Chapter Two: "Friends in Low Places"

A Word from Garterbelt

If there was one wish everyone on this planet will tell you they held, it'd be the chance to go back and fix that one fuckin' mistake; that massive, headache inducing, hair pulling, pain in the ass mistake that stained your legacy like streaks on a fresh pair of undies.

You know what I'm talking about. The one that still haunts you at night, creeping around in the back of your mind, only to pop up inexplicably just to ruin your whole goddamned day.

Everyone has one. For Brief, it was the day he chose love over salvation. However, unlike you sorry sacks of doo-doo butter, he's been given the chance to rewrite it. To not only save the day, but maybe even get the girl along the way.

Good luck Brief, you're gonna need it.

"Hey, do any of you guys remember that dweeb who got struck by lightning?" asked one of the teens that currently circled around the entrance of Daten High.

"You kindin'? How couldn't I. He lit up like a fuckin' Christmas tree," another of the group replied, desperately trying to smooth the wrinkles out on her skirt, "What about him?"

An entire week had come and gone since the "incident" and the only gossip of note since then had been the mystery surrounding the aforementioned teen. Rumor upon rumor had surfaced as to the poor guy's fate, with some people going as far as to say he had just straight up perished and was now roaming the halls as a ghost. No doubt perving around the girl's locker room.

No one could confirm this, mind you, and most of the school was smart enough to ignore such outlandish claims. If he had died, the faculty would've most likely made some form of announcement. They might've even gone as far as requesting a moment of silence from the students. As time passed, though, everyone had to admit that the absence of the so called "dweeb" was starting to become more than a little eerie.

"Has anyone heard anything about him yet? From what I was told, he didn't just get zapped, he was full on fried to a crisp." a random student questioned, eager for any word on the boy.

"It wasn't that bad. I mean yeah, when he got hit, we all thought he kicked the bucket standing, but he was still breathing by the time the ambulance came."

"Shit, the dude barely got burnt, from what I saw. If you ask me, it was probably just God punishing him for his horrid fashion sense. Did you see that awful fucking shirt he was wearing?"

While not the best snark, it did cause everyone within earshot to snicker, which then led to a never ending torrent of rather nasty remarks.

Not a moment later, however, out of the corner of her eye, one of the girls just so happened to spot a familiar head of blazing orange locks making its way towards them. As soon as her brain registered the owner of said orange locks, she immediately went rigid in shock, disbelief painted all across her face. None of her friends noticed, though, too caught up in the rather explicit shit-talking session they were currently dishing.

"Oh God, were you guys there before he got barbequed!?" someone spat in between snorts, completely ignoring the feeling of someone tugging on their sleeve.

"Uh... hey guys?"

"Hell yeah! I swear, as soon as that muscled-bound freak called him out, I thought the dork was gonna shit himself!"

"Guys."

"Jesus, do you remember what he said!? He was all like ~Oh please don't kill me, I'm just a small-dicked loser with no friends~!"

"Guys!"

"No, no wait, wasn't he sayin' something like ~No, don't hurt me, I'm just a stupid, shit-eating nat like every other geek in this craphole school~!"

At this point, no one could continue, since most of them were too far gone; their quiet chuckling having morphed into a full-on laughing fit. However, one of them was now far too stunned to even warn the others, seeing as how the object of their ridicule was currently standing right next to them.

"Excuse me," said a lone male voice amongst the chatter, trying to gain their attention.

At first, everyone was slow to react, taking a good minute until finally shooting an annoyed glance at whoever made themselves known. Although, as soon as their eyes landed on the culprit, the harsh comebacks they had intended to sling quickly died in their throats.

"Uh... yeah?" responded the girl who had seen him approaching, being the only one with her wits still intact.

"Can I get passed you guys?" he asked politely, shocking them all further with his well-spoken manner, "The bells gonna ring soon, and I need to get to class."

"...sure," someone muttered, before stepping to the side, with everyone else quietly following his lead.

"Thanks," and with that, the geek squeezed his way passed his fellow classmates and entered the school, disappearing into the mob of students.

"...holy shit."

...

