ready for bed, Vito couldn't shake the noise out of his head.
"Ah, get ahold of yourself Vito!" he said to himself, "It's like Manny said, you're freaking out over a stupid sound. Everything is fine."
After doing his stretches, Vito laid down on his bed and drifted off to sleep. But, his dreams were anything but peaceful...
Vito was on the beach showing off his abs and a lot of girls were swooning over him.
"Ohh Vito." one girl said, 'You're so incredible!"
"And he's very strong too!" Another girl said.
"Oh yeah!" Vito smirked, "I am liking this!"
"Vito! Vito!" a photographer came over to the crowd, "Get over here! The cameras love you!"
Vito posed as the cameras flashed but soon the bright lights began too much for his eyes to handle and he shuts them tight. As soon as the flashing stopped, Vito opened his eyes but saw that he was not on the beach anymore and he was all alone.
"Hello? Hello!" he called out, "Is anybody here?! Someone answer me!"
He turned around and saw the storage room door right in front of him. He looked puzzled at first and reached for the doorknob, but it opened by itself before he could do so. Taking caution, Vito took a single step forward into the room and saw two glowing eyes right in the darkness.
"What the hey..." Vito said in a low whisper.
Suddenly, a creepy-looking shadow formed and the eyes grew even wider and brighter which gave Vito an eerie chill down his spine.
"What..." he said in fear.
Then, a pair of sharp teeth appeared and the shadow lunged at Vito!
"AH!" Vito screamed as he shot up in his bed.
Vito looked around and saw that he was in his room, sweating like a pig. He took in a few deep breaths, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and looked at his digital clock to see it said 2:45 AM.
"Sheesh!" he sighed heavily, "What a dream! I need a drink."
Vito got up out of bed and headed to the kitchen for a drink of cold water. As soon as he finished filling his glass, he gulped the water down in a matter of seconds. He filled it up again and drank it a little more slowly to settle his nerves and to try and avoid getting the hiccups.
"Uh!" he gasped, "I needed that!"
He nearly dropped the glass when he heard the noise from this afternoon happened again.
"What the heck was that?!" he said to himself.
Setting the glass down in the sink, Vito made his way to the storage room again. Once he was standing in front of the door, he placed his ear on it and listened for the sound again but nothing happened.
"Nothing." he shrugged.
He turned around and bumped into Chester, "Ah!" he exclaimed, "Geez Louise!"
"Calm down, ya salami head!" Chester said in a soft but cranky tone, "It's only me! And keep it down! Do you wanna wake the others?!"
The old man noticed that his tough grandson placed a hand over his heart and took steady breaths.
"What is wrong with you?" asked Chester.
"I was just...uh..." the fearful boy said as he tried to remain calm, "going for a...midnight walk! Yeah. And I got me a drink and I was heading back to bed when I took a wrong turn and came here!" he rubbed the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly.
Chester narrowed his eyes at Vito as if he could see right through him, "Really?"
"Yeah. R-Really!" Vito answered nervously.
Though still unsure of his story, Chester yawned and scratched his side. "Eh fine, whatever. Just keep the noise level down alright?"
"Sure thing." he nodded and waved at Chester, "Night Chester!"
"Goodnight Vito." the grandfather figure walked off.
As soon as Chester was gone, Vito rushed back into his room and ducked under the covers. He wanted to fall asleep but he was afraid that the dream would come back or something worse might enter his head.
"Stupid, creepy nightmares!" Vito said softly.
He even thought about going to Mike or one of the other personalities but he didn't want anyone to think "The Vito" was scared like a little girl over a silly noise. Vito stayed awake for another hour before finally falling asleep.
The next day, he three boys were in the game room playing pool trying to steady their nerves. It was Vitos turn and he was circling the table trying to make a decent shot.
"Okay dude." he said to himself, "Focus, focus, focus, focus."
