"Hey, Beckman? You here?" Justin said, walking into the main area of CC General Hospital.
He looked around, wondering if anyone knew where the balding doctor was at.
"Dr. Beckman is in his office." an older woman at the nurse's station said. It was Dr. Lynn.
"Oh, uh thanks." he awkwardly replied, heading over to the office.
The door was wide open. JD peeked in, seeing his doctor looking down, presumably going over some paperwork. It was very awkward for the 23, almost 24, year old. Last time him and Dr. Beckman crossed paths, it ended with him strangling the old doctor.
Even though Joseph was now out of his head for good, he still felt very uncomfortable with their previous interaction.
"Beckman?" he said, sucking up the courage to confront his girlfriend's boss.
The doctor looked up, giving off a subtle grin.
"Ah," he greeted. "Justin Dark. I was just thinking of you."
Really? That's kind of weird.
"Right..." he said, coming in and shutting the door behind him.
Beckman leaned in, taking a good look at his patient. He could definitely see and feel a positive change in him.
"Listen, Beckman. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for everything that went down. I didn't mean to assault you like that. I blacked out and had no control over what happened that day."
The doctor shook his head. "Listen, Mr. Dark. Before you start giving an unnecessary apology, I think you need to see something."
JD looked at him, feeling very confused. "What are you-?"
Suddenly, the doctor switched on a nearby television. It was a news report from a few days before, which he had saved on a DVR.
He looked at it, shocked at what the report was covering. The headline read 'Greenseed Corporation Shut Down! Director Under Serious Investigation'.
"Oh my god..." he said, watching as he saw the reporters standing outside of the same group home he was living in for a long time.
"Greenseed, a supposed life service has been shut down today after 60 years in business."
Justin could not believe what he was seeing. After all this time, the place he was traumatized from had finally been taken down. He watched in amazement seeing what the news reporter had to say.
"According to a private investigator, who's name shall remain anonymous, the Greenseed Corporation had been performing inhumane experiments and abusing those with mental disabilities, leaving them deeply scarred, mentally and/or physically."
I can't believe it! Justice is finally served.
"The director, Albert Griffin, is now under heavy investigation. Not only that, but the FBI had also made a gruesome discovery. One of the clients named Kenny Bagworth, known better by his internet-alias, Mr. Perv, was distributing illegal units of pornography on his store, all with Greenseed's approval. Bagworth is now spending life in prison for child endangerment."
His mouth dropped, amazed at everything he was seeing. He was so overwhelmed with joy seeing the scummy organization finally being shut down.
Griffin's under investigation, Bagworth is incarcerated, and Greenseed is shut down for good.
"As for the rest of the clients, they're being sent to a better home for them where they will not have to worry about abuse or harsh treatment. Back to you in the studio."
Beckman shut the TV off. He turned to the doctor, feeling grateful for him for once.
"Beckman... I..." he stuttered, almost speechless at what he just witnessed.
The doctor smiled at him, imagining the emotions the young man was feeling.
"Well, Justin Dark. What do you say?"
He shrugged, not sure what the intentions were.
"Uh... THANK YOU!" JD shouted, now having tears of joy running down his face. Finally, after so many years of torment, the people responsible were finally put in the ground.
"You're welcome, Mr. Dark." Beckman said.
He couldn't believe it. After all the accusations he made against the "sleazy" doctor, it turned out to all be false. Dr. Howard Beckman really was looking out for him.
"W-Why did you do it?" he asked, wondering what made him do such an honorable act.
He smiled at him. "Let's just say: I was doing society a favor."
Huh? That's a little vague.
"No, seriously. Why did you do it?" he asked, wanting him to elaborate.
"Listen, Mr. Dark. It's personal. Just be happy that I did it. Those two months away definitely paid off, in the end. But now, I think it's time to move on and start the next chapter of your life."
JD smiled, giving a positive nod to the doctor he once saw as an enemy.
"Right. But thank you so much, Howard."
"Howard?" the doctor said, looking at him and having a huge grin on his face.
"Y-Yeah." he replied. "Howard. I was wrong about you. I should've listened to Tiffany to begin with. But, I am so grateful you did all of this. Dr. Spengler really was a miracle-worker."
"No, Justin Dark. He's only a doctor. But, I'm glad you've changed your perspective of me."
Beckman then grabbed a pill bottle, handing it to the skinny 23 year-old nerd.
"Take this and then call me in the morning." he said.
JD looked at it. It was some anti-depressants he needed. Prescription was already filled and everything.
"Thank you. Seriously." he said.