As I walked through the crowded halls of Daten High, I couldn't help but notice the odd stares my fellow students were giving me. It was as if they were seeing a ghost, with some going as far as pointing at me all the while whispering in each other's ears. At first it was more than a little jarring, seeing as how I never once attracted this much attention in my previous life, as sad as that was. However, no sooner had I thought that did another realization hit me. No one knew anything about me, much less being the heir to a multi-million-dollar corporation. I was struck by lightning for God's sake, everyone probably thought I died! No matter what a person's reputation, dying in front of the big a crowd would've raised some suspicion as to my well-being. Although, judging by that piddling session out front, I think it's safe to assume everyone has, at some extent, gotten over it.

Now though? I might as well have strutted down the halls naked for all anyone cared, and no one would've notice, too fixated on the supposed dead man walking around. I would've wondered why the faculty hadn't told anyone of my condition, but they were just as clueless to my existence as the students. I think the only person in school who had been informed of my well-being was the principle, and from the reception I was receiving, it seems as though that penis-shaped munchkin hadn't been too keen on revealing my fate. If anything, he was probably just trying to brush this all under the rug.

Which, to be honest, wouldn't have worked too well if it had been anyone other than me. I'm sure a few words to some parents about their kids "wild imagination" was all it took to downplay a nobody like me being nearly killed. Of course, this was all just speculation on my part. Besides the girl at the front gate, I hadn't talked to anyone outside the manor. Being a friendless loser could be a real pain in the butt sometimes.

"Hey."

I turned around to the sound of a voice behind me, only to see a random student standing there, nervously playing with the hem of their shirt. I recognized him as one of those nerds I was always trying to connect to, with no success. I guess coming back from the dead was all it took to earn their attention, go figure. If I remembered right, this guy was Neil. He was incredibly short, with short blond hair and glasses. He must have been building up the courage to talk to me for a while, if the constant fidgeting and sweat rained down his face was any indication.

Gotta say, it felt kinda good to be on the opposite side for once.

"Yes?" I replied evenly.

I didn't hate the guy or anything. As I mention before, I was never one to hold grudges, and while it always stung whenever they rejected my invitations to hang out, I long ago came to terms with it.

Plus, who needed these guys when you had two badass angels around you all the time.

God, I miss Panty.

"Um," stuttered the teen, snapping me back to reality, "Are... are you the guy that got zapped a week ago?"

The question hung in the air for a moment longer than I intended. Sure I might have seen this coming, but I was unprepared for the bluntness.

"Ye-ah," I slowly said in response.

"Oh, okay. Uh... you're not, like, a ghost or anything, are you?"

Now that got a chuckle out of me.

"No, I'm not a ghost," I said, before thinking quickly, "And no, I'm not a zombie, either."

"Oh! Okay, sorry," he sputtered, caught off guard, "How'd you know I was gonna-"

"Ask me that," I finished for him, "call it a geek's intuition."

And with that, I turned away, mindful that I had less than five minutes to make it to class. Although, as I began my trek, I heard him mutter one last thing under his breath, almost too quiet to hear.

"N-nice jumpsuit, dude."

I turned back one last time, giving him an embarrassed smile, my cheeks reddening at his words.

"Uh... thank you."

I think it's safe to say I was of two minds when it came to everything pertaining to my life going forward. As of now, it was mostly on what to do about school, particularly when it came to attending the last month or so I had left in my second year. My dad made it even harder when he himself suggested I just take an end of the year test and get it over with. I was pretty certain I'd ace that damn thing, too. School had so many annoyances that skipping was definitely a solid option.

While the upsides of doing so almost eclipsed the down, there were a couple of things I needed to do before committing myself to the isolation my summer was gonna bring me. That in and of itself was a blessing. I was gonna need all the time I could get when it came time to build my body back up to shape. Not that I was looking forward to doing pushups again. Back then, working out was a necessity, one that I never indulged outside of the designated time they made me put aside.

I hated working out, something my "trainers" tried their darndest to hammer out of my head. I didn't have much of a choice, though, and while I was never happy building muscle, it- along with hunting ghost- did keep my mind busy. Busy from the horrors I forced myself to confront. Busy from the fact that the fate of the whole world rested on our shoulders.

Busy from the fact that the love of my life was cut into over 600 pieces before my very eyes.

Ugh, thinking back to those times always gave me the shivers. It was why I always held them off, never dwelling on them for too long. Hopefully I'll only need to go over it a couple of times with the others, one of which was coming up very soon.