For ten minutes, Mal and Manitoba Smith were getting very impatient. Mal tapped the pool table with his fingers and Manitoba leaned against his pool stick, "Oh crikey, would you hurry up and shoot already?!" he groaned in annoyance.
"Okay okay. Keep your britches on, bro'!" Vito waved his hands, "Sheesh!"
Vito stood at the right side and he was about to strike the ball when...
"Hey guys!" Mike came in.
"AHHH!" Vito screamed and hit the ball too hard, peeling the paper on the table.
The ball went flying and crashed into Mike, making him crash onto the ground. Vito dropped his pool stick and went to check on him with Manitoba and Mal following him.
"Mike!" Mal said as he helped him to his feet, "Mike! Are you okay?!"
They looked around and noticed that the pool ball was nowhere to be found. When they turned back to Mike, they saw that he wasn't speaking and he was holding his throat.
"Hey bro', you alright?" Vito asked.
Mike opened his mouth but all you can hear are tiny little squeaks coming from his throat. His face was turning blue and he was pointing at and clutching his throat for dear life.
"Guys, I think he's choking on the ball!" Mal said with worry.
"Oh my gosh!" Vito exclaimed, "We have to get it out!"
Manitoba went behind Mike, placed a fist into Mikes stomach, and pressed hard until Mike coughed out the ball, which hit one of Vitos eyes!
"Ouch!" Vito cried out and rubbed his eye, "That really hurt!"
"Ah!" Mike gasped, "T-Thanks!"
"You alright, mate?" Manitoba asked while rubbing his back.
"Y-Yeah." Mike nodded, "I'm fine."
Vito approached his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Dude, I am so sorry!" he apologized, "I-I didn't mean to do that! I'm really sorry!"
"Dude, it's okay." Mike tried to calm him, "It was an accident. What happened anyway?"
Feeling very nervous, Vito tried to think of the right lie. "I...uhhh...pulled a muscle on my foot! Yeah! A muscle!"
Mike raised an eyebrow at what Vito said, "Really?"
"Uh-huh." Vito nodded and gave an awkward smile.
Mike narrowed his eyes again and left the room. Vito sighed and went back to the game with his brothers.
"Another close call!" he said, "I can't take much more of this!"
"Just relax, Vito." Manitoba told him, "We know how you feel. It's freaking us out too."
"Still think we should ignore it?" Mal asked the treasure hunter.
"I don't know." he shook his head, "But if we don't get it together, we're going to lose our heads." Manitoba started to head out the door before turning to his brothers again, "I'm going to get some snacks. You dingos want anything?"
"Sure. Fine." the two responded and Manitoba left.
Manitoba walked out of the room and was about to head for the kitchen when he heard a crash coming from the hallway.
CRASH!
"Who's there?!" he said as he quickly turned around. But he never saw anything and shook his head gain, "Just take it easy, Manitoba. Don't freak out, it's probably just the wind or something."
He made it to the kitchen and made up a couple bowls of chips for him and the guys waiting in the game room. Still trying not to think of the mystery noise, Manitoba was about to head back with the chips when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Yah!" he exclaimed as he dropped the bowls and spilled the chips everywhere.
He turned around and saw Svetlana looking at him with concern, "Oh my goodness!" she said, "I'm so sorry Manny! Svetlana didn't mean to sneak up on you!"
"That's okay, Svetlala." Manitoba held up his hand, "You didn't do anything wrong. Don't worry about it, okay?"
He bento down and started to pick up the mess while Svetlana started to do the same, "Here, let me help you." she said.
"No no, don't trouble yourself." Manitoba shook his head, "I'll get it."
"Svetlana insists." she protested, "After I, I have scared you und made you drop them anyvay."
Manitobas eyes shot up at the statement, "I wasn't scared! I-I turned around too fast and accidently dropped them, that's all!" he immediately said.
"Vhatever you say, dear." Svetlana shrugged.
