Phantom of the Elementary 9

August 11, 2022

6 AM

J.D. woke from his slumber, minutes before his alarm clock would have buzzed, waking him up for work anyways. He quickly sat up. "JOKER!"

He then jumped up from out of bed, grabbed his favorite Batman t-shirt, and headed out to his car. Just as he sat down he noticed a note on the windshield, tucked under the windshield wiper. It read, "I'm going to have a lot of fun reliving this day over and over again with you... Sincerely. J.K."

J.D. crumpled up the note and slammed it down on the ground. "You want to take me on Joker!? LET'S DO THIS! REMATCH!"

J.D. drove directly to the school. He was hoping he could find Joseph near the back by the gymnasium area, but J.D. also knew he could be anywhere at this point.

6.20 AM

He went into the school through the unlocked door near the gym locker room and headed towards the backstage area, but Joseph wasn't in there. J.D. even checked the gigantic volcano project located in the prop room just to make sure Joseph wasn't hiding anything in it. It was hollow. J.D. found out it was hollow by smashing the volcano to pieces, the same way he did a couple repeat days ago.

Suddenly a loud announcement could be heard over the school's intercom system. "Mr. D. You are so predictable! Almost as predictable as the people who don't even know they are reliving this day with us. Everyday they do the exact same thing, but then suddenly… one day… you walked into the school through a different entry way. I'm guessing it was because you were running late and you wanted to dodge the principal. You didn't want him to see you coming into work late on your second day... Am I right!? HA HAHAHAHAHA! Plus, you were wearing a different Batman t-shirt than the day before. JUST AS DORKY THOUGH! HA HA HAH HAHAHAHA!"

J.D. thought Joseph could be making the announcement in the main office. He quickly dashed through the gymnasium doors and headed off towards the office area.

After trying to turn the office door handle J.D. realized it was locked. He tried looking through some of the windows to see if Joseph was anywhere in sight, but he wasn't.

"Let me guess, Mr. D. You are standing outside of the office doors? Sooooo PREDICTABLE!" Joseph proclaimed. "You know, I thought it was so funny when you attacked Jack's father. OMG! And you were in your STUPID Batman costume! HA HA HA HAHA! Then, you came after me, but I knew you would be easily fooled. HA! THEN, you got your head squashed by the bleachers after you accused the janitor. I bet that gave you a splitting headache! HA HA HA HA HA! I can't believe you didn't figure it out on the second repeat day. On the first day Arthur was wandering the halls when you confronted him. On the second day I was roaming the halls. For some reason Jack's dad didn't show up to school at the same time he usually would have, then I found out you ran him off the road because you were running late. YOU BUFFOON! HA HA HA HA! I simply acted like he was my father and you believed me, EVEN AFTER YOU FOUND OUT THAT ARTHUR WAS JACK's DAD YOU STILL DIDN'T QUESTION WHY I WOULD HAVE BEEN WANDERING THE HALLS AT THE EXACT SAME TIME JACK'S DAD WAS ROAMING THEM THE FIRST DAY!"

J.D. was hoping Joseph would continue talking because he wanted to get an idea about where his location might be. That's when J.D. suddenly looked around and realized nobody was at the school. By now, on most given days, there would have been at least four or five cars in the parking lot, but today there wasn't any. Could Joseph have sabotaged all of their vehicles, guaranteeing himself the appropriate amount of time to piss off J.D? Well... it was working. J.D. simply gritted his teeth and continued searching. J.D. had managed to get to the art room area when another announcement came over the intercom.

"Mr. D. loves art. He spends plenty of time drawing his STUPID superhero pictures! GROW UP! YOU'RE NOT TEACHING KINDERGARTEN!" Joseph exclaimed. "Plus you are wearing another DREADFUL Batman t-shirt! How many of those damn things do you have?"