Speaking of which, confronting Garterbelt was yet another thing I was of two minds about, although that was more from dread than anything. I loved the guy, but his type of love for me wasn't always platonic like mine was. The man was just way too thirsty, sometimes rivaling Panty's own love for the D.

I was somewhat confident that he wouldn't do anything too risqué, seeing as how I was only seventeen. Didn't make me cringe any less at the very thought of talking to the man, though.

"Mr. Rock!" a stern voice echoed out, snapping me out of my daydreaming.

"Yes!?" I stated, trying to play off the fact that I had been staring blankly at the board for the majority of the lesson.

Damn, I forgotten my old history teacher Mr. Flick and that uncanny sixth sense of his, catching even the most seasoned daydreamers offguard.

"Look here boy, I don't care if your little dance with death fried your brains or not. Dead of not, when you're in my class, you play attention. Understand!?" he shouted.

"Yes sir," was all I had to say back.

Not to be disrespectful or anything, but my mind, though fried as it is, had way more important things to think about than the history of the city that was gonna go up in flames anyway in a couple of years.

Like having to deal with the critter lurking in the bowls of the school, I thought with a slight grin on my face, all while patting the mechanism hidden just under my sleeve.

The so called "Loser's Lair" was just an underground extension to the school, which was later used to hold the dregs of society when a particular pair of demonic siblings took over. Before then, it was mostly just used for storage, with the occasional boiler room that kept the building warm during the winter months.

It was far from the most sanitary of environments, and was a hotbed for the negativity that thrived in dark, dank places. Anxiety and fear were common in any school, and with one as big as Daten High, it was baffling how few hauntings there had been over the years. The one I was looking for was impossible to find without the right gear. Thankfully, I had come prepared.

It was a tough thing to mod store bought equipment in order to register something so absurd a spectrum as emotion, but it wasn't like I came up with the notion. If it wasn't for my friends, I would have been as blind to the supernatural as anyone else, but with their help I managed a compromise. I was neither angelic nor demonic, so for me to be an effective ghost hunter, my senses had to be artificially enhanced. For tracking, my pair of noise cancelling headphones, which were hooked up to a plethora of instruments scattered all around my body, beeped constantly whenever I was on the right trail.

Thank God for the jumpsuit. If I hadn't worn it, someone might have thought I was part machine.

At first, I was conflicted when my eyes first landed on the familiar garment. To me, it was something that connected me to a past I'd rather forget. A life littered with failures, most of which where made while wearing this damned thing. However, two things stopped me from tossing it away. For one, I personally still thought the thing was badass. More importantly though, it helped me hide away all the gadgets and gizmos I had spent the last few days putting together.

As sure as I was that nothing dangerous would happen for the foreseeable future, or at least not till I started changing things earnestly, it didn't help the fact that I felt completely naked without them. They were a part of me, as was my jumpsuit.

Of course, that didn't stop me from mixing it up a bit.

Instead of my typical green sneakers, I wore a pair of brown boots that came up to about half-way up my calf, with my pant legs tucked in for good measure. More for functionality than formality, since they helped keep me grounded. Although I hadn't worn it to class, for obvious reasons, I had now dawned a utility belt of sorts made out of an old one I found in the garage, tricked out to hold an assortment of items. The last unveiled article of note was my pair of night-vision goggles, now fixed to read the obscure signature of negativity. The rest of my stuff was still hiding in my backpack, or hidden on my person.

If you were wondering how I was able to smuggle all this under my dad's nose, you'd be disappointed to know that he never once saw a receipt, since it was my allowance that paid for all this. With how busy he was, all I had to do was order all that stuff online from various hardware stores, wait outside for it so none of the housemaids could intercept it, and sneak it to the garage. No one ever bothered me, especially when I personally asked them not to. I made most of my stuff in a couple days, since I knew all the schematics by heart. I never had the best memory, but I damn well knew how these things worked from how often I had to repair them.

Then again, I did end up earning a good number of new scars on my hands and wrists from how untrained they were. Yet another thing I'd need to work on if I was going to reach tip top shape.