As Svetlana and Manitoba picked up the remaining chips, their hands touched each other. They looked up at each other and blushed when they pulled their hands away.
"Sorry!" they both said and chuckled nervously, "I was just...I mean..."
They blushed harder when they realized they were saying the same things to each other. Manitoba stood up and held his hand to Svetlana, who hesitated at first but took it anyway.
"Thanks." she said as she stood.
"You're welcome, sheila." he pulled his hand back. Then, he placed the bowl in the sink, took two new ones from the cabinet, and filled them with chips like before, "Well, I better get this back to the others. They're probably as hungry as jack-rabbits. See you later?"
"Sure." Svetlana nodded a little, "B-Bye now."
Manitoba backed away and rushed back to the game room as Svetlana went back to her room. Later that day, Mal was in his room, lying down on his bed and thinking of everything that's happened so far.
"How are we ever going to relax if that stupid noise is going to keep making us jump out of our skins." he thought to himself.
He hopped out of his bed and went to his desk to look at some of his old drawings. Some of the ones he found were pictures of creepy monsters and scary creatures he drew when he was five and they all came from nightmares he had received over the years. Each "monster" had different features which made them all the more scarier: Tentacles, sharp teeth, horns, pointy tails, multiple eyes, and so much more.
"I can't believe I kept these." Mal thought again, "You would think I would've thrown these away."
Mal become lost in his thoughts when Mike came in to check on him.
"Mal?" he said but Mal didn't answer him.
Mal was so lost in his own little world he didn't even hear his brother come in nor did he even hear his voice. Mike walked over to hs brother and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing Mal to jump and drop some of his drawings on the floor.
"Ah!" Mal exclaimed as he turned around, "Mike, don't do that!"
It was unusual for Mike to see his fearless brother to act so jumpy when he's the one who usually makes people wet their pants in fear.
"Mal, are you okay?" Mike asked with worry, "You haven't been yourself for the past couple days."
"I-I'm fine." Mal stammered as he picked up his drawings, "I-I-I just don't like be snuck up by people, that's all!"
"B-But then why-" Mike tried to ask but Mal tried to back away.
"Uh, sorry Mike but I-I think I hear Svetlana calling me!" Mal lied as he walked out the door, "See ya!"
Mike tried to stop him, but Mal was already gone leaving him even more confused than ever.
For the next four days, Mike has noticed that his three older brothers were acting very weird and freaked out lately. And the strangest thing was that neither one will say anything to him, Svetlana, or Chester about what's wrong. By day five, Mike had called his sister and his grandfather to the living room to discuss the situation.
"Thank you guys for coming. Have either one of you noticed that Mal, Vito, and Manitoba have been acting a little strange lately?" Mike asked.
"Now zat you have mentioned it," Svetlana scratched her chin, "zey have been rather unusual for ze past few days. I've tried to ask vhat is wrong but no one vill answer me."
"They won't talk to me either!" Chester complained, "Those crazy boys and their secrets! What do they know that's so bad anyway?"
Mike only shook his head at the question, "I have no idea but they know they can come to us if something's wrong. Right?"
"Maybe." Svetlana said doubtfully, "But, I have ze weird feeling that zere's something else going on."
"Yeah." Mike and Chester agreed.
Meanwhile, said boys were standing outside the storage room door ready to confront whatever is haunting their dreams and freaking them out.
"Alright mates." Manitoba said, "You ready?"
"I was born ready, dude!" Vito held a bat in his hands.
"Me too!" Mal said and held a metal pipe.
"Alright then!" Manitoba held his rope with one hand and placed the other on the doorknob, "On the count of three, we run in there together. Okay?"
"Right!" his brothers nodded.
"Okay. One...two..." he slowly turns the knob, "Three!"
The door opens and the three tough personalities dashed inside like Cheetahs on the hunt. They all looked around to see what they could find, but all they saw so far were boxes and containers that contained holiday decorations, old furniture, and toy and games from their childhoods.