After giving details about J.D.'s location and the fact that he was wearing a different Batman t-shirt J.D. instantly knew where Joseph was making the announcement from. He then quickly made his way towards the security room.

He pulled on the handle and the door opened up. Joseph was standing towards the front of the room and he was holding something square in his hand.

"Don't take another step, Mr. D. If you do, I will simply set off this bomb and we will just wake up tomorrow morning and do this all over again. The only difference is… I wake up before you! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Why are you doing this!?" J.D. demanded to know.

"Because! What else is there to do when you are reliving the same day over and over again!?"

"But, what if we do wake up and it is finally August 12th? And this day doesn't repeat anymore?" J.D. asked. "It's repeated about ten or eleven times now, I'm sure it can't last forever!"

"HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ten or eleven days! HA HA HAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Joseph laughed maniacally. "YOU'VE had it repeating for ten or eleven days. I'VE BEEN RELIVING THIS DAY FOR TEN OR ELEVEN YEARS!"

"WHA-?" J.D. gasped.

"YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT! TEN OR ELEVEN YEARS! It's gone on for so long I can't even remember what happened on August 10th anymore!"

"Wait a second!" J.D. exclaimed. "If you've been living the same day for ten or eleven years, that means you would have the mind of a twenty-one year old!"

"EXACTLY! I'M A TWENTY YEAR OLD TRAPPED IN A TEN YEAR OLD'S BODY!"

"There must be a way out of this!" J.D. declared.

"There is a way! Everyday I blow stuff up! That's the way! I'm guessing when I blew up the school ten or eleven days ago, the universe somehow spit you out into the same hell-hole I've been living in all these years. That's when I knew I was no longer alone. And you are soooo high and mighty. I knew you would be a perfect challenge. The big du karoo, me in one corner, and in the other corner, the man who has brought real terror to this school, the fifth-grade teacher, Mr. D! And I brought it out of you!" Joseph declared. "The way you broke Arthur's nose! The way you tore apart and then stomped on my volcano! The way you leapt from off the top of the bleachers and attacked the janitor, only to find out he was just a drug dealer. That was quite a HOOT! Would you like to know which teachers were buying?"

"I know what's going on here!" J.D. declared. "You have been living this day for too long… and now you have lost your DAMN MIND!"

"Oh, just give it a few more days, and you will start losing your mind also!" Joseph piped up. "That's why I am holding the bomb! But, it shouldn't be too much longer until YOU are the ONE holding the bomb!"

"NEVER!" J.D. exclaimed. "I will try to figure out why this keeps happening! I will never stoop to YOUR level!"

"In a few more minutes this school will start filling up with students and faculty members. And when it does, I think I will just blow up this bomb right then and there! Why wait until 9:40!? HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

J.D. knew right at that moment he couldn't negotiate with Joseph because he was too far gone. Instead, J.D. decided to attack Joseph. He figured it wouldn't matter. If Joseph set off the bomb they would just wake up and do it all over again anyways. And that's exactly what Joseph did.

BAAAANG! An explosion went off, but not a big explosion, just enough to cause a cloud of dust and smoke to fill the security room.

J.D. realized Joseph must had gotten ahold of Jack's purple lunchbox and disguised it as a real bomb. It became even more evident after the dust cleared when J.D. saw the "BANG!" flag protruding from it.

"HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU THOUGHT I WOULD END THE FUN WE ARE HAVING SO SOON!? I'M ONLY GETTING STARTED! HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Joseph howled, causing J.D. to grab him by the neck and lift him up off the ground.

J.D. tightly choked Joseph's vocal cords until only a whistle could be heard coming from out of Joseph's windpipe as he tried his damndest to continue laughing. J.D. couldn't let go. He was completely enraged by Joseph's immature behavior. Enraged like the savage Hulk.

Suddenly J.D. was startled when a man yelled out near the entrance of the security room. "LET THE BOY GO!"