In any case, all of the equipment I had mentioned was currently helping me track down a pest, more as a test run than anything else. So far, I was getting clear readings from the bulky scanner, which was just a glorified radio tuner, under my now rolled up sleeve, indicating that the specter was close.

It had barely been an hour since school had ended, and the building was practically empty, save a few students having stuck around to practice their various afterschool activities. In these Bowls, though, not a soul was around, except of course yours truly and the ghoul I was hunting.

Well, maybe hunting wasn't the right word, more like scouting. Even though my target was as low a level as a ghost could be while still being sentient, I had no intention of fighting her. No, my tools were just for emergency.

Heck, if I remember correctly, this one was as friendly and non-hostile as ghosts could get. Back in my time, it went as far as helping the Anarchy Sisters with their search for whatever was causing a ruckus in our school. She may have technically "betrayed" us, but in reality, I'm sure it was just survival instinct kicking in.

Didn't really help her when she died not two seconds later, but hey, no one's perfect.

It was then that my scanner went haywire, indicating that the spook I was looking for was right around the corner-

"Whatcha doin', meatstick?"

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that my prey had startled me, and yes, I did fall flat on my face in the process. I'll even go as far as to say my scream was more than a tiny bit lady like, but could you blame me? Here I was, thinking I had been sneakier than a mouse, only to realize the specter had probably been tailing me the whole time.

Good job Brief, I couldn't help but think in embarrassment, some ghost catcher you are.

As I lifted myself into a seated position on the floor, I got my first good look at the ghost now standing before me. She, for it was a she, barely came up to my waist if I stood up, and her body was similar to that of a baby ape. Her round head was almost as big as her torso, with jagged hair that flowed unnaturally. She had wide eyes and an even wider mouth, which was currently spread in an almost manic grin. Like most ghosts, her whole body was a dark shade of red, and her eyes and mouth were swirling vortexes of orange and yellow.

"Uh... hi," I uttered, trying not to sound too dumbstruck.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully back. Her voice was incredibly high pitched, and more than a little grating on the ears.

"Wow, you must be the spook who roams the underbelly of the school," I stated, trying my best to look baffled.

My earlier blunder must've helped in that regard, because it seemed as though she didn't see me as a threat, not even remotely.

"You bet!" she replied with no small amount of enthusiasm, "Now, why don't you tell little ole' me what the bleeding suck-job a nerdlinger like you is doing down here?"

Before I could answer her, she started to walk away, giving me only the slightest nudge of her shoulder to follow.

"I'd say it'd be to meet up with a girl, but looking at you, I highly doubt that! Nyahaha!" she cackled, "Hell, with all that crap on you, I'd say you where out spyin' on someone."

"Well-"

"Ooh! I know!" cutting me off again, she then turned around to give me a sly look, practically radiating with smug glee, "You're here to see if there's a vent into leading to the girls locker room, aren't yah?!"

"No I-!"

"Hehe, alright! Tell you what! Hang out with me for a bit and I'll show you where it is! What do you say!?"

"... deal," was all I said in return.

"HAHAHA! I knew it!"

Okay, now I know what you're thinking, but hey, I only agreed to that because I was already scrambling for an excuse to study her and this was the best opportunity I could get, okay!?

... and I guess I'll admit my fourteen year old body couldn't help but agree with me. Damn these hormones.

...

"I'm still kinda surprised, though. No one ever comes down here! Only time I get any company is when some fat plumber has to come and unclog a massive shit!" she started giggling, much to my amazement.

The ghoul and I had spent awhile just playing a few childish games, like hide and seek, and tag (although most of the time I was the one seeking or tagging, with her spitting childish taunts the whole dang time), but they soon became boring and tiresome, for both of us.

So now, as we wondered the empty halls of the bowls, I figured it was chance to ask a question or two before heading home and working on adjusting my equipment.

"Wow. Then... you must get pretty lonely here, huh?" I said with a slight ounce of pity.

Oops, wrong move.

"Hey! You callin' me a loser, asshole!?" she practically screamed, turning into a lighter shade of red, "Don't lump me in with buttheads like you!"

"Whups! Sorry! I wasn't trying to do that! Promise!" I quickly apologized, trying to deescalate, "You're right, you're not a loser."

"You're damn right! I mean, so what if I don't have any friends!? Friends are overrated!"