"You see anything, bros?" Vito whispered.
"No yet." Mal answered quietly.
Five minutes passed and still nothing until a Manitoba heard something.
"Hush it mates!" Manitoba shushed them, "Listen!"
CREAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!
The sound was coming from the far back where some boxes were stacked on top and against each other. It grew louder as the boys stood in the center.
"Whatever it is, it's over there." Mal pointed to the spot.
"Alright. Let's get it!" Vito was about to run over there but Manitoba held him back.
'Wait lad!" he said to his shirtless brother, "Whatever we do, we do it together. Come on."
They, slowly, walked to where the boxes were and each boy felt very uncomfortable and nervous of what they might see. The sound grew louder as they crept closer and closer until they were like six feet away from the sounds location.
"See anything?" Manitoba whispered.
"No." Mal shook his head, "I don't see any-"
"Guys!" Vito interrupted and pointed to the wall in front of them, "Look!"
Right there on the wall, there was a shadow that was shaped like something from a horror movie which made the boys drop their weapons in shock. It had long sharp claws, a hunched back, and dripping fangs like a monster! Even as a shadow, the appearance was enough to scare the boys out of their wits.
"AHHHHH!" all three boys screamed and ran away.
They stumbled and fumbled in panic as they ran out of the storage room like a bunch of screaming mimis. They ran out into the hallway and continued running until they ran into the arms of the other three personalities, who looked at them in utter confusion and awkwardness.
"Guys?!" Mike asked while holding a frightened Mal, "What's wrong?!"
"Help us!" Mal begged, "Please save us!"
"Save you?" Svetlana questioned as she held a scared Manitoba, "From what?"
"A monster!" answered Manitoba, "Don't let it get us!"
"What on earth are you ninnies blubbering about?" complained Chester as Vito shook in his arms.
"There's something in the storage room!" Vito cried, "I'm not going back in there! You can't make me!"
"Okay, okay. Let's just settle down for a sec'." Mike said as he and the others set their scared friends down, "Now, what's going on?"
"T-T-There's something down there man!" Vito said as he held himself, "Something big and freakin' creepy!"
Mike, Svetlana, and Chester looked at each other in confusion before turning back to the boys, "Look, why don't we go over there and see what's going on?"
"NO!" the three yelled in fear.
"Calm down, you knuckleheads!" Chester said, "You're acting really crazy and we are going to get to the bottom of this once and for all! Mike, Svetlana, let's go!"
"Right!" the two agreed and followed Chester.
"No don't!" Mal tried to stop them.
Mike, Svetlana, and Chester entered the storage room with Manitoba Smith, Vito, and Mal standing in the doorway looking terrified. The first three personalities looked around until Mike saw the same shadow on the wall.
"That's it!" Vito pointed from the distance, "That's the monster!"
Mike at first was surprised until he and Svetlana moved the crate in front of the "creature". Mike smiled as he turned to his brothers, "Here's your "monster"."
Just then, a tiny little mouse squeaked and scurried past Mike and out the door, making the three boys jump back a bit.
"AH!" the exclaimed and held each other before finally getting a look of the running mouse.
They let go and gave each other puzzling looks before taking a few steps inside.
"That's what was making all those freakin' noises?!" Vito shouted in annoyance, "A stupid little mouse?!"
"Yeah!" Manitoba shouted as well, "I've fought koalas bigger than that puny thing!"
"I know!" Mal added.
While angry at being afraid over nothing, the three tough guys wanted to make sure the others knew that they were still tough and "fearless". But, their hopes were dashed when their little sister asked the dreaded question.
"Vere you boys scared?" Svetlana asked them curiously.
"No! What?! Are you kidding?!" No way!" the three personalities tried to hide the fact that they were scared.
Svetlana, Chester, and Mike gave them disbelieving looks and crossed their arms.