The doctor opened the door, happy that their feud now seemed to finally be quelled.
"Take care of yourself, Justin. I hope to hear good things from Nurse Maye next time she's on shift."
He headed out, feeling so joyful from everything. I was wrong about Beckman. I thought he was just trying to get all intimate with my girl, but in reality that was just my inner demons tricking me. Well, by "demons", I mean JK.
As he exited the hospital, feeling optimistic for the future, he received a text message from Audrey.
'Come to the apartment. Someone's here...'
Seeing that text message alarmed him. "Oh shit!"
He immediately sprinted towards Glenberry Apartments. Great, now Stefano's sending people to harass my other friends! Audrey must be in trouble.
JD ran as fast as he could, ready to get into a tussle with any crazy Waffleslam fan that found his address thanks to Dwayne.
He ran up the steps to the second floor of Audrey and Nikki's apartment.
"knock knock knock Hello? Audrey? Open the door!" he shouted, feeling panicked.
The ex-party girl opened the door, giving off an odd stare while also sucking on a lolipop.
"Uh, what the fuck is wrong with you?" she bluntly asked, wondering why he seemed so worked up.
"Y-You said someone was here. Are you okay?"
Audrey shook her head. "Yeah, we're OK. Calm your ass down. Look, I just wanted to tell you that we found the demon that's been in my apartment since October."
"Huh?" he asked.
"Come in. I'll show you."
Justin went inside of the ex-party girl and her nerdy gamer friend's apartment suite. Coming in, he was greeted by a big surprise.
"Greetings, Justin Dark. It's been a while." a well-spoken, blue-skinned girl with horns greeted.
"C-CELESTE?!" he exclaimed, running up to the alien and giving her a big hug.
"I never thought I'd see you again." the skinny nerd added, somewhat happy to reunite with his old friend from outer space.
"Right..." she said. "Well, there was a chance you couldn't have."
"Wait, what?"
The blue alien shrugged. "Let's just say I had a near-death experience. That is why I'm here on Earth... Indefinitely."
"Celeste? What the hell happened?" he asked, concerned about her current status.
"Well, me and the Tendricidians got into an intergalactic war with a group of aliens known as the Uranians."
"The Uranians?" he asked, wondering why they had such an obscure name.
"Yes. They are a race of vulgar aliens from the planet Uranus, which so happens to be in your solar system."
"So, you're telling me that there's life on Uranus? Oh, come on!"
"It's true. Out of every planet in your solar system, with the exception of Earth, Uranus is occupied by a group of extra-terrestrial beings lead by Emperor Xizzle."
God, this is some weird sci-fi shit. Last thing I need is some evil aliens invading Earth.
"So, you abandoned your people to stay on Earth?" JD asked.
"Well, when you put it like that..." the blue alien said, feeling a bit awkward telling him this.
"You avoided responsibility and left the rest of the Tendricidians for dead?"
Celeste shook her head. "No, that was not my intention. Tendricide is a powerful planet full of resourceful beings. They can win the war without my aid."
"Then why are you here on Earth? And why are you in Audrey's apartment, of all places?"
The blue alien shrugged. "The reason I seemingly abandoned my people in favor of Earth was because I had feared for my own demise. The Uranians heavily injured me some months ago. While I was recovering, I thought of my Earthling friends, especially you."
"Really?"
She nodded. "Correct. And a few months ago, I lost a signal on you. I had feared that you had attempted that thing you had committed last year. What was it called again?"
Oh shit... THE PROBE!
He sighed. "Oh, y-yeah. I overdosed again."
The blue alien looked at him, Just from the look on her face, he knew she was about to try and give him some pep-talk, despite it not being necessary this time around.
"Don't worry about it. I'm actually a lot better now." he stated, reassuring his extraterrestrial friend.
"Really?" she replied. "Are you certain?"
He nodded. "Yes. Especially after finding out that Greenseed has been shut down for good, I'm as good as I can be."
"Wait, what?" Audrey interrupted.
"Yes, Audrey. The place that tormented me, gave me long-term PTSD, the place solely responsible for my suicide attempts and had me separated from all of you, has finally been put in the ground. My ex-roommate is in prison and the director is under heavy investigation. He'll probably be inside within a month or so."
"Woah, that's pretty fucking cool." the ex-party girl said, sounding happy for once.
"Yeah it is."
He looked around, realizing that someone was missing.
"Where's Nikki?"
"Oh, she's not home right now. She's busy hanging out with Candace. They're at the mall or some shit."