"Oh yeah, overrated."

"And... and so what if I get a little sad sometimes! Doesn't mean I'm pathetic! Right!?"

"Uh-"

"I mean, would I like friend? Sure, who wouldn't?" thankfully she began to finally calm down, as if only now realizing the reality that was her pitiable afterlife.

As she continued to come to terms, the specter began to pace around the room, clearly perturbed by her own ranting nonsense.

"Yeah, everyone wants a friend."

"Yeah. Everyone wants a friend. Doesn't mean everyone gets one, though. Sometimes life... it just be like that, you know?"

By now she had come to a halt, facing away from me and honestly, I couldn't blame her.

I was sadly very much aware of what she meant, since I never really had any friends growing up either. The closest I ever had would've been my former crew, comprised of the Anarchy Sisters, Garterbelt, Chuck, and maybe the Demon Siblings, seeing as how they had come to be somewhat hospitable after we started working together. However, they all came with their own problems.

Both pairs of sisters were far too vain, Garterbelt was a little too friendly at times, and Chuck was... well Chuck.

At the end of the day, it was hard to admit, but we weren't really all that great at being pals. People had to stand on equal ground in order for true friendship to blossom. If that wasn't hard enough, they usually also had to come to terms with their own flaws and weaknesses, all the while accepting each other's. That's how it was supposed to go, and yet the one thing separating me from my so called "friendships" was the one thing that tended to end them.

Pride. Something everyone, even Chuck, was guilty of.

It was sad indeed, but I had to concede to the fact that even with all these relations I've had, I don't believe I've ever really had true friends before.

Just like her.

"Hey," I said, trying to break through the icy mood we had both left ourselves in, "Wanna know why I'm really down here?"

She didn't make a single move, not even to confirm if she heard me or not, but I pressed on.

"It was to see if those crazy rumors I heard were true. You know you're something of a legend up there, right?"

That did the trick, seeing as how her head twitched ever so slightly in my direction.

"I mean, practically everyone knows of the little specter that's constantly playing all those fun pranks."

A small smirk danced along her face, causing me to flash one of my own.

"Like that time all the girls' clothes went missing or when all the... guys' clothes also went missing," unfortunately, it was hard to compliment her escapades.

I knew for certain those two incidents were all her, but that was about it. She wasn't the most original prankster, so most of time her acts of mischief were pinned on someone else. All I knew for sure was that she had been around for some time.

Although, judging from how hard she was giggling now, it was safe to say that was all I need to mention in order to brighten her mood.

"Awe," she cooed, "Am I really that famous?"

"You sure are," surprisingly enough, I wasn't even lying.

Everyone knew of the mischievous gremlin, and was often the go-to excuse for whenever something odd happened around the school. Not that any teacher ever believed it.

"That's why I traveled all the way down here. I wanted to meet the ghoul herself."

"What!?" she shouted enthusiastically, her entire body shivering in delight, "You're kidding!"

"Nope, I really did. I even made special gizmos to try and find you."

"No way! That's so cool! Can I see!?"

"Sure," I couldn't help but say, with a full-blown smile to boot.

Time seemed to fly as I showed her everything I had. It was probably foolish of me to let a ghost touch all of my ghost hunting equipment, but I didn't care. For once, I had someone to share my interests with. She was even more enthusiastic than me at times, going as far as scanning herself or trying on the goggles. All with smiles on our faces.

As my dazzling display went on, I also told the tale of my all-too close encounter with death, leaving out the parts concerning time hopping and the like.

"Wow, you really got hit by frickin' lightning!?" she exclaimed while still wearing the goggles.

"Yep, got the scars to prove it too."

"Whoa! Can I see!?"

Without any hesitation, I gripped the zipper to my jumpsuit and tore it off with gusto. After a second of shuffling, I lifted my undershirt, revealing my scared chest.

"What do you..."

As I scanned her dark-red face for any hint of the humor or wonder she had displayed not a moment ago, I was dismayed to see all of it blink away in an instant.

It was instead replaced with something alien to me, something I don't think I've never encountered before. It looked like a cross between pity and remorse, with a twinge of shock and awe.

"Whoa," she whispered, her eyes never leaving my chest.

I could tell the mood was dimming slightly, so I tried to just brush it off with a chuckle.