"Okay okay, you got us!" Vito sighed in defeat, "We're scared, alright?! We didn't want you to think we were sissies!"
"We tried to act tough but they noise kept bothering us for days!" Mal said.
"Not to mention all the bloody nightmares we've had from this!" Manitoba added, "We couldn't tell you because-because..."
"Because we are the toughest personalities in this mind and we just didn't want to admit that we were scared. We just couldn't say it." Mal finished in a sad tone.
The three personalities looked down in shame as Mike went over to them and placed his arms around his brothers.
'It's okay, guys." Mike said in comfort, "We understand. Everybody gets scared sometimes."
'He's right." Svetlana agreed, "Ve all have our own fears but that's no reason to be ashamed or hide vhat they are. Vithout fears ze world vould be out of balance."
"Being scared, like being sad, only makes us human." Chester added with a smirk, "Being afraid doesn't change our opinions about you boys. You three are, in my opinion, the toughest and even the most arrogant personalities I've ever known."
"Thanks Chester, I think." Manitoba gave a weak smile.
Mike gave them each a comforting pat on the back, "And if any of you guys ever feel afraid, don't hesitate to come get us and we can help you take care of it together."
Svetlana and Chester nodded as they joined Mike and the boys in a brief group hug.
"Thank you mates." Manitoba said again, "That feels much better now."
"Yeah. We appreciate it." Vito said before showing off a muscle, "Not that I couldn't take on that mouse bare-handed of course."
"Sure Vito, sure." Mal teased and rolled his eyes.
"Hey!" Vito playfully punched Mal in the arm as the others laughed.
Suddenly, a toy windup mouse wheeled right past the trio, who stared at it with wide eyes.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" They screamed again and ran away.
"Guys vait!" Svetlana called out to them, "It's just silly toy!"
But they didn't listen and were already out of the room. Mike, Chester, and Svetlana glanced at each other with blank expressions.
"Should we go after them?" Mike asked.
"Nah." Chester replied, "They probably just need some time alone. They'll be fine."
Actually Manitoba Smith, Mal, and Vito went into Vitos room and stayed there for the rest of the day huddled together in fear. They eventually came out for dinner but they barely at anything and rushed back to their rooms in a haste.
Later that night, everyone was asleep after such a long day. Chester, however, stirred in his sleep when heard his door open.
"Ugh..." Chester moaned as he opened his eyes.
He could make out three figures standing at his doorway, each one looking a little frightened. After rubbing his eyes, he could clearly see Manitoba, Vito, and Mal standing with blankets and pillows in their arms.
"What the heck are you boys doing up?" the old man asked.
"Well..." Vito said awkwardly, "It's just..."
"We wanted to ask if...well if we can...'' Mal stammered.
"Sleep with you tonight?" Manitoba finished and looked at his grandfather with pleading eyes, "Please?"
Chester gave a small glare before giving a tired sigh, "Alright, but you better not snore!"
The boys smiled, walked over to the bed, and nuzzled next to their grandfather. At first he was annoyed, he smiled as he placed his arms around his three grandsons kinda of liked he used to do in his younger years. When the other personalities were just little children, they would always come and sleep with Chester whenever one of them would have a nightmare or had trouble going to sleep.
He closed his eyes and started to rest...until he heard the three boys snore pretty loudly.
"This is going to be a long night..." he mumbles softly.
Chester did sleep that night but only for a couple hours due to all the snoring. He wounded up taking a really long nap the next day.
Since that event, the three tough personalities did their very best to forget the embarrassing fact that they were scared by a tiny mouse. But, they also never forgot the words of their dear brother, sister, and grandfather figures who gave them comforting words of wisdom.
This experience also became a funny story to tell for years to come, much to their embarrassment especially to Vito. But, mostly they would shrug it off and accepted that fear was a part of themselves.
After all, just because you're tough and strong that doesn't mean you can't be afraid of something. No matter how small it is.
To Be Continued...