J.D. turned to look. It was the same police officer that had shot him just days before and the officer was pointing the exact same gun at him. Joseph must have knew the officer was patrolling close to the school that morning and called the police just before J.D. found him.

"Go ahead and SHOOT! I've been dead before! It's very liberating!" J.D. declared, not letting go of Joseph.

BANG! BANG! The officer shot J.D. in the back twice.

J.D. slowly released his grip on Joseph's neck. Not because he wanted to let go, but because his body was going into shock and he couldn't feel his fingertips anymore.

Joseph started coughing, trying to get his voice back. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. D… Cough, Cough… Maybe tomorrow I will blow up your house." Joseph teased. "You'll never know where I'm at."

The last thing J.D. could see before his sight faded to black was a grin on Joseph's face growing wider and wider.

August 11, 2022

6 AM

J.D. woke from his slumber, minutes before his alarm clock would have buzzed, waking him up for work anyways. He tried standing up, but his head was too dizzy and he wasn't able to make it to his feet, causing J.D. to fall over the side of the bed and onto the floor. Blood then began running from out of his nose. He had experienced this once before when he tried confronting the janitor, but this time it felt even worse. This time it felt like he was going to pass out. Then he did.

3:45 PM

J.D. finally gained consciousness. His eyes were blinded by the light directly above him. "Where am I?"

His wifey was standing at his side. "It's okay. You are in the emergency room at the hospital."

"What about the school?... Joseph?... Bomb?" J.D. asked, confusing his wifey.

"I called the school and let them know what happened. They have been calling back every hour to see how you are doing. Someone even left you a gift fruit basket." His wifey replied, pointing at the fruit basket which was sitting on the table next to the bed.

"FRUIT BASKET? WHO BROUGHT IT!?"

"I'm not sure. I stepped away for a few minutes. It was here when I got back."

"DON'T EAT IT! IT'S PROBABLY POISONED!" J.D. exclaimed.

"It's not poisoned. One of the nurses was plucking a couple of the grapes earlier and she is doing just fine. What has gotten into you?"

"I can't trust anything right now! Joseph could be out there! He probably poisoned the fruit!"

His wifey grabbed an apple from out of the fruit basket. "Look, I'll show you it's not poisoned."

Just as she was about to take a bite J.D. knocked the apple out of her hand. He then grabbed the fruit basket and proceeded to smash all of the fruits between his hands, causing a huge mess all over his hospital gown and the bed.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" His wifey blurted, causing one of the floor nurses to come running in.

"Is everything alright?" The nurse asked.

"No. J.D. isn't acting right. He keeps saying that the fruit basket has been poisoned. Would you please tell him it's okay. You ate some of the grapes and you are feeling okay, right?"

"Yes. I feel just fine." The nurse replied.

"See, I told you!" His wifey declared.

Suddenly, just seconds after she said that, the nurse started coughing. Then, she acted as if she was choking.

His wifey took notice. "Don't try to joke with him. I don't think he is in the best of moods right now."

But the nurse wasn't joking. Her forehead started breaking out into a cold sweat and her face turned pale white. "I. Can't. Breathe." The nurse barely managing to get the words out of her mouth.

The wifey ran out into the hallway. "HELP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP!" She frantically yelled out, but there was nobody in the hall that could hear her. In fact, everyone on that unit had suddenly disappeared.

His wifey ran back into the room. "Everyone is gone!" She cried, watching as the nurse continued gasping for each and every breath she could. But there was nothing the wifey could do to help her. The nurse died right before her and J.D.'s eyes.

"What the hell is going on here!?" She bellowed.

"It's Joseph! He is trying to make every day a living nightmare for me!"

"I don't understand what you are talking about!"

"I've been reliving this day over and over again." He tried explaining. "Joseph has also been reliving this day over and over again. Except he has been reliving it for nearly eleven years now."

"You're not making any sense!"

Just then, an announcement came over the hospital intercom. "Are we having fun yet!? HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"