"Hey, it's not that bad," I said, trying to take her mind off it, "It doesn't hurt all that much... anymore."

Before I could lower my shirt, though, she reached out a hand and began to touch the rather large, cross-like scar that ran across the majority of my chest, stunning me even further. While I did feel slightly uncomfortable, her touch was cool, and not entirely unpleasant. Plus, I could tell she was rather entranced, so I left her alone.

"Is that where it hit you?" she asked quietly, pointing at the large crossed one.

"I... think? I don't know. It all happened kinda fast."

"Damn," she squeaked, unable to say much else.

We sat there for a minute longer, with her running her cold fingers along the various ridges of my scares, her face occasionally expressing something that could've been considered woeful.

"Are these the only ones you have?" she questioned.

"No, I have some on my back, and one on my face."

"... where? I can't see it."

Realizing what she meant, I let go of my shirt and slowly pulled my headphones off my head, setting them onto the ground. As I did, I guided my free hand to my face, gently brushing away my heavy bangs. The only scar on my face was a tasteful one that ran sharply across my left eyebrow. It wasn't deep, or all that eye-catching, but if past experiences were anything to go by, that wasn't really what caught her attention.

If there was one thing I was consistently complimented on, it was my eyes. They were a striking shade of emerald, and rather intense. The few people I've shown them to tended to say it's like seeing someone disappear before their very eyes, only to be replaced by someone else. Someone fierce and intimidating. Someone I just... wasn't.

"Nice eyes," she stated, still clearly lost in them.

"Um, thanks? I don't usually show them off."

"Why?"

That was a question I wasn't expecting, but I answered all the same.

"Honestly, I don't think they really suit me."

"What do you mean?"

"W-well, you see," I flubbed, trying to find the right words, "I... feel like they make me look like someone I'm not. You know?"

I couldn't help but scratch the back of my head nervously. I don't think I've ever put these feelings into words in either of my lives.

"I'm just some nerdy, helpless, bumbling dork. Yet, when I pull back my hair, I look like someone else. Someone who takes charge, who wins the fight and steals the girl. And I'm just... not that."

My confession must have confused her to no end, if the look on her face was anything to go by.

"You're weird."

"Ha, I know," I agreed, laughing a bit at her bluntness.

With the air between us having been warmed back up, we talked for a minute longer, with me showing off the bits of tech I had left out, and her showing almost as much interest as before. I kept my hair swept back, and I could tell it was rather distracting. Her gaze would often linger on them, and it always took a snap of the fingers or a clearing of the throat to refocus her. I would've brushed my hair back, but every time I tried, she'd give me the most adorable pout ever, forcing me to leave it be.

Time had passed, and before long, my personal alarm went off, signaling that the school was officially closing for the day.

"Whelp, looks like it's about time to skedaddle," I said, stuffing my crap back into my bag.

"Oh, I guess it is," she looked off into the darkened halls, disappointment written all over her face, "Can I walk you to the stairs?"

"Yeah, why not,"

We didn't say much else as we made our way out of the Bowls, comfortable with the lingering silence that followed us.

It wasn't until I reached the stairs to the next level that we suddenly stopped in our tracks, neither of us willing to say goodbye.

"You know, I don't think I ever got your name," I finally said, trying my best to leave on a good note.

"Yeah, well I never got yours either," she retorted playfully.

"Huh, I guess I didn't," I said, amazed it never came up, "Mine's Briefers. Briefers Rock, but everyone calls me Brief."

"Brief huh? That's an funny name."

"Oh yeah, well what's yours?"

"Oh, um..." she muttered, clearly unsure of whether or not she should, "I-its-"

"RAWWWWWWRRRRRRR!"

Just then, a cacophony of howls echoed throughout the underbelly of the school. The air turned cold, and a sense of dread filled the dank, dark depths of Daten High.

"Oh no," She uttered, terror lining her every word, "h-he's back."

"Who's back?" I demanded; a touch more harshly than I intended.

"Oh! U-um, j-just some ghoul who thought life down here was too boring and decided to up and vacate a little while back," she managed to say.

"Is he friendly?"

"~Well~"

"HEY YOU SHITLICKING COCKROACH! GET OVER HERE! I NEED SOMETHIN' TO SIT MY FAT ASS ON!"