Shit, first she gets close with Candace, then she makes a deal with Lola, now Celeste has returned. Nikki's got a lot going for her.
Justin turned back to Celeste, still wondering why she was in the apartment.
"So, why are you in Audrey's apartment? You know you scared the shit outta her a couple of months ago? And how do I know that the Uranians won't come to Earth looking for you?"
"They won't." she replied. "I have special intuition. That is when I figured if I gave Ms. Anne-Marie's best friend a bit of fear, they would live together and form a stronger bond. And it looks like I was correct."
Jeez, that's a bit much just to bring Audrey and Nikki a little closer. At this rate, Nikki has potential to be another one of Kyu's clients.
"Right..." he awkwardly said, thinking that was too far.
"Hey, you did good, DEMON!" Audrey said, jabbing at her.
The blue alien chuckled, knowing it was sarcasm. "I do apologize again for the scare. I know a large shadow with horns might be alarming to the human eye, especially during their hours of slumber."
"Eh, don't sweat it, Celeste. You seem cool. You're much friendlier than those Italian fucks I had to deal with."
Oh yeah, should I tell her about Clyde?
"Uh, Audrey?" Justin said.
She looked at him. "Yeah?"
Even though he wanted to tell her about who he met while in BMH, he felt like it may spark more conflict.
"N-Never mind."
Audrey shook her head, feeling like that was a waste of time. "Whatever."
Going back to Celeste, he found all of this to be very weird. Audrey seemed to be cool with having a literal SPACE ALIEN living in the apartment with her and her nerdy gamer friend. It almost seemed unreal.
But since he was looking at Audrey, he noticed that she was still wearing the same "party-girl" outfit she used to, as opposed to the "Baptist bitch" thing she had on for months.
"So, what gives?" Justin said.
The ex-party girl looked at him, not sure what he meant. "What do you mean what gives?"
"The outfit. Why are you wearing that red wig still? Where's your brunette hair with Christian-friendly clothes and crucifix necklace? Where's the bible-thumping b-word that I don't like?"
Audrey sighed. "Look, Justin. About that-"
"It was just a phase, wasn't it?" he interrupted.
"No, it was more than just a phase. You remember Father Eric?"
"Father Eric? You mean the touchy guy?" he asked.
"Y-Yeah. Sure. We'll go with that."
I can only imagine what happened...
"Anyway, it turns out he really did touch some kid. I also found out that the church I was going to was no better than the criminals. So, I said fuck you to everyone in the church, stole the collection plate, and walked out. No more Baptist Bitch. Motherfuckers are sick."
"Oh, wooowwwww! You didn't think I already knew that?" he replied, being very sarcastic.
"Fuck you, Justin. I had to leave because the preachers were scamming people and using the offering money for bullshit."
He shook his head, feeling like he should've said something sooner. "That's exactly why I stopped going to church a long time ago. Well, that and having an overly-pious family."
"Okay, okay. I get it! God, what's done is done. I'm going back to partying and having fun. Not some boring-ass church crap."
Even though it felt like her becoming sober was pointless now, he was still sort of proud of her for what she did. He had a similar opinion on the Christian religion, due to a previous experience.
"Oh, and by the way: The brunette thing? Yeah, THAT was a wig. You think I'd give up my red hair for that shit? Pfft, yeah right!" she stated.
"I figured." he said, not at all surprised by this.
He eventually headed out, feeling very solemn about Celeste living on Earth. It was starting to feel like everyone he loved the most were flocking to his aid. Maybe, this is what Venus wants. She's making sure my friends are becoming a lot closer to help me. I mean, this is all TOO convenient.
Justin got home and immediately sat on the couch after a long and eventful day. Most of everything turned out good, especially the takedown of the Greenseed Corporation.
Tiffany had yet to come home from wherever she was, so he was all by himself. However, a sudden text message ruined his peace and quiet time.
"What the hell...?" he said, looking at a text message he received from an unknown number.
'Hey, Justin Dark. I'm outside of your house. WOOOOWWW! Isn't that amazing?'
Alongside the unnerving message, there was also a picture attached, revealing that this person was, in fact, outside of his residence. Though, the picture was obviously taken during the day, as it was now evening.
Justin Dark stepped outside, completely enraged by the sudden stalker outside of his home.
"STEFANO! COME ON OUT! SHOW YOUR FACE, YOU COWARD!" he yelled, trying to intimidate the man he knew was lingering outside of his home.
There was no response He quickly went back inside and locked the door, now knowing that his home was no longer safe for him and his girlfriend. I'm going to slam that waffle. Nobody fucks with me like this.