"No, the answer is no."

As we stood stone-still, a massive shape could be seen slowly marching its way towards us. As it did, more and more of its gnarly form became visible. When it stopped not two feet away from the us, I could do nothing but wince at its horrid appearance.

It was a ghost, just like the one quivering behind my legs. It had the same dark red skin and that haunting yellow vortex they all shared, but that was pretty much where the similarities ended between the two. The one standing before me was a foot taller than me, was severely overweight in every single aspect, and had disgusting boils all over its body, two of which seemed to serve as eyes. The infected lumps were huge, each having yellow, swirling vortexes of their own. The only other thing of note was its ponytail, a mass of greasy tendrils wrapped together. All in all, I'd say it was the embodiment of your typical movie-level overweight nerd linger, pimples and all.

And the voice?

"Pfft, what're you doin' with that human, butt-munch?" Yep, a wheezy mess, no doubt the result of a severe case of asthma.

"H-hey buddy!" she could barely manage to say, her chittering jaw making speech rather difficult, "Where you b-been? I m-m-missed you."

"Duh! Don't you remember, knuckle-fuck!? I was off collecting those new figurines at Top Hot Pic!" in a flash, his face morphed into something that resembled rapture, his fat rolls jiggling with glee, "My beloved Lollipop Warrior Princess' toy line finally released a bunch of previously Japan-only merch overseas, and I was not gonna miss out on that! Oh, I can't wait to stack these on my-!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a sec. Lollipop Warrior... Princess? Isn't that anime like, 20 years old, and aimed at five-year-old girls?" I said without much thought, truly confused on this ghost's preferences.

There wasn't even any fan service for these types to slobber over. If memory serves, it was just a bunch of tween-aged fairy princesses fighting monsters made out of various foods, mostly healthy stuff like fruits and veggies. I even remember it being constantly under fire for basically glorifying candy and soda only diets, which of course lead to its cancellation in the late 90's. The toys must still be selling though, if he got his hands on the-!

"Watch out!"

No sooner had she screamed, a giant, dark-red fist come crashing into my face, sending me flying into the door of a neighboring restroom, breaking it on contact.

"How DARE you speak against my beloved like that you chode juggling fucktard!"

"Brief!" She screamed in worry.

To be fair, that was pretty stupid of me, I thought to myself as she helped me sit up, Man, I really need to ask for her name after this.

Okay, this was... less than favorable. While the tub of lard was closing in on me, spouting more and more of his BS, I sat there with what I was pretty sure was a concussion. Plus I'm more than a little certain my mind was close to blacking out.

Now, as you can probably tell, I don't really curse all that much. I feel like it makes me stand out a lot amongst everyone else in this damned city. Eventually though, after enough punches to the face, gut and balls, I developed my own love of foul language, if only when my stress levels were at their highest. Or when I'm about to collapse from exhaustion.

Or when I'm pissed. Especially when I'm pissed.

"Hey," I said flatly, though my tone of voice was noticeably darker.

My new chum was shocked out of the fear-induced blabbering I had been hearing until now, and stared at me in disbelief.

"Why don't you get out of here?" I suggested.

"W-what" she spat, "What do you-"

"I said, why don't you get the hell out of here," I repeated, this time trying my best to seem as casual as possible, even as I dug a number of things out of my bag.

"B-but-but I... we,"

"Oh, don't worry about me. Save yourself," I glanced back at the gelatinous pus-ballmaking his way down the halls, a dangerous glint shining in my gaze, "I'll be just fine."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her snapping back and forth between me and the opposite hall, before ultimately booking it. I didn't blame her, nor did I hate her for bailing. I probably would've too, if I was in her shoes.

"Ha! Figures she chickened out!" the butterball bellowed, a few of his zits popping from the vibrations, "Now it's just you and me, fuckwad."

You know, in times like these, I feel like the only thing you can do is flash the widest, brightest smile you can, even as death comes knocking on your door.

And that, is exactly what I did.

"Yep," I retorted while I discreetly equipped a couple of thick leather gloves with metal fitted along the knuckles, "Just you and me, fuckwad."

Did she feel guilty for leaving the poor geek to his fate at the hands of that foul spirit? Sure. Was she scarred shitless at having her body being splattered across the walls by her tormentor? Oh yeah, definitely. And so, there she was, torn between just ditching this place all together to go find greener pastors, and going back and at least sharing the fate of the only person she had connected to for the entirety of her afterlife.

She didn't want to see him die. She was very doubtful he'd come back as a ghost. He was probably too loved and cherished to have any hate or remorse. Negative emotion was what generally motivated someone to come back. Not that she or any of the others remembered what exactly caused their expiration. Normally, ghosts are only reborn with the desires or motivation they had before they die, and continue on trying to fulfil them, by any means necessary.

She knew she died while craving attention, which was why she pranked people so much. She just wanted everyone to notice her. To like her, maybe even...

And here she was, so close to attaining the very thing she always craved, and she ran. Like a fucking coward.

No... NO! Not like this! He won't die! At least not alone!

Those where the words that rang in her mind as she made a mad dash to the same boy she ditched not a minute ago. To same boy who shared his laughter, his ambitions, his troubles, his woes, his toys, his fucking happiness with her!

And she didn't even give him her name.

"Brief. Brief! BRIEF!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NOOOO! PLEASE STOOOOOOOOOOPPPPP!"

da fuck?

As the sounds of undeniable pain continued to travel down the empty halls, the she-ghost had drastically slowed her pace to a nervous jog, barely able to keep whatever semblance of sanity she had left.

Rounding the corner that led to where she had left Brief, she was confounded at the level of damage the hall had taken in the little time she had been gone. Even more so at how much burnt ectoplasm lined the walls.

"WHAAAAA HAAA HAAAA HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Suddenly, a familiar fat bastard could be seen attempting to jump out of the doorway that led to the restroom she had last seen Brief in. He was battered and had large chunks of his mass missing. He was also a sniffling mess, crying non-stop and begging for his life.

"Please, please stop, please, please, please!" he screamed, before something snagged him by one of his obese feet, dragging him back in and away from her sight as he yelled, "Nooooooooooooo!"

Even though she was now terrified something else had made its way down here, she still couldn't help but follow her fellow ghost inside.

"...Brief?"

There he was, the same geek who not five minutes ago had been tossed into a solid door and bleeding from cuts on his arms and neck. The same boy who had spent the better part of the day laughing and chattering her ear off. The same boy who had all the innocence of a new born rabbit and the face of an angel.

The same boy who now stood over the charred remains of a powerful ghost, electricity bouncing between his now gloved hands, ectoplasm and all other manner of vile muck smeared all over his own body.

The same boy with the smile of a much more decent and righteous one, even as he stomped on the poor ghost's head, effectively re-killing it... somehow.

The same... killer who had gear that could exterminate a ghost.

"Brief... y-you," she stammered, before finally coming to terms with what she had just witnessed, "You're a badass."

At that, it was all Brief could do to not scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Thanks," he said, "By the way, what was your name?"

"... Kas. My name's Kas."

Author's Note:

And there it is, Chapter Two. Sorry for the wait, I had to update the first chapter a bunch of times, effectively doubling its size. The same thing I'll probably have to do here, but hey, If I waited on my editor to touch it up, you guys would be waiting a lot longer, I'll tell you that much.

Couple things before you leave.

1 Should I rename this? I feel like this isn't even the same fic.

2 I know a few of you would rather I get rid of the fucking jumpsuit, but it works thematically, so I kept it. Might ditch it later.

3 I know I've been dropping hints here and there, but don't worry, I'll get into what went down before he "time hopped".

4 Brief isn't all knowing nor has had a complete character arc. By that, I mean he isn't done growing as a person. His mine's gonna change, and it won't always be for the better.

And that's pretty much it. Like I said, don't worry, I'll get rid of all the fuckin' spelling errors and whatnot, but I need my editor and he's MIA right now.

If you like this fic, be sure to favorite/follow, and if you want your thoughts known, send me a review or even a PM.

Later.

7/8/2022

Hey guys! I'm back. Had a bit of a family emergency to take care of, but I'm back!

Also SEASON TWO MOTHER FUCKERS! Can you believe it! What a time!

I can't wait for a trailer to come out or something, but for now I'm just content that more of what we love is coming.

Chapter Three will be out soon. See